Affinity Photo 2.5.5.2636 Crash on Launch

[OxeStone]

Hello,
Designer and Publisher open fine. Photo crashes on launch. My Windows is up-to-date. I have attached a screen capture from Windows 11 Event Viewer. Thank you.

 

Edited September 9 by OxeStone

[walt.farrell]

@OxeStone: Crashing on launch can be an indication that your GPU drivers are not up-to-date, and there's a FAQ about that:

It may also help to disable Hardware Acceleration (OpenCL) in your application Settings. But if Photo is crashing before you get to that point, you would need to start it while pressing the Ctrl key. Keep the key pressed until you get the Clear User Data dialog (which may require clicking on the application icon on the Taskbar). I would uncheck all the boxes, and check the one for disabling Hardware Acceleration. I would do this with none of the Affinity applications running.

[OxeStone]

Thank you for the prompt response. The issue is not related to graphics drivers. I am using the latest drivers for both NVIDIA and integrated. I disabled NVIDIA and accelerated drivers. Same behavior. May I ask where do you see in the event viewer log that the issue is related to graphics chips and/or driver?

[walt.farrell]

32 minutes ago, OxeStone said:

May I ask where do you see in the event viewer log that the issue is related to graphics chips and/or driver?

I am not seeing that from your Event Viewer. The GPU Drivers are the most common cause of the error you're seeing, and you had not provided enough information to indicate that it's not the drivers, so I suggested it.

If the drivers are up-to-date, then my next suggestion would be to make sure none of the Affinity applications are running, then start Photo while pressing Ctrl. When you get the Clear User Data dialog you can release Ctrl. (You may need to watch for and click the application icon on the Taskbar before you'll get the dialog.) Then, I would uncheck the 3rd option, and leave the others as they are, and press Reset.

 

[Precambrian]

I have the same problem. Updated both Designer and Photo from version 2.5.3 to 2.5.5 and now neither will open. My NVIDIA graphics drivers are always up to date. 

[OxeStone]

I think the problem could be with Photo authenticating the account on startup. When I disable all Affinity apps and then start Photo, it asks to login to my account. After I login, the app opens. This is the ony way I have been able to open and run Photo. None of the previously (above) suggested ways have worked.
Question: Is Affinity Photo using a different method/code to authenticate an account on startup compared to Designer and Publisher? Designer and Publisher open just fine.

[walt.farrell]

8 hours ago, OxeStone said:

Question: Is Affinity using a different method/code to authenticate an account on startup compared to Designer and Publisher? Designer and Publisher open just fine.

It shouldn't be doing anything different, but you might see what you've described if you installed Photo using the MSIX version of the installer and Designer/Publisher using the MSI/EXE version of the installer, or vice-versa. You must use the same installer technology for all 3 applications.

[OxeStone]

Since version 2 I have always used the msix installer for all three applications. The issue started with the latest version of Photo (2.5.5). When I try older versions (msix), Photo opens fine.

[walt.farrell]

Do you get any crash report when the application fails?

If so, it may provide more information than the event log you showed us earlier.

[OxeStone]

No crash reports are generated by Photo in 'C:\Users\xxxxxxxx\.affinity\Photo\2.0\CrashReports\reports'.
Another way I can open Photo is to open Designer or Publisher first, then open Photo.

[Lee D]

@OxeStone

10 hours ago, OxeStone said:

Another way I can open Photo is to open Designer or Publisher first, then open Photo.

If you have Designer or Publisher open are you then opening Photo from its icon or using Edit In Photo from the other apps File menu?

Try the CTRL runup method again, this time also enabling Clear Recent document list before clicking Clear. As a recent file could be trying to access something outside the app.

Is any AV/Firewall software running that could blocking Photo in someway? If so, try turning off them off before opening Photo.

Try following the steps below to see if it is related to the activation in someway. Then check to see if Photo will open without having to use the other apps.

MSIX:
Close all Affinity apps
Open Windows Run (Windows Key + R)
Enter/paste the following: %USERPROFILE%\.affinity\Common\2.0\
In this folder delete the .dat files

If you type Security into the task bar search field and open Security and Maintenance. Expand the Maintenance section and click View reliability history. Look for the Application fault icons and click to show more information below. If Affinity Photo is listed double click to see the report. Do any of these show anything different the screenshot of the event log you posted?

[OxeStone]

1. "Try the CTRL runup method again, this time also enabling Clear Recent document list before clicking Clear." I assume you meant 'Reset Documents and Window States', because I can't see 'Clear Recent' (see attached screen capture). No effect.
2. I turned off Windows Defender. No other AV/Firewall running. No effect.
3. No .dat files are in %USERPROFILE%\.affinity\Common\2.0\
4. I checked 'View reliability history'. No entry related to Affinity Photo.