EA Sports WRC Crashes on Startup

[airnichols13]

Hi,

After a couple months hiatus, I tried to play EA Sports WRC this past week and was unable to as the game crashes very shortly after loading. The initial loading graphics appear, then after a few seconds they disappear and the game does not load. I am running the game via Steam. Previously (~over the summer) the game ran fine.

I have tried uninstalling / reinstalling the game, it did not help. Windows does not give me the option to "roll back" my video driver from the device manager.

My graphics driver version is 32.0.101.6557.

My GPU is a Intel Arc A770.

Windows / intel Graphics Software all say my system is up to date.

I have attached the PC scan as recommended in the "read first" sticky post and a short video of the farthest I can get loading the game, although usually I don't get past the initial "WRC" loading rectangle.

Any help would be appreciated,

Chris

[VonM_Intel]

Hi, airnichols13.

Thank you for posting in our Community. I understand that you're having trouble with the game, especially since it was working fine before. The issue might be due to your graphics driver or a conflict following the update.

I noticed that the graphics driver version in the SSU report you shared is outdated. In the meantime, I recommend updating your graphics driver to version 32.0.101.6559, as this update may resolve any potential bugs. Also, kindly use the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to properly uninstall the graphics driver. You can visit this link on how to use it.

Additionally, if the issue is still the same, please refer to this link: Crashing Dump Files, and kindly share the dump files generated.

Have a nice day!

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[airnichols13]

Well the process of removing my display driver was pretty unclear and incredibly frustrating. I got locked out of my computer because safe mode turned off networking, and networking is required to use the computer. Isn't that fun.

Reinstalling the display driver did not fix the issue. I am on 32.0.101.6559 now.

I have a few crash dumps from the past couple days, maybe they're useful:

CrashDump1

CrashDump2

CrashDump3

Thanks for your help,

Chris

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

I totally understand the frustration you’ve had with removing your display driver and getting locked out of your computer. That certainly sounds like a tough situation. Anyway, I appreciate you for providing the crash dumps. Those can definitely be helpful in diagnosing the issue further. I'll take a look at them to see if they can provide more insight into what might be causing the problem and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

I appreciate your patience as I work to resolve the issue you're experiencing with EA Sports WRC. To help me further investigate, could you please clarify where you obtained the game from (e.g., digital store, physical copy)? I am working to recreate the issue on my end, and this information will be helpful.

Additionally, I’d like to confirm if the game was working fine prior to the issue. Do you remember which driver version was working when the game ran without problems?

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[airnichols13]

I have already answered both of those questions in my original post:

After a couple months hiatus, I tried to play EA Sports WRC this past week and was unable to as the game crashes very shortly after loading. The initial loading graphics appear, then after a few seconds they disappear and the game does not load. I am running the game via Steam. Previously (~over the summer) the game ran fine.

I don't know which driver version I was running. Is there an easy way to install older drivers to test?

Chris

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

I appreciate your swift response. Regarding your question about installing older drivers, there is indeed a way to roll back to previous driver versions.

Please try the following to rollback your graphics driver:

1. Simultaneously press the Windows + X keys on your keyboard. Select Device Manager.
2. Expand Display Adapters.
3. Double-click your Intel® display device.
4. Select the Driver tab.
5. Click Roll Back Driver to restore.

You can visit this link for more information: How to Roll Back a Driver to a Previous Version in Windows® 10 and Windows 11*

Please let me know which driver version was working when the game ran without problems.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[airnichols13]

Ok, I "rolled back" my driver (it seemed like it just uninstalled it), and installed the oldest version available via this link:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/785597/intel-arc-iris-xe-graphics-windows.html

Which is: 32.0.101.6559 (WHQL Certified) from 9/2024.

I launched the game via Steam like normal, and it crashed at the same point as in the first video I posted.

Is there another link I can go to to get an older version of the driver?

Chris

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

As mentioned in our article that you will need to install the previous version of the driver. To install an older driver on your system, download the previous graphics driver version from Download Center by selecting it from the drop-down menu. You can also download a previous graphics driver version your computer manufacturer's site. 

For more information to install a graphics driver, see How to Install an Intel® Graphics Driver in Windows® 10 and Windows 8*/8.1*

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[airnichols13]

Hi,

I rolled back the driver again, and downloaded the (only) driver available from Acer here:

https://www.acer.com/us-en/support/product-support/Predator_BiFrost_A770_OC/downloads?suggest=A770;0

Version: 31.0.101.5382

Release Date: 3/2024

... and the game works!

I hope that is enough information for you to go on (I don't have any other downloads to try anyway).

Thanks,

Chris

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

Thank you for the update. I'm glad to hear that rolling back the driver and downloading the driver from Acer resolved the issue and that the game is now working. The information you provided is very helpful. However, in the meantime, I will now recreate and replicate the issue on my end. I will post an update in this thread once I have more information about this matter.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13. 

I appreciate your patience. I noticed that when you reverted to the Arc driver version, 101.5382 (the only driver available from Acer), the game launched successfully without any crashes. For further testing, could you please try the following steps:

1. Install the latest Arc driver version 101.6559
2. After installation, exit the IGS software and try to launch the game.
3. If the game still crashes, please stop the IGS service in Services.msc and then try to launch the game again.

Please send us the results of these tests. Additionally, could you check if there is an app crash dump for the game itself and share it with us?

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[airnichols13]

Hi,

In all instances the game still crashed after installing the latest driver:

Fresh reboot (IGS running in background) -> Game crashes

Quit IGS -> Game crashes

Stop "intel graphics command center service" from services -> Game crashes

Stop "intel graphics software service" from services -> Game crashes

I looked in the crash dump folder for Steam as well as the game folder under my user and I do not see any crash dump files.

Chris

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

Thank you for the detailed information. I’ll need to conduct additional research on this issue and will post an update in this thread once I have more information.

I appreciate your patience.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

Thank you for your patience as I work to resolve the issue you're encountering. I am currently working to re-create the problem on my end. In the meantime, could you please let us know if you have tried verifying the game files during your attempts to start the game? This information would be very helpful for me to further investigate the root cause of the issue.

I appreciate your cooperation.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[airnichols13]

If you mean verify the game files via Steam, yes I have done that already and the crashing still happens.

Chris

[Discente28]

I have a Arc 770 running this game on STEAM and to dated!  Now it will ONLY work/run using the Launch Option "-dx11"

Try the Launch Option "-dx11"

[airnichols13]

Ok, good to know. I figured it was a DX12 issue. I'm still hoping they can fix it for real so we don't have to do any workarounds... WRC is still a game in active development after all.

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

I appreciate it. Thank you for letting me know you've already verified the game files via Steam. I will need to do further research on this matter and post the response on this thread once available. I do apologize for the delay.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, airnichols13.

I appreciate your patience in this matter. Based on my testing, I have found that the 32.0.101.6632 graphics driver (the latest version) does not exhibit this issue. I kindly request that you update your graphics driver to this version and try running the game again.

If the issue persists, I would need some additional information to further investigate the crashes on both a system and application level. Please follow the steps below to provide the necessary logs:

• Intel System Support Utility (SSU) Report:
  • Download and run the Intel SSU tool from Intel's website.
  • Click on "Scan" to gather system information.
  • Once the scan is complete, click on "Next" and then "Save" to save the report.
  • Attach the saved report to your response.
• Application Event Viewer Log:
  • Right-click on the Start button and select Event Viewer.
  • Click on the chevron next to Windows Logs.
  • Right-click on Application and select Save All Events As.
  • Save the file and send us a copy.
  • Make sure to indicate the timestamp of the crash.
• System Event Viewer Log:
  • Right-click on the Start button and select Event Viewer.
  • Click on the chevron next to Windows Logs.
  • Right-click on System and select Save All Events As.
  • Save the file and send us a copy.
  • Make sure to indicate the timestamp of the crash.

I appreciate your cooperation and patience as I work to resolve this issue. Please let us know if you need any further assistance with these steps

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[airnichols13]

Hi,

I installed the latest driver, restarted my computed, and tried the game via steam and it worked! Very nice!

Not sure if it's a coincidence or If you guys figured something out but it seems to work well. I will test a bit more when I have more time but I was able to load the game and do a little racing like normal.

Thank you!

Chris