Constant fenris errors

Technical Support
1

DIV Technical Crash Report

Summary

Diablo IV (version 3.1.1.7300) exits directly to the Windows desktop without any error message after several minutes of gameplay. The crash is random and is not tied to any specific activity (combat, teleporting, entering towns, inventory, etc.). It can also occur while the character is completely idle.

Windows Event Viewer reports either:

  • 0xC00000E5 (STATUS_INTERNAL_ERROR) – consistently in crash dumps

  • one isolated 0xC0000005 occurred only after BIOS experiments and has not reappeared.

The recurring crash signature is always:

  • Module: diablo_iv_loader.dll

  • Failure Bucket:
    APPLICATION_FAULT_c00000e5_diablo_iv_loader.dll!Unknown

  • Failure Hash:
    {edbe9640-4da7-5b89-5c19-0921f2b502df}

System Configuration

CPU:
Intel Core i7-13700K

GPU:
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

Motherboard:
Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 Rev.1.x

BIOS:
F33

RAM:
32 GB (2×16 GB)
G.Skill Ripjaws V
F4-4400C19D-32GVK

Operating System:
Windows 11 24H2
Build 26100

Game Version:
3.1.1.7300

Crash Characteristics

Every analyzed dump shows the same pattern:

Exception:

STATUS_INTERNAL_ERROR
0xC00000E5

Call stack:

KERNELBASE!RaiseException
↓

diablo_iv_loader.dll
↓

kernel32

↓

ntdll

The crash is always generated through RaiseException() from inside diablo_iv_loader.dll.

The instruction pointer and failure bucket remain identical across multiple crash dumps.

Example:

Failure Bucket:
APPLICATION_FAULT_c00000e5_diablo_iv_loader.dll!Unknown

Failure Hash:
{edbe9640-4da7-5b89-5c19-0921f2b502df}

The loader offset is also identical in every dump:

diablo_iv_loader + 0x1275FED

WinDbg Findings

Multiple crash dumps were analyzed using WinDbg.

All dumps consistently show:

ExceptionCode:
0xC00000E5

ExceptionFlags:
0x81

RaiseException()
called from
diablo_iv_loader.dll

No GPU driver crash is present.

No DXGI_DEVICE_REMOVED.

No TDR.

No DirectStorage failure.

No Out of Memory condition.

No access violation (except one isolated BIOS-related test).

The loader intentionally calls RaiseException(), suggesting an internal fatal condition rather than an unexpected hardware fault.

Troubleshooting Performed

The following tests have already been completed:

:check_mark: NVIDIA App completely removed

:check_mark: NVIDIA Overlay disabled

:check_mark: Xbox Game Bar disabled

:check_mark: Battle.net launcher closed after game launch

:check_mark: DirectStorage enabled and disabled

:check_mark: Ray Tracing disabled

:check_mark: Streamline disabled using “-nostreamline”

:check_mark: LocalPrefs.txt removed

:check_mark: Latest NVIDIA drivers installed

:check_mark: BIOS reset to defaults

:check_mark: XMP enabled and disabled

:check_mark: Intel BIOS performance profiles tested

:check_mark: Multiple clean game launches

None of the above changed the crash signature.

Additional Observations

The crash is completely random.

It can occur:

  • during gameplay

  • while standing idle

  • after a few minutes

  • after a longer period

The crash is not reproducible by any specific action.

Most importantly, every dump produces the same exception, same failure bucket, same failure hash, and same loader offset.

Request

Could this crash signature be checked internally?

Specifically:

Failure Hash:
{edbe9640-4da7-5b89-5c19-0921f2b502df}

Failure Bucket:
APPLICATION_FAULT_c00000e5_diablo_iv_loader.dll!Unknown

Recurring offset:

diablo_iv_loader + 0x1275FED

The consistency across multiple independent dumps suggests that the loader is detecting an internal fatal state and intentionally raising STATUS_INTERNAL_ERROR rather than crashing because of a driver or hardware failure.

If this failure hash corresponds to a known internal issue or regression in Diablo IV 3.1.1, any guidance or workaround would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Edit:

I have captured another crash dump. Unlike the previous dumps ending in STATUS_INTERNAL_ERROR (0xC00000E5) inside diablo_iv_loader.dll, this one crashes directly with INVALID_POINTER_READ (0xC0000005) inside Diablo IV.exe (Diablo_IV+0x7B3A98). This may indicate that the earlier RaiseException crashes are secondary, while this dump captures the original fault.

Edit 2:

Additional technical information regarding my Diablo IV crashes

Hello,

I have gathered additional diagnostic information that may help identify the issue.

Current symptoms

  • Diablo IV (version 3.1.1.7300) crashes to desktop after a random period of gameplay (from a few minutes up to about two hours).

  • The crash usually occurs without any error dialog.

  • Sometimes a Fenris dump is generated, but not always.

  • Other demanding DirectX 12 games (Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, Dying Light 2) are completely stable on the same system.

What has already been tested

  • NVIDIA App removed.

  • NVIDIA overlay disabled.

  • Xbox Game Bar disabled.

  • DirectStorage both enabled and disabled (no change).

  • XMP enabled and disabled (no consistent improvement).

  • OpenRGB and Remote Desktop Manager disabled (crashes still occur).

  • Windows Defender is the only antivirus installed.

Crash dump analysis

I configured Windows LocalDumps and analyzed the full process dump with WinDbg.

Windows reports:

Exception code

0xC0000374 (STATUS_HEAP_CORRUPTION)

The heap analysis reports:

HEAP_FAILURE_BLOCK_NOT_BUSY

The caller performed an operation (such as a free
or a size check) that is illegal on a free block.

The stack trace shows:

ntdll!RtlFreeHeap
↓
Diablo_IV.exe
↓
tcmalloc
↓
Diablo_IV.exe
↓
AkTlsSetValue

This indicates that Windows detected heap corruption while Diablo IV was attempting to free memory.

Earlier dumps also showed:

  • STATUS_INTERNAL_ERROR (0xC00000E5) inside diablo_iv_loader.dll

  • INVALID_POINTER_READ (0xC0000005) inside Diablo IV.exe

These different crash signatures may all be consequences of the same underlying memory corruption.

Additional observations

Windows Event Viewer also logged:

Application Error
Exception Code: 0xC0000374
Faulting module: ntdll.dll

Immediately before that, Windows generated an informational event indicating that it increased the paging file size automatically. However, system commit usage was only approximately 18 GB / 43 GB, so this appears to be a consequence of the crash rather than actual memory exhaustion.

Request

Could you please check whether the following addresses correspond to any known issue in Diablo IV version 3.1.1?

  • Diablo_IV.exe + 0x7B3A98

  • Heap corruption (HEAP_FAILURE_BLOCK_NOT_BUSY)

  • RtlFreeHeap called from Diablo IV

  • Earlier crashes involving diablo_iv_loader.dll with 0xC00000E5

Thank you for your assistance.

Edit 3:

The latest full Windows LocalDump reports HEAP_FAILURE_BLOCK_NOT_BUSY. Windows detected that Diablo IV attempted to perform an invalid operation on a heap block that had already been freed (RtlFreeHeap). This appears to be different from a generic access violation and may indicate a double-free or use-after-free scenario inside the game.

Edit 4:

Since my previous report I also completed four full passes of MemTest86 with zero memory errors detected.

Additionally, I now have two different crash signatures:

  1. 0xC00000E5 raised from diablo_iv_loader.dll

  2. 0xC0000374 (HEAP_FAILURE_BLOCK_NOT_BUSY) where Windows reports that Diablo IV attempted an invalid operation on an already freed heap block.

These crashes appear to be related, as the heap corruption dump indicates memory corruption inside the Diablo IV process before the RaiseException dumps occur.

Other DirectX 12 games remain completely stable on the same hardware.

Edit 5:

Crash Investigation Summary

I have spent several weeks troubleshooting persistent Diablo IV crashes (Fenris crash) and have systematically ruled out most common hardware and software causes.

Hardware validation

  • MemTest86 completed successfully (no memory errors).

  • Prime95 Small FFT completed successfully.

  • Prime95 Blend completed successfully.

  • OCCT CPU test completed successfully.

  • OCCT Memory test completed successfully.

  • No evidence of unstable CPU or RAM during stress testing.

GPU testing

  • Crashes occur with both:

    • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

    • Intel UHD integrated graphics

  • This suggests the issue is not specific to the NVIDIA GPU or graphics driver.

Storage

  • Diablo IV is installed on a Kingston KC3000 NVMe SSD.

  • SSD firmware has been updated to the latest available version.

  • The crash behavior remained unchanged after the firmware update.

Windows and software

  • System File Checker (SFC) initially repaired Windows files; subsequent scans reported no integrity violations.

  • NVIDIA App was completely removed.

  • NVIDIA overlays disabled.

  • DirectStorage tested both enabled and disabled.

  • XMP enabled and disabled (no consistent impact on crashes).

  • Autoruns reviewed; no suspicious third-party drivers or overlays were found.

Crash dump analysis

Multiple Fenris crash dumps were analyzed using WinDbg.

Every dump consistently reports:

  • Failure Bucket:
    APPLICATION_FAULT_c00000e5_diablo_iv_loader.dll!Unknown

  • Exception Code:
    0xC00000E5 (STATUS_INTERNAL_ERROR)

  • Faulting module:
    diablo_iv_loader.dll

The call stack consistently shows:

  • diablo_iv_loader.dll

  • KERNELBASE!RaiseException

  • kernel32

  • ntdll

The crashes are not occurring inside NVIDIA drivers, DirectX, or any third-party driver modules.

Current conclusion

Based on all testing performed, I have not found evidence of faulty RAM, CPU instability, GPU instability, SSD problems, or corrupted Windows installation.

The crash is highly reproducible and consistently occurs inside diablo_iv_loader.dll with the same exception code (0xC00000E5), regardless of graphics hardware or the majority of system configuration changes.

I would appreciate if the development team could investigate this specific failure pattern and determine what internal condition causes diablo_iv_loader.dll to raise STATUS_INTERNAL_ERROR (0xC00000E5) during gameplay.