[experimental MILESTONE 6 [6.9.1] - 19 SEP 2025] freeze to black screen, VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (0x116)

[squeezechart]

I've got another black screen related to nvlddmkm.sys; no bug report has been created despite showing 100% complete.

I was playing in cheat mode and the crash apperared after finishing the cleaner ambush site. Savegame and log attached

user_tag_25_cleaner_convoy_ambush_manual_save-5.json

output.log.1

Edited September 19, 2025 by squeezechart

[Kouki]

On 9/19/2025 at 3:35 PM, squeezechart said:

I've got another black screen related to nvlddmkm.sys; no bug report has been created despite showing 100% complete.

I was playing in cheat mode and the crash apperared after finishing the cleaner ambush site. Savegame and log attached

user_tag_25_cleaner_convoy_ambush_manual_save-5.json 2.63 MB · 1 download

output.log.1 10 MB · 0 downloads

Hello there, I made a reply on the previous post you've made regarding the same hard crash. We'll need a bunch of logs from you as the one the game writes does not include much hardware information. 

Minidumps -  This is usually in C:\Windows\Minidump, but you can also type in %systemroot% in the start menu's search box and it will open your Window's directory, there should be a folder named Minidump there, which should contain the logs (should be a .dmp file) for your most recent hard crashes.

Event Viewer Logs - Type in "Event Viewer" in your start menu's search box (or you can windows + r key then type  "eventvwr.msc", then Expand Windows Logs -> click on Application, then right click -> Filter Current Log -> Tick the 'Critical' check box and click OK. It should filter it out to only the important errors. On the right hand side of the Event Viewer window, click on Save Filtered Log File As.., then upload the .evtx file here so we can take a look.

[squeezechart]

Hi there, I have checked my system and there are no minidumps. The Event Viewer shows entries in application, here's what I've got:

restarts.evtx

Edited September 22, 2025 by squeezechart

[Chris]

19 hours ago, squeezechart said:

Hi there, I have checked my system and there are no minidumps. The Event Viewer shows entries in application, here's what I've got:

restarts.evtx 68 kB · 1 download

Thanks. This error code appears to mean that the graphic card is timing out, which isn't an issue we've seen with other users. It might sound like a basic solution, but I'd try updating your graphics card drivers and see if that helps?

Could you also load up dxdiag (just type it into the Run field in the start menu) and export your system specs?

[squeezechart]

Here you go. I updated the NVIDIA driver already to version 580.97 DCH and Win 11 has Auto HDR enabled

DxDiag.txt

Edited September 23, 2025 by squeezechart

[Chris]

On 9/23/2025 at 11:21 AM, squeezechart said:

Here you go. I updated the NVIDIA driver already to version 580.97 DCH and Win 11 has Auto HDR enabled

DxDiag.txt 148.89 kB · 1 download

And you're still experiencing crashes?

[Chris]

On 9/23/2025 at 11:21 AM, squeezechart said:

Here you go. I updated the NVIDIA driver already to version 580.97 DCH and Win 11 has Auto HDR enabled

DxDiag.txt 148.89 kB · 1 download

So our tech director took a look at this and this was his feedback (mixed in with a few generic recommendations). Just to be sure, you previously played X2 on the same machine and didn't suffer these problems before Milestone 6?

 

Observations:
When TDR tried to recover the GPU/driver, an allocation failed (system/VRAM/pagefile resource exhaustion is a strong candidate)

Disk C: Only 9.4 GB free of ~975 GB. Pagefile heavily used (25.6 GB in use).
→ Critically low free space + large pagefile usage = classic setup for STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES.

HAGS (Hardware‑Accelerated GPU Scheduling): Enabled for NVIDIA; Intel reports “AlwaysOff”.
→ Mixed HAGS state across hybrid adapters is a known source of instability on some systems.

What might be failing?

Resource exhaustion during or right after a TDR attempt

The consistent 0xC000009A strongly implicates insufficient system resources (pagefile/commit, kernel paged pool, or VRAM budget) while the graphics stack was trying to recover.

The 9.4 GB free on C: The OS can’t grow the pagefile, write dumps, or satisfy DXGI paging pressure → recovery failure → BSOD 0x116.

Hybrid graphics + HDR + mixed HAGS state = fragile path

The game likely renders on the NVIDIA dGPU but presents through the Intel iGPU. With HDR enabled, composition uses expensive swapchains and sometimes Multi‑Plane Overlay paths.

HAGS on NVIDIA + “AlwaysOff” on Intel can yield driver timing mismatches that surface as TDRs on some systems.

VRAM pressure at 4K

6 GB VRAM + 4K + HDR + modern post‑FX can exceed budgets; when DXGI eviction/commit can’t find room (and the pagefile can’t back it), allocations fail → 0xC000009A.

Overlay hooks (NVIDIA overlay, Broadcast, Discord, Steam, RivaTuner, etc.) can worsen stability on hybrid/HDR paths.

Potential fixes:

• Increase free disk space to about 40-60gb.
• Try disabling HDR temporarily (Settings → System → Display → HDR → off
• Disable HAGS (Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Default graphics settings → toggle Hardware‑accelerated GPU scheduling Off → reboot)
• Apparently reported on MSHybrid laptops as a cause of bsod
• Force the game to run on the Nvidia dGPU
• Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Add Xenonauts2.exe → Options → High performance (NVIDIA GPU).
• In NVIDIA Control Panel → Manage 3D settings → Program Settings → add Xenonauts2 → High‑performance NVIDIA processor.
• Disable overlays & captures/filters. (GeForce experience game overlay off, steam overlay, discord overlay off
• Try forcing DirectX 11 on Unity -force-d3d11 as a commandline

[squeezechart]

yeah I had no problems until milestone 6.

Thank you for the insights and recommendations - I will try the fixes.