Freezing Issues, though audio remains functional

[Votraftur]

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

Please try the following:
- Please try switching between Fullscreen and Borderless Windowed modes to see if it helps with the issue.
- Please try adjusting/lowering the resolution.
- Please try running the game as an administrator.
- Perform a clean boot by opening the task manager and select the 'Start up' Tab. Disable everything.
- Please be sure to disable or remove any overlays (Discord, Steam, NVIDIA etc.) as they may interfere with startup.
- Make sure that the Windows OS is fully updated.
- Reinstall game

- If you have additional peripherals attached to your system, please try disconnecting them until only the necessary components are attached (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) for testing purposes.

When the issue occurs, are you able to close FINAL FANTASY XIV without causing your system to freeze?

Thank you once again for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!

[Sympatheia]

Please note that I am incapable of triggering the freezing at will.
In the first place, I don't know the exact trigger, and the problem occurs arbitrarily, with no particular pattern that I'm aware of.
Rather, if I were aware of the exact cause, I wouldn't be so lost.
I can say that disabling Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator appears to have substantially lowered the frequency at which the freezing occurs, allowing me to play for multiple hours seemingly without issue. I have still experienced the freezing subsequently, per the circumstances described in my first post.

- Please try switching between Fullscreen and Borderless Windowed modes to see if it helps with the issue.
- Please try adjusting/lowering the resolution.
- Please try running the game as an administrator.
- Perform a clean boot by opening the task manager and select the 'Start up' Tab. Disable everything.
- Please be sure to disable or remove any overlays (Discord, Steam, NVIDIA etc.) as they may interfere with startup.
- Make sure that the Windows OS is fully updated.
- Reinstall game

- If you have additional peripherals attached to your system, please try disconnecting them until only the necessary components are attached (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) for testing purposes.

When the issue occurs, are you able to close FINAL FANTASY XIV without causing your system to freeze?

To address your questions:

- Please try switching between Fullscreen and Borderless Windowed modes to see if it helps with the issue.
Doesn't appear to affect anything at present time.

- Please try adjusting/lowering the resolution.
Already reduced resolution substantially, prior to deactivating the Enumerator. Doesn't appear to have affected anything.

- Please try running the game as an administrator.
I've been running the game as administrator since prior to this error cropping up.

- Perform a clean boot by opening the task manager and select the 'Start up' Tab. Disable everything.
Tested this out for an hour. Didn't actually affect anything noticeable.

- Please be sure to disable or remove any overlays (Discord, Steam, NVIDIA etc.) as they may interfere with startup.
I run the game without any overlays directly overlapping with FFXIV, while Discord is full-screened, occupying the opposite screen of my two screens.

- Make sure that the Windows OS is fully updated.
As noted in my first post, I've already done this.

- Reinstall game
At present time, full reinstall seems like a final resort, given that I'm now able to play for multiple hours without issue.

- If you have additional peripherals attached to your system, please try disconnecting them until only the necessary components are attached (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) for testing purposes.
I have a PS5 DualSense Controller and a mouse, both connected via Bluetooth. I don't know how to play the game without these. Disconnecting with everything else and letting the game idle for an hour produces no particular effect.

When the issue occurs, are you able to close FINAL FANTASY XIV without causing your system to freeze?
The screen becomes entirely unresponsive, so closing FFXIV is impossible.

This looks very suspicious. A driver from 2014? When i google for "vbaudio_cable64_win7.sys" then i get many hits with BSOD problems. :/
Which motherboard do you have?

VBAudio is a freeware utility that creates virtual audio I/O channels. I use it for streaming purposes.
My motherboard is ASUS G21CX.