Spontaneous system "crash" issue, WITH VIDEO

BlueRaven

@ZOS_BillE @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom

Since it is not possible to link a video to a bug report, can you please, please refer this video and issue to the proper people? Thank you.

This issue effects several users and can be discussed in forum posts such as these;

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/497668/spontaneous-logging-out-of-computer-user-in-macos-catalina/p1

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/530044/greymoor-back-with-a-bang-crashing-to-computer-login#latest

So basically, while playing the game, my ENTIRE Mac OS will "crash". (OK, let me explain what is exactly happening. While playing the game, and only while playing this particular game, rather frequently the entire screen will go black. Then, after a second or two, the Mac OS login screen will appear. I am calling this a system crash, but there may be a more technical term I am not aware of.)

From there I put in my computer's password and my normal desktop appears. ALSO any programs I was running at the time also reopens. BUT as for the game I can still hear it, as if it is still running, however it does not show up as open in my sidebar, my force quit window, and I can not see it on the screen. All I see is my normal desktop, with icons folders etc.
I can still hear it as if it is running, and from the background noises I can tell it is NOT in a loop or anything, but other then the sound the game is not detectable in any normal sense.

The "Activity Monitor" utility DOES show it running though.

This video was shot on my phone for reason that will be obvious. Also I had to block or blur out portions of it for privacy concerns, but it is one continual shot video.

https://youtu.be/2nIbH_XoELE

Thank you!

ZOS_Bill

@BlueRaven

Have you already started a ticket to report this issue?

If so, what is the ticket number?

BlueRaven

@ZOS_BillE

I have, back in March when this really started becoming a problem with Southern Elsweyr. (It had happened rarely in Northern Elsweyr, but I could live with rarely.) This was in March.

Question Reference # 200304-003449

This exchange ended when they told me to submit it as a bug report. (Difficult to fully explain in the short amount of space.) And, of course, the bug report says you won't get a response. So I don't know if they did not understand the issue, or maybe they thought it was fixed? Or that it was a temporary issue? But it keeps happening, daily.

Also you may remember I wrote this post about this very issue back in June, that you responded to;

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/532286/questions-about-reporting-bugs#latest

So I have been hesitant about what to do next with the crashing issue as it still does not appear to be addressed in the patch notes. Thus I made the video to post it on the forums, so that it would be perfectly clear what is happening.

••••

In a related note, I had a character get "stuck" in Proudspire Manor in Solitude due to this issue. I could not even log in to the character, as the game crashed back to the Mac OS login screen as shown in the video. (I could log on to other characters without issue.) I had to have customer service get the character out of there.

Question Reference # 200701-006222

I have not been back to the house since for fear of getting another character stuck in there. So I am out of some money there, I guess.

•••

I just want to remind you that this is ONLY happening with the newer zones. Going from Malabal Tor to the Gold Coast? No Issue. Going from Stonefalls to Daggerfall? No Issue. Hew's bane? I am fine.

And I CAN get to these problem areas, IF I keep attempting to get there. Sometimes I get there on the very next login. Sometimes it takes as much as six or seven times. (And some times I give up and go play something else. And try again the next day.)

Also this problem ONLY happens when playing ESO. Other games? Fine. Adobe products? Fine as well.

Thank you for your help with this. At this point I don't know what else to do.

BlueRaven

@ZOS_BillE

I just noticed that the ticket I referenced above was the "part 2" of the responses.

The Original ticket was sent in January.

Question Reference # 200128-004423

•••

So the order of the tickets are;

Question Reference # 200128-004423

then it picks up in;

Question Reference # 200304-003449

And then the character stuck issue;

Question Reference # 200701-006222

Sorry about that!

ZOS_Bill

@BlueRaven

We recommend starting a new ticket for this crash to find out of there are any updates on the situation.

BlueRaven

@ZOS_BillE

Ok I will. I guess is should link the previous tickets and maybe this forum post as well?

EDIT: I just submitted the new ticket;

200819-006468

Thank you for your help!

BlueRaven

So the issue has reached a conclusion of sorts.

After I submitted a ticket it got elevated to a specialist team. This was around August 20th.

Then nothing until tonight (Sept. 16), and then...

"Greetings!

My name is XXXXX from the advanced team and I would be happy to assist you today!

I sincerely apologize for the delay in getting back to you. We received a large amount of tickets recently and are trying our best to get through them.

I understand that you are experiencing these strange crashes when in newer zones in the game and particularly when using wayshrines. As it looks like we have attempted all of the troubleshooting we have available for this type of issue, I have gathered all of the information you provided and have sent it up to be reviewed directly by our developers.

If there does seem to be a bug in the system causing this issue, it will need to be resolved in a future patch. Please feel free to keep an eye on our Patch Notes forum for any future updates at http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/categories/patch-notes.

If the developers have any information regarding your specific account, we will be sure to reach back out to you. We appreciate you bringing this issue to our attention!

If you have any further questions or concerns in the meantime, please let us know and we would be happy to assist you!

Warm Regards,
XXXXX
The Elder Scrolls Online Team"

(I edited out the name of the team member.)

I wrote back to them to please contact me if they needed any more info on my end about the issue.

So that's it then. Maybe it will get fixed, or maybe not.

Sorry I could not provide a happier ending.

Edit: Looking back at this the weird part was...

"As it looks like we have attempted all of the troubleshooting we have available for this type of issue". What attempts? It literally went from "We will elevate this issue" to this. There is noting else.

It's like bringing a car in to be fixed, and the first mechanic immediatly saying, "Well I will get the lead mechanic to see this", and then after a long wait the lead coming out and saying "Well, we did all we could."

No one did anything. No one even tried. Ah well.

Deter1UK

Yea, crash to computer log-in screen - I have been getting this - but only since Greymoor

Also white noise for 3-4 seconds when the initial character selection screen is about to load.

droz8881

I'm having the exactly same kind of issue, only recently though.

BlueRaven

@Deter1UK @droz8881

Please submit your own tickets to zos. The more they realize it’s a wide spread issue, the more work they will put in to fixing it. (I hope.)

droz8881

well, looks like microsoft is acquiring ZOS. there goes my mac client

BlueRaven

????!!! What?

Deter1UK

BlueRaven wrote: »

@Deter1UK @droz8881

Please submit your own tickets to zos. The more they realize it’s a wide spread issue, the more work they will put in to fixing it. (I hope.)

Done - and that was a bit of a palaver in itself!

droz8881

Guys - an update:
I was able to fix the issue.

When I disabled add-ons the issue disappeared.

Not sure which addon though, since I got so many addons I haven't tested every one of them yet. I will provide another update when I've isolated it.

BlueRaven

droz8881 wrote: »

Guys - an update:
I was able to fix the issue.

When I disabled add-ons the issue disappeared.

Not sure which addon though, since I got so many addons I haven't tested every one of them yet. I will provide another update when I've isolated it.

I have tried that before without success. But I am willing to give it a go again.

ArieSian

I have this same issue, but it only started since the Greymoor event began and it only happens when I am on loading screens in Western Skyrim or Blackreach. I did get a new computer that's running Catalina right before the Greymoor event. It never happened on my old Mac, which I never updated to Catalina.

I haven't submitted a ticket yet but if it continues after the Greymoor event is over I will.

karpok

I am having the same issue since Greymoor too and only in Borderreach or Blackreach. I haven't tried Elsweyr a lot. But having no issues in the rest of Tamriel.
It used to happen occasionally while using way shrines. But it has become much worst with the event and not only with way shrines. Yesterday it happened to me as I tried to get out of the tailor shop in Solitude. And when I tried to log back in it happened again twice in a row. The second time it also crashed Mac OS Finder.
This really looks like a serious memory leak issue and I am surprised no official feedback have been given for month. Are there still Mac developper on this game ?

Ehym

This happens to me too, when wayshrining into Solitude. Lots of fun considering the current event 🙄 My workaround has been to wayshrine to the docks and ride into Solitude, less convenient but no crashes that take forever to recover from....

BlueRaven

@karpok That is interesting. But please fill out a ticket so ZOS is aware that the problem effects many people.

@Ehym It’s been happening to me no matter which way I use to enter solitude. For example I crashed entering the city yesterday from the entrance by the docks.
Please submit a ticket as well, hopefully they can do something about this.

BlueRaven

Just an update:

Still happening. I am guessing that this will never be addressed.

Atlan_daGonozal

BlueRaven wrote: »

BUT as for the game I can still hear it, as if it is still running,

I got the same problem. Mind you, i don't log in any more but instead do a reboot right away as that is easier then terminating TESO using the Terminal.

BlueRaven wrote: »

I have, back in March when this really started becoming a problem with Southern Elsweyr.

Same here as well. And only yesterday in Southern Elsweyr. @ZOS_BillE ask the developer what they did different form Southern Elsweyr onward.

Atlan_daGonozal

droz8881 wrote: »

well, looks like microsoft is acquiring ZOS. there goes my mac client

No necessarily. Microsoft has tons of Mac software. The whole office suite, Visual Studio, .NET, Azure Devops Agents, One Drive. Producing Mac software is one way Microsoft keeps Antitrust and FTC at bay. So the opposite is possible as well: A better Mac client.

Hauteecole_Rider16

I have been experiencing this crash to desktop login (EXACTLY like BlueRaven's video) only once in a double blue moon for over a year. But in the last THREE days it's been crashing MULTIPLE TIMES a day! What's changed? Everything else on my Mac is working smoothly - running Big Sur on 2017 27" iMac. And like the others, it's been doing this during loading screens, whether jumping into /out of houses, using way shrines, or just teleporting. But it's also occurring in the middle of chat, while browsing the trader menu (posting items for sale in guild store), and just traveling around as well. There has been no recent MacOS updates since Dec 19th, and this just started becoming a big issue - first it would occur after four hours of game play (this became evident last week), but for the past three days it's cropping up after about an hour, and it's very irritating. I tried launching directly from the .dmg file (which I stopped doing last year when it kept forgetting that I agreed to all the TOS and set my gamma and couldn't remember my login name), and it just crashed without even loading the character select screen. I've saved that report (only one I have, actually) and I'm off to file a support ticket.

Hauteecole_Rider16

Leaving system specs to be connected to ticket #210120-003086. Personal identifying information have been blocked out. Crashed again this morning while transiting zones. I haven't even been logged in more than 10 minutes!

BlueRaven

Hauteecole_Rider16 wrote: »

Leaving system specs to be connected to ticket #210120-003086. Personal identifying information have been blocked out. Crashed again this morning while transiting zones. I haven't even been logged in more than 10 minutes!

Yeah. I have no idea if they are ever going to address this or not. That last post about the Mac client by the game director has left me with serious doubts about the future of ESO.

Anyway, I am glad you submitted a ticket for this. Who knows, maybe they will fix it.

polly83

Mac mini M1 here, getting the same issues. Tends to be after a waypoint jump, or visiting one specific banker. Also one of my toons is completely stuck. Cannot even login, crashes with 1 second of logging in, RIP. My main char can last a day, but an alt may only last minutes.
As others have pointed out, random white noise on downloader screen, (seemingly) random crashes, regardless of settings. I was hoping that some.most of it was down to Rosetta 2 translation, but now I'm not that hopeful. Sad really as I have only just started with ESO after 8 years of Eve online.

Hopefully something will be done to make life better for us...but it does appear that all MMOs are going the same way, new content over fixing issues for the long suffering players.

BlueRaven

polly83 wrote: »

Mac mini M1 here, getting the same issues. Tends to be after a waypoint jump, or visiting one specific banker. Also one of my toons is completely stuck. Cannot even login, crashes with 1 second of logging in, RIP. My main char can last a day, but an alt may only last minutes.
As others have pointed out, random white noise on downloader screen, (seemingly) random crashes, regardless of settings. I was hoping that some.most of it was down to Rosetta 2 translation, but now I'm not that hopeful. Sad really as I have only just started with ESO after 8 years of Eve online.

Hopefully something will be done to make life better for us...but it does appear that all MMOs are going the same way, new content over fixing issues for the long suffering players.

@polly83 I had a character stuck in the big house in solitude. I opened a ticket to get them moved. I would suggest doing the same.

It’s interesting you are playing on a M1 Mac though. I was hoping it would be a better experience. :-(

BlueRaven

@ZOS_BillE Just want to say the issue is still happening and I don’t see anything mentioned in the patch notes.

Do I open a new ticket? Should I bother?

polly83

BlueRaven wrote: »

@ZOS_BillE Just want to say the issue is still happening and I don’t see anything mentioned in the patch notes.

Do I open a new ticket? Should I bother?

Well TBH opening a ticket seems to be the worst thing to do. I cannot believe the poorr replies I have had since opening a ticket. 3 replies,one saying my disk was too small (they read the 16Gb MEMORY as the disk size...yes really), one reply cut and pasted the client graphics suggestions direct from the website...yes really, and the 3rd reply was just asking for the diag info from the ESO tool, which they seem to have ignored.

Since the patch on the 9th, the crashes on the M1 have got worse. I now cannot fast travel to ANY house, just crashes and logging back in I'm back where I was before trying to fast travel.
I cannot join a dungeon, just crashes. When I log back in, I'm part of the group but cannot travel to the dungeon, crashes every time.

Seems as though techincal support for Apple and M1 is very poor, and the game itself is getting worse if you run on Apple M1

soulferin

polly83 wrote: »

Since the patch on the 9th, the crashes on the M1 have got worse. I now cannot fast travel to ANY house, just crashes and logging back in I'm back where I was before trying to fast travel.
I cannot join a dungeon, just crashes. When I log back in, I'm part of the group but cannot travel to the dungeon, crashes every time.

Exactly the same happened to me. Game crash every time I'm using fast travel other then wayshrine (dungeon tp, homes etc.). I'm afraid it will stay this way but it's not possible to do any in game activity...

BlueRaven

So I think I figured out a work around. It’s not great but this is what I am doing;

I was on the pts and I noticed I was having the same old “crash” issue in the new main city.

I was checking out the new homes. I had just left the inn room and was attempting to leave the inn itself. But it just started crashing and crashing over and over again. I could not even log onto the character. It would just do a short load screen then system crash like in my video above.

Now on the pts I have no addons or anything, so we can’t blame it on that.

So I tried a pure shot in the dark idea.

I play on an iMac with a 27” screen in windowed mode. Before prompting a load screen by going to an area that gives me problems, I manual “shrink” the window down to less the 1/2 it’s size. Then I do whatever action I need to do. Open a door, use a wayshrine, what ever prompts a load screen.
The game does its thing without issue, Oroborous never stops turning. When I am back to gameplay, I open the window back open to full size.

That’s it. It seems to work on live as well.

I hope this helps my fellow Mac users!