Extra troubleshooting attempted since original list posted earlier:
Drivers / Overlays:
- Removed Animaze / e2eSoft virtual camera driver (pnputil oem44.inf)
- Removed Voice.ai driver (pnputil oem19.inf)
- Removed VB-Audio / Voicemeeter virtual audio driver (pnputil oem22.inf)
- Removed TeamViewer Virtual Display drivers (pnputil oem32.inf, oem35.inf, oem4.inf)
- Disabled NVIDIA Virtual Audio, RTX Voice, and Broadcast drivers in Device Manager
- Disabled Snap Camera device
- Fully reinstalled Realtek audio driver (latest ASUS-provided INF, replacing 2021 version)
- Disabled Razer Synapse background services during testing
EA Anti-Cheat:
- Deleted EA Anti-Cheat service manually (sc delete EAAntiCheatService)
- Cleared Program Files\EA\AntiCheat folder completely
- Performed clean reinstall from FC26\__Installer\EAAntiCheat
System / Security:
- Ran sfc /scannow and DISM to verify/repair system files
- Tested with Windows Core Isolation / Memory Integrity toggled
- Booted with clean startup (msconfig: disabled all non-Microsoft services)
- Disabled Malwarebytes network filter driver (mbtun.inf)
Event Viewer:
- Verified no crash dumps created in ProgramData\EAAntiCheat\Logs
- Application log always shows exit code 0xFFFFFFFF, no further details
Cross-check:
- Compared DxDiag with a working Windows 11 machine:
* Same Windows build (24H2 26100.x)
* Friend has AMD GPU and simpler driver stack
* My system has more virtual drivers and audio layers, now removed/disabled
9 hours of troubleshooting, I officially give up. Think I've put more effort in than EA employees at this point. Only a small number of people affected, so they won't treat it as urgent 👍