Checklist (we expect you to perform these steps before opening the issue)
Describe the Bug
Bug Report: Memory Access Violation (0xc0000005) / Audio Loop Hang during Bloody Crow of Cainhurst Boss Fight (Grand Cathedral - NG+)
Environment Details
- CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1660 v3 (Haswell-E, 8 Cores / 16 Threads)
- GPU: Dedicated GPU with stable VRAM headroom (Vulkan API backend)
- OS: Windows 10 / 11
- Emulator Build: Mainline / Nightly (Updated as of May 2026)
- Game Version: Bloodborne PS4 (CUSA03173) - NG+ (New Game Plus)
- Target Framerate: 30 FPS Native (No external 60FPS patches applied)
Description of the Issue
The emulator consistently crashes with an Unhandled Exception code 0xc0000005 (Access Violation) during the fight against the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst in the Grand Cathedral (after the Blood Moon trigger).
The crash appears to be a time/accumulation dependency rather than an immediate trigger, usually collapsing the game before reducing the boss's health bar below 50%. Lowering the internal resolution down to 640x360 (Pixelated/Minecraft mode) to alleviate GPU workload did not resolve the crash, confirming the issue is tied to logic/shader compiler bottlenecks or thread starvation on older multi-core architectures (Xeon v3) rather than raw resolution scaling.
Console Log Analysis (Observed Patterns before Crash)
Throughout multiple consecutive tests, the crash dump is triggered under three distinct scenarios within the GXWorker and GXRenderThread loops:
-
Audio/FMOD Buffer Overflow:
The log registers continuous operations closing map/character assets (.flver.dcx) followed by direct sound mixing routine hooks:
sound/sprj_multirpc.rpcsound/sprj_multimix.mixsound/sprj_multich.mch
Right before the crash, the API triggers: sceAjmBatchCancel: called context_id = 1 batch_id = 3. The inability of the current audio pipeline to properly flush the libSceAjm cancellation queue results in thread starvation.
-
Vulkan Shader/Pipeline Compilation Failure:
In later builds, the log stops at:
Compiling vs shader...Compiling graphics pipeline 0x4b811b8965cd10c9...
Because shadPS4 compiles shaders into system RAM dynamically on the fly, the complex particle rendering of the boss's dynamic abilities (e.g., Old Hunter Bone mist animation and Chikage blood-buff effect transformations) triggers an invalid memory address pointer, forcing the host Windows system to kill the process to protect memory integrity.
Workaround Discovered
The fight is completely unplayable via standard melee engagement in NG+ due to the length of the encounter. However, the fight can be bypassed by abusing line-of-sight and AI reset pathfinding:
- Attacking the boss strictly from behind via backstab charging into Visceral Attacks while he is resetting his pathing back to the altar prevents the AI from ever casting the Old Hunter Bone or buffing the Chikage, successfully bypassing the broken shader pipeline call and skipping the crash entirely.
Suggested Fix / Request
Please investigate the libSceAjm batch cancellation handling under heavy SFX loads and verify the specific vertex/fragment shader pipelines generated by the Chikage blood infusion effects on host CPUs with lower single-core IPC frequencies (like Intel Xeon v3 architectures). Alternatively, implementing a temporary community patch to reduce or strip the boss's transformation particle meshes would greatly improve stability.
Confirmed: The crash also happens when the player uses the transformed Chikage multiple times in a row in a clean area.
Reproduction Steps
Note for developers:
I am highly available to do further hands-on testing with my Xeon v3 setup if you need more logs or data regarding this specific issue. Feel free to reach out to me here if you want me to test a specific build or fix for the Chikage/blood particles. I’m happy to help improve the emulator!
Specify OS Version
Windows 11 home
CPU
Xeon E5 1660 v3
GPU
Gtx 1060
Amount of RAM in GB
12GB
Amount of VRAM in GB
6GB
Log File
I don't have the exact text lines from the log because I had to force-close the emulator immediately to protect and save my NG+ progression. However, I am fully committed to collaborating. I am available to re-run the tests with my Xeon v3 setup under a cleaner protocol and provide full log files directly to the developers if needed. Please let me know how I can help!
Checklist (we expect you to perform these steps before opening the issue)
Describe the Bug
Bug Report: Memory Access Violation (0xc0000005) / Audio Loop Hang during Bloody Crow of Cainhurst Boss Fight (Grand Cathedral - NG+)
Environment Details
Description of the Issue
The emulator consistently crashes with an Unhandled Exception code 0xc0000005 (Access Violation) during the fight against the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst in the Grand Cathedral (after the Blood Moon trigger).
The crash appears to be a time/accumulation dependency rather than an immediate trigger, usually collapsing the game before reducing the boss's health bar below 50%. Lowering the internal resolution down to 640x360 (Pixelated/Minecraft mode) to alleviate GPU workload did not resolve the crash, confirming the issue is tied to logic/shader compiler bottlenecks or thread starvation on older multi-core architectures (Xeon v3) rather than raw resolution scaling.
Console Log Analysis (Observed Patterns before Crash)
Throughout multiple consecutive tests, the crash dump is triggered under three distinct scenarios within the
GXWorkerandGXRenderThreadloops:Audio/FMOD Buffer Overflow:
The log registers continuous operations closing map/character assets (
.flver.dcx) followed by direct sound mixing routine hooks:sound/sprj_multirpc.rpcsound/sprj_multimix.mixsound/sprj_multich.mchRight before the crash, the API triggers:
sceAjmBatchCancel: called context_id = 1 batch_id = 3. The inability of the current audio pipeline to properly flush thelibSceAjmcancellation queue results in thread starvation.Vulkan Shader/Pipeline Compilation Failure:
In later builds, the log stops at:
Compiling vs shader...Compiling graphics pipeline 0x4b811b8965cd10c9...Because shadPS4 compiles shaders into system RAM dynamically on the fly, the complex particle rendering of the boss's dynamic abilities (e.g., Old Hunter Bone mist animation and Chikage blood-buff effect transformations) triggers an invalid memory address pointer, forcing the host Windows system to kill the process to protect memory integrity.
Workaround Discovered
The fight is completely unplayable via standard melee engagement in NG+ due to the length of the encounter. However, the fight can be bypassed by abusing line-of-sight and AI reset pathfinding:
Suggested Fix / Request
Please investigate the
libSceAjmbatch cancellation handling under heavy SFX loads and verify the specific vertex/fragment shader pipelines generated by the Chikage blood infusion effects on host CPUs with lower single-core IPC frequencies (like Intel Xeon v3 architectures). Alternatively, implementing a temporary community patch to reduce or strip the boss's transformation particle meshes would greatly improve stability.Confirmed: The crash also happens when the player uses the transformed Chikage multiple times in a row in a clean area.
Reproduction Steps
Note for developers:
I am highly available to do further hands-on testing with my Xeon v3 setup if you need more logs or data regarding this specific issue. Feel free to reach out to me here if you want me to test a specific build or fix for the Chikage/blood particles. I’m happy to help improve the emulator!
Specify OS Version
Windows 11 home
CPU
Xeon E5 1660 v3
GPU
Gtx 1060
Amount of RAM in GB
12GB
Amount of VRAM in GB
6GB
Log File
I don't have the exact text lines from the log because I had to force-close the emulator immediately to protect and save my NG+ progression. However, I am fully committed to collaborating. I am available to re-run the tests with my Xeon v3 setup under a cleaner protocol and provide full log files directly to the developers if needed. Please let me know how I can help!