Affinty Photo 2.1.1 : Immediately crashes and closes when opening/creating any file.

[TAFKAT]

Hi,

I have just purchased Affinity Photo 2, and have installed the latest version 2.1.1

As per the title , attempting to open any file results in an immediate crash and shutting down of the application.

Will also happen if attempting to create a new file.

System Spec: Intel X58 : Xeon : Nvidia GT 1030 Graphics Card : Windows 10 22H2 : Windows 10 22H2

I did search some other threads , but nothing akin to anything this severe.

Need some guidance on how to resolve the crashing, and if others have experienced similar.

V.
 

[Ron P.]

Hi & Welcome to the forums @TAFKAT,

In AP go to Edit>Settings>Performance. Uncheck the HA (Hardware Acceleration/Open CL) box. Restart AP and see if that corrected it. You might also check to see if your GPU/ video drivers are up to date. Check the Nividia website, do not rely on Windoze.

[TAFKAT]

Hey Ron,

Already tested the HW Acceleration option to no avail, Nvidia drivers are latest for the card , 472.12.

No studio driver option for this card unfortunately.

I have been contacted by Affinity support as well, same suggestions.

I really don't want to be chasing a ghost re driver versions.

I have since posting found other similar posts, so this is not over uncommon, but there was no clear consensus on a fix.

V.

 

[Ron P.]

15 hours ago, TAFKAT said:

I have since posting found other similar posts, so this is not over uncommon, but there was no clear consensus on a fix.

I agree 100%.

However, the fix is anything but simple. To understand this, do you know how many variables there are for Windows machines, video cards(GPU), and different versions of each processors (CPU), different makes, versions of each? This problem is not unique to Affinity apps, other apps have the same problem when it comes to the Hardware Acceleration working or not.

This is just my opinion: I think due to the way Serif coded Affinity, the usage of mipmaps, where the entire image/document is not fully loaded to memory, whereas other apps do not use mipmaps, so they're apps may have more latitude for excusing errors, and not crash the apps, or corrupt files. But the trade of is, the other apps may not be as fast, responsive, as what the Affinity apps are.

As an aside, I'm in the process of upgrading my machine. Currently my GPU does not meet the requirements for HA, it's too old. So I've purchased a PSU, upping the wattage, CPU, newer faster Intel, and then a GPU/video card. This would make the HA available to me. I'm not 100% exited about this. Why? Because right now, I don't experience any of these crashes, hangs, whatever. My machine is 10 yrs old, and not susceptible to the issues, but soon will be.

[afay]

All of video Card will crash, whatever RTX3060. RTX2060, or intel Xe Graphics use (Hardware Acceleration/Open CL). And the drivers are updated to the newest. Game ready driver or Studio driver.

But Affinity designer and affinity Publisher work well.

Windows 11 22H2

 Affinity Photo 2 2.1.1

 

[walt.farrell]

12 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

As an aside, I'm in the process of upgrading my machine. Currently my GPU does not meet the requirements for HA, it's too old. So I've purchased a PSU, upping the wattage, CPU, newer faster Intel, and then a GPU/video card.

Off-topic to the OP, probably, but shouldn't you also swap out the memory, if you're replacing that much other stuff (especially if replacing the CPU)?

[Ron P.]

5 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Off-topic to the OP, probably, but shouldn't you also swap out the memory, if you're replacing that much other stuff (especially if replacing the CPU)?

I've checked with a tech, and my memory should be fine. I upgraded it a couple of years ago.

[TAFKAT]

12 hours ago, Ron P. said:

I agree 100%.

However, the fix is anything but simple. To understand this, do you know how many variables there are for Windows machines, video cards(GPU), and different versions of each processors (CPU), different makes, versions of each? This problem is not unique to Affinity apps, other apps have the same problem when it comes to the Hardware Acceleration working or not.

I am a Professional Audio Workstation Builder so I know my way around system variables, and in that context I do not agree with that blanket excuse of so many variables. Thats a typical excuse when things go in an unintended direction and the devs don't have a solid answer.

Has there been any consensus its due to hardware acceleration of the graphics cards ?

FWIW - V1 Trial worked perfectly on this configuration , with the hardware acceleration, so it is something they have introduced in V2

I have sent crash logs to the support team, I'll update if I get an solution.

V.
 

[TAFKAT]

A quick follow up post after testing some changes on request of support.

The Renderer options in the Performance menu were actually blank, so the graphics card was not being recognized correctly.

Not something I picked up on earlier.

I originally had a clean install of the WHQL version of the driver - 472.12, as I tend to avoid DCH drivers if at all possible. This being something that I do my best to maintain coming from a  mission critical Audio Workstation environment. RTX/Quadro drivers still offer the latest drivers under WHQL for example.

On instruction from support I removed the original WHQL driver and installed the latest DCH driver for the card, 536.40 , and it has not resolved the issue.

Render options are still blank, card is not being recognized, application immediately crashes on any attempt to be used.

I did note I didn't want to chase a ghost with driver versions, but here we are.

This is not going to be resolved with driver versions.

Let me repeat again, V1 worked perfectly with this configuration.

V.

 

[AiDon]

3 hours ago, TAFKAT said:

I originally had a clean install of the WHQL version of the driver - 472.12, as I tend to avoid DCH drivers if at all possible.

The latest WHQL driver for this model is v536.40 (Game Ready released 2023.6.29) which can be downloaded from the NVIDIA website ... 472.12 is a long way off and yet to be released.

Where did you get your driver version from?

[walt.farrell]

9 hours ago, AiDon said:

The latest WHQL driver for this model is v536.40 (Game Ready released 2023.6.29) which can be downloaded from the NVIDIA website ... 472.12 is a long way off and yet to be released.

Wouldn't 472.12 be quite a bit older than 536.40?

[TAFKAT]

20 hours ago, AiDon said:

The latest WHQL driver for this model is v536.40 (Game Ready released 2023.6.29) which can be downloaded from the NVIDIA website ... 472.12 is a long way off and yet to be released.

Where did you get your driver version from?

Should have been more clear, WHQL Standard Driver latest is 472.12.

As I noted in previous post, It didn't make one iota of difference anyway, as I installed the NCH 536.40 and still had the identical problem

This is not driver related.

V.
 

[AiDon]

As 2 years old that driver is too old for newer hardware, do a full uninstall/install

[AiDon]

14 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Wouldn't 472.12 be quite a bit older than 536.40?

Sorry Walt ... meant to say it had been released 2 years ago, and that that was a Windows 11 release driver.

[TAFKAT]

Resolved.

Worked through some options with support, and found that the installation via the application .exe was not recognizing the graphics card correctly, no matter which driver was installed.

The solution was to completely remove the standard .exe Application, and instead use the MSIX App installation instead.

Not sure how/why the installations would differ if they are based on the same code base, but there you have it.

Hope that can resolve the issue for others as well.

V

[TonyCr]

It seems the truth is that the solution is not known. How do we roll back to the previous version which worked perfectly.

[TAFKAT]

1 hour ago, TonyCr said:

It seems the truth is that the solution is not known. How do we roll back to the previous version which worked perfectly.

What version are you experiencing the crashes on ?

Is it a .exe install or an MSIX installation.

The solution for me was to use the MSIX installation.

It would still be great to get to the bottom of why the .exe installation behaved so differently.

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, TonyCr said:

It seems the truth is that the solution is not known. How do we roll back to the previous version which worked perfectly.

That will depend on where you purchased.

[TonyCr]

am not sure how that makes a difference but for the record it was downloaded from the Affinity website. I can't uninstall and reinstall as it will supply the latest version!

[TonyCr]

On 8/3/2023 at 9:14 PM, TAFKAT said:

What version are you experiencing the crashes on ?

Is it a .exe install or an MSIX installation.

The solution for me was to use the MSIX installation.

It would still be great to get to the bottom of why the .exe installation behaved so differently.

My problems are with 2.1.1. It always starts on the fourth or fifth photo edit, when developing or saving. Its usually a total crash but sometimes a freeze. I had this problem with the original and spent ages trying to sort it out. The techys pointed to a machine problem and we checked the GPU and several other things. It was an idle comment to upgrade the RAM that did it. I went from 8 to 16. I can't believe that is the problem now. I have checked the speed of the VRAM and GPU on developing and they do not get near maximum, either.

[walt.farrell]

35 minutes ago, TonyCr said:

am not sure how that makes a difference but for the record it was downloaded from the Affinity website. I can't uninstall and reinstall as it will supply the latest version!

It doesn't make quite as much difference in V2 as it did in V1 (where it was not possible to roll back without using your own system backups if you purchased from the Microsoft or Apple Stores), but it still makes a difference in what you need to do.

But as you purchased from Serif it's easier.

You would download the release you want from (example for Photo 2): https://store.serif.com/en-us/update/windows/photo/2/ (for Designer 2 or Publisher 2 just specify designer or publisher instead of photo). Then just be careful to select the right link (EXE or MSIX) to match what you have installed.

Uninstall your current application. Install the older one.

Note that 2.0 will not be able to Open documents saved in 2.1.