Windows 10 - Core isolation: Fixed a game that was crashing.

[b1k3rdude]

So a game that I play called The Darkmod (its free and open-source) was consistently crashing when loading a level.

• OS - Win10 22H2
• CPU - Amd 5900x
• GPU - RTX 4080
• RAM - DDR4-3733 (4x8GB CL17)
• SSD - Sabrent Rocket4 plus 2TB

I then went through the following tests -

• Memtestx86 from USB stick for 2hrs, no issue/s found.
• Windows 10 built-in memory test, no issue/s found.
• did a full virus scan of the PC, no issue/s found.
• Wiped the machine and did a fresh install of Windows 10, game crashes
• Wiped the machine and did a fresh install of Windows 11, game does NOT crash

Replicated the steps to reproduce the crash, on another machine -

• OS - Win11 23H2
• CPU - Intel i5-4430
• GPU - GT 730
• RAM - DDR3-1333 (4GB)
• SSD - Samsung 850 Evo 512gb
• Game does NOT crash on this machine.

So then on the main PC (Amd) I had just created another user account, but before I logged into that user account something made me think to look into the security section of Windows 10 settings. Where upon I enabled core isolation and rebooted, and surprisingly turning that features ON, prevented the game from crashing.

A colleague suggested that I might have a root-kit virus or some other malicious software, but response to that was -

• I was getting the crash after wiping the SSD (Sabrent 2TB) and doing a fresh install of win10.
• the game is very niche(not that many people play it).
• why would said virus/malicious software only effect this one game and NO other programs on the computer.

The only thing/s that are of import right now are -

• Core isolation has to be enabled to stop the game crashing on Win10 22H2 on my Amd based pc.
• Core isolation does NOT need to be enabled on Win11 on either the Amd or Intel machine. The game does NOT crash on either, under that OS.

So what the hell is going on that Core isolation is somehow stopping the game from crashing under Win10?

[OddOod]

TBH, this should be brought up on their forums, but looking at that game, it's using an engine from '04, it's possible that it's losing its mind at how many cores there are. I ran into this with Call of Juarez and had to use Process Lasso to silo it to just two cores on the same CCD on my 5950X

[b1k3rdude]

45 minutes ago, OddOod said:

TBH, this should be brought up on their forums, but looking at that game, it's using an engine from '04, it's possible that it's losing its mind at how many cores there are. I ran into this with Call of Juarez and had to use Process Lasso to silo it to just two cores on the same CCD on my 5950X

Welp, its generic enough to be a windows issue, that and as we all know Win10 is infamous for doing inexplicable crap. That and there are way more eyeballs on this forum compared to the tiny amount the tdm forum. And your answer exemplifies that, I've never played CoJ nor had a heard of a utility called 'Process Lasso', which I will obviously try.

And btw aware that IDtech4 went open source a long while back, its been updated multiple times since then.

[OddOod]

14 hours ago, b1k3rdude said:

Welp, its generic enough to be a windows issue, that and as we all know Win10 is infamous for doing inexplicable crap. That and there are way more eyeballs on this forum compared to the tiny amount the tdm forum. And your answer exemplifies that, I've never played CoJ nor had a heard of a utility called 'Process Lasso', which I will obviously try.

And btw aware that IDtech4 went open source a long while back, its been updated multiple times since then.

Fair on all counts, except the W10 doing inexplicable things. I've honestly been amazed at how stable and effective W10 has been since the end of W7 support. I've had various hardware failures, but the OS has been rock solid for me