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Merged idea

This idea has been merged into another idea. To comment or vote on this idea, please visit CAM-I-619 Freezing issues resolved in CAM 4.30.2.

Loosing control of desktop - Can't shut down or reboot Windows Merged

To whom it may concern,

I'm a computer enthusiast who enjoys building, networking, and making the most of my computers. For my most recent build, I decided rather than wait for laptops with RTX 3080 graphics, I'd build a desktop. Among my hardware choices were the NZXT H510i Elite case, and the Kraken Z63 CPU cooler. I love the screen, and the ability to show GIF images, show Dual Temp info for my CPU and GPU, etc.

But recently, after 6 months of using this new computer with my old 1080 GTX video card, I've had trouble Windows 10 becoming un-useable. I would be watching a video in YouTube, and suddenly the video would stop, the browser seemed unresponsive, and while I could see icons on my toolbar, and tried using Task Manager to end processes... I couldn't "regain control" of the PC. Even trying to shut down or reboot wouldn't work, and I'd have to hold the power button to restart the PC, and then things would work normally for a while.

Naturally, I thought the video card and it's Nvidia driver might be the issue. So I uninstalled the driver and did a clean install. I still had the problem. I booted into Safe Mode, uninstalled all my video drivers with DDU, and reinstalled an older driver version that didn't have the problem. I still had the problem. I updated my MB BIOS to the latest version, updated all my drivers on my system, disconnected my second monitor (a Samsung TV I connect via HDMI), etc. The problem still occurs. And with all my searches and Discord chats, I've not found anything conclusive to tell me what the problem is.


That said, I recently noticed my CAM software had upgraded to 4.23.0, and I didn't remember upgrading to that release. Since I didn't want to loose control of the LCD on my Kraken, I thought I might uninstall the latest version of the software, and roll back to a previous version for testing, and see if the issue occurs then. Only I've come to realize your installer downloads the latest version of your software from the internet, and I can't seem to get an "older version" to test with.

Is this something you could help me find? I'm just anxious to get my PC working without these "display" / "lockups", so I'm not having to hard reboot unexpectedly to keep using my system. I appreciate your time, and look forward to your reply.

  • Merk Man
  • May 18 2021
  • Shipped
Bug
  • Carolyn Stocki commented
    September 23, 2021 18:24

    Hello!

    We have been working on resolving these freezing issues, and believe we have a fix for it currently in testing in Beta CAM. You can download our Beta at the bottom of THIS PAGE (https://nzxt.com/software/cam).

    If you are still experiencing freezing or crashing in the Beta, please let us know.

    We have an ongoing thread on Reddit in order to organize these reports and more effectively communicate to you as we resolve these issues. You can find it HERE (https://www.reddit.com/r/NZXT/comments/psvsxz/cam_beta_update_crashing_freezing_fix/).

    We greatly appreciate your patience while we resolve these issues, and hope to continue to hear feedback.

    --Carolyn
    CAM Product Manager

  • Guest commented
    September 23, 2021 15:40

    Correction on previous post, the installed CPU is a Ryzen 5600x, not 3600x

  • Guest commented
    September 23, 2021 15:31

    Same issue. Ryzen 3600X. Updated to latest CAM version 4.30.0.1 and then left it running to see if issu would resolve. came in this morning and system was again locked up forcing a hard reboot. Disabling CAM from start up and never opening it resolves this issue.


  • Kevin Bieber commented
    August 25, 2021 07:33

    I am experiencing the same issue. Ryzen 5600 and 3070 on a X570 Asus Board.

    I re-installed Windows several times... did everything I could (e.g. change all possible settings... disable PBO etc..) and the only thing that could stop my freezes is not installing the CAM Software.

    Please fix this NZXT!

  • Doug Jacobs commented
    August 18, 2021 23:20

    There is a huge thread about this here too. NZXT, please do better and fix this.. your really nice hardware is plagued by incredibly buggy software.


    https://linustechtips.com/topic/1223050-new-pc-strange-windows-freezes-probable-cause-nzxt-cam/

  • Abdullah Mustafa commented
    August 16, 2021 09:16

    Just look for software which seems to give conflict with NZXT CAM. Mine was due to Razer Cortex. Razer Cortex optimized all the games played. Its read gaming behavior, sames goes to NZXT CAM. So i decided to ditch the Razer Cortex and use only Raze Synapes. It goes well smoothly without freezing. After uninstalling the Razer Cortex, I turned on the games hooking and its working well too. What a relief. Cracking my head for months.

  • TheQ commented
    August 01, 2021 11:18

    My solution for this freeze problem is..... newer buy nzxt product again.

  • D commented
    July 24, 2021 07:05

    I've had this problem on two PC builds now, with totally different components. The only common demoninator would be CAM in that case.

    I wholeheartedly regret buying a 280 bucks AiO, that relies on shoddy software like CAM.

    And since the freezing issue has been present for more than a year and NZXT is not willing to do anything about it, I suggest not buying their products anymore.

    I for my part will just replace NZXT's crap with an AiO from EK, better quality and worth every penny.

  • Brenton H commented
    July 14, 2021 23:51

    I've been trying to nail down a simpler recovery method since my last post and this is where I'm at.

    Right click on taskbar > open task manager(may need to click more details to see everything)

    Scroll down through the background applications to NZXT Cam > end task for all instances of it.

    Then do the same for any instances of google chrome.


    I sometimes have to try and end the same task multiple times and it can hang a bit for both Cam and Chrome, but this has been working the most times for me so far.

    If my PC has sat in this state for a while though, restart seems to be the only thing that can fix it.


    Would be interested to see if this works for others at this point or if I'm just getting lucky.

  • Guest commented
    July 14, 2021 01:56

    I've been having this issue for at least 6 months. I was worried I had a bad piece of hardware. Looks like the culprit is CAM. The problem persisted after a format.


    This is not my video, but it's the exact issue I'm experiencing.

    https://youtu.be/eWHtTPD6ZzI


    It seems to only trigger if I'm watching or listening to any type of media while CAM is open. If I'm watching a video or listening to music, the video will freeze, and audio repeats the last sound until a forced restart. These crashes sometimes sound truly awful lol. But nothing else seems to trigger the lock-up. I've gamed with CAM for dozens of hours, and used other software without a freeze. It's only when music or video is also being played. On average I seem to get a crash (while watching/listening to media) every 3 to 6 hours.
    0 issues if CAM is closed or not watching media.



  • Guest commented
    July 11, 2021 01:56

    Same issue.

  • Unsatisfied Customer commented
    July 09, 2021 03:15

    Ah, i see, this still hasn't been adressed. Great stuff NZXT, keep going like this. /s


    For real though. How can it be acceptable for you as a company to sell hardware that relies on a shitty datamining software that paralyzes the entire PC of your customers.

    How can be fixing this not have the highest priority? That's not how to keep customers.

    People might think their hardware is dying. Atleast i thought so at first before i found a 23-pages-long forum thread about this exact issue.

    Atleast make it clear somewhere, that you are aware of this problem, as i already reported this a month ago.

  • Brenton H commented
    July 06, 2021 06:04

    I am having this exact same issue. After the freeze starts I occasionally have enough control to start killing off processes in task manager. When I stop CAM successfully, it all comes back to working again.

    I initially thought this was other hardware causing the problem as there has been once or twice when stopping something else causes it to come back ok. I have bought all new RAM, SSD, mobo, CPU, GPU and HDDs(was due for an upgrade anyway) The only thing I brought across to the new build was the z63 cooler as I had only bought that a couple months prior.

    I had been getting the same thing for a while on my x61 too but hadn't connected the dots at that point.

    I ran my pc for around a week and a half with CAM disabled from boot and never running it and problem completely went away, it's only when its running that I see it happen.

    As it is, I need it for the OLED display so I'm having to suffer through PC freezing anywhere from a few times a day to once every couple days.

    At this point, I'd take a stand alone program that controls the display and use something else to control pump and fans if I could.

  • Guest commented
    July 05, 2021 10:03

    Me pasa lo mismo.....ryzen 5800x msi mag mortar 550m pro wiffi... i dont know why is not resolved,its amazing

  • James Atkins commented
    June 29, 2021 15:10

    Oh my god. This! This has been INCREDIBLY frustraiting. Not to mention, that i've uninstalled CAM until this gets resolved, i'm afraid to use my PC. Been dealing with it since October, and when i forget that this is a thing, it would always lock up. I've had really bad buyers remorse...


    i hope this gets fixed soon. also why isnt this a priority??

  • Guest commented
    June 23, 2021 10:15

    Same problem here, incredible that this apparently isnt worked on with absolute priority just baffles me.

  • Guest commented
    June 16, 2021 03:44

    I am having the same issue as the original poster

  • Guest commented
    June 10, 2021 20:03

    Running a DPC latency monitor, this is the result with turning CAM on and turning CAM off. Something's not right here.

  • Guest commented
    June 09, 2021 08:06

    I've also been experiencing this issue. I did all sorts of tests on my CPU and RAM before realizing it was CAM - I started disabling CAM on startup about a month ago and haven't had a single freeze since then. The fact that this critical issue has been left unresolved for a minimum of 6 months has made me reconsider ever buying from NZXT again.

  • Ben Hong commented
    June 05, 2021 19:51

    I am also experiencing computer stalling or freezing from CAM software.
    Ryzen 5 5600X

    Gigabyte 3080 gaming OC

    Tuf Gaming X570 Pro

    Corsair RGB Pro 32GB 3600 C18

    Seasonic X850

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