Starting any modded quest causes game to crash

[dubiousintent]

To repeat myself: Anytime the game "Crashes to the Desktop" (CTD) it's typically going to generate an error message in the Windows Eventlog. Please see the "Windows Error Messages" section of the wiki "How to read most Bethesda game error logs" article.

 

What does your Eventlog say about the CTDs?

 

-Dubious-

[EldritchBloke]

To repeat myself: Anytime the game "Crashes to the Desktop" (CTD) it's typically going to generate an error message in the Windows Eventlog. Please see the "Windows Error Messages" section of the wiki "How to read most Bethesda game error logs" article.

 

What does your Eventlog say about the CTDs?

 

-Dubious-

 

Well, I'm no longer unable to get into the prospector Saloon to check what the event log says when I crash starting the quest, as I'm now getting an 'Out of Memory' error every time I try and enter, where before I used to get it, I'd say 1 in 5 times. Checking the logs for the out of memory error points towards the faulty module being NVAC, but checking the log for that just tells me I had an Out of memory error, as opposed to any faulty of it's own.

 

I then checked the logs for when I started the quest a day ago (when I was able to enter the saloon) and the faulty module for that simply says FalloutNV.exe itself is the cause of the problem??? So I'm really not sure where the problem specifically lies. I read on the NVAC mod page that its supposedly been made incompatible with NVSE due to a windows update. Do you think this could be it?

 

Do you know of any other way that I could attempt to rectify the out of memory error, outside of uninstalling mods? I'm willing to do so to actually get my game to work, yet I want to exhaust all the other options before doing so.

[dubiousintent]

Have you "cold booted" (powered off) your system after each crash? Even if you have control immediately following a CTD, the system memory is in an unpredictable state. If you have the "power setting" set to use "hibernation", that unstable memory gets saved and restored. A "power off" for 15 seconds or so is typically needed to completely flush the memory so it starts up "clean".

 

* The game has "memory leaks", primarily linked to the audio system due to the version of the Ogg Vorbis Libraries used by Bethesda. Getting 2-3 hours before a CTD is pretty good. The audio problem is fixed by using the updated "Ogg Vorbis Libraries" posted by Kane Wright. You might also want to try using the tool "CleanMem", which periodically (you can set the interval; default is every 15 minutes) tells the OS to perform it's built-in "clean up" of memory. It has a "mini-monitor" that displays memory usage. Doesn't seem to hurt and might help.

 

I am assuming you are seeing "Windows Exception code: 0xc0000005". The "Faulting Application" is often the victim of another program rather than the actual culprit, making it virtually impossible for the user to trace the source. Any recent update since the last time it was working correctly is suspect, as are viruses even if you have anti-virus (AV) running. Run AV from multiple sources when checking for infections. There are a number of free online scanners on the internet (though they are all going to try to sell you their services after the first time).

You may need to exclude FNV from "Data Execution Protection (DEP)" and configure " Windows Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG)" (or Microsoft's "Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)" for Win7). Please see "Issue - NVSE - fails to load after update KB4058043 to Win10 FCU v1709" under the 'Solutions to Starting the game problems' section of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" article.

Try turning off any unnecessary background processes, such as "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" programs (unneeded if you are running your game in "offline" mode once you have scanned since the last connection), multiplayer "overlays" like "OverWolf" (this is single-player after all), the Steam overlay, etc., at least on a temporary basis to see if they are interfering. There are also tools (often called "Game Boosters") to help you determine "unnecessary when offline" Windows services you can temporarily shut down.

It is also possible that any recent change to your mods (such as updates) or your existing "load order" (such as additions or removals) have causes a corruption of the current save game file. Try going back to a save game from before the problem started. Often starting a "new game" with a vanilla test character can help confirm if the problem lies in the current load order.

-Dubious-

[EldritchBloke]

Have you "cold booted" (powered off) your system after each crash? Even if you have control immediately following a CTD, the system memory is in an unpredictable state. If you have the "power setting" set to use "hibernation", that unstable memory gets saved and restored. A "power off" for 15 seconds or so is typically needed to completely flush the memory so it starts up "clean".

 

* The game has "memory leaks", primarily linked to the audio system due to the version of the Ogg Vorbis Libraries used by Bethesda. Getting 2-3 hours before a CTD is pretty good. The audio problem is fixed by using the updated "Ogg Vorbis Libraries" posted by Kane Wright. You might also want to try using the tool "CleanMem", which periodically (you can set the interval; default is every 15 minutes) tells the OS to perform it's built-in "clean up" of memory. It has a "mini-monitor" that displays memory usage. Doesn't seem to hurt and might help.

 

I am assuming you are seeing "Windows Exception code: 0xc0000005". The "Faulting Application" is often the victim of another program rather than the actual culprit, making it virtually impossible for the user to trace the source. Any recent update since the last time it was working correctly is suspect, as are viruses even if you have anti-virus (AV) running. Run AV from multiple sources when checking for infections. There are a number of free online scanners on the internet (though they are all going to try to sell you their services after the first time).

 

You may need to exclude FNV from "Data Execution Protection (DEP)" and configure " Windows Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG)" (or Microsoft's "Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)" for Win7). Please see "Issue - NVSE - fails to load after update KB4058043 to Win10 FCU v1709" under the 'Solutions to Starting the game problems' section of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" article.

 

Try turning off any unnecessary background processes, such as "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" programs (unneeded if you are running your game in "offline" mode once you have scanned since the last connection), multiplayer "overlays" like "OverWolf" (this is single-player after all), the Steam overlay, etc., at least on a temporary basis to see if they are interfering. There are also tools (often called "Game Boosters") to help you determine "unnecessary when offline" Windows services you can temporarily shut down.

 

It is also possible that any recent change to your mods (such as updates) or your existing "load order" (such as additions or removals) have causes a corruption of the current save game file. Try going back to a save game from before the problem started. Often starting a "new game" with a vanilla test character can help confirm if the problem lies in the current load order.

-Dubious-

 

I have applied Cleanmem, the audio fix, as well as every windows security exception you have told me and the problem still persists. Sometimes I am able to enter the saloon without a memory error first time, yet when I try to enter after a second boot up, I get the memory errors, so what you said about the system memory being fragmented rings true. Other times I am not able to enter the saloon on a first boot up at all.

 

Looking at the log again, instead of what you have put, I am getting 'Windows Exception code:0xc0000409', whenever I crash because of the activation of a mod quest,though this is only through looking at the log as I get no such notification when I actually crash. Looking it up, apparently it 'indicates a stack buffer overflow. Batch alignment problems usually occur when the return variable of a method does not match the return value of the parent method. Normally, a function is executed correctly and fails when the return occurs.', though I have no idea what this means.

 

Regarding the advice to start a new character, I found out about this issue starting a new character after installing the plugin limit and about 20 new mods. All of them were clothing and weapon mods, and none of them were too memory heavy. I'm thinking that the combined size of those mods, as well as the memory used up by my other ones, is contributing greatly to this problem. I think I may have just just exhausted the games engine and hardware, even with implementing every patcher, mod and trick.

 

I'm going to remove the plugin fix as well as a few of the memory intensive ones and reduce the plugin count to its recommended levels and see if that rectifies the problem. I'll report back my findings, but if you have any other thoughts I'd be happy to hear them. Thank you greatly for your continued help and patience with me and my problem.

[dubiousintent]

The "409" error is a Windows system error, and the error message is intended for a programmer rather than a typical "end-user" such as yourself. Generally it means you have a system configuration error. This article lists a series of standard troubleshooting steps you can try to fix the problem. You need to fix Windows system errors before you can fix game errors, as the former will crash regardless of the game.

 

There is a "tool" (not tested or recommended) linked in this article you might install and try, but appears from the description to fall into the general category of a "registry cleaner", which have a mixed history of effectiveness. (It seems every site which describes such errors has a "tool" they claim will fix such issues. YMMV and if they screw up the registry you are going to have to re-install your entire operating system, so I consider them a "last resort" after reverting to a previous system restore point fails. I prefer to use a well known and highly regarded "registry cleaner" over some unknown from a web site I've just found. Such ratings can change over time, so you need to investigate the current versions each time you need one.)

 

-Dubious-

Edited August 6, 2020 by dubiousintent