So I just recently upgraded my hardware to meet the demands of Dolphin and I tried running SMG on it. Using DirectX with 2xAA @1080p, the game runs for a while before crashing. When the normal Dolphin window appears after fullscreen disappears, I see that the graphics driver has crashed and is being restarted by Windows. I've tried playing the game on OpenGL and it runs without any problems at all. While I could always just use OpenGL, I'd like to run DirectX as it seems to cause less stuttering until it crashes.
Here are the details of the system:
Intel Pentium G3258 @4.7GHz (stability tested)
Asus Z97-A
GeIL DDR3-1333 4GB
Sapphire Toxic R9 280X
Dolphin 4.0-6891
Thinking it might be a driver issue, I've already tried swapping my Catalyst drivers. So far, I've tested the latest stable 14.12 and the latest beta 15.6. In either case, the crashes still happen. I've also tried updating my Windows environment but no luck there either. Any suggestions?
(07-04-2015, 05:31 PM)nightsky87 Wrote: [ -> ]So I just recently upgraded my hardware for Dolphin and I tried running SMG on it. Using DirectX with 2xAA @1080p and getting crashes. I see that the graphics driver has crashed and is being restarted by Windows. I've tried OpenGL and it runs without any problems. While I could always just use OpenGL, I'd like to run DirectX as it seems to cause less stuttering until it crashes.
Thinking it might be a driver issue, I've already tried the latest stable 14.12 and the latest beta 15.6 amnd the crashes still happen. I've also tried updating my Windows environment but no luck there either. Any suggestions?
Check out the (updated) AMD/ATI GPU Performance Guide and follow the instructons (adjust the driver settings for optimal stability and performance in Dolphin):
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...at-dolphin
(07-04-2015, 09:47 PM)kirbypuff Wrote: [ -> ]Check out the (updated) AMD/ATI GPU Performance Guide and follow the instructons (adjust the driver settings for optimal stability and performance in Dolphin):
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...at-dolphin
I followed that guide just now and DirectX still causes the crash. On the other hand, OpenGL is pretty much stable even at 6x IR.
(07-05-2015, 04:14 AM)nightsky87 Wrote: [ -> ]I followed that guide just now and DirectX still causes the crash.
Did you uninstall the previous drivers properly by running DDU, choosing the option to auto-reboot in Safe Mode and cleaning the drivers from there?
AMD's uninstaller app (express mode / uninstall all) often fails to remove all driver DLL files from the System32/SysWOW64 folders, so you could end up with a mix of old and new files. These leftovers may lead to various driver issues.
Another test to try (let's see if Direct3D works at all on your PC with that driver+hardware combination).
Download the latest (unstable) version of Ishiiruka (the unofficial build by Tino) [for testing purposes only]:
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...om-version
and run it in
portable mode (see the performance guide for more info about portable mode).
- Select the Direct3D11 backend and see if you still get that crash.
- Then try the legacy Direct3D9 backend.
(07-05-2015, 05:37 AM)kirbypuff Wrote: [ -> ]Did you uninstall the previous drivers properly by running DDU, choosing the option to auto-reboot in Safe Mode and cleaning the drivers from there?
AMD's uninstaller app (express mode / uninstall all) often fails to remove all driver DLL files from the System32/SysWOW64 folders, so you could have a mix of old and new files. Those leftovers may lead to various driver issues.
Yep, I normally do use DDU whenever swapping out drivers.
(07-05-2015, 05:37 AM)kirbypuff Wrote: [ -> ]Another test to try (let's see if Direct3D works at all on your PC with that driver+hardware combination).
Download the latest (unstable) version of Ishiiruka (the unofficial build by Tino) [for testing purposes only]:
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-un...om-version
and run it in portable mode (see the performance guide for more info about portable mode).
- Select the Direct3D11 backend and see if you still get that crash.
- Then try the legacy Direct3D9 backend.
Okay, so here's the strange thing. I've tried using Ishiiruka and for some reason it seems to be stable even when using the D3D11 backend. I'll keep testing with it to see if I can get it to crash.
UPDATE:
I tried going back to official Dolphin and within seconds the driver crashed. Let me try updating to the latest build just to be sure.
(07-05-2015, 05:41 PM)nightsky87 Wrote: [ -> ]I tried going back to official build and within seconds the driver crashed.
1. Update to the latest version - download the latest development build from this lnk:
https://dolphin-emu.org/download/list/master/1/
2. In the (D3D) graphics settings, disable anti-aliasing, turn off VSync, set the AF to 1x, enable borderless fullscreen and run any title. If you still get the crash, proceed to Step 3.
3. Create a blank file named portable.txt in the Dolphin folder. Start Dolphin, select the Direct3D backend, choose your screen resolution, enable borderless fullscreen and leave everything else at the default settings.
If Dolphin works properly now, proceed to Step 4.
4. Back up your save files in the global user directory (e.g. "My Documents\Dolphin\") and then delete everything in that folder to reset the settings to the defaults. Also delete the portable.txt file and the "User" folder from the dir where you installed Dolphin. Configure the graphics settings as in Step 3. Run the app, then close it. Restore your save files (the backup) to the gobal user folder.