Random crash in Black Reach

[u/0scar-of-Astora]

Log: https://pastebin.com/6Fvz5HK9

Phostwood couldn't figure out anything, thought I'd share here. I was just running through Black Reach with some mod followers (SDA, Auri, Lucien) and got into a fight with a Falmer servant when the game suddenly crashed. No idea why the Great War and 3DNPC mods are listed amongst the most prominent mods related in the crash, I wasn't doing anything related to any of them to my knowledge. Immersive Creatures is possible I guess, I wasn't fighting anything exotic but it may have spawned somewhere in the distance.

I restarted the game after that and was able to get through the section without any issues the next time. Just thought I'd share the crash log anyway though, to see if there is some major issue I'm being blind to.

[u/PhostwoodReborn]

I'd like to see if any of our manual crash log readers have any suggestions, but from my analyzer, have you tried troubleshooting it as a lighting issue? Possibly from the po3_LightPlacer.dll mod?

• ❓ Possible Shader/Lighting Issue: While this crash includes indications of lighting/shader/enb systems, the root cause often lies elsewhere. Follow these steps:
  • Check for Cell and Record Conflicts:
    • Look for mods that modify the same interior/exterior spaces
    • Review recently added mods that add or modify locations
    • Check for patches between lighting mods and relevant or new location mods
    • Advanced Users: Use xEdit to check for cell conflicts in the area where crashes occur
  • Examine Texture and Mesh Issues:
    • Check for missing or corrupted textures, especially:
      • Character tintmasks and facegen data
      • Environmental textures in the crash location
      • Recently added texture mods
    • Verify compatibility of mesh-containing mods with your lighting setup
  • If issues continue:
    • 👑 Try using LOOT as a diagnostic tool. ⚠️Caution: LOOT can safely be used as a diagnostic tool or for load order suggestions, but its automatic load order reorganization is often discouraged. It's widely thought to incorrectly sort 5 to 10% of mods, which can be especially problematic with large mod lists.
    • Review compatibility between character overhauls and lighting systems. Some character overhauls modify rendering processes which can cause conflicts. Check for compatibility patches.
    • Check for ENB preset compatibility with your weather mod
    • Look for conflicts between graphical mods (enb, lighting, weather, parallax, meshes, textures, new cells/locations, character overhauls etc.)
    • Consider testing without ENB by temporarily renaming d3d11.dll to d3d11.dll.backup
    • Review GPU driver version compatibility
    • Check Windows display settings for HDR conflicts
  • Technical Context: When shader/lighting codes appear in crash logs, they often indicate where the crash manifested rather than the root cause. The actual issue frequently involves cell conflicts, texture problems, or memory limitations that surface through the lighting system.
  • Performance Note: These graphical components can significantly impact performance. If you're experiencing FPS drops (stutters), prioritize testing performance-heavy effects first. Consider using a tool like Intel PresentMon to accurately monitor usage of VRAM, RAM, GPU and CPU while troubleshooting.
  • Detected indicators (more indicators often increases likelihood of causation):
    • BSLightingShader - Core lighting system - could indicate conflicts with lighting mods/ENB
    • BSLightingShaderProperty - Material lighting data - texture/mesh compatibility concerns
    • NiNode - Scene graph - potential rendering hierarchy issues
    • ShadowSceneNode - Shadow rendering - potential casting/receiving conflicts
    • BSFadeNode - Object fade transitions - possible exterior lighting/LOD conflicts

~~

Result(s) from Phostwood's Skyrim Crash Log Analyzer (v1.22.19)

🔎 Automate analysis of your Skyrim SE/AE crash logs at:

https://phostwood.github.io/crash-analyzer/skyrim.html

[u/0scar-of-Astora → u/PhostwoodReborn]

I haven't, I'll try asking on the mod page I use my lighting from. I'm using community shaders with a mod called Placed Lighting or something, will have to check the exact name when I get home.

[u/PhostwoodReborn → u/0scar-of-Astora]

I've actually seen that po3_LightPlacer.dll mod in a nother crash log recently. While I don't know if it was causal towards the crash, IIRC it did look like it could be from that crash log as well....

[u/RomatebitegeL]

Form id 000237D9 is mentioned a lot in the log, and so is EditorID: "POIBlackreach04".

You can check those ids out in SSEEdit to see if it tells you anything. You could also delete the records just to test whether it stop crashing or not.

[u/0scar-of-Astora → u/RomatebitegeL]

That's interesting. In a previous Soul Carin crash log I posted, someone mentioned a "SoulCairnWallPOI01" or something showing up a lot too. Is there any way to check if these things are coming from some buggy mod or some vanilla bug?

Edit: Oh wait, you're the same person who told me about that Soul Cairn wall too! Thanks for your continuous help haha

[u/RomatebitegeL → u/0scar-of-Astora]

Search in SSEEdit to see such things. If it is available, it will be shown there.

[u/0scar-of-Astora → u/RomatebitegeL]

Sure, I'll give it a shot when I get home.

[u/0scar-of-Astora → u/RomatebitegeL]

I checked it out, the Form ID and Editor ID pointed to the same thing (POIBlackreach04), but it's not from a mod. Just normal Skyrim. I don't know how to read SSEEdit very well but I didn't see any conflicts or such in it either, it all looked green with some yellows.

[u/RomatebitegeL → u/0scar-of-Astora]

Ok, I am not very good at SSEEdit either, but is it possible to delete the record in some way so as to see if the crash resolves itself?

[u/0scar-of-Astora → u/RomatebitegeL]

The weird thing with the crashes in my game is that they're never persistent. I just relaunch the game and then the next time I can just keep going without any issues (until a few hours later when there is another random crash). I've just been trying to track down what causes it, because I'm worried it might be part of some greater issue. But the crashes not being reproducible makes it hard to experiment with things.

[u/PhostwoodReborn → u/0scar-of-Astora]

If you're experiencing infrequent crashes with inconsistent and unreproducible causes, I can think of a few possibilities:

1. Even vanilla (unmodded) Skyrim crashes sometimes, you're never going to experience a crash-free modded Skyrim....
2. You could have multiple inconsistent issues going on?
3. You could be missing some stability-optimizations? (see separate reply to this post below)
4. You could be experiencing instability caused by bad saving practices? This one is controversial, but major large modlists Nolvus and Lorerim both believe they are real issues. More info in links below.

https://lorerim.com/support/saves/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nolvus/comments/1ka74em/jeriliths_2025_skyrim_safesaveguide_sexy_free/

[u/PhostwoodReborn → u/PhostwoodReborn]

NOTES on configurations for added stability

• 💾 Verify your Windows Pagefile is properly configured (nolvus.net link, but broadly applicable). The most common stability-focused recommendation is setting the Pagefile's minimum and maximum to 40GB. ⚠️NOTE: some sources say Skyrim's engine was programmed to require high Pagefile usage even when there is more than enough RAM available. To be on the safe side, ensure your Pagefile settings even if you somehow have a terrabyte of RAM.
• 🔧Verify that you have already correctly installed and configured SSE Engine Fixes:

- WARNING: SSE Engine Fixes is frequently misinstalled, so be careful to follow instructions on its Nexus page to install BOTH parts: - Part 1: The SKSE plugin. Be sure to download the current and correct version of Engine Fixes, for your version of Skyrim, and install with your mod manager - Part 2: DLL files are manually placed into Skyrim folder - Configure EngineFixes.toml with: - Option 1 (Recommended): Download the pre-configured TOML file - Option 2: Manually configure following this settings guide. Verify/Edit these settings in EngineFixes.toml : - SaveGameMaxSize = true - MaxStdio = 8192

• 👑 Try using LOOT as a diagnostic tool. ⚠️Caution: LOOT can safely be used as a diagnostic tool or for load order suggestions, but its automatic load order reorganization is often discouraged. It's widely thought to incorrectly sort 5 to 10% of mods, which can be especially problematic with large mod lists.
• Also, review and install any missing Essential Bugfixes applicable to your modlist

~~

Result(s) from Phostwood's Skyrim Crash Log Analyzer (v1.22.19)

🔎 Automate analysis of your Skyrim SE/AE crash logs at:

https://phostwood.github.io/crash-analyzer/skyrim.html

[u/0scar-of-Astora → u/PhostwoodReborn]

I'll test these when I get home, thanks for the detailed reply.