CTD on New Game due to ASLAL/AOS issue?

[Radwen]

So I hit the end of Step 4 in the STEP 1.0 guide and attempted to run the game with all the mods as recommended just to make sure it worked, but every time I started a new game I'd get a loadscreen with a level bar and fog, then a short time later I would CTD. After a couple hours of mod troubleshooting I seem to have narrowed it down to some sort of conflict between Alternate Start: Live Another Life and Audio Overhaul for Skyrim SE. I'm currently in the situation that the game runs fine with either mod turned off, and I can even load a save game with the full list turned on if I, for example, start with everything but AOS on, finish character creation in the jail, then hop out to turn AOS back on, but I'm not sure what to do to fix the core issue. I haven't tested beyond ASLAL's starting room to see if AOS is causing crashes anywhere else, but I can't imagine it would if it's capable of loading into the save game immediately after character creation.

I'm not especially skilled at modding, so I don't know what information I need to provide, but I do know that the crash log always starts with 

Unhandled native exception occurred at ~~~x variable~~~~~ (X3DAudio1_7.dll+2B172) on thread ~~y variable~~!

I attached the log from my latest New Game crash that had the full mod list turned on. AOS seems to have noted a compatibility issue with that .dll in a different Mod called True 3D Sound for Headphones, but that's not in the mod list and I've never downloaded it.

Crash_2022_1_12_13-51-40.txt

[z929669]

It's almost certainly a compatibility issue having to do with the SAE updates. Some mods are not yet updated to SAE 1.6.353, and many more are not updated to 1.6.xxx.

The Step Patches may also be incompatible with some mods at this point. We aren't really maintaining support for the SSE guide with all of the flux.

You will need to be certain that you are running the version of Skyrim you expect and that all mods are supporting 1.5.97. Some mod authors are not supporting 1.5.97 and have hidden those versions of their mods (Arthmoor and the USP team). Not a great time for those without a lot of modding XP, and we are limited in how we can help.

Ensure you are sorting with LOOT whenever plugins change and paying attention to all LOOT messages at the top of the LOOT window. Disable the highest-priority half of your mods, run LOOT (enable or disable mods if MO warns in the top right of the app). Sort with LOOT and test. Keep enabling/disabling blocks of mods until you know for certain which ones are causing isues. Then go to those mod pages and carefully read their requirements.

ASLAL and (ASLAL is compatible) CRF (among others) do not support 1.5.97, so you really need to study the requirements and posts on the mod pages.

[Mousetick]

The crash occurs inside a DirectX audio component. Does the game work correctly without any mod or extender?

Suggestions for troubleshooting:

• Isolate

1. Create a new MO profile as a copy of your STEP profile, then disable all mods (right click left pane, select All Mods > Disable All).
2. Enable SKSE, NetScriptFramework and all its requirements.
3. Enable AOS and test a new game: go through the vanilla intro sequence, character creation and initial quest, at least until you enter Helgen Keep.
4. Does the game crash?

• Run DxDiag and check the Notes section on the Sound tab(s)
• Check there is no X3DAudio1_7.dll file inside the Skyrim game folder (i.e. alongside SkyrimSE.exe)
• Check your audio drivers are up to date

ASLAL does support 1.5.97. 

 

[Radwen]

7 minutes ago, Mousetick said:

The crash occurs inside a DirectX audio component. Does the game work correctly without any mod or extender?

Suggestions for troubleshooting:

• Isolate

1. Create a new MO profile as a copy of your STEP profile, then disable all mods (right click left pane, select All Mods > Disable All).
2. Enable SKSE, NetScriptFramework and all its requirements.
3. Enable AOS and test a new game: go through the vanilla intro sequence, character creation and initial quest, at least until you enter Helgen Keep.
4. Does the game crash?

• Run DxDiag and check the Notes section on the Sound tab(s)
• Check there is no X3DAudio1_7.dll file inside the Skyrim game folder (i.e. alongside SkyrimSE.exe)
• Check your audio drivers are up to date

ASLAL does support 1.5.97. 

 

The issue was 100% that there was a copy of X3DAudio1_7.dll in the game's folder. I have no idea how it got there or why it matters, but as soon as I deleted it I could start a new game just fine. Thanks a billion Mousetick, now I can move on with the guide with no trouble.  And thanks to the admin for your time even though the issue ended up being something else!

 

[z929669]

1 hour ago, Radwen said:

The issue was 100% that there was a copy of X3DAudio1_7.dll in the game's folder. I have no idea how it got there or why it matters, but as soon as I deleted it I could start a new game just fine. Thanks a billion Mousetick, now I can move on with the guide with no trouble.  And thanks to the admin for your time even though the issue ended up being something else!

 

Yes, it obviously helps to read the crash report ... @Mousetick doesn't miss much

[Mousetick]

1 hour ago, Radwen said:

I have no idea how it got there or why it matters

You probably installed 'True 3D Sound for Headphones' (or a similar audio "enhancer" mod) at some point in the past, then removed it but forgot to clean up afterwards. MO doesn't manage files directly within the top game folder, it only manages stuff within the Data folder. This .dll is normally part of DirectX which is buried somewhere inside your Windows system folder. Some mods put "fake" DirectX .dll files inside the top game folder so they can hook deep into the game at a low level. For example, the "Preloader" component of SSE Engine Fixes puts a fake d3dx9_42.dll there (which is normally a DirectX 9 component).

If the 3rd-party .dll is buggy it can crash the game.