Critical Issue: Desktop freezes after launching Battlefield
Hello everyone,
I’m experiencing a severe system issue after launching Battlefield 6 on a newly built PC.
After the first successful launch of the game, the next system reboot causes Windows 11 to enter a “soft lock”:
- the mouse and keyboard work
- desktop loads
- but Start Menu, Settings, Task Manager, and all UWP/system applications fail to open
- shell execution is partially frozen
- the system becomes unusable unless Windows is reinstalled
This happens consistently and reproducibly.
System Specifications
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (AM5)
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B850M Aorus Elite WiFi6E (latest BIOS, AGESA updated)
- RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000MHz EXPO
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
- Storage: WD Black SN850X NVMe
- Platform: TPM 2.0 (fTPM), Secure Boot supported
Operating System
- Windows 11 Home, latest build
- Clean installation (several times)
Troubleshooting Already Performed
BIOS & Platform Security
- CSM: Disabled
- TPM / fTPM: Enabled
- Secure Boot: Enabled & Active (User Mode)
- Restored Secure Boot Factory Keys
- Tried clearing fTPM multiple times
System Integrity Checks performed in WinRE:
- sfc /scannow
- DISM /RestoreHealth
- Boot repair (bootrec + bcdboot)
No corruption found.
Clean Windows Installation performed a full clean install:
- Deleted all partitions
- Installed Windows 11 with Secure Boot and fTPM already enabled
- System was stable before installing the game
RESULT:
Windows remained perfectly functional until Battlefield was launched once.
Reproducible Trigger
The problem occurs after launching Battlefield for the first time.
After closing the game and rebooting the PC:
- Windows UI becomes unresponsive
- UWP apps cannot open
- Start Menu is dead
- No anti-cheat error messages appear
This strongly suggests the issue is caused by the EA Anti-Cheat kernel driver (EAAC/Javelin) installing or registering itself during the first game launch.
Hypothesis
There may be a compatibility issue between EA Anti-Cheat and the new AMD B850 AM5 chipset, or with how fTPM + Secure Boot keys are handled under the newest AGESA. EAAC operates at kernel-level and interacts with:
- Secure Boot
- TPM attestation
- system integrity policies
A mismatch or signing/attestation failure could freeze system services at boot.
This behavior is 100% reproducible on this hardware.
Help Needed
- Is this a known issue between EA Anti-Cheat and AMD AM5 / B850 platforms?
- Are there updated EAAC drivers for systems using new AGESA versions?
- How can EA Anti-Cheat be safely removed from WinRE (manual cleanup)?
- Which services/driver files must be deleted?
- Is there an official cleanup tool?
Right now, Battlefield is unplayable, as launching it once corrupts Windows until a full reinstall.
Thank you in advance for any guidance.
