ME3 multiplayer randomly crashes

tinylessons​ 

Please add a DxDiag to your next reply, I will look at the crash dumps and the DxDiag after that. 

1. Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time to open the Run dialog box.
2. Copy and paste or type "DxDiag" (Without the quotes) into the new field. > ENTER
3. Wait until the green bar is gone > Click on "Save all information"
4. Save the file to your desktop.
5. Load it up here. 

holger1405​  thank you for the step-by-step instructions. The requested file is attached.

tinylessons​ 

The error in the Crasdump is an INVALID_POINTER_READ access violation. A INVALID_POINTER_READ happens most of the time because memory that contained valid data was freed for some reason and the program now can't find the data it needs to function. 

The problem is that this can have many reasons.
lets start with the basics:
The ASUS Webpage for your Laptop has a newer Intel graphic driver that is categorized as "Critical". 

Please install the driver, restart the Laptop (a real restart, not just shut down and start again.) and test. 

holger1405​  thank you for this information - I've always been meticulous about keeping my NVIDIA drivers up to date, but did not realize I also had Intel GPU hardware to worry about. I installed the drivers you noted in your post on that same day and played ME3 successfully up until today. Today I had a crash of the same type - though in fairness, the drivers may have been part of the problem since this is maybe the longest I've gone without suffering a crash.

tinylessons​ 

The second suggestion would be a clean boot, because a program running in he background might be the culprit. '

How to perform the clean boot:

• Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
• Type or copy and paste “msconfig” (Without the quotes.) > Enter.
• In the System Configuration window, go to the Services tab.
• Check the box that says, “Hide all Microsoft services”.
• Click Disable all. (Make sure the EABackgroundService remains enabled.)
• Go to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager.
• In the Task Manager, disable all startup items that are activated.
• Close Task Manager and go back to the System Configuration window, then click OK.
• Restart the computer, the PC will start into clean boot mode.
• Test the Game

holger1405​ 

Thank you for all these suggestions. For a time, I was having better luck - it wasn't perfect, but my crash rate declined to maybe 20%. Now I'm crashing constantly again and getting another odd bug...on boss waves when I am hosting, the boss characters simply won't spawn at all.  The announcer keeps saying to take down the targets, but there aren't any targets. And then the timer runs out and either the match ends in failure or the game crashes in the same way. This is so sad...I enjoy this game a lot but can't seem to make it run. Do you think it's possible there is a hardware issue with my laptop model or something?

tinylessons​ 

Did you preformed the clean boot? 
If not try it after this instructions:

• Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
• Type “msconfig” (Without the quotes.) > Enter.
• In the System Configuration window, go to the Services tab.
• Check the box that says, “Hide all Microsoft services”.
• Click Disable all. (Make sure the EABackgroundService remains enabled.)
• Go to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager.
• In the Task Manager, disable all startup items that are activated.
• Close Task Manager and go back to the System Configuration window, then click OK.
• Restart the computer, the PC will start into clean boot mode.
• Test the Game
  
  2. Additional Steps (Inside the Clean Boot Mode)
• Ensure your virus scanner and other security software are disabled.
• Disable Afterburner and similar software.
• Make sure any CORSAIR/Asus/Razer software is disabled or uninstalled.
• Ensure your GPU and CPU are not overclocked.
• Disconnect all peripherals except for your mouse and keyboard.

If that don't helps post a new DxDiag and a new crash dump if you get one.  

tinylessons​ 

holger1405​ 
Hi,

I happened to find this thread. I have been battling what appear to be the EXACT (or extremely similar) crashing issues tinylessons has reported. 

I purchased the game (ME3, 2012 version, N7 edition, Steam) in June to revisit multiplayer, and I’ve been having a great time with it (one of my favorite multiplayer modes ever) outside of being plagued by crashes. 

The behavior is exactly as described in the OP and shown in the linked video in the OP. Momentary freeze, crash to desktop, no error messages. Issue is sometimes much worse than others, but it’s been consistently bad since I started playing.

I’ve also noticed a pattern where it will often occur on drone waves precisely when the drone hits the zone and finishes the objective. Or occasionally when I pick up an object. It’s not always during an objective wave, sometimes it’ll seem totally random (running, using a power, etc). I have noticed that pattern of precise timing with hitting the drone drop-off zone, though.

Like OP, I have also seen multiple other threads (Reddit, YouTube, etc.) with people reporting this issue. Many of them are fairly recent. I’ve also noticed a pattern where most seem to report more recent PCs. I’m on a brand new Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 with the RTX 4090, Windows 11, purchased in March 2025.

I’ve gotten as far as tracing the Exception Code to C0000005 on every crash instance I have logged. I’ve also noticed they’re one of 3 Exception Offsets (if that is of any significance). However; I have had no luck tracing this down to a specific source or resolving it. The logging I’ve found on Windows so far is fairly limited, I may need a more precise debugging tool. I will say that I’ve also seen this same C0000005 code mentioned in other threads about this ME3 crashing issue (including the poster from the YouTube video linked in the OP and another commenter in the YouTube comments).

I have attempted several things I’ve found throughout the threads noted above. Including disabling overlays, running as Administrator, verifying Steam files, adjusting graphics settings (like Anti Aliasing) in NVIDIA, updating NVIDIA drivers, etc., but to no avail. I may not have done exactly the right things, though, so I still can’t rule things like NVIDIA settings out at this point.

With how many people have been experiencing and reporting this issue, there must be an answer to this somewhere. Something has to be causing this, and it’s not specific to a single person’s hardware. There seems to be a pattern happening across a number of players here.

I would SINCERELY appreciate any assistance in resolving this issue. I love this game, but the consistent crashing has been a massive problem. I’ve gotten several friends into the game as well, all over the last month, and every single one of them has experienced this crashing issue (with mine seeming to be most frequent, but I also play the most).

Is there any way to solve this issue?

BassGuitarFox​ 

C0000005 is the code for a standard access violation. (in memory).
An access violation is the most common cause of application crashes, so it is basically worthless as an indicator of where the problem really is.

Please add a DxDiag to your next reply.

1. Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time to open the Run dialog box.
2. Copy and paste or type "DxDiag" (Without the quotes) into the new field. > ENTER
3. Wait until the green bar is gone > Click on "Save all information"
4. Save the file to your desktop.
5. Load it up here. 

holger1405​  I have indeed done the clean boot multiple times. That usually helps tamp down on the issue for a bit, but then the crashes begin again. I guess I could just try doing a clean boot every time I play and perhaps that will reduce the crash rate. I've enclosed a few of the latest crash dumps below. Regarding your additional steps inside the clean boot, I'm too tech-dumb to do things like overclocking. My game is totally vanilla and I am not running any outside software to modify it.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xybjzp3nplf0a4ov06yuq/MassEffect3.exe.3992.dmp?rlkey=a0dvfmfl9za2pt34dgc4b2ah6&st=bqn63m2j&dl=0 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gmuitio69x5bbatr3a71h/MassEffect3.exe.18112.dmp?rlkey=6xde9mcmnuqzzrmd6yszqngc0&st=mmi3rck6&dl=0 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0le58zk42wqqk6niu1mhb/MassEffect3.exe.25732.dmp?rlkey=rtv5i50r9l8w1goqpdjhxil2t&st=7acwdndm&dl=0 

BassGuitarFox​  100% with the drone waves. It is almost always exactly when the drone reaches its destination. Anytime the drone gets close to its docking point I am holding my breath to see if I can survive. My son (who I frequently play with) also suffers this same issue, also using a newer laptop. His is a little over a year old.