It's Not Just You™ - Mirillis' ACTION Crashing On Startup After 2.2.0 Update [My Issue Fixed with 2.2.1]

Just a quick post, to let those of you using the game and desktop recording application ACTION! by Mirillis know that a few days ago (on February 10th, 2017) the program was Updated to version 2.2.0. I enjoy testing out ACTION! as it has good performance - I purchased a License for it a while back and I want to do a 'Game Recorder Comparison' for The Blog which includes it as 'one of the contestants' here someday "Soon™" - but for now, I wanted to let other users of it know that ACTION! currently seems to be crashing after this latest Update...

Example of ACTION! currently crashing on Startup as of the date of this post.
GFX (GeForce eXperience, my abbrev.) shown in the background as having the Latest Drivers.
Click to see Full Size.

Now, this may only be NVIDIA GPU owners - I recently received a shiny new GTX 1060 GPU for Christmas from Santa and was testing out some game recording applications off and on - and found that ACTION! is crashing. Steam users are talking about it as well, as they seem to be having the same issue [my version of ACTION! is the Standalone version]. *Note, I am not "Joker5", one of the users mentioning this issue, in the Screenshot containing the Steam Activity Feed about it, I did not make a comment on the Feed at this time

While I am sorry to say that I do not have a Solution or Fix at the moment (I usually put "[Fix]" or something similar in the Title if I do), this is just a quick post to let other users of Mirillis' ACTION! know that - if you are having 'crashing-on-startup' issues at this time - It's Not Just You™...




Update 1 (2017-02-14):
I did eventually get the application to start, but it took six tries/restarts to do so. I will Update this post when a more permanent fix/update is known

Update 2 (2017-02-15 AM):
There is a new version of NVIDIA drivers released (378.66 dated 2017-02-13), but after installing them, now ACTION gives an Error 104 about half the time when starting it up... I purchased a Commercial Use License for ACTION a while ago, and made no changes to my firewall (the error is related to those aspects) so this should not be happening. I may contact Mirillis or post in their forum, etc. to see if this is related and/or notify them of this

Example of an Error that was occurring with ACTION version 2.2.0 showing NVIDIA Driver version in GeForce Experience
Click to see Full Size

Update 3 (2017-02-15 PM):

There was just now an Update released for Mirillis' ACTION (version 2.2.1, released today, 2017-02-15)

Update 2.2.1 notification message at the bottom of the ACTION! interface
Click to see Full Size

I have installed this new version and tested it - and it runs without issue - I have closed it an opened it numerous times now, without any problems. Here is a Screenshot of it starting up:

Screenshot of ACTION! version 2.2.1 starting up in Windows (including a wide-angle Desktop Wallpaper I compiled from multiple screenshots, with customized logo, I will make these available in the future)
Click to see Full Size

Using this version now, I went and looked at the Changelog for it (History of Changes and Updates to the program). Here is the Changelog for this version:

It is the first item that I find interesting, as I recently was testing out a 'Razer Surround Pro' audio device that came with my Gamepad - and as a result of porting audio through that device, there are no longer any Audio Devices listed as operational in the Recording tab of sound devices in Windows. Here is what my list of input devices look like now:

I only mention this because it is interesting to me [I wonder how related having no Input Devices was, to the issue I was experiencing (along with others, according to their forum and Steam Feeds), with ACTION - prompting this Update? I don't know the answer, of course, I am not a Developer or Programmer for Mirillis... I am merely thinking out loud. Wondering, heh].

Regardless, if you have run into this issue, it seems to have been solved by this update that 'just' came out - go get it - hopefully it will fix any issues for you too. Way to go, Mirillis - keep it up!



[Personal Note/Declaration: I am not affiliated with Mirillis or any of their products in any way (look at the links, there are no 'affiliate links' or 'tags' in them) and have not and will not receive any compensation in any form, for talking about ACTION here. I am merely a user of their program and wanted to share this information to help others. I have also utilized other similar programs in the past (such as FRAPS and Bandicam, free recording programs like OBS and MSI's Afterburner and more) and will use any of these products in the future]

MSI Afterburner and AMD Gaming Evolved (Powered by Raptr) - Working Together In A Tense Harmony [Tutorial Of A Workaround]

I have been using Raptr (the AMD-Sponsored version, called AMD Gaming Evolved) for a while off and on, more dedicatedly since December now and have been having a lot of fun with it. In this article, I'll show my 'Workaround' steps for getting MSI Afterburner and Raptr (G.E.) to work together. It's odd, but it's easy. Enjoy.

There are a bunch of reasons why gamers would want to run MSI Afterburner along with Raptr/GamingEvolved: the added Overclocking capability, Fan Control, Buffered Gameplay Recording, and more.

At first, I noticed that when trying to run MSI Afterburner, together with Raptr/GamingEvolved, they both just looked at each other and said, "Nuh-uh.." and walked away... sometimes taking the game with it. After looking it up online, it seems that many people have wanted this and had this problem. So, I took it upon myself to see if I could find a Solution (or at least a Workaround) for this odd interaction - and I did!

I share it with you now, my dear readers and fellow gamers, so that you can utilize the potential of these two programs together (and mention the steps for the workaround, in hopes that it will help the Developers of these useful applications possibly ease their mutual tension between them, in future updates, perhaps).

Short Version first (for the impatient or those that "just want to know c'mon", and those with ADHD - both parties of which I belong to myself), then a Long Version, explaining the steps further and possible reasons why this entire interaction may be occurring:

Short Version

• Run RAPTR_GE (set the Overlay for any corner but the Upper-Left)
• Run Game (wait a moment to let the Overlays for RAPTR_GE load, if Enabled)
• Run MSI_AB (which Defaults to using the Upper-Left for its Overlay)
• Sit With  Mouth Open For A Moment

Long Version

Here are the steps I found for getting Afterburner and Raptr working together in a tense harmony**, figured out after much testing of settings, and games, and reboots, and re-installations, and more...

Initially, I found it ran much better while running Bandicam (in the background, not 'doing anything' with it); but after updating all three programs and GPU drivers since beginning Testing, it seems that the extra step of running Bandicam (and having it just sit there) is not needed anymore. So, here are the 'New and Improved', simplified steps for getting these two useful programs to work together:

• Run AMD Gaming Evolved / Raptr and Login
• Make sure MSI Afterburner is not running
• Run your game
• Let AMD Gaming Evolved / Raptr load its Overlays
  (I suggest the Lower-Left corner (I used that for testing the below games), but eventually tried the Lower-Right as well, and I believe any will work, as long as it is not the Upper-Left corner [as MSI Afterburner uses that region for its Overlay by Default])
• Run MSI Afterburner and choose/have your settings for Fans, Overclocking, Gameplay Recording,etc
• Go back to your running game and let these programs detect the game and load up fully
  (you should see the MSI Afterburner overlay [by Default, in the Upper-Left] and the Raptr/GE overlay load in its corner you selected - and you should now be running Afterburner and Raptr together!

1. Note that some games can have MSI Afterburner running already (I have noted some below, in a list); but for the most part, it will result in either the GamingEvolved/Raptr GameDVR not loading, or the game simply crashing [at least, it did in my testing].
2. Note also, that you should try not to lose Focus of the game (ie. don't ALT+TAB out of the game or click outside of the window if in a Windowed Mode) or close any of the programs (eg. don't close MSI Afterburner and leave your game and Ratpr/GE running - it will likely crash the game [at least, it did in my tests]).

That's it!


Hopefully, you are now running MSI_AB and RAPTR_GE together, seeing the overlays for both and are able to have the benefits of both; Buffered Game Recording, Game Time Tracking, Fan Control, and even Overclocking.

Note: If running the RAPTR_GE recording buffer and the MSI_AB recording buffer at the same time, game performance will be affected - but it is possible if you wish to do so - I did it in my Testing.

Now, I am not a Programmer, nor am I a Developer for any of these programs or companies; so I am not 100% sure why this 'works'. It seems to be mainly a Workaround [to me], as it should not require running a multiple almost-competitor programs, with seemingly-close functions/overlays/etc all at once [and initially, Bandicam had to be running in Minimized mode]. The only reasoning I can find (in my superficial estimation), is that there are functions/calls that the programs are making that interfere with each other 'just enough' to make this all work together in a 'tense harmony'**. I say this because it does not work near as reliably, if you run MSI Afterburner first, the games first, or other variations of this.

[At least, it did not work those ways on my system, at the time of this writing and testing - I realize that every system configuration is different, and offers differing obstacles to these two programs working together. I feel it is an immense task as it is, to have each of these programs running one at a time on such a multitude of systems and difference of hardware that exists - my compliments go out to the Developers of both of these useful programs, regardless]

To try to be a little more specific, perhaps it is 'working' because there are functions/calls that these programs are doing, that are actually conflicting with each other - but they do so in such a fashion, that the end result is that they each stake out their territory and 'dont mess with each other' - each working in their own little Overlay or Recording areas, each performing their programmed functions, but with a sideways eye held in the direction of the other applications...

Regardless of how this Technomancy is working [remember it was even more 'odd' initially, with having to run Bandicam for some reason, at the same time], I tested it with multiple games now and it appears to be a repeatable process with reliable output (as long as you don't look at your computer too long in the eye region) - thus, I wanted to share it here with you all.

Games The Above Procedure Was Tested With: 

DNW = Did Not Work

AB = can have MSI_AB running already (before game is started)

22 = Error 22 was experienced (intermittently) 

• Minecraft

• Battlefield 4

• Battlefield: Hardline

• Planetside 2

• Just Cause 2

• World Of Warcraft

• Simcity (2013)

• Hitman: Absolution

• Zombies Monsters Robots

• Left 4 Dead

• Left 4 Dead 2 - AB

• Team Fortress 2 - AB

• Counter Strike: Global Offensive - AB

• TESV: Skyrim - AB

• Batman: Arkham City - AB, 22

• Tomb Raider (2013) - AB

• Torchlight - AB

• The Secret World - AB

• Need For Speed World - DNW

• Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 - DNW (reliably)

• Plants Vs Zombies (Steam and Origin) - DNW  

[Edit/Update: I did not initially test Hearthstone at the time of writing this post, but I have played it some since - and felt I must come back here and add that, in my experience with playing Hearthstone while running MSI Afterburner, there have been many occurrences of crashing, both of the game itself and the Blizzard Launcher [have been crashing]... Whether it is something at the moment with Blizzard's software, something with Afterburner, or something with Windows 10 (as I have recently Upgraded to it) I cannot say - but I wanted to make sure to let you know that if this is occurring with you (crashing when running Hearthstone and MSI Afterburner together) that It's Not Just You™]


By the way, if on your system, you just can't get these two to play nice together (but want to make sure and run at least Raptr/GE in order to track your gameplay or use the Optimizer, etc) - don't worry, you can do most of the functions MSI Afterburner offers with similar [also free] programs... If you purchased a video card from some companies recently, you may have gotten a disc with a similar utility on it.

For instance, EVGA has PrecisionX (you may have gotten no disc though and will have to go to their offical website). Club3D (new to North America, but they have been 'across the pond' for a couple of decades now) has RoyalFlush. Both of these examples offer Overclocking, Overvoltage and Fan Control (and PrecisionX offers Screenshot Capturing).

AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) of course offers both Screenshot Capturing and Buffered Recording of gameplay [Quality Tests of these GameDVR recordings, in future articles, Coming Soon™!]; but if you want the extra features that MSI Afterburner offers - and want these two programs running at the same time (for whatever reasons you may have) - I hope the above steps work for you. Enjoy... and See You In The Game!

[**Tense Harmony is the phrase I am utilizing in this article, because it is a tentative, fragile working condition: I found that if I ALT+TAB'd out of a game, it could cause this whole house of cards to come crashing down [the game could crash]. If I was running the game in a Windowed Mode, and I clicked outside of it for some reason (to look up something in the Intertubes, etc), it could cause the game to crash. Basically, any sneezing or farting of any type near the computer could cause this Workaround to asplode. Remember, that initiallyin Testing, trying to figure this all out, I had to run Bandicam as well, Minimized and 'not doing anything' - I mean, what the frell? I normally wouldn't even recommend, as a Former IT Professional, running multiple-different-and-for-the-most-part-competing [game recording] programs, each with their own functions and overlays... heck, I could have been called a heretic and forced to do Late-Night Tech Support, if I was still working, for suggesting to run multiple programs that all do the same thing for goodness'sakes, heh... Anyway, thus my phrasing utilized herein. No matter what though, I hope it works for you, as it did for me.]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfware 3 - The Free Weekend and First Impressions (Feb and April 2012) Text-Only Version

[Currently this article is text-only, with no screenshots. They will be added in the near future (read: after the free weekend)]

Sometime around January/February, 2012:

Greetings all, TheTechnician here and I can honestly say that I have never played MW3 before in my life. This free weekend/demo of the game is my first time playing any other of the COD series besides the first, which I tried on a friend's PC back almost a decade ago, and even then, I only played a short while.

Three main things hit me right away after downloading the free/demo Steam version and starting it up. The first was the game/server matching system. I thought I was playing Left For Dead Joins The Army. Not that it is a bad thing, as most of the decisions were automated, but it was quite different than... oh let's pull a game out of the dark randomly here from hundreds of games... Battlefield3.

There was no huge server list to wade through, no filters to set, no options to play certain maps, no inviting friends to play on your maps with you (at least I didn't see these things at first, perhaps they were Unlockable, as most of the game seemed to be). Two comments about this: one, unlockables aren't bad. They are an attempt to keep people playing (their numbers are then high to submit to shareholders and industry press) and add a freshness to the game, as time goes on and there are 'new' things to find within playing the same game for a time; and two, simplicity isn't bad as well. I can see that this game was made more for Console players (let's try not to start THAT war now) from the beginning as the simplified matchmaking and server choices (no choices at all actually, that I saw at first) make for 'plug-it-in-and-get-a-drink-and-just-play' game starting, which isn't a bad thing either.

Coming from PC gaming (I have played consoles since PONG but only owned a couple such as the NES) it was quite a different feeling, not being able to set how many players I wanted to play with, what maps I wanted to try (if I wanted to limit it to one or two for a while to get used to them), and I can honestly say - as a PC Gamer remember - that I missed that. I felt my army-bootlaces were being tied together for me from the very start and to place a value judgement on it, I didn't really like that there were no lists of options that I could pick through to get the type of game exactly how I wanted. Perhaps I am 'spoiled' as part of The Master Race [according to Console vs PC wars] but to not have all those choices and be forced to play with a small group of people I didn't know in such an intimate (spatially and conceptually, not emotionally) way was.. uncomforting.

Small is the operative word now. Small as in a group of only 8 as in ONLY EIGHT people were present and the game started. That's it? Why didn't it wait longer (since it made me anyway, again no choice) and why only eight? Is that the minimum required to play? /gasp Is that the maximum?

The game started and I was thrust into warfare. I tried to switch weapons scrolling my mousewheel but couldn't. "Only one weapon?" I typed. Noone answered. I ran and sprinted but then I stopped sprinting for some reason. Is my keyboard dying? I'll have to troubleshoot that later... There must be more weapons as it definitely showed more than one thing on the screen at the start, what class did I pick again? I tried hitting some keys such as 'throw grenade' and "2" to switch weapons, ah there we are, feeling more comfortable now, things are getting learned. Wow, this game looks pretty good.

Yes, the game looked good. It was realistic. Nice shadows, detailed textures, this city map I was in looked great. I haven't watched any 'BF3 vs MW3' videos on YouChoob (I try not to watch much gameplay video before playing a game) but if they argure about detail and realism, I would say they are both very similar and both very good.

As I moved around, I felt a bit like I was 'floating' around, gliding on skates as opposed to ...oh I don't know ...some random game like.. Battlefield3. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, it felt a lot smoother and I remembered right away how COD was based on the QuakeIII engine and when Medal of Honor and Battlefield1942 first came out, crossing over to those games [from Quake3] felt like I was running hip deep in water all the time. I don't know if MW3 is just a really-really-souped-up Quake3 engine, but the smoothness of movement reminded me of it, and it was nice.

***** TIME TRAVEL TO FREE WEEKEND APRIL 2012

That's where I stopped working on that post? Hmm.. well, from what I remember, it was a pretty fast-paced, action-packed couple of days. I only got to Rank 4 but was starting to learn the controls and the game. I even killed a few people. 

My biggest complaint (other than what seemed like the odd never-miss person, I don't like to throw 'that word' for them around) was the scope of the play areas. If the limited number of players gave me a taste I didn't like at the beginning, the limited play space by the end left a lingering, bad aftertaste. Perhaps I am spoiled (am I really using this phrase again?) by the sheer size and huge number of players in BF3 games, but to be put into a little kennel of an area, usually what felt like five rooms together and some open spots (read: small spots with no rooves) was just plain... small. Perhaps it is the limited hardware in consoles holding back programming for any larger scope of gameplay, but whatever it is, you either like it and love the close-quarters action - or you don't, and feel that you were just thrown into a kennel with other dogs, all just itching to fight. At least, that's what I remember...

*****

Fast-forward to the April 2012 Free Weekend of MW3 and... I can't play it. Every time I start it through Steam, my computer reboots itself. Great, now what's the problem? 

"Steam, verify the integrity of your cache."

"Yessir. All files successfully validated, sir."

"Understood.. hmmm."

Well, let's look at some forii and see if anyone else is having "mw3 crashes" or "mw3 reboots computer" problems... "Update your ****" well, thank you very much, I actually have the latest drivers, blahblahwait.. my BIOS. I didn't update that since I upgraded to my sex-core FX with Gigabyte Mainboard! 

Ah, Gigabyte, the gimmick-laden utility-dropping wonder of a manufacturer. Although I will usually say "ASUS" when people ask what to get at the lunchtable, for dependability (Remember Kids, It's Pronounced 'ahh-suhs' As In 'Pegasus', Which The Company Is Named After (sounding more like us-us than ah-sus or the ear-tearing ay-soos)), I also heartily recommend Gigabyte. Feature-packing and ready-to-go, I easily find the Touch Bios utility at the website, which allows BIOS access within Windows and tell it to Automagically Update the BIOS with the latest version found over the internet at the manufacturer's website. Oh, it's done already? 

REBOOT = SUCCESS

The game starts and I can begin to run around and die once more. What's this about Free Weekend = Hackers on the forum I saw? Bah.. too bad, but I'll still try to play some.. It looks like they are doing updates as the weekend goes even, updates are coming down the Steam pipe. [dude, steampipe, get it, dude]

So, for those having crashing issues with the April 2012 Free Weekend of MW3, after making sure all your drivers are up-to-date, update your BIOS through your manufacturer's instructions (will make a post on this in the future) and that should help.

See you in there!

[Screenshots and more to follow...]

Short versions of updating the motherboard bios from our Resident Techie:

• For Gigabyte: install TouchBIOS, run it and update via the internet for the latest version straight from them.
• For ASUS (and others): go to the company's website and find your mainboard through models/type/etc and in the Downloads section, download your board's BIOS, latest version. Install and run the manufacturer's update utility (usually on the disc, or dl it from the website) and tell it to update using the file that you downloaded from the company's website.
• Reboot.

[Back in my day, we took up the phone line to put the handset on the cups and we put the bios updates onto floppies and booted to dos and ran a separate flash utility and prayed and gave scented offerings to the gods that nothing bad happened and we liked it, dagnabbit]