Consistent Game Crashing [Exception code: 0xc0000005]

Since I have installed this game a few months ago I keep getting seemingly random game crashes that take me back to desktop. Upon inspecting my Windows Event logs I noticed the application is faulting because of Exception code 0xc0000005.

I have tried several things to correct this issue on my end, but nothing has worked so far. Sometimes I can play all day and never get the error, sometimes for days, but then other times I will crash several times in a single day.

Windows Error Log (Last Few):

Faulting application name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5355528a
Faulting module name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5355528a
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00461af9
Faulting process id: 0xf74
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf6657b906f81b
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv.exe


Faulting application name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5355528a
Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x676e452e
Faulting process id: 0xf0c
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf640cdc6066e2
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv.exe
Faulting module path: unknown

Faulting application name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5355528a
Faulting module name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5355528a
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00ae2e66
Faulting process id: 0x1328
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf63efb4f35be6
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv.exe


My Specs:

- Windows 7 Ultimate (x64), fully updated.
- AMD FX 8350 (stock) and cooled with an h80i. Never goes above 40c
- GTX 760 (stock) and because my case is cooled so well, it never goes above 50c
- Installed on my SSD (tested with software from the vendor, no errors)
- 16GB DDR3 (stock) and fully tested with memtest86 with no errors after 24 hours.
- Corsair AX850w PSU

Security Software:
- Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 (Added the FFXIV folder to my exceptions list)
- DEP is at the default settings that come with Windows 7

I do have other on-demand scanners, but none of them are running at all when playing FFXIV or unless I am scanning with them. Kaspersky is my only real-time protection.

Resolution Attempts:

- Tried reverting back to the last "most stable" driver for my GPU (Clean Install)
- Updated video drivers to the latest version (Clean install)
- Checked my SSD for errors using software from the vendor
- Checked my RAM with memtest86 for 24 hours
- Watched my thermals over the span of 8 days. Were way below thresholds
- Scanned for malware with: KIS, MBAM, and Emsisoft. No threats found
- Used CCleaner to clean crap off of my computer
- Checked system file integrity using SFC from the Installation CD's recovery console
- Ensured Windows was fully up-to-date with the latest critical and optional patches
- Closed every other possible application, except for my anti-virus, while playing

Other Thoughts:

- This is the *ONLY* game that causes me any issues. I can play a crap load of other games and none of them give me a single error, at all. I also do not have any other single issue with my computer or Windows installation. This problem is completely isolated to this one particular game, period.

- I will try uninstalling Kaspersky Internet Security and try using AVAST to see if the issue might be with my security software, which I doubt since no other games have any issues and the FFXIV folder is added to my exceptions list. In addition to this, it is set as a "trusted" program with full permissions over the computer.

I have tried just about everything I can think of and this game still causes me grief. Any suggestions or anyone having similar issues?

Updated Information:

I completely uninstalled Kaspersky Internet Security and replaced it with AVAST to make sure my security software was not causing the issue. I played for a few hours then went AFK to handle some real-life business and when I came back I was greeted with another "program has stopped responding..." error. The event log shows identical errors as shown in the original post.

I can't contact customer support officially because their service is broken and this problem is becoming very annoying.

From what I can tell this problem is most certainly caused by the game client itself and poor programming, especially since no other application on my computer has any errors what-so-ever.

Still looking for possible solutions if anyone has any ideas.

A possible resolution has been found to address this particular issue. I recently found a way to reproduce the error and it was related to how the game client renders some textures. Upon rendering some high-quality textures the game is doing something silly with the GPU memory, causing a memory segmentation fault which triggers an exception error identical to mine.

A lot of users out there are thinking it is due to their system memory, but it is most likely caused by their GPU's memory. This is not an issue with the memory modules built on the GPU (Which is also why no other games are affected), but due to poor programming on SE's part.

After figuring this issue out and changing three settings, I can no longer reproduce the crash. So, I am sharing my experience here to try and help others that may be having a similar issue, as this was not a "common sense" fix for the most part.

If the issue does come back, I will update this thread so SE can further investigate.

Settings to modify:
- Set Edge Smooth (Anti-Aliasing) to OFF.
- Set Texture Filtering to TRILINEAR
- Set Anisotropic to 4x

This has seemed to correct this issue for me while still allowing to have the rest of my settings on high.

If you are having similar issues try modifying those entries and see if it does not correct the issue for you.

The only issue is I set other games to much higher settings than this with no lag, 60fps and zero issues at 1080p. However, this particular game has issues with high texture details. I hope they look into this issue so I can crank the settings back up, like in every other game I play.

Are the settings you changed within nVidia Control Center or within the game?
We you over riding the game settings to push more textures and it caused those errors?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judge_Xero

Are the settings you changed within nVidia Control Center or within the game?
We you over riding the game settings to push more textures and it caused those errors?

---

I just changed the settings using the game UI. I was not overriding settings with higher texture quality, there just seems to be a bug with how high-quality textures are rendered that causes a segmentation fault.

Hopefully the developers will get wind of this and at least check it out to see if there are in fact any bugs that may be causing this issue under specific conditions which they can possibly correct.

So everything in nVidia Contol Panel is set to Default/Use Application Settings?

Was just curious cause I was trying to produce the issue. I have an older 5 series card though so it might not be effected.

I'm getting this, too. I thought it was a directX and nvidia driver issue, but, every game I try works. ffxiv game will crash with the same errors. I leave the Nvidia settings to let the application decide.

I uninstalled video drivers, tried beta drivers, released drivers, nothing works. I just got it to let me change the graphics settings from window to full screen without crashing, then I changed to 30fps and it bombed.

I thought it was my video card and memory, so I played Titanfall, Civ5, BF4, and other games, but, they are fine. It's only FFXIV that crashes.

I am downloading the entire PC version again just to see if it works.

The only thing that changed on my game was I paid for the Collector's edition.

I had this issue several months ago and here is what I had to do to resolve the issue.
1. In your BIOS settings - if you are running 2400 MHZ memory and have the option to dum it down it 2133 MHZ, that will stop your crashing altogether. You can dum it down in the BIOS, if you have that option.
2. If you are overclocking - the most I would overclock is x 1 - I have a I7 4470 chipset and a EVGA FTW motherboard. I have mine set to 3900 MHZ.

System Build
750W power supply
EVGA Z87 FTW motherboard
Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell 3.5GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor
Corsair Liquid Cooling
CM Storm Stryker Case
1 12mm fan, 3 6mm fans
SSD 256
HDD 1T x 2
Raid 0 config
Memory 2400 16gb
Nvidia 770GTX 4GB DDR5 video card

This game is not overclock friendly

Just wanted to report that i followed Paladin's suggestions and am finally able for the first time to run the DX11 client without it crashing in login menu. Hopefully it stays this way...

Thanks again!

Interesting , i`m having issues with the dx11 client that are similar if not equal to what u were having, and they were so bad crashs on memory related things that the whole machine crashed sometimes.

It does not happen in other games , demanding ones like AC Unity for example , run fine for hours

I'll try the suggestions by paladin when i get home and ill post here the results

UPDATE:
i tried as paladin suggested (but i left the antialiasing on) and changed texture filtering to trilinear and aniso to 4x , and i can now log in and load on dx11 , i dont crash on teleports anymore too!!

Thanks :D

just a head up, i had a windows patch cause me all kinds of problems KB3045999! Maybe try and uninstall it. Good luck!

Well it did work for 2 days, but then it went all to hell again, keep constantly getting blackscreens of doom and then computer restarts.... that only happens with the dx11 client and with FF14 only. I changed back to dx9 again, and have 0 issues with it. Unfortunately there is something very wrong with the DX11 client.

Ive investigated a little and a lot of other people are getting problems with it too, interesting tho its the majority having problems are the ones with new Nvidia cards, the 900 series. I have a 970 myself.

I seem to be having the same issue.

The most noticeable place where this happens is when I try to exit my FC house. Exiting into The Goblet from our private Goblet manor, teleporting to The Goblet from inside our manor, or even teleporting elsewhere from inside a house reliably crashes my game while using DX11.

Northern Thanalan has also been very likely to crash for me on load.

Regardless, I switched back to DX9 and I am no longer experiencing these crashes.

I'm having similar crashes, mostly in Western Coerthas, but it does occur in other areas.

GTX 560 here and game freezes, crashes, after log in game loads into a black screen, and game crashes randomly while playing on both DX9 and DX11 versions. This is extremely frustrating as I can no longer actually enjoy playing the game. Fingers crossed SE finds a solution for us very soon. *tosses a gil into a fountain and wishes that after maintenance, on the next log in, a patch/hotfix downloads that corrects the issue*

i have a 560ti and every once in a while it works with dx11, but it is "JUST" every once in a while.

i don't know, but there are "a lot" of users with this or similar problems all over the Internet but no statement from Square(at least i didn't find one).

I'm new to this game "very new" and i like/love the game pretty much so far, but this is making me consider... stopping to play it.

the game under dx9 is slow in comparison to dx11.

so please Square do something. Please

I'm having this problem as well with the dx11 client. I switched back to dx9 for a few days and didn't crash but that's not conclusive. I'm using a GTX980 and an i7 4770K. No overclocks on either. I've been running the game at max settings. I tried changing the settings as indicated in this thread but still crashed.

Am having exactly the same issues as op. Game randomly crashes to desktop seemingly for no reason, happens in dx9 and 11, and whatever graphics settings I have on. Nothing suggested in this post seems to work :( I recently upgraded my graphics card to a GTX 980 before purchasing the game and am wondering if this could be the problem... seems to be a lot of people with 900 series cards having this issue !

I'm having this issue with both Dx9 and Dx11. I uninstalled and re-installed the game. Still persists. Is there any sign that Square has acknowledged this problem?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Makou

Is there any sign that Square has acknowledged this problem?

---

i would like to know that too.


I'm still on the first 30 days you get when you bought the Game, so i really consider stopping and not go and pay Monthly.
Why bring out a feature when it is clearly not ready(dx11/x64)(at least it seems that way), you should have waited with that and "test more".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Makou

I'm having this issue with both Dx9 and Dx11. I uninstalled and re-installed the game. Still persists. Is there any sign that Square has acknowledged this problem?

---

This thread is in the "Being Addressed/Currently Reviewing" portion of the forums, which to me, would indicate that SE are "Currently Reviewing" and preparing to address the problem. Fingers crossed it is resolved soon.

Has anyone found a permanent solution yet? I seem to be crashing a lot, but only with DX11. I am on windows 10. All other games run fine. I even tried running it in admin mode and windows 7 compatibility.

Settings: MAX on everything
Windows 10 64bit
32GB 3200MHz RAM G.Skill
I7-6700k OC to 4.6GHz
SSD 1TB
Nvidia Geforce 980 Driver 358.87

These are the messages I am getting:
Faulting application name: ffxiv_dx11.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x564384cb
Faulting module name: ffxiv_dx11.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x564384cb
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000003e715a
Faulting process id: 0x334
Faulting application start time: 0x01d11ee500645909
Faulting application path: C:\Users\Public\Games\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv_dx11.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Users\Public\Games\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv_dx11.exe
Report Id: a1c3439a-9633-44c6-93de-e5bed7ab8cd9
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Faulting application name: ffxiv_dx11.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x564384cb
Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x000000000dced600
Faulting process id: 0x1450
Faulting application start time: 0x01d11e934f23ba23
Faulting application path: C:\Users\Public\Games\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv_dx11.exe
Faulting module path: unknown
Report Id: f37e7941-bec5-4035-b3ff-66e56b41f4aa
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Faulting application name: ffxiv_dx11.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x564384cb
Faulting module name: nvwgf2umx.dll, version: 10.18.13.5887, time stamp: 0x56375d0f
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000008b714a
Faulting process id: 0x1afc
Faulting application start time: 0x01d11e8bbe7e137b
Faulting application path: C:\Users\Public\Games\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv_dx11.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\nvwgf2umx.dll
Report Id: 528766c5-b5f9-4e78-ac06-f7e5c1abe3b8
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Faulting application name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x56438361
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.10240.16430, time stamp: 0x55c599e1
Exception code: 0xc0000374
Fault offset: 0x000d5c0c
Faulting process id: 0x14c8
Faulting application start time: 0x01d11f04020889c0
Faulting application path: C:\Users\Public\Games\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 88b762e0-a455-49a5-83ef-f8116a9cc877
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Note the references to nvwgf2umx.dll.

May be a legacy or ortherwise leftover nVidia DLL that is still registered (DX10 level driver). Do a clean removal of your drivers and then installing a different version may help.

May also want to try removing the GeForce Experience as well...that has been known to cause issues in the past.

Also running on Windows 10, which isn't officially supported for the game yet. So, there may be a special set of issues specifically related to ntdll.dll, as noted in your error report.

Game crashing for me as well although I'm getting different error codes in Windows log.

The program ffxiv_dx11.exe version 1.0.0.0 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel.
Process ID: 1720
Start Time: 01d11f9f0c4765d9
Termination Time: 391
Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv_dx11.exe
Report Id: 18289090-8b94-11e5-800e-98588a02f139
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

The program ffxiv_dx11.exe version 1.0.0.0 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel.
Process ID: fa8
Start Time: 01d11c14b9c5fbee
Termination Time: 424
Application Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn\game\ffxiv_dx11.exe
Report Id: 7a575593-8820-11e5-8006-98588a02f139
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:


PC Info:

AMD FX8320 CPU
GEFORCE GTX770
TOSHIBA THNSNJ128GCST SSD
8GB DDR3 RAM

Worth pointing out that this only began with patch 3.1, never had this problem prior to new patch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Raist

Note the references to nvwgf2umx.dll.

May be a legacy or ortherwise leftover nVidia DLL that is still registered (DX10 level driver). Do a clean removal of your drivers and then installing a different version may help.

May also want to try removing the GeForce Experience as well...that has been known to cause issues in the past.

Also running on Windows 10, which isn't officially supported for the game yet. So, there may be a special set of issues specifically related to ntdll.dll, as noted in your error report.

---

This is a fresh installation of Windows on a brand new computer. I only have 1 driver installed. I did a custom installation though and I do not have 3d vision or geforce experience.

On another note, I did tried reinstalling the game. Still crashing.

EDIT: I grab Prime95 to stress test my CPU and RAM and went through all the test with no errors. Though, the temps shot up and sat at 90C under 92% load on the CPU. When I play the game, it sits at 42C with 35% load. I also tried the 3DMark 11 test for the GPU and that went through with no errors. I then tried the Windows Mem test and that came back with no errors. I believe it is just that the game does not like Windows 10. Oh well.

I wanted to let everyone know that I managed to get the crashing to stop. I had to lower the AA down to x4. Some reason windows 10 does not like that.

Having similar issue. Game used to only crash/freeze with that awful sound after end cut scene in a dungeon. Upgraded to Heavensward yesterday and game glitches and crashes immediately after character logs into the game. Have to force restart in both instances. Windows 7, DX11, ATI Radeon HD 5700.

Ok, downloaded DX9. Went to FFXIV launcher > Config > DirectX 11 Support > Off. Game loads okay. Don't know about dungeons yet.

Been experiencing game freezes ever since I made it into Void Ark. No other content is freezing. Only when in Void Ark. Other party members mentioned game crashes too.

Also, registration stays behind of visuals. Meaning, content loads very slowly, characters freeze from time to time, and when you run too far, you get attacked and damaged while you cannot see what it is, because it is still loading. Just now, the entire raid was constantly accidentally pulling the boss in Void Ark, because they could not see the boss, because it was still loading.

Players on PC, PS3, and PS4 mentioned similar problems.

I would like to update that at least for me, I resolved the issue. It turns out that the settings the motherboard was using to OC the PCI Exress bus when I was OC the CPU was causing the graphic card to occasionally have problems.

After updating the BIOS and just leaving things at their original clock speeds, all the problems went away.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PaladinTasq

A possible resolution has been found to address this particular issue. I recently found a way to reproduce the error and it was related to how the game client renders some textures. Upon rendering some high-quality textures the game is doing something silly with the GPU memory, causing a memory segmentation fault which triggers an exception error identical to mine.

A lot of users out there are thinking it is due to their system memory, but it is most likely caused by their GPU's memory. This is not an issue with the memory modules built on the GPU (Which is also why no other games are affected), but due to poor programming on SE's part.

After figuring this issue out and changing three settings, I can no longer reproduce the crash. So, I am sharing my experience here to try and help others that may be having a similar issue, as this was not a "common sense" fix for the most part.

If the issue does come back, I will update this thread so SE can further investigate.

Settings to modify:
- Set Edge Smooth (Anti-Aliasing) to OFF.
- Set Texture Filtering to TRILINEAR
- Set Anisotropic to 4x

This has seemed to correct this issue for me while still allowing to have the rest of my settings on high.

If you are having similar issues try modifying those entries and see if it does not correct the issue for you.

The only issue is I set other games to much higher settings than this with no lag, 60fps and zero issues at 1080p. However, this particular game has issues with high texture details. I hope they look into this issue so I can crank the settings back up, like in every other game I play.

---

I had crashing too. I have Windows 10 and a Nvidia GTX 980. This worked for me.

Hello,

I began running FFXIV on a new PC last month and had consistent crashes which would automatically restart my computer. I'd tried everything under the sun, all scalebacks in settings, dx9, dx11, clean installs, you name it.

Nvidia GTX 960, plenty o' RAM, Windows 10, etc....

The ONLY thing I've done which gives me stability *knock on wood* is swapping the resolution in game (I play on borderless windowed mode) to 1280x720 from the native 1980x1060. Came to post this on the off-chance it helps someone else.

Prior to this, I'd have the game crash (restart PC!) while loading zones/exiting instances regularly, then restart the PC when I tried to log back in several times, then the launcher would do this weird thing where it acted like I was running the game for the first time (re-enter SE account information, etc) - then the overlay UI font would look pixelated and strange, and I could play without crashes. A new Nvidia driver this week fixed the font, but brought the crashes back - until I went to 1280x720 resolution.