Windows STALKER Clear Sky crashes in dx10 mode, any solution?

[Mac32]

Hi!

I recently discovered the STALKER games, great stuff. However, I have a problem with Clear Sky. If I enable dx10 mode, then the game crashes when I'm in the game menu after a few seconds, and when I load a savegame the game crashes after about 1 minute. This could be an xrengine.exe crash I think, as that file is "stuck" in Task Manager after I've ctrl+alt+del myself out of the game/black screen.
I have a late 2012 iMac model with Windows 7/Bootcamp, 3.4ghz i7 CPU, Geforce 680mx (driver v.314.07), 16gb ram, SSD 768gb. Windows 7 is up to date. This crash happened without using any mods.
I purchased the game on Steam.

I would really appreciate any help. I've searched Google for a solution, but haven't found any...
Thanks for reading.

 

[JPJ5624]

Hi, could you post the very last part of your xray log? If you got the game from Steam the location should be something like C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\STALKER Clear Sky\_appdata_\logs

I've played Clear Sky for years but just in the past few weeks it began crashing like you said. I could only be in the main menu for a few seconds at best, and usually I wouldn't even make it to there. I get this message in my log
"stack trace:

0023:6EEC4E06 d3d11.dll
0023:6EEC7D40 d3d11.dll
0023:6EE73EBB d3d11.dll
0023:0681663A xrRender_R3.dll"

I think it might have to do with the latest Nvidia drivers. I have a gtx 670 temporarily running on stock settings, so I know overclocking is not responsible. I also found this recent post from Nvidia's site https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/528055/dxgi_error_device_has_been_removed-/

The guy seems to be having the same problem, but I don't think I should have to increase my GPU's voltage to play this game.

 

[Mac32]

Hi there, thanks for the reply! I had almost given up on getting a response. I just tried Clear Sky again in dx10 mode with the newest Nvidia driver, and I'm still getting crashes. Now the game just quit and go back to the Windows desktop. Before (with the previous Nvidia driver) I got a black screen. The Xray file hangs after the crash, and must be shut down manually through Task Manager. If there is a fix, I would really appreciate it. I'm really into the STALKER universe, very interesting and atmospheric games.

I seem to have the same issue:

Starting engine...
! Unable to find InstallUserName entry in registry
! Player name registry key (InstallUserName) not found !
Loading DLL: xrGameSpy.dll
! Missing ogg-comment, file: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\stalker clear sky\gamedata\sounds\music\wasteland2.ogg
stack trace:

0023:6E504E03 d3d11.dll
0023:6E507D40 d3d11.dll
0023:6E4B3EBB d3d11.dll
0023:02F7663A xrRender_R3.dll

[error][ 18] : There are no more files.

 

[cluthz]

You are apparently missing a file there.
Do a verify of the game files in steam.

 

[JPJ5624]

Verifying the game cache does nothing. I've done that and reinstalled the game multiple times, and also ran the DirectX setup in the game's directory thinking those files weren't installed at the game's first startup. Nothing. However I think it's not an issue with Nvidia's drivers but Microsoft's latest platform update. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3091530

It seems those guys found a way to screw up DX10 with this update, so I'm guessing the only fix is to uninstall it. Hopefully this works

 

[Mac32]

Verifying the game cache does nothing. I've done that and reinstalled the game multiple times, and also ran the DirectX setup in the game's directory thinking those files weren't installed at the game's first startup. Nothing. However I think it's not an issue with Nvidia's drivers but Microsoft's latest platform update. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3091530

It seems those guys found a way to screw up DX10 with this update, so I'm guessing the only fix is to uninstall it. Hopefully this works

Thanks! I've already read that thread unfortunately, and I couldn't find the update mentioned installed in my Windows 7. I'll take a second look in case I missed it, though it's unlikely..

 

[JPJ5624]

It should show up as "Platform Update for Windows 7x64-Edition (KB2670838)
when you view the update history. If not it probably just shows up as KB2670838.

 

[Mac32]

It should show up as "Platform Update for Windows 7x64-Edition (KB2670838)
when you view the update history. If not it probably just shows up as KB2670838.

Thanks!
I found the update, though I'm hesitant to uninstall it, as the update is supposed to deliver some dx11.1 functionality and increase directX performance. Hmm.. Does dx10 mode make a noticable visual difference in STALKER Clear Sky? I know you get a couple of extra effects like wet surfaces, but otherwise? Thanks again!

 

[JPJ5624]

Many people are having trouble with the update outside of just games. I would uninstall it because it looks like the update is mainly for IE 10, which I find useless. Also some people have reported a performance hit in games because of this abomination. I uninstalled it and Clear Sky works perfectly now

 

[Mac32]

I finally uninstalled KB2670838, because Nvidia hasn't fixed the crashes in dx10 with their latest graphics drivers. However, I got worse performance now than before after uninstalling KB2670838. Installing the latest geforce beta drivers definitely helped (for some reason). For example there was initially a big performance drop in STALKER Clear sky in dx10, but even after updating the geforce drivers games seem to perform a little slower than before. It's hard to say when you can't compare directly though. My 3dmark11 score is the same, but dx11 in STALKER Call of Pripyat seems slower too. Any experience with this? Hmm, maybe KB2670838 does noticably improve directX performance in games, or the uninstallation process itself of KB2670838 is messed up...