Video Crash (iGPU)

[Gradius2]

Hi folks,

I'd build a new PC now (12700K). And so far I have NO GPU, so I'm using iGPU just fine... HOWEVER...

Whatever I run the server on background and do dual box (all on same PC of course), after 15 minutes or more, I get iGPU crash for NO reason.

I know FFXI is pretty light on graphics, so it shouldn't happen. I even can run PS3 emu w/o any issues (much graphic demanding).

I'm under win11 fully updated, all drivers also fully updated, client, server, everything up-to-date.

Someone's else is getting the same issues? Any hint to fix it?

Thanks

[Gradius2]

Found out today... even if I'm playing as single/mono (one window) it still can crash.

[zach2good]

To confirm, what is crashing? The client or the server? Are you using windower or ashita? XI uses directx 8 which is notoriously bad at dealing with anything but the most basic of GPU setups (laptop and integrated GPU problems are very common)

[Gradius2]

Hi. Just the iGPU crash (I confirmed that on windows log). Client and Server keep working, but since it crash the player (me), I'm forced to shutdown client/server thereafter too. I'm on brand new desktop. Yep, looks like directx 8 sucks.

I'm using windower.

[RAIST5150]

Microsoft has been wrangling with older directx crash issues off and on for a while now. There was a mention of an update addressing issues with certain graphics cards a month or so back... but as usual, they aren't giving specifics on that stuff.

Have you tried using one of the directx wrappers? Think Atom0s takes it to DX9, DGVoodoo can take to 11 or 12?

[Gradius2]

Good idea. I'll give a try. Thanks.

[Gradius2]

Just an update...

I tried 2 different directx wrappers, they indeed help, it can last longer now, but it still crash depending on situation, for e.g. if I'm on a CS with one box, and then start CS with another box... it can crash one box, or both.

It takes awhile now, before was very easy to crash. But still, isn't perfect. I recall with I had GTX 1070TI, I didn't have any crash, at least, not that I recall.

[WinterSolstice8]

are you using any high resolution texture mods or just vanilla?

[Gradius2]

Hi. Nothing at all, just the default stuff.

[WinterSolstice8]

When you had a dedicated GPU it also had (relatively) a ton of dedicated VRAM. an iGPU probably doesn't have a lot though I know you can increase it in BIOS settings sometimes. It's possible that you dont have enough OR the dgvoodoo2 setting for VRAM is low
(this is the lowest setting and probably won't work well.)

Personally, i dont have any hardware with just an iGPU right now so I couldn't test if I wanted to. I would recommend checking out the Ashita and Windower discords for help on that subject, there's a lot more people in there who can help you.

[Gradius2]

I setup as 128MB (max is 160) on BIOS. I'm on 12700K. 32GB RAM. iGPU is the last UHD 770 (supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5 and OpenCL 3.0). Even ps3 emulator works fine, is just this old ffxi using crappy directx 8.1

[Gradius2]

Looking around, I found this:
FFXI use's the Direct X API, each version is specific and in this case it's 8.1. Microsoft stopped releasing binaries for DX8 back with Windows XP and instead DX9 emulates DX8 via a wrapper library, and on modern systems DX11 is emulating DX9, which is emulating DX8. This is why FFXI can act screwy and unstable for some people.

Source:
https://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/48549/why-tf-do-i-need-directx-81/

[Gradius2]

I'll try dgVoodoo too, btw last version is 2.79.2

[SirGouki]

A long time ago I had this same problem with FFXI and nVidia optimus (optimus decides whether or not an application needs the dGPU based on some weird requirements, DX version being one of them, and will route non-conforming apps to the iGPU instead... and FFXI running on DX8 is enough for this to happen). The problem lies in the emulation of native DX9+'s emulation of DX8 and it not properly flushing stuff (for example, someone who experiences a lot of spell casting would crash faster than someone who was playing WAR and not engaging mages at the time I last had to deal with this).

The fix was to setup DGVoodoo to emulate a real GPU, give it as much RAM as I could, and set the DX version to a higher version. With DGVoodoo, it doesn't matter what your iGPU's RAM limit is, if you go over it Windows should be smart enough to use your regular ram as VRAM (which is exactly how most iGPUs work anyway, the only ones I've read about having actual dedicated VRAM is the newer Ryzen APUs. For intel, when you're setting the VRAM alloted in bios, its the same thing as setting a Raspberry Pi's VRAM... you're assigning your system RAM to be reserved by the iGPU as just VRAM).

[Gradius2]

For real, after 10 years of this game, and seeing it still had future, they should had upgraded to DX9. There're a lot glitches on crystals CSes and the likes, and that happened to everybody. Those glitches are still there, and it will be there forever. I recall when doing CoP missions back in 2003 or 2004, it was really hard back then, so you needed a good party for sure. They all (other members) had those glitches too, so, different machines, gpus, etc. They never fixed it, never will, even after over 20 years. When they abandon PS2 support they should had upgraded to DX9, but they went too greedy, didn't wanted to spend a little on graphics fixes/update. It would revamped the game quite a bit for sure (yes, graphics can do great changes, specially if the story is already good).

Heck, you can even see them on many ffxi yt videos too.

[RAIST5150]

Been wrangling with the return of the old DirectX 9/12 API memory leak issues for a while now... they seem to have come back with a vengeance after the October Win10 21H2 update push on my old Asus laptop.

For reference, it is a ROG G75VX, circa 2012/2013 with 16GB CL9 RAM, a 3GB DDR5 GTX 670mx GPU
(iGPU disabled on the i7 3630 quad CPU).

Basically, it gobbles up memory over time and can eventually lead to crash to desktop. With certain job and trust combos, it can ramp up pretty quick and cause a crash within just a couple hours (probly all the effects firing from spells, abilities, WS chains, magic bursts...).

Seems to be worst with DX12 API, a bit better wrapping to DX9 API... but can still escalate quickly under certain conditions.

So far, this setup has been the most stable for me, running my most troublesome job/trust combos for 24+ hours while keeping memory usage within the 400-500MB range (other setups would crash not long after it ramped up past 750MB via DX9, 840MB via DX12_11 feature set):

Sept. 2022 release of DGVoodo2 (2.79.3)

virtual 3D card driver
(not one of the branded ones, the generic one)

Memory set to my GPU's actual RAM
(manually edited the config file b/c wasn't in droplist)

DirectX 11 API at DX11 feature level
(even though my GPU actually supports DX12_11)

So far, everything else is pretty bland... AA and such at application control. The only "advanced" tweak I have toggled on has been the fast writes to memory.

[Gradius2]

About update, I guess you mean 22H2 ?

I still didn't got that update so far (win11 22h2).

[SirGouki]

Note: if this gets duplicated, its because I sent a reply as email first and it looks like it didn't work.

For reference: those of us that are "stuck" in what ever version get those updates to the version we're on, in my case it was 21H1 cause for whatever reason, windows 10 will NOT update to 21H2 or 22H2 even though there's literally no reason why my computer shouldn't be able to get that version. Those updates go out to the currently supported versions and show as "Security update for Windows 10 version 2XHX" based on that. It would be the same update, though.

[Gradius2]

FYI, I'm on win11 (as I said on my last reply).