DPC Watchdog Violation and After Effects

[henume]

I’m in the process of migrating from Mac to PC for video editing.  I’ve just built a new PC which seems to be running fine EXCEPT that the program I use most (After Effects) crashes constantly.  (So -- it's not really fine at all!) Sometimes the program will open and work for a few seconds, sometimes it crashes right at startup.  I always get a blue screen of death (BSoD) with a DPC Watchdog Violation error.

I have spent the past week reading posts about how to fix the error, and have done everything in the following list, but the problem persists:

• Updated all my drivers
• Done all Windows 10 updates
• Flashed my BIOS to latest release
• Uninstalled and reinstalled After Effects
• Installed After Effects 2017 (vs 2018) – same crashes
• Booted my computer in safe mode (actually got worse and ALL Adobe CC programs crashed on startup)
• Confirmed (to the best of my ability) that all hardware is installed and running properly with the latest drivers

Needless to say, I’m frustrated that I’ve spent at least 20 hours trying to find the root of this problem and its still eluding me.  So…I thought I’d turn to the community for some help. 

Here is my system build:

CPU - Intel - Core i9-7900X 3.3GHz 10-Core Processor
Motherboard - MSI - X299 SLI PLUS ATX LGA2066 Motherboard
Memory - Kingston - HyperX Predator 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory

Storage - Samsung 970 Pro 1.0 TBM.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Storage - Seagate - BarraCuda Pro 10TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card - MSI - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GAMING X 8G Video Card

OS – Windows 10

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

[PGZ@Mobibase]

Hi, I had a similar problem with a brand new monster machine.

Turns out ALL my 128 GB RAM (8x16GB) were damaged even though brand new.

try a search for ram test utility to run at boot (can take up to 12 hours)

hope it helps

[henume]

Thanks PGZ.  128 GB of RAM? That is a monster machine!  I suspected RAM, it does show up in my system and BIOS and wasn't aware of a RAM test utility.  I'll search and try it.  Much appreciated!

[PGZ@Mobibase]

found it :

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

that's the one i used

good luck

[henume]

Thanks PGZ.  I ran both Windows Memory Diagnostic and Memtest86V7.5 and both tests reported no errors. While I'm glad my RAM is working, I do wish that had solve my problem like it did yours.  Much appreciated.

[PGZ@Mobibase]

sorry but you probably did not test the right way.

There are usually 2 ways to test : quick and in-depth.

you need to perform the whole in depth testing procedure which takes a loooot of time....

for your system, might take up to 6 or more hours.

hope it helps

[henume]

Thanks PGZ.  I don't see those options in memtest86 (maybe because I'm using the free version vs. paying $45?)  The only "Available Options" I see are:

- Post Image Verification

- Extend Partition (NFTS only)

- Boot Sector (grayed out)

- Beep on Completion

In the first test I only ran "Post Image Verification."  Any advice?

[PGZ@Mobibase]

Hi,

try to do the 4 passes untill the end

Running Memory Tests

On the MemTest86 menu, click on Config. Here you'll see lots of information about your CPU and memory. Click on Start Test to begin the memory test.

You'll see two progress bars and several changing letters and numbers in the top-right part of the MemTest86 screen. Don't worry about all the technical information—you don't need to know exactly what it all means.

The Test bar indicates how complete the current memory test is. The Pass bar indicates how complete the entire set of tests is. When all 10 memory tests are complete then 1 pass has completed.

Once one pass has completed without error, the "Pass complete, no errors, press Esc to exit" message will appear. At this point you can press Esc to stop MemTest86 and reboot your computer. By default, MemTest86 will make 4 passes unless you force it to stop.

[henume]

Thanks for the response.  Unfortunately I don't see any of those options in the free version I've downloaded.  Did you buy the Pro edition for $45?

[P.M.B]

If it were your RAM wouldn't more than just AE be effected?

[P.M.B]

What peripherals do you have plugged into the system?  Multiple moniotrs? USB hubs? External drives?  Etc....

Try disonnecting everything except a single monitor keyboard & mouse.

Test...

Then start plugging stuff back in...

Run disk checks?

Everything online seems to indicate hardware compatibility.

The confusing part is why it only happens with AE.

[henume]

Thanks Gutterfish.  I only have one monitor, an external CD and an a USB hub.  As you said, odd that only AE would be affected, but I removed the other peripherals and it didn't make any difference.  All other software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier, Media Encoder, Animate) run fine.  I've run disc checks, memory tests, everything I can think of. 

I've checked all my AE Preference settings and (and check them against those on my Mac which runs perfectly) and everything is the same (or -- as "same" as they can be between a Mac and PC).

I know many of the online forums point to hardware problems, but since all the other Adobe programs run fine and only AE crashes, I'm beginning to suspect some incompatibility between AE and  Windows 10, or even some configuration problem with AE on my machine.

This link on an Adobe form has a post from and Adobe AE Senior Quality Engineer that points to an font-extension plug-in that is causing the problem.

Bug: After Effects 15.1.1 crashes when opening or saving a project on Windows 10 Enterprise – Adobe ...

Unfortunately that wasn't the cause of my problem so the search continues. 

I appreciate your help.

[Kyle Hamrick]

There has to be something about your specific configuration that's causing the problem. You've never successfully used AE on this machine, is that accurate? I would contact Adobe support directly, and have them help solve.

[henume]

Hi Kyle -- yes, that's correct.  It's a brand new build and everything seems to be working EXCEPT After Effects.  I've never been able to get AE to run on this machine.  I'll take your advice and contact Adobe Support directly.    Thanks.

[Kevin-Monahan]

henume,

What did support end up doing for you? Let us know.

Thanks,

Kevin

[henume]

Thanks Kevin.  I was on the phone with Adobe Support for about an hour today.  The tech took control of my computer remotely, confirmed what I had experienced, and even found some new interesting information.  For instance:

- I can open Premiere, import a video and work with it no problem.

- If I import the exact same video into AE, AE will crash every time (and usually crash the whole system).

- If I export a file out of Premiere and pull that file into AE, AE will crash (doesn't seem to matter what format or codec is used)

- Interestingly, if I pull some "stock" video that is downloaded with AE into a new project, AE doesn't crash (figure that one out!)

The tech used a cleaner and removed AE completely and did a fresh install, but got the same results.  After about an hour he decided to escalate it to Senior Support.

I'm supposed to hear back in 24 to 48 hours (but didn't ask if that included weekends).  I'll post the results of that call once I have it.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Do let us know what transpires. Correct, we are closed on weekend. Sorry about that.

Regards,
Kevin

[Gembrain]

Well I'm here a couple of years later! What was the result with Adobe and AE please....?

Might help with my problems - Thanks 🙂

[P.M.B]

Maybe something related to your AE preferences?  RAM allocation?  Hardware acceleration? etc....?

[PGZ@Mobibase]

Gutterfish (à henume) il y a 5 minutes

If it were your RAM wouldn't more than just AE be effected?

good point. If you

I remember using multiple test software (one year ago) so i may be mixing things up, sorry for that.

must be this one then: http://www.memtest.org/

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

[henume]

Sorry for the delay in responding.  I was able to get the full memtest86 to run today (it took six hours and ten minutes) but there were no errors and everything looked good.  Thanks. 

[NiWidow]

I have encountered the same. I think the i9 7900x fails when running 20 threads. If you right click AE and select assignment, shut down half the threads.. voila your PC will stop crashing..