I recently migrated my game from 5.3 to 5.6 and now I’m wanting to use the Niagara System. I’ve briefly used it before and when placing a NS into the world it works fine but when I attempt to open it and edit it the system crashes and gives this report. I’m not sure what to do to fix the issue any help would be appreciated
Considering your log, seems you are encountering a shader conflict. And since you just migrated, it could be related to corrupt or missing data tied to the shader cache, or an engine issue. Please try the following:
First, clear your project’s cache, via closing UE, deleting folders DerivedDataCache, Intermediate, and Saved from your main directory, then re-open UE, and allow it to rebuild/recompile
Next, update your drivers. The best option is to perform a clean install, and choosing “Developer” drivers for the new setup, since those are most stable for engine work.
Finally, check your UE build in the Epic Launcher, check the drop-down menu, anc click “Verify”, which should fix any missing or corrupted components.
If everything fails, please test creating a new Niagara system in your project, and see if the crash also appears there. If this is not the case, then your original system could be corrupted, and need to be rebuilt.
Also since I still have the previous version, I should say that I can open Niagara assets in that version or the project, so this seems to be related to the migration.
Interesting, since Niagara opens with no issues in your original version of the project, then this issue must be tied to the migration process, either corrupted/missing assets in your project, or a conflict with the engine itself.
In order to isolate the issue’s origin, open a new, clean 5.6 project, enable Niagara for it, then create a system, and try to open it. If this works, then the problem is tied to your migrated project. If the crash happens again, it’s the engine install. Let’s cover solutions for both paths:
Migrated project issue:
Reset the Niagara editor’s configuration
Close UE, go to your project’s “Config” folder, and delete any NiagaraEditor*.ini files
Then, check under “Saved/Config/WindowsEditor” for any Niagara-related settings
Re-open UE, so it can re-create the default values
Re-enable Niagara editor modules
Open the Plugins panel and make sure Niagara Editor is enabled
Disable it, restart, then re-enable it, forcing UE to reload the module
Force rebuild of Niagara shaders
Open the console, and input “RecompileShaders Changed”, which will rebuild your modified shaders including Niagara
If the issue persists, try going for “RecompileShaders All”, which will rebuild ALL shaders (this will take some time)
UE install issue:
First, backup your project, uninstall the engine, launcher, any added asset packs, etc
Next, open the registry directory HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Epic Games\Unreal Engine\Builds, and delete any build entries
Finally, delete the folders %userprofile%\AppData\Local\UnrealEngine and %userprofile%\AppData\Local\UnrealHeaderTool
After that, no elements related to UE should be left in your system
Now, reinstall UE launcher from scratch, and only add the latest version of the engine
After the process is complete, test the Niagara systems again
Now we know that the issue is isolated to your migrated project. Recompiling did not help, and even new Niagara systems crash the engine, so it’s not tied to specific elements in the map, as well. So, the next step here is to find the issue’s origin inside the project:
First, I know we already did this step (cache clear), but let’s repeat it for the process. Please close UE and delete the following folders from your project directory:
Binaries DerivedDataCache Intermediate Saved
Then re-open the project, so the engine can rebuild the cache
Next, go to Edit > Plugins and disable every non-default plugin, especially anything related to particles, rendering, or VFX. After that, restart UE, and create a Niagara system. If that works, then we know it’s a plugin conflict, and just need to re-enable one by one until we find the culprit.
If that doesn’t work, the next test is to create an empty level and and open a new Niagara element there. Although your video from the previous post suggest you already tried this, please do so again with the cache cleared and all optional plugins off.
At this point, if the crash persists, then we need to go back to your original backup, and do the migration again, as the corruption would be to deep to isolate in your current copy. There are two paths for migration, either using UE’s convertion tool, or migrating only the assets you need to another, blank project. Both options are detailed in the documentation below:
I do not know which method you picked in your migration from the first post, so I would suggest picking the alternative path to the one you used before. If you go for manual migration, please make sure you only pick the Content folder from your backup project, and avoid copying any old configuration files (Config, Plugins, Intermediate, or Saved folders), as that was most likely the origin of the issue in the first place.
Sadly, after disabling all necessary plugins and re-enabling them, deleting the cache, and opening an empty level. Opening a new Niagara asset still crashes the system.
I’m going to try the migration again as suggested, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
I have the same problem. Workaround is switch RHI to vulkan. That should allow you to open the particle system. Once done editing, you can switch back to DX12… or not
Fingers crossed…
Lastly, I do have to change it back when I want to play-test, as leaving it on Vulcan causes it to crash on ‘Begin Play’. Odd bug, but this workaround is helpful.
