SOLVED: Project is stable when WinDbg is attached to process, Otherwise it crashes with no dump file

Bugs
1

I’m currently encountering instabilities in a particular project file, wherein it often crashes with no dump file when exiting perform mode with esc or navigating around the network. While in perform mode the project is quite stable.

The odd situation occurs when WinDbg is attached to the TouchDesigner process, it no longer crashes. I have tested this scenario over multiple days and have not had a single crash when WinDbg is attached. I have gone so far as to open and close perform mode dozens of times in a row as fast as possible with no instabilities.

I’m running 2023.12000 with NVIDIA studio driver 566.36, on a laptop 4090 with 64gb RAM and an AMD 7945. While troubleshooting this issue I have uninstalled every piece of software that wasn’t absolutely neccesary to my current workflows and also checked over the startup folder. My laptop is an asus but its running ghelper, with armoury crate fully uninstalled.

I would post the .toe but its built around a bunch of patreon .toe/.tox’s including T3D and Flow3D. I also believe that my additions have induced this instability, as the original Flow3D toe was quite stable. Thanks for any advice & happy holidays!

2

Hi @Brad_Emery

So it’s not occuring in an empty / basic file at all?

Could you monitor your GPU memory usage ? Take a screenshot of your performance monitor and share it here ?

Best,
Michel

3

Thanks Michel,

I got too distracted by the odd behavior when paired with WinDbg and overlooked the GPU. I’ll spare you the screenshots and find my way over to Optimize | Derivative

Just wondering though, is there any reason apparent to you why WinDbg would increase project stability when riding high on GPU usage?

4

None that comes to mind, other than perhaps WinDbg spreading resources in a different way across the system. Or perhaps, just a coincidence really.

Will tag @malcolm for feedback if there is anything to add.

Best,
Michel

5

It’s not surprising for a debugger to cause an application to behave differently. It slows down processing and changes memory allocation, which can hide or move a bug to a different spot, depending on the bug itself.

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