VRChat deadlocks with memory leak when starting in VR
tracked
DASPRiD
Since the eye tracking update from April 13 (manifest ID 6690722139491075971), VRChat deadlocks with a memory leak when started in VR mode (desktop mode is unaffected). This happens when running it on Linux through Proton (any version, 7, 8 and experimental).
This has been confirmed by several people, as can be seen on the Proton issue tracker:
Right after the eye tracking update this was only a minor issue, as killing the VRChat process and restarting it a few times usually made it work after 3-5 attempts. The most recent updates (on May 2 and 3) made it progressively worse, to the point where sometimes one could get lucky after 30 retries, but sometimes even 60 are not enough. Each try takes 50-60 seconds, so trying to get in with 30 attempts already takes up half an hour.
I can confirm that it still works with the build released before April 13, which is manifest ID 738841166574277673 from March 22.
Some people suggested that this might be due to dependency changes related to VR, but according to MehStrongBadMeh he is not aware of and such dependency updates since the eye tracking update.
Log In
DASPRiD
The latest VRChat release seems to have resolved the issue. I was able to get into VRChat yesterday twice and again today without freezing issues.
DASPRiD
I'm not sure if this is related, but it might help to track the issue down:
Two users were able to get VRChat running up successfully each time by using OpenComposite instead of SteamVR. That is not really a solution though, as Mondano does not support full body tracking and other features.
Looking at the differences between the working version of VRChat and the current one, I do see that the OVRPlugin.dll changed substantially, increasing its filesize from 4.3MB to 22.4MB. Of course, due to EAC, we can't simply replace that file anymore.
Judging by the massive file size increase, I wonder if a version with debug symbols and other things was left in, which causes the random deadlocks.
A
tracked
DASPRiD
I'd like to add, this seems to be a regression to a prior bug which was introduced with the first EAC update (and later fixed by Proton), as the symptoms are exactly the same:
ZarathustraDK
Also tested with SteamVR and SteamVR beta, same problem.
The bug seems to kick into high gear with noticeable performance degradation when observing other avatars, or even your own avatar through a mirror.
For instance, loading into a world like "Cyberlove Okinawa" alone works fine and everything seems smooth; but then turning on the mirror will instantly introduce lag, way more than it should for simply rendering an additional avatar. Look away from the mirror and everything will be smooth again, leading me to the (completely uneducated) guess it's some kind og avatar-specific dll that's causing the problem, not unlike the ovrlipsync.dll mem-leak of yore.
System specs:
Ryzen 7900 X3D
Radeon 7900 XTX
32 gb DDR5-ram
ミツアミめがね
ZarathustraDK: I'm not sure if your issue is the same. I think my problems are mostly limited to the game deadlocking with a black screen and not starting up, after EAC window disappears.
Once the game eventually starts up, it runs mostly fine.
Mirrors don't have occlusion culling, so them affecting performance is normal in a complex scene.
ZarathustraDK
ミツアミめがね: The problem is not starting and getting into VRChat according to OP's link. It's a memory-leak that fills up virtual memory and makes the performance progressively worse until it crashes completely. It's just that the leak starts at the "Go"-screen when launching VRChat, and can be postponed by raising vm.max_map_count.
My "mirror-bug" is just something odd I noticed. It didn't happen before and it does now, so it might be connected. Last friday I could spent quite a bit of time with a few people without crashing; but as the night progressed, more people joined and the crashes become significantly more frequent.
My rig aint a slouch, mind you. It could run multiples of the world in question at 144Hz before, but now the fps drops to some 30-40 just by turning on the mirror, so something is up.
ミツアミめがね
ZarathustraDK: Not sure, OP specifically mentions having to try and start VRC 20-30 times due to deadlocking, before it starts up correctly.
As for Cyberlove Okinawa, it has an AVPro player which is known to have memory leaks.
DASPRiD
ミツアミめがね: Yes, it is about VRChat completely locking up up after EAC.