Splinter Cell: Conviction - glitched effects and random crashes in-game on A770

[bobbycold_h]

Hi all,

I've been trying to play SC:C again, but the game crashes seemingly at random. Managed to get through the first level with two crashes, but on the second level I can't even get out of the starting area.

I also noticed some weird glitches with physics-based objects, i.e. flags that suddenly stop "moving in the wind" - possibly that's some shader issues?

Also, if that's of interest, I've recently updated the system BIOS to get CPU microcode 0x129; no CPU or GPU overclocking in place, CPU set to Intel Default profiles with only XMP enabled. RAM test completed successfully last week for about 6 hours.

• Intel ARC A770 16GB with driver 32.0.101.5972
• Last DDU clean install two or three versions prior - didn't try that game on earlier driver versions
• Mainboard MSI Pro Z790-P WiFi DDR4, BIOS Rev. 1.D1 (Beta), ME 16.1.30.2361
• No WinEvt errors logged in the GFX protocols section
• Splinter Cell: Conviction Version 1.04 Steam, already reinstalled, UPlay/Ubisoft Connect working, running in Windows 7 compatibility mode but did crash without that as well
• Adding to the SSU report: PSU is a Enermax MarbleBron 850W, power should be sufficient since no other games crash like that and the system itself remains responsive
• Changing quality settings in-game as well as compatibility settings in ARC Control made no difference in the crashes
• Performance when the game is running is good, manages to hit ~80 FPS on average

Here's a OneDrive link with a video, SSU/IGCC reports, WinEvt logs from those crashes as well as one crash dump; SSU/IGCC reports also attached. If more crash dumps are needed just let me know which levels to test.

Looking forward for any ideas on how to get that game running again.

[bobbycold_h]

Update:

• Tried using the game with DXVK, which resulted in black screen and crashing before main menu.
• Reinstalled the game again and tried to limit it to only using P-cores, effect glitches and crashing in second level remain unchanged.
• Uninstalled the driver using DDU in safe mode, reinstalled 5972 (with clean installation option), did a reboot and tried again - game still crashes, this time in the first room in "Kobyn's Mansion" (still second level, but I could play the game for about one minute).

I've updated the OneDrive folder with new crashdumps and WinEvt logs from trying to use DXVK, limiting cores as well as after driver reinstall.

[Earl_Intel]

Hi bobbycold_h,

Thank you for posting in the community!

I wasn't able to find a troubleshooting guide for us to follow for the issue you described. I'll ask my team to further investigate on the issue that you are experiencing while playing Splinter Cells: Conviction using Intel Arc A770.

I will update this thread once we come up with a solution on your issue.

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[bobbycold_h]

Hi Earl,

thank you very much for your reply. I've tried running the game again, and now the behaviour changed somewhat - it now froze inside the mansion for about 30 seconds when trying to peek underneath a door using the mirror (as is seen in my video prior to entering the mansion) but unfroze when I launched task manager.

Could play for about 10 minutes then, but it froze again while browsing the first "weapon stash" (as shown here from 12:48 to 13:08, not my video though) resulting in a crash to desktop.

The PC sat without power for about four days now - but also Windows Update seems to have gone haywire on power-up and downgraded to driver 31.0.101.4502, as is reported by ARC control as well as IGCC. I'm inclined to try a fresh install of Windows 10 or 11 with Windows Update completely disabled at this point - maybe there's a debug driver build I could try so that extended reporting data would be available as well?

I uploaded that crash dump as well as SSU/IGCC and WinEvt reports, SSU/IGCC attached as well.

Best regards,

Robert W. (bobbycold_h)

[bobbycold_h]

Hi Earl,

thank you very much for your reply. I've tried running the game again, and now the behaviour changed somewhat - it now froze inside the mansion for about 30 seconds when trying to peek underneath a door using the mirror (as is seen in my video prior to entering the mansion) but unfroze when I launched task manager.

Could play for about 10 minutes then, but it froze again while browsing the first "weapon stash" (as shown here from 12:48 to 13:08, not my video though) resulting in a crash to desktop.

The PC sat without power for about four days now - but also Windows Update seems to have gone haywire on power-up and downgraded to driver 31.0.101.4502, as is reported by ARC control as well as IGCC. I'm inclined to try a fresh install of Windows 10 or 11 with Windows Update completely disabled at this point - maybe there's a debug driver build I could try so that extended reporting data would be available as well?

I uploaded that crash dump as well as SSU/IGCC and WinEvt reports, SSU/IGCC attached as well.

Best regards,

Robert W. (bobbycold_h)

[Earl_Intel]

Hello bobbycold_h,

Thank you for sharing these updates with us, I will forward this insight to our team for further investigation.

To help us further understand the issue, may I know if only this particular game you encounter this issue?

Also is the game working fine before?

When did this issue occur?

We have also checked the logs and as per checking, the error message indicates a few key issues:

1. Checksum Warning: The warning suggests that the integrity of the game executable cannot be verified. This could be due to corruption or modification of the file.

2. Access Violation: The error code c0000005 indicates an access violation, meaning the program tried to read or write to a memory location that it shouldn't have. Specifically, the error NULL_POINTER_READ_c0000005_d3d11.dll!CCreateDeviceCache::CAdapterCache::GetWddmVersion points to a null pointer dereference in the Direct3D 11 (d3d11.dll) library.

3. Driver Issue: The error occurs in the function CCreateDeviceCache::CAdapterCache::GetWddmVersion within the Direct3D 11 library, which suggests that there might be an issue with the graphics driver or how the game interacts with it.

Suggested Actions:

• Use the game platform to verify the integrity of the game files.

• Try running the game in compatibility mode.

• If the issue persists, consider reinstalling the game to ensure all files are intact.

best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[bobbycold_h · Accepted solution]

Hi Earl,

thank you for your reply and the detailed analysis.

Like I mentioned before, I already checked the game files through Steam as well as reinstalled the game; Ubisoft Connect also checks the game files without error. I've switched back to Windows 7 compatibility mode, which did not change the error.

I also completely reinstalled the graphics driver after Windows Update downgraded to 4502, same error.

But I managed to find a solution - since in some logs igd9trinity32.dll was mentioned as failing module, I found out that Windows somehow didn't switch over to D3D9on12. Maybe it's because I've upgraded (with DDU uninstallation) from a Radeon RX 570 which a Windows reinstallation might have fixed.

As was suggested in a support forum post on Steam regarding igd9trinity32.dll, I tried using the game with ForceD3D9on12, and it now works almost flawlessly - some occasional stuttering, but it was playable for 2 hours straight without any crashes.

Thank you for your support, I've updated the OneDrive link with some more crash dumps - especially conviction_game.exe.11276.dmp might be interesting as it refers to that DLL.

I think this thread can be closed.

Best regards,

Robert W. (bobbycold_h)

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello bobbycold_h,

I'll take note of this and will proceed in closing this thread.

Should you need assistance in the future, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Sincerely,

JeanetteC.

Intel Customer Support Technician