Whitescreen - Reasons

[Tannin42]

Some users are reporting crashes where the Vortex screen turns white and the application restarts. Often you are then presented with an error message that Vortex crashed and to send in the report.

 

Very often these reports are made anonymously so we have no opportunity to reply to the user to get additional info, but in recent months almost none of these reports indicated a problem with Vortex itself.

 

I'm going to try to gather here what I know so far about these crashes, maybe it helps someone affected narrow down the problem. Please feel free to reply with any findings of your own.

 

Vortex crashes when trying to install certain (not all) mods with a c# scripted installer

 

Cause: Vortex currently (up to 0.16.12, hopefully fixed in the next release) doesn't deal well with unhandled exceptions from the installer script. While Vortex should not crash in this case and instead report a proper error message, even if Vortex did handle the error correctly it's rather likely that the mod installation would still fail.

 

What to do: Please send in a link to any mod that triggers this and as a workaround, see if there is a manual install option

 

Vortex crashes when trying to open the settings page

 

Cause: So far the only cause we could identify that caused this was on Windows 7 without the "Platform update" (which is not included in service packs!) What happens is that the "Theme" settings page tries to acquire a list of installed fonts from Windows and due to an incompatibility between the outdated Windows 7 and the library we use to retrieve the fonts, Vortex crashes.

 

What to do: The best solution is to install the platform update. Option 2 is to go to the extensions page and disable the "theme-switcher" extension.

 

Vortex crashes trying to install any mod

 

Cause: As far as I know all these reports have an exception code of 0xe0434f4d. This code indicates a broken .Net install.

 

What to do: Try to update the .Net framework. If that fails, try to uninstall and reinstall .Net entirely. There is also at least one tool on the internet that claims it can repair .net in this case but I have no idea if it works or if it is even up-to-date.

If you find something that works for you, please let us know.

 

Reported Solved: 1

Reported not solved: 0

 

Vortex crashes when the game crashes

 

Cause: All cases I could investigate with these reports had an exception code of 0xe0000008. This indicates the system is out of memory or has other memory related issues.

 

What to do: First of all, if you can reproduce this issue, please check your task manager and see how much memory Vortex actually uses around the time of the crash. Vortex itself shouldn't be allocating additional memory while it's sitting in the background but I just want to be sure.

Next, please verify that you have Virtual Memory enabled in Windows (System->Advanced system settings ->Advanced->Performance Options->Advanced (yes, that's three times "Advanced"...)) and that you either have the size managed by the system and there is enough free disk space for two times your RAM or, if you have a custom size set, make sure that the max value is at least 2x your RAM. So if you have 16GB of RAM, you need room for at least 32GB of Virtual Memory.

 

If this is the case and you still see these crashes, you may want to look into freeing up memory while the game is running: Close all unnecessary applications (including Vortex) while the game is running. If the game is still crashing, disable the more heavy mods.

 

There is another possible cause: A hardware defect in your RAM modules or an incompatibility between memory modules and mainboard or too much overclocking. These kind of problems can be extremely hard to figure out because they may occur inconsistently, when your system is under load and actually accesses the broken bits in the module. The only way to know for sure if your RAM is ok and can deal with the clock is to run a proper ram check. How do you know if the ram check is "proper"? It runs under dos and takes at least a couple of hours. There is no way to test the entire RAM from a windows application and there is no way to do a stress test in a few seconds, any windows application that claims to test your RAM and is done in 5 minutes is snake oil.

 

Vortex crashes due to some other Programm injecting unstable code into the Vortex process

 

Cause: Some applications need to inject their own code into other programs to do their thing, this is usually applications that have system-wide effect (like changing how all windows applications look or how they appear in the task bar). When that code isn't stable, it can easily crash the host process.

 

Programs we have seen cause crashes in Vortex so far:

- Bins (1UPIndustries)

 

(Several of the "Unidentified exception"s below probably also fall into this category)

 

What to do: First, check if there is an update to that application. Is it even still maintained?

If there is no update or the update made no difference, well, you can either uninstall the application or live with the crashes, guess that would depend on how frequent they are.

 

 

 

The following cases are still so fuzzy I don't know when they occur and if they actually crash Vortex:

 

Unidentified exception 1

 

Cause: The exception involves the windows codec library trying to decode a jpg file, invoked from the windows thumbnail subsystem. My best guess is that this crash happens when Vortex opens a native file dialog (e.g. when you change the mod) and then the windows dialog trips on a broken image thumbnail. This exception may not actually crash Vortex, it presumably doesn't crash other applications but only triggers the corresponding notification. Please let us know if you know more.

 

What to do: ??? Maybe installing a system update helps? If you manage to identify the broken thumbnail, remove it? If Vortex doesn't actually crash - live with it?

 

Unidentified exception 2

 

Cause: The exception involves an antiquated version of msxml, included from some strange application hook belonging to an antiquated version of Microsoft Office. Why Office is even involved I don't know, much less why it would crash but apparently it's happens as electron (the framework used by Vortex) tries to look up an ICC monitor profile and somehow this Office module is consulted. The crash thus probably involves a broken xml file belonging to an ICC profile managed by Office? Honestly don't know.

 

What to do: Update Microsoft Office?

 

Unidentified exception 3

 

Cause: The exception involves some windows assistance library (assistance as in: high contrast mode or text-to-speech for the visually impaired, that kind of things).

 

What to do: If you have such a "Ease of Access" features enabled and Vortex crashes, please let us know exactly which features you're using.

 

Unidentified exception 4

 

Cause: The exception involves some drag&drop library within electron. It looks like this might be related to a bug in electron, but it's quite rare and I haven't been able to reproduce it.

 

What to do: If you find that Vortex is crashing when you do certain drag&drop operations, please let us know exactly what triggers the exception.

 

Unidentified exception 5

 

Cause: The exception involves some ATI driver component or ATI layout tool or "AMD Hydra Vision".

 

What to do: Update the driver - uninstall the layout tool/hydra vision. I didn't find much about the layout tool (layout as in: affecting how windows are laid out on the screen) but from what I understand it was abandoned and hopelessly outdated 5 years ago. Hydra vision has been outdated and unsupported since 2016.

[Abigail538]

"Vortex crashes trying to install any mod

Cause: As far as I know all these reports have an exception code of 0xe0434f4d. This code indicates a broken .Net install.

What to do: Try to uninstall and reinstall .Net. There is also at least one tool on the internet that claims it can repair .net in this case but I have no idea if it works or if it is even up-to-date.

If you find something that works for you, please let us know."

Can confirm, though you may not necessarily have to uninstall / reinstall, I just updated to the latest framework and that solved the issue. Thanks Tannin42!

[tm2jz]

Thnx

[gcuskell]

Unidentified Exception 2

 

Firstly, I have never seen this "White Screen'. I get an error message when i start Vortex saying something like " there's been an exception, you probably noticed".

 

I have MS Office 2010 installed. Outlook is the only program I use regularly, Word occasionally. There are currently no updates available for my installation I have never done anything with monitor profiles, but I'll see what I can see.

 

I did just have to replace an HDD ( not my C: Drive) which whilst still operational was causing a number of problems.

[Vanguarde2017]

Unidentified exception 5

Cause: The exception involves some ATI driver component or ATI layout tool or "AMD Hydra Vision".

What to do: Update the driver - uninstall the layout tool/hydra vision. I didn't find much about the layout tool (layout as in: affecting how windows are laid out on the screen) but from what I understand it was abandoned and hopelessly outdated 5 years ago. Hydra vision has been outdated and unsupported since 2016.

I got this to happen to me, I sent this report in. Still trying to figure out how to remove this damned hydra vision.

[BillyChiArt]

The White Screen issue has happened to me, however, I let the program cycle out to the end and do not start slapping buttons. After a second or two the Vortex Manager will close NP. I repeat NP. This manager by far is one of the very best I have seen in the gaming arena, simple and effective. Thanks for such a user friendly program tool. I look forward to years of play through this system.

[Sunseahl]

Okay... i'm just gonna risk looking like an uneducated techno-noob for the sake of helping others.... BUUUT.....

 

 

Option 2 is to go to the extensions page and disable the "theme-switcher" extension.

What the hell does this mean? I've never seen an "extensions page" when dealing with the personalize page for Win 7.
I've spent the last hour hunting online for just what the hell the above quote meant, trying to solve why Vortex keeps crashing every time I open the settings tab....

[AugustaCalidia]

Okay... i'm just gonna risk looking like an uneducated techno-noob for the sake of helping others.... BUUUT.....

 

 

 

 

Option 2 is to go to the extensions page and disable the "theme-switcher" extension.

What the hell does this mean? I've never seen an "extensions page" when dealing with the personalize page for Win 7.

I've spent the last hour hunting online for just what the hell the above quote meant, trying to solve why Vortex keeps crashing every time I open the settings tab....

 

The "Theme Switcher" extension is in Vortex, not Windows 7. Vortex dashboard>Extensions>Theme Switcher

[Sunseahl]

 

The "Theme Switcher" extension is in Vortex, not Windows 7. Vortex dashboard>Extensions>Theme Switcher

 

Thank you for this.

 

Oddly enough after a bit of "I'm not seeing any extensions tab" I had to race through settings to "enable advanced mode" before the thing crashed(took a few times)

It was only then that I could even see an extensions tab because it wasn't on by default.

 

If this is gonna be a legitimate solution it really needs to be better documented in the text of it's workaround.

I was so frustrated earlier and this lack of "tell me what i need to do" makes us tech normies only more aggravated, I guess.

[DyraSan]

Some users are reporting crashes where the Vortex screen turns white and the application restarts. Often you are then presented with an error message that Vortex crashed and to send in the report.

 

Very often these reports are made anonymously so we have no opportunity to reply to the user to get additional info, but in recent months almost none of these reports indicated a problem with Vortex itself.

 

I'm going to try to gather here what I know so far about these crashes, maybe it helps someone affected narrow down the problem. Please feel free to reply with any findings of your own.

 

Vortex crashes when trying to install certain (not all) mods with a c# scripted installer

 

Cause: Vortex currently (up to 0.16.12, hopefully fixed in the next release) doesn't deal well with unhandled exceptions from the installer script. While Vortex should not crash in this case and instead report a proper error message, even if Vortex did handle the error correctly it's rather likely that the mod installation would still fail.

 

What to do: Please send in a link to any mod that triggers this and as a workaround, see if there is a manual install option

 

Vortex crashes when trying to open the settings page

 

Cause: So far the only cause we could identify that caused this was on Windows 7 without the "Platform update" (which is not included in service packs!) What happens is that the "Theme" settings page tries to acquire a list of installed fonts from Windows and due to an incompatibility between the outdated Windows 7 and the library we use to retrieve the fonts, Vortex crashes.

 

What to do: The best solution is to install the platform update. Option 2 is to go to the extensions page and disable the "theme-switcher" extension.

 

Vortex crashes trying to install any mod

 

Cause: As far as I know all these reports have an exception code of 0xe0434f4d. This code indicates a broken .Net install.

 

What to do: Try to update the .Net framework. If that fails, try to uninstall and reinstall .Net entirely. There is also at least one tool on the internet that claims it can repair .net in this case but I have no idea if it works or if it is even up-to-date.

If you find something that works for you, please let us know.

 

Reported Solved: 1

Reported not solved: 0

 

Vortex crashes when the game crashes

 

Cause: All cases I could investigate with these reports had an exception code of 0xe0000008. This indicates the system is out of memory or has other memory related issues.

 

What to do: First of all, if you can reproduce this issue, please check your task manager and see how much memory Vortex actually uses around the time of the crash. Vortex itself shouldn't be allocating additional memory while it's sitting in the background but I just want to be sure.

Next, please verify that you have Virtual Memory enabled in Windows (System->Advanced system settings ->Advanced->Performance Options->Advanced (yes, that's three times "Advanced"...)) and that you either have the size managed by the system and there is enough free disk space for two times your RAM or, if you have a custom size set, make sure that the max value is at least 2x your RAM. So if you have 16GB of RAM, you need room for at least 32GB of Virtual Memory.

 

If this is the case and you still see these crashes, you may want to look into freeing up memory while the game is running: Close all unnecessary applications (including Vortex) while the game is running. If the game is still crashing, disable the more heavy mods.

 

There is another possible cause: A hardware defect in your RAM modules or an incompatibility between memory modules and mainboard or too much overclocking. These kind of problems can be extremely hard to figure out because they may occur inconsistently, when your system is under load and actually accesses the broken bits in the module. The only way to know for sure if your RAM is ok and can deal with the clock is to run a proper ram check. How do you know if the ram check is "proper"? It runs under dos and takes at least a couple of hours. There is no way to test the entire RAM from a windows application and there is no way to do a stress test in a few seconds, any windows application that claims to test your RAM and is done in 5 minutes is snake oil.

 

 

The following cases are still so fuzzy I don't know when they occur and if they actually crash Vortex:

 

Unidentified exception 1

 

Cause: The exception involves the windows codec library trying to decode a jpg file, invoked from the windows thumbnail subsystem. My best guess is that this crash happens when Vortex opens a native file dialog (e.g. when you change the mod) and then the windows dialog trips on a broken image thumbnail. This exception may not actually crash Vortex, it presumably doesn't crash other applications but only triggers the corresponding notification. Please let us know if you know more.

 

What to do: ??? Maybe installing a system update helps? If you manage to identify the broken thumbnail, remove it? If Vortex doesn't actually crash - live with it?

 

Unidentified exception 2

 

Cause: The exception involves an antiquated version of msxml, included from some strange application hook belonging to an antiquated version of Microsoft Office. Why Office is even involved I don't know, much less why it would crash but apparently it's happens as electron (the framework used by Vortex) tries to look up an ICC monitor profile and somehow this Office module is consulted. The crash thus probably involves a broken xml file belonging to an ICC profile managed by Office? Honestly don't know.

 

What to do: Update Microsoft Office?

 

Unidentified exception 3

 

Cause: The exception involves some windows assistance library (assistance as in: high contrast mode or text-to-speech for the visually impaired, that kind of things).

 

What to do: If you have such a "Ease of Access" features enabled and Vortex crashes, please let us know exactly which features you're using.

 

Unidentified exception 4

 

Cause: The exception involves some drag&drop library within electron. It looks like this might be related to a bug in electron, but it's quite rare and I haven't been able to reproduce it.

 

What to do: If you find that Vortex is crashing when you do certain drag&drop operations, please let us know exactly what triggers the exception.

 

Unidentified exception 5

 

Cause: The exception involves some ATI driver component or ATI layout tool or "AMD Hydra Vision".

 

What to do: Update the driver - uninstall the layout tool/hydra vision. I didn't find much about the layout tool (layout as in: affecting how windows are laid out on the screen) but from what I understand it was abandoned and hopelessly outdated 5 years ago. Hydra vision has been outdated and unsupported since 2016.

Thanks for this. Hope my issue got solved. vidmate

Edited January 1, 2019 by DyraSan