FFXIV

If you've been crashing in FFXIV and are greeted by the error "Fatal Direct X Error: 11000002", then hopefully this will help.

Fatal Direct X Error: 11000002 is, unfortunately, a GENERIC error. There's nothing specific about it, other than DirectX had a problem with the client and crashed. Square-Enix doesn't allow any debugging, and doesn't seem to be interested in digging deeper into this error. They always tell you to give them a readout of your specs, and re-verify your game files. Then they fade away if that doesn't work, because they don't know what else to do, either. There's simply too many factors in a generic error to know.

I've been dealing with this for about a year. I work in the IT industry, and this is what I've found so far (I have edited this down, so not all efforts are shown).

I have an AMD CPU, a Ryzen 7 3700X, and the R5700XT GPU. However, I also had this error with an Nvidia 1070. This started right around the time Endwalker launched.

Things I've tried that didn't seem to make a difference:

1. Switching GPUs

2. Replacing and Upgrading memory

3. Changing timing of memory in BIOS

4. Updating BIOS

5. Updating/Downgrading GPU drivers

6. Uninstalling Adrenaline software

7. Turning off ALL other programs on a fresh boot up

8. Removing overlays (Discord, AMD Adrenaline junk, closing Steam even though it's not running through Steam)

9. Using GPU Studio drivers (AMD)

10. Using GPU MS graphics drivers

11. Disabling SMT (AMD CPU Simultaneous Multithreading)

12. Reinstalling DirectX

13. Reinstalling/re-verifying FFXIV game files

Things I did that seemed to help:

1. Disabling Real Time Reflections and Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSBAO+ Quality) (these are in-game options) - turns out, SSBAO is very intensive and causes frequent crashing if you're prone to these errors already. This made the biggest difference and increased my time between crashes.

2. Capping frame rate at 1:1 instead of Unlimited. If you don't have a 1:1 option, Unlimited is likely a better choice. That's what I found on my 1070.

3. Making sure that both monitors used the same cable method (DisplayPort) and thus could have the same refresh rate. I originally used on DisplayPort and one HMDI - despite having two of the same monitors, this limited HDMI's frame rate and caused more crashes. You want all monitors on the same refresh rate, especially if you change focus from the game to something else.

4. Turn off Full Screen Enhancements in the Properties of the FFXIV launcher shortcut.

5. UNDERVOLTING the 5700XT via Adrenaline menu - if it didn't crash my system, I had less fatal directx errors this way

6. Turning off xBox gaming overlay in Windows

7. Turning off Game Mode in Windows - this supposedly "Helps achieve a more stable frame rate depending on the specific game and system" but in practice seemed to hamper FFXIV performance.

Things I did that made it worse:

1. Running video on my second monitor/switching focus to that monitor

2. Switching to Windowed Mode (Fullscreen or Borderless Windowed mode worked slightly better)

Clues I learned along the way:

1. Inside most cities and other high-intensity areas that Square-Enix can predict, they seem to cap fps or effects for stability. So I rarely crashed in Limsa or the Golden Saucer. However, I most commonly crashed in dungeons, raids, and trials. Phase 2 of the Ultima Weapon in the MSQ Roulette was very common.

2. After running sfc/scannow and rebooting, the next two crashes gave me a blue screen and actual memory .DMP files. They said the graphics card had "invalid fence IDs". This means that the GPU returned results either too fast, or too slow, from what the CPU was expecting and allotted. The BSODs happened much faster, about 10-20 minutes into play. Not like a slow buildup of hours like before. This time, it seemed to indicate that something was checking for data slower than the GPU could push out results. Meaning, the GPU was processing too fast for its own good. So I undervolted the GPU. I have seemed to stay more stable, but this didn't fix the problem completely.

3. I also had a problem with sound cutout in Frontlines when playing Seal Rock - and it wouldn't restart even if I restarted my audio services. Turns out, FFXIV uses a lower-level access method to access the sound drivers directly instead of going through Windows services. This is controlled by "exclusive access" which you can actually see in your sound options in Windows. You want FFXIV to have exclusive access. And "Give Priority". I had to disable my monitors as audio devices in Device Manager (DisplayPort can send audio, like HDMI). Even though they had no speakers, FFXIV was momentarily confused on which device to use. It wouldn't repair itself until I closed and reopened the game. I disabled my GPU from being an audio source. This left me with my motherboard's Realtech driver as the sole source of audio, so there was no more confusion. I also turned off my Gamepad options in the FFXIV menu, which apparently also does something with audio. Why do I bring this up? Because I suspect the video runs the same way - bypassing Windows control. So when you use all these new Windows features, they just interfere with communication between the game and your hardware. Turning off as much of it as possible is ideal. If you troubleshoot with that in mind, you'll likely have better success.

My solution: I tested again by switching graphics cards. I put my old 1070 card back in, and haven't crashed since, even when I turn on Real Time Reflections and SSAO again. The frame rate suffers, but I can tell that it renders better. Real Time Reflections specifically looks better than with the AMD setup. While I believe that this is not a problem exclusive to AMD GPUs or even the 5700xt, it does seem like it exacerbates the problem. The RX5700xt just has poor drivers and poor hardware (the GPU screws can't get tight enough to hold the heatsink on fully). I think my other configuration issues like the two different cables causing two different refresh rates caused my crashes on the 1070 initially. In the end, I bought another graphics card (4070) and haven't had an issue. I suspect other AMD cards would probably be ok as well, if their drivers were written properly. There's a lot of problems with the RX5700xt physically (short screws can't keep the heat sink on the chip well) and driver-wise.

I hope this helps somone else out there!