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shunyaxgl's avatar
shunyaxgl
6 years ago
Solved

[PC] - Mass Effect 3 Crash Right After Launch

I'm having a problem with my ME3 installation through Origin. After clicking on Play, the Origin client vanishes for a second, then immediately appears again without the game itself ever starting. In the task manager I can see that the MassEffect3.exe process is running for about a second before it's killed again right away.

I get no error messages, no black or white screen or any indication that the game crashed, other than the fact that it's simply not starting.

The game is in its vanilla state (no mods, no DLCs, just the base game installed through Origin).

I have both Origin and ME3 installed on my P: drive.

I tried to start it in window mode - didn't work.

I tried disabling cloud saves and moved the Mass Effect 3 folder away from `Documents/BioWare` - didn't work.

I replaced the awc.dll file in the game's `Binaries/Win32/Core` folder with https://download.dm.origin.com/usertest/awc.zip (awc DLL from another thread with the same ME3 problem) - didn't work.

I tried a simple reinstall and the repair option from within Origin - didn't work.

I executed both vcredist installer files in the game's `__Installer/vc/vc2008sp1/redist` folder - didn't work.

And didn't work means: nothing changed about the error. The process is still killed after about a second and nothing happens visually.

I'm running out of options here and I'm hoping anyone can help me with this. I have attached the Origin Client logs and DXDiag Information. I can see that Origin is trying to launch the game but I cannot see the error when it's crashing. The latest start of ME3 in the log file is on line 20153 (at least I think that's the start).

Maybe important information: Mass Effect 3 is the only game I had Origin transfer from my old origin account to my new one just a few days ago. Could it be that the ME3 license maybe still refers to my old Origin ID and that check simply fails now with my new Origin ID? Not sure if that could be the cause here...I have ME1 and ME2 installed and they run perfectly fine (those two were originally on my new account to start with).

I'd appreciate any help or pointers on where to look for an error.

  • shunyaxgl's avatar
    shunyaxgl
    6 years ago

    I finally got around to calling EA Support about two weeks ago (kudos to those support staff people still working in these times, hopefully from home or another safe environment).

    The solution makes me think I wasn't so far off with my initial theory of some kind of game/purchase ID being carried over from my old account which then resulted in that ID being checked against my new Origin account ID and that check failing.

    As a last resort I asked the support to completely remove the game from my library, including all DLCs, and then re-add it as a new purchase. And that worked, I could start the game normally.

    One last note: apparently ME3 is not being supported anymore (or support being very limited), so if anything goes wrong beyond just simple ini file settings, chances are they aren't allowed to help you anymore. It's sad for me to see that a company, which has the game available for purchase in their store, not supporting a game anymore despite the fact that you can't launch it without their service as a middle-man. In other words, if you have a problem with a game of Origin that's old enough, you're pretty much screwed.

18 Replies

  • Fred_vdp's avatar
    Fred_vdp
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    A couple more things you can try:

    • Disable antivirus temporarily in case of a false positive.
    • Try a clean boot -- forcing Windows to launch without any unnecessary background processes: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/how-to-clean-boot-your-pc/
    • Do a clean driver installation. By clean, I mean completely wiping all traces of NVIDIA drivers with DDU. Download and guide at https://www.wagnardsoft.com/ -- Afterwards, install the latest NVIDIA driver from the official website.
  • shunyaxgl's avatar
    shunyaxgl
    6 years ago

    As expected (or feared, rather) the suggestions didn't solve the error.

    Disabling anti virus (Bitdefender) caused the same error.

    Clean boot still caused the same error.

    Uninstalling all NVIDIA drivers, then installing the newest one from their website also caused the same error.

    Still only see the MassEffect3.exe process for a second before it vanishes again without a trace.

  • holger1405's avatar
    holger1405
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @shunyaxgl 

    Look at this post and follow the instructions. (The files are on my onedrive) > Test.

    If that don't works go to your Reliability monitor > Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time and copy and paste or type "perfmon /rel" (without the quotes) in the new Window > hit “ENTER” and look if it has entries for the "MassEffect3.exe".

    If yes double click at the last entry for the game executable, copy the info to the clipboard, and save it to a text file.

    You can attach the  “Reliability monitor” text file to your post in the “Reply” window with the “Choose File” button. 

  • shunyaxgl's avatar
    shunyaxgl
    6 years ago
    @holger1405

    Tried both things, sadly to no avail.



    After copying the two dll files you provided the error still remained the same (in Origin's online and offline mode).



    Executing the Reliability Monitor showed no entries for Mass Effect 3. I tried to attach the output of it as a text file but for some reason the forum didn't let me post that, will try again later. That said, it gave no clues about why Mass Effect 3 would crash.
  • shunyaxgl's avatar
    shunyaxgl
    6 years ago

    Clean boot didn't work before, but I tried it again anyways. Same error, as expected.

    Created a new local user (user name "TestUser"), switched its type to Administrator, rebooted and started the game with that account. Same error.

    The more things we try to go through and don't work, the more I'm convinced that it has something to do with the game being transferred from my old account. Because all other games in my library work perfectly fine (Mass Effect 1 and 2). It's only this one.

  • shunyaxgl's avatar
    shunyaxgl
    6 years ago

    I finally got around to calling EA Support about two weeks ago (kudos to those support staff people still working in these times, hopefully from home or another safe environment).

    The solution makes me think I wasn't so far off with my initial theory of some kind of game/purchase ID being carried over from my old account which then resulted in that ID being checked against my new Origin account ID and that check failing.

    As a last resort I asked the support to completely remove the game from my library, including all DLCs, and then re-add it as a new purchase. And that worked, I could start the game normally.

    One last note: apparently ME3 is not being supported anymore (or support being very limited), so if anything goes wrong beyond just simple ini file settings, chances are they aren't allowed to help you anymore. It's sad for me to see that a company, which has the game available for purchase in their store, not supporting a game anymore despite the fact that you can't launch it without their service as a middle-man. In other words, if you have a problem with a game of Origin that's old enough, you're pretty much screwed.

  • shunyaxgl's avatar
    shunyaxgl
    6 years ago

    I finally got around to calling EA Support about two weeks ago (kudos to those support staff people still working in these times, hopefully from home or another safe environment).

    The solution makes me think I wasn't so far off with my initial theory of some kind of game/purchase ID being carried over from my old account which then resulted in that ID being checked against my new Origin account ID and that check failing.

    As a last resort I asked the support to completely remove the game from my library, including all DLCs, and then re-add it as a new purchase. And that worked, I could start the game normally.

    One last note: apparently ME3 is not being supported anymore (or support being very limited), so if anything goes wrong beyond just simple ini file settings, chances are they aren't allowed to help you anymore. It's sad for me to see that a company, which has the game available for purchase in their store, not supporting a game anymore despite the fact that you can't launch it without their service as a middle-man. In other words, if you have a problem with a game of Origin that's old enough, you're pretty much screwed.

  • shunyaxgl's avatar
    shunyaxgl
    6 years ago
    @holger1405 I finally got around to calling EA Support about two weeks ago (kudos to those support staff people still working in these times, hopefully from home or another safe environment).


    The solution makes me think I wasn't so far off with my initial theory of some kind of game/purchase ID being carried over from my old account which then resulted in that ID being checked against my new Origin account ID and that check failing.


    As a last resort I asked the support to completely remove the game from my library, including all DLCs, and then re-add it as a new purchase. And that worked, I could start the game normally.


    One last note: apparently ME3 is not being supported anymore (or support being very limited), so if anything goes wrong beyond just simple ini file settings, chances are they aren't allowed to help you anymore. It's sad for me to see that a company, which has the game available for purchase in their store, not supporting a game anymore despite the fact that you can't launch it without their service as a middle-man. In other words, if you have a problem with a game of Origin that's old enough, you're pretty much screwed.

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