UPDATE (2020/08/09)
I just uploaded the registry files to my store for free so that you can solve your TDR issue faster.
Intro
To be clear: This is a Windows 'issue'.
The difficulty for following this tutorial is a 1 out of 10.
Since I repeatedly experienced the Windows TDR crash issue with Substance Painter (after frequently upgrading my nVidia GPU-Drivers), I didn't want to do the repetitive registry editing task manually anymore. This is why I created registry keyfiles for myself, since I knew this was possible on Windows.
If you know the dialog window from above and want to fix this issue fast, you are more than welcome to do so with this tutorial.
Luckily the Substance team proves their professional user-oriented competence once more by providing an easy to understand step-by-step guide within the TDR issue dialog window to fix this issue fast. Please read the guide to get a better understanding of what the problem is so that you earn a better understanding of what I am writing in the upcoming section.
Even if it is a very small problem and a fast task to solve the issue, it's daunting and kills a fair portion of my creative mood in that particular moment by getting another task to fix before I could finally start painting my beloved model in Painter.
Since Allegorithmic's step-by-step guide clears out that applications could not make these changes in the registry through the (justified) restrictions of Microsoft. The user has to solve this problem by himself.
This is a simple and fast workaround I created to automatize this task for myself. And since I wanted to share it with other people, who may have the same issue, you are welcome to follow the upcoming steps.
DISCLAIMER
If you do not understand what you are doing here, please inform yourself first! I am NOT responsible for anything you edit in YOUR registry. If your workstation goes *POP* it is YOUR OWN fault. A good amount of brains and double checking should be employed by the person following this tutorial!
TL;DR: It is simple so don't mess it up! And if you did mess it up, don't blame me for it. ;)
How to create and use the registry key file
The only application you need is Notepad. Follow the upcoming steps exactly as I wrote them:
- Open Notepad (notepad.exe) and type or copy and paste the following code into it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers] "TdrDdiDelay"=dword:0000003c "TdrDelay"=dword:0000003c
Don't add anything else unless you know what you do and want additional registry entries to be created or changed by this file!
The code will tell the Windows Registry Editor that we want to change the values in the registry location "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers". The values of the two keys "TdrDdiDelay" and "TdrDelay" inside this location should be changed to the desired value of "0000003c" in hexadecimal, which is the equivalent of 60 in decimal.
This means that the GPU-Driver has 60 seconds to complete its task before it will be killed by the OS and causes Painter to crash. Since the Substance guide states that values of 60 were recommended, it is obvious why I have chosen this value.
- Now save the file on your Desktop by creating a *.txt file named "SP_TDR.txt".
- Close the Notepad window and rename the file extension of your created file from ".txt" to ".reg".
- (If you dont see the extension of your file, you will have to change the Explorer settings to show your file extensions by default.)
- After renaming the file you can open the newly created "SP_TDR.reg" with the Windows Registry Editor (regedit.exe). It should open with regedit.exe by default. After opening the edited file you have to read the upcoming dialog window carefully and proceed or abort with caution. After the Windows Registry Editor added the values to your registry, you should get a confirmation dialog window from it.
- You should restart your workstation by now and proceed your work with Painter.
Revert the registry changes by creating another registry key file
If you want to revert the changes you made, simply create another file with the following code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers] "TdrDdiDelay"=dword:00000005 "TdrDelay"=dword:00000002
Don't add anything else unless you know what you do and want additional registry entries to be created or changed by this file!
The hexadecimal values 00000005 and 00000002 are easier to relate to this time, since these values stand for 5 and 2 seconds in decimal values.
- Simply repeat the whole process from the beginning and rename the file to "SP_TDR_reverse.reg", so that you can tell which file has which function.
Now that you followed along, you could put the created registry key files to any location suitable for fast access or add them to your Windows Start Menu. And if you need them again they will become a blessing for your workflow.
Please comment or like, if you found this tutorial helpful. Follow me for further content.
Have a great day!