FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn has stopped working.

[HarroSIN]

I just resubscribed since the initial free weekend back when ARR first launched. I never had a problem until after updating the game tonight. The login client works fine, but upon launching the game the application hangs for about 4 to 5 seconds and throws up the generic Windows exception "... this program has stopped working." The wizard doesn't offer any solutions either.

The only change I've made to my PC recently would be installing the latest AMD graphic driver set which was released last night (Catalyst 13.12). Every other computer game runs fine since the update. If this is a known issue with 13.12 then please let me know; I'd rather not rollback my drivers for no reason. Here's the log from the sysinfo app:

-=-=-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-=-=-

SYSTEM_OS Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130828-1532)
SYSTEM_CPU AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor (8 CPUs), ~4.4GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 8 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 4
SYSTEM_BIOS BIOS Date: 10/20/10 09:47:36 Ver: 08.00.10
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 16347.504MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 2047.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 32693.188MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 1838.917GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 1527.280GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE P:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 15.999GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 15.809GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE S:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 7.999GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 1.805GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 11
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x679A)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 3046.023 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 1049.914 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Internal DAC(400MHz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 8.17.0010.1247
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 12/6/2013 5:01:52 PM
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND Monitor Speakers (AMD High Definition Audio Device)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {AFDF52AE-B7E2-4807-A9FD-4C3E1B224299}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME AtihdW76.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 7.12.0000.7717
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 9/24/2013 9:53:50 AM
SYSTEM_SOUND Speakers (Logitech USB Headset)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {FE47C14B-7A16-4628-B5FD-BAB5CF513C5D}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME USBAUDIO.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.01.7601.18208
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 7/12/2013 5:40:58 AM
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B60-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B61-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 128 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {8C6331F0-1E68-11E3-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Microsoft Hardware USB Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 1 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 1024 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {8C67ECE0-1E68-11E3-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Micrt
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {8C6813F0-1E68-11E3-8003444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Micr￸
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 1280 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {8C699A90-1E68-11E3-8004444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Micrﶓ
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {8C69C1A0-1E68-11E3-8005444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Micrȁ
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 256 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {8C69C1A0-1E68-11E3-8006444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Logitech USB Headset
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 8 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {84515CF0-2546-11E3-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Controller (Afterglow Gamepad for Xbox 360)
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 10 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 1

Here's the Windows event log for more information:

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 12/20/2013 8:46:22 PM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: FREYA
Description:
Faulting application name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x52b158ac
Faulting module name: ffxiv.exe, version: 1.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x52b158ac
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00989e26
Faulting process id: 0x460
Faulting application start time: 0x01cefdee722e04f9
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
Report Id: b19f6093-69e1-11e3-9468-14dae9daa06b

[Leoheart]

Sorry to hear.
My friend had a similar problem, I believe she just reinstalled the game~

[HarroSIN]

I'm re-installing the game right now, and downloading ten gigabytes of resources once again. I'll update the thread when I try to launch the game next, but I'm not holding out much hope.

[HarroSIN]

Re-installed the game last night. Still crashes upon login. I deleted the configuration files, temporary files and registry entries beforehand. Still nothing. I even rolled back my AMD drivers all the way to September. Nothing works. This is not a problem with my system, as every other game (and I have 100+ computer games installed) works without a hitch. This is a problem with FF14: ARR. I opened a ticket with support; God knows if they'll ever answer or not since I didn't even receive an auto-reply yet and it's been close to twelve hours.

[HarroSIN]

I've managed to solve the problem without re-installing Windows as many other threads suggested: that's a bit ridiculous.

The problem is that the DirectX 9.0c redistributable is required to run the game... which is NOT included with the FFXIV: ARR installer and is NOT compatible with either Windows 7 (SP1 w/ platform update as of a recent Windows Update) and Windows 8.1. I had to manually extract the runtime package and paste the library files into the appropriate folders.

The reason this is an obscure problem is because most users will install the DX9 runtime (through computer game shared files, video card drivers, etc) before attempting to run FF14: ARR. Because the latest AMD CCC packages no longer depend on this runtime, I never had it installed.

Square-Enix, please consider including the DX9 runtime with your installer or at least mention somewhere that this deprecated package is required.

[Furlamseere]

It seems that there have not been any further posts about this concern being an ongoing issue. Because of this, we are considering it to be resolved. If this does continue to be a concern, please create another thread to further discuss resolutions or contact the Support Center at support.na.square-enix.com for assistance.

- Furlamseere