Warframe Giving Gray And Black Screens

[Fluttershy93]

Hello, as mentioned in my support ticket with the id of 398702

I'm having a severe problem with Warframe and how it affects my computer since today. Whenever i play the game it will randomly freeze, yielding me a gray or black screen. I can hear the background sound for a few seconds before it breaks and just hums. As you can see here:

This has happened before in the past, but not as severe as this, when it happens now even my keyboard, screen and mouse won't respond after a reboot. This freeze is a hard freeze, rendering everything unresponsive, meaning pulling the plug, or force rebooting is the only way out. If the game itself froze it wouldn't be a problem, but it gives me a gray/black screen with a few lines here and there on it as seen above. Though in the picture itself it is shown as blue, though it is either gray or black when it happens.

 

My specs are

Processor: Intel core i5-4670 CPU 3.40 GHz 
RAM: 16 GB 
64-bit system
GPU: AMD Radeon R9 200

[Faeduin]

I have this same problem occasionally and have tried everything I can think of to remedy it, including 3 RMA's of my card (GTX 980, so not just AMD related) unfortunately DE support was not much help when I tried contacting them about it, worth mentioning it only occurs in Warframe, of course.

 

 At first glance this screams a voltage issue, though in my case it isn't, but you might try to either underclock your gpu or increase it's voltage.

 

 Though this happens pretty randomly for me, I've noticed I can reproduce it pretty well in the Tyl Regor fight on Titania, Uranus when he shatters the glass for the first time. This leads me to believe it may be PhysX (/whatever variant AMD uses) related, do you notice increased crashing in certain areas?

 

 Should add that I know for a fact that this crash is due to a TDR (Time out Detection and Recovery) process that Window's uses that ends up clogging up your driver and forcing a BSoD, though rarely actually giving one and instead results in a hard hang like you and I experience.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Kedai

[Fluttershy93]

I have this same problem occasionally and have tried everything I can think of to remedy it, including 3 RMA's of my card (GTX 980, so not just AMD related) unfortunately DE support was not much help when I tried contacting them about it, worth mentioning it only occurs in Warframe, of course.

 

 At first glance this screams a voltage issue, though in my case it isn't, but you might try to either underclock your gpu or increase it's voltage.

 

 Though this happens pretty randomly for me, I've noticed I can reproduce it pretty well in the Tyl Regor fight on Titania, Uranus when he shatters the glass for the first time. This leads me to believe it may be PhysX (/whatever variant AMD uses) related, do you notice increased crashing in certain areas?

 

 Should add that I know for a fact that this crash is due to a TDR (Time out Detection and Recovery) process that Window's uses that ends up clogging up your driver and forcing a BSoD, though rarely actually giving one and instead results in a hard hang like you and I experience.

Even done a few benchmarks and ran other graphic heavy games, this ONLY happens with Warframe, did recently tick off 64 bit mode, though i am more or less too scared to even run the game now.

Edit: Big surprise, it froze again even after changing settings around and so forth, ticking off 64 bit did nothing either. Last time this happened it just magically fixed itself, how i have no idea. But this problem randomly started yesterday out of nowhere, haven't had it for years. And considering it is ONLY Warframe there must be something they can do.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Fluttershy93

[Faeduin]

Even done a few benchmarks and ran other graphic heavy games, this ONLY happens with Warframe, did recently tick off 64 bit mode, though i am more or less too scared to even run the game now.

Edit: Big surprise, it froze again even after changing settings around and so forth, ticking off 64 bit did nothing either. Last time this happened it just magically fixed itself, how i have no idea. But this problem randomly started yesterday out of nowhere, haven't had it for years. And considering it is ONLY Warframe there must be something they can do.

 

 Same deal for myself, multiple stress tests (some for hours) and no issues in other games much more demanding. Support gave me the spiel of trying every combination of graphic setting imaginable even though I mentioned in my original ticket I had already done so to no success. It got to the point where I just gave up on them from the standard IT replies. The biggest issue because of these freezes was that they were not producing an actual BSoD, so no error logs to try and deduce the problem with, nor was it showing up in Warframe's EE.logs (which support really couldn't wrap it's head around) or even the Windows Event Viewer logs. Lately though when I do crash I am getting the TDR BSoD pointing to nvlddmkm.sys, however no amount of clean driver installs or even different GPU's seems to fix it.

 

 I thought it might be a Nvidia only problem but if you are running AMD and getting what seems to be the same exact symptoms...

 

 I hope you have better luck though, perhaps I just got someone having a bad day concerning the support. If you do make any progress I'd love to hear about it though and I'll make sure to let you know if I figure anything out as well, though it's been months without any sort of progress on my end.

[Fluttershy93]

 Same deal for myself, multiple stress tests (some for hours) and no issues in other games much more demanding. Support gave me the spiel of trying every combination of graphic setting imaginable even though I mentioned in my original ticket I had already done so to no success. It got to the point where I just gave up on them from the standard IT replies. The biggest issue because of these freezes was that they were not producing an actual BSoD, so no error logs to try and deduce the problem with, nor was it showing up in Warframe's EE.logs (which support really couldn't wrap it's head around) or even the Windows Event Viewer logs. Lately though when I do crash I am getting the TDR BSoD pointing to nvlddmkm.sys, however no amount of clean driver installs or even different GPU's seems to fix it.

 

 I thought it might be a Nvidia only problem but if you are running AMD and getting what seems to be the same exact symptoms...

 

 I hope you have better luck though, perhaps I just got someone having a bad day concerning the support. If you do make any progress I'd love to hear about it though and I'll make sure to let you know if I figure anything out as well, though it's been months without any sort of progress on my end.

Next weekend ill try changing my video card to a very similar one, if not the same from my dads computer. If that is the case then i know for sure it is the graphic card, because now it happens outside of Warframe also. What makes me wonder is how it worked out before, magically fixed itself, but now this problem is here to stay. 

Ill give you details if anything changes or what have it, i currently have my bets on the graphic card, but for safety i will uninstall any drivers related to this one, and slap in the other one. 

 

Mind you last time this happened i had AMD back then also, but then it randomly fixed itself, how i have no idea.

[Greenvalv]

I have a R9 390x running Win7 and this is happening to me every time I run Warframe for 15+ minutes.  Just lost a T3 Survival key and its rewards to this.

 

Whenever it happens, my computer runs strangely until I reboot (longer load times, programs not responding as they should).  It only happens with Warframe.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Greenvalv

[_Azeizel]

Re install your gpu into your computer. Reinstall your drivers, and reinstall your monitors drivers. Reboot your computer now try again.

[Faeduin]

I have a R9 390x running Win7 and this is happening to me every time I run Warframe for 15+ minutes.  Just lost a T3 Survival key and its rewards to this.

 

Whenever it happens, my computer runs strangely until I reboot (longer load times, programs not responding as they should).  It only happens with Warframe.

 

 You say you are hard crashing like us but then go on to say that things run oddly until you reboot? A hard crash or hard hang renders the OS unresponsive, it's technically a BSoD that slips past error reporting, usually due to voltage issues. Your problem sounds more like the game crashing your driver and recovering, I'd make a new thread or contact support about it.

 

 

Re install your gpu into your computer. Reinstall your drivers, and reinstall your monitors drivers. Reboot your computer now try again.

 

 While I think everyone appreciates your desire to help, I strongly believe if you had read any of the posts here fully, it would of lead you to safely assume we are a bit beyond re-seating a gpu and reinstalling drivers. Also, most monitors do not even have drivers available, they are usually built into the monitor/tv and work at an OS/GPU level, the only drivers for monitors you'll find are for gimmicky special features that do absolutely nothing for responding to display calls.

[Frawg]

There isn't enough information to do anything else, so perhaps verify the integrity of everything. Game cache, system files, SMART, filesystem, ram and maybe even the gpu memory.

Since there are AMD gpu's involved, perhas play around with driver versions; Warframe had issues with newer drivers some months ago.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Frawg

[[DE]Xander]

TDRs (Timeout Detection and Recovery) are quite difficult to diagnose and troubleshoot, as it's a somewhat blanket term unfortunately. If at any point your GPU takes too long to respond, the OS (TDR is a feature of Windows, it's not unique to a single hardware manufacturer) will try to reinitialize it. In a worst case scenario, it fails to reinitialize properly and causes situations like OP is seeing.

 

Because of the wide range of ways TDR can be triggered, it's hard to offer a simple solution to stop them from occurring. There's relatively conservative fixes that can be attempted, along the lines of:

•Rolling back your GPU driver

•Perform a clean driver install if your hardware has been changed.

•Re-installing applications frequently triggering TDR (a corrupted file in your Warframe install may be responsible)

•Re-installing your version of DirectX (the same potential of corrupted files)

 

At the other end are more extreme issues that may or may not be responsible

•Corrupted files in your registry may need to be fixed, or

•The entire OS may need to be re-installed

•Make sure your CPU/GPU are not exceeding max operating temperatures

 

Lastly, what I consider to be the most drastic course of action, is to RMA your hardware; hardware besides the GPU could be responsible for the TDR if it is faulty.

 

Lately though when I do crash I am getting the TDR BSoD pointing to nvlddmkm.sys, however no amount of clean driver installs or even different GPU's seems to fix it.

After 3 RMAs, I'm inclined to believe something else is causing display driver to stop responding. A somewhat time-intensive step you could take would be to run Driver Verifier to see if another driver isn't playing nice.

 

[SilverZs]

Here's a big problem with Warframe... besides V-sync (garbage tool) for overpowered Rigs etc, there's no frame rate limitation (or control between transitions etc).

 

If you ever watch your FPS going from the liset (completely unregulated FPS that far exceeds drawpoints) into a mission (regulated FPS that tries to maintain the desired drawpoint [monitor refresh rate]) and back into the liset... you're going to see monstrous spikes. Spikes that WILL crash your GPU driver if you have a card that far exceeds the 'recommended'. My newly constructed rig consists of a dual(2) Titan X in SLI, with a GTX 970 back-up that handles all PhysX computations. The GPU whine on the Titans (which I mean to say Titan, since Warframe neither requires nor supports SLI) is horrendous, and after a couple mission transitions, my GPU driver would explode, grey screen and I'm forced to alt+f4 so it can recover. There is definitely an issue with the raging uncontrolled FPS between transitions in and out of missions.

 

My solution to this problem? I've created a custom profile on a secondary cable from my GTX 970, which tells my Titans to ignore all things Warframe, and runs entirely off my GTX 970. I then shift PhysX computations to my CPU (which only takes about 6% of its workload, which is to say, nothing) and I've hardcapped all FPS that Warframe can draw @ regardless of its in-game FPS counter to 120.

 

As of doing all that (which is ridiculous btw, I have not experienced this type of crash or problem on my Titans playing Dragon Age: Inquisition, Witcher 3, Batman Arkham Knight[which is a shoddy port that hasnt even been fixed 100% or re-released] and the list goes on) I've not had a single crash on the 353.62 driver.

 

So with all due respect Xander, can we get some quality engine upgrades? Other games have hardtools in the engine and code that limit FPS that are NOT V-sync. As far as I'm aware, TDRs can be caused by massive spikes both up AND down on GPU usage. I think Warframe is heavily guilty of uncontrollable (by the game engine) spikes upwards, potentially causing a significantly large number of these problems.

Edited August 10, 2015 by SilverZs

[dadaddadada]

I had a TDR problem once.

 

Turns out my GPU didn't sit properly in the PCI-e slot. My mobo lies horizontal and gpu vertical. I had to put a support piece of paper to keep the gpu perfectly upright and now puff, no more tdr issues.

 

 

FPS spikes and coil whine issues

 

I too can hear some coil whine on my way more modest 750ti, but I use MSI afterburner+rivatuner to hardcap all my games to 120 anyway (or I turn my monitor to 75hz mode and just enable vsync) and this fixes most of the issues. Eh, even a 750ti is so overkill for warframe that when capping fps its usage drops to 50% or so).

[_Azeizel]

I had a TDR problem once.

 

Turns out my GPU didn't sit properly in the PCI-e slot. My mobo lies horizontal and gpu vertical. I had to put a support piece of paper to keep the gpu perfectly upright and now puff, no more tdr issues.

 

.

This is why I suggested re seating/ re installing the gpu.

[SilverZs]

I had a TDR problem once.

 

Turns out my GPU didn't sit properly in the PCI-e slot. My mobo lies horizontal and gpu vertical. I had to put a support piece of paper to keep the gpu perfectly upright and now puff, no more tdr issues.

 

 

 

I too can hear some coil whine on my way more modest 750ti, but I use MSI afterburner+rivatuner to hardcap all my games to 120 anyway (or I turn my monitor to 75hz mode and just enable vsync) and this fixes most of the issues. Eh, even a 750ti is so overkill for warframe that when capping fps its usage drops to 50% or so).

Yeah... I'm 100% done using the Titans for Warframe. At this point, I'm terrified I'll get a strength surge over the capacitor limit and its going to fry one of them.

 

And we know that DE isn't going to refund me the $1600+ for the card if that happens due to their poorly coded engine. It needs a major overhaul ASAP. Quality. Remember? Supposed to be the focus for 2015. 

[dadaddadada]

Yeah... I'm 100% done using the Titans for Warframe. At this point, I'm terrified I'll get a strength surge over the capacitor limit and its going to fry one of them.

 

And we know that DE isn't going to refund me the $1600+ for the card if that happens due to their poorly coded engine. It needs a major overhaul ASAP. Quality. Remember? Supposed to be the focus for 2015. 

 

But if you are afraid of hardware implications of framerate spikes you said yourself that you tried to cap framerates. That's supposed to fix the problem.

[SilverZs]

But if you are afraid of hardware implications of framerate spikes you said yourself that you tried to cap framerates. That's supposed to fix the problem.

 

I didn't 'try'. I did limit the maximum FPS possible. I'm also not risking $3600 worth of hardware when its constantly crashing a driver,  no other game that has higher system requirements crashes the driver, so its 100% safer this way.

 

Doesn't change the fact that the engine needs to be immediately overhauled. But we know that isn't going to happen, DE is too set on making the most amount of money in the shortest timeframe possible. And that means simply keeping the PC client running, making new things (cosmetics), and focusing on consoles.

 

After 3 RMAs, I'm inclined to believe something else is causing display driver to stop responding. 

 

 

I do agree with this, and my suggestion to the OP is to not look at the hardware directly anymore. Its time to look at controlling the software that is running the GPU more directly, or more importantly how its interacting in games.

 

Can you look into getting set up with a third party application (MSI afterburner will work for you) and forcefully limiting your maximum frame rate to that of your monitor? Then try and do an hour or so test run and see what happens?

[Agua]

I have a friend that has this issue, though he remains in game. One time, he played from our screens for 10 waves on T4D(We wheren on LAN).

 

I normally get black screen when i start the game after game randomly closed. Only way I've found to fix this is restarting my computer. Game randomly closing has become very frecuent since last patch.

[SilverZs]

I have a friend that has this issue, though he remains in game. One time, he played from our screens for 10 waves on T4D(We wheren on LAN).

 

I normally get black screen when i start the game after game randomly closed. Only way I've found to fix this is restarting my computer. Game randomly closing has become very frecuent since last patch.

Your issue is very much different from what this thread is talking about. We're not troubleshooting the game simply closing or the game engine itself crashing. We're looking at display driver crashes and TDR sequences. Your issue sounds like you have corrupted files. Try using the cache checking option in the gear menu on the game launcher.

[Faeduin]

I do agree with this, and my suggestion to the OP is to not look at the hardware directly anymore. Its time to look at controlling the software that is running the GPU more directly, or more importantly how its interacting in games.

 

Can you look into getting set up with a third party application (MSI afterburner will work for you) and forcefully limiting your maximum frame rate to that of your monitor? Then try and do an hour or so test run and see what happens?

 

After 3 RMAs, I'm inclined to believe something else is causing display driver to stop responding. A somewhat time-intensive step you could take would be to run Driver Verifier to see if another driver isn't playing nice.

 

  Unfortunately you guys are incorrect, I too thought it might've been an incompatibility somewhere else and not the card, however I have the luxury of multiple cards to test (2 680's and 2 970's) and could not reproduce the problem on any of those cards. I use EVGA Precision and had already tried hard locking my FPS to my refresh rate, Driver Verifier is the first thing I turn to before I begin troubleshooting anything else also. This is literally only an issue on the EVGA 980's I've been given (the RMA'd cards ARE different, I made tiny scracthes on the metal brackets to make sure they didn't send me the same card a'la MSI...) this lead me to believe it's either an issue with power consumption or the factory overclocks, however neither of those panned out either when I made the appropriate adjustments.

 

 You guys couldn't of known this of course, but I did not want to hijack the OP's thread with what at the time, wasn't relevant information. 

 

 I am strongly keen on it being related to Apex/PhysX myself, but no combination of launcher/in-game options has yielded any result.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Kedai

[Greenvalv]

As Kedai pointed out my problem may not be exactly like what you all are experiencing but disabling Direct X10 and 11 in Warframe's launcher config seems to have helped my black screen issue (which would last 1-2 minutes unresponsive).  May help you guys, worth a try...

 

sauce: http://steamcommunity.com/app/230410/discussions/0/618458030676072150/?insideModal=1

Edited August 12, 2015 by Greenvalv

[Twilight_Vanguard]

only playing warframe, screen goes black and I have to do a hard restart to fix my computer.

[Faeduin]

Necro'ing this a bit with relevant information.

 

 Since around 17.3 I haven't experienced a single reoccurrence of this crash, I have changed absolutely nothing in terms of hardware or software on my end, nor have I changed any previous game settings or even updated drivers.

 

 17.3 is a rough estimation, I had stopped playing when the crashing got to the point of occurring almost every mission and had started again at around that point. Going through the update notes I see nothing of relevance that would allude to this problem being addressed directly, so I assume it was somehow fixed, at least in my case, indirectly or whatever change that magically helped wasn't listed at all.

 

 I'm curious if anyone else that was experiencing these types of crashes is in a likewise position?