# UE5.2 crash caused by niagara particle system + audio spectrum 'NiagaraDataInterfaceAudio' **URL:** \ **Category:** FX\ **Tags:** audio-bugs, particle-systems, unreal-engine, crash\ **Created:** [May 18, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362 "2023-05-18T20:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anthony\_Attwood](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Anthony\_Attwood](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Anthony_Attwood)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/1 "2023-05-18T20:19:12Z")
![CrashReportClientEditor_qeYiDNMqzA](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/4/e/f/4ef3f82845fd0ddce850c97f861dcdba8be50df5.png) UE5.2 crashes when using an audio spectrum scratch module in the stack when pressing ‘play’ to test the game. The set up is simple: Particles are positioned on the normals of a custom static mesh. Such as using ‘static mesh location’. The particle size and velocity is then driven using a scratch pad module where the audio spectrum is driving these vectors when the music plays. in-editor it works fine. When playing the project the whole thing crashes. This is the same now for using either static mesh location, a custom scratch module for triangle position reference or using the various methods of skeletal mesh location so that the particles take the form of the mesh. I am currently installing symbols for debugging and will report back what I find. UPDATE: ![image_2023-05-18_225545240](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/d/b/e/dbed9e696dbccdff2650f60c0658286567b833af.png) More info here. What happened is that when I first booted the engine and hit ‘play’ to test my level, the system worked fine including the music reactivity for the particles. When I stopped the playtest and opened up the niagara system. I closed it making no changes and then hit ‘play’ again to test my level. The editor crashed again and now it keeps crashing there after even after a restart. Here it is in copy/ paste format: > Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION\_ACCESS\_VIOLATION reading address 0xffffffff00000000 > > UnrealEditor\_Niagara!FNiagaraDataInterfaceProxySubmix::AddSubmixListener() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Plugins\FX\Niagara\Source\Niagara\Private\NiagaraDataInterfaceAudio.cpp:191] > UnrealEditor\_Niagara!TBaseRawMethodDelegateInstance\<0,FNiagaraDataInterfaceProxySubmix,void \_\_cdecl(unsigned int),FDefaultTSDelegateUserPolicy\>::ExecuteIfSafe() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Public\Delegates\DelegateInstancesImpl.h:425] > UnrealEditor\_Engine!TMulticastDelegate\::Broadcast() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Public\Delegates\DelegateSignatureImpl.inl:988] > UnrealEditor\_Engine!FAudioDeviceManager::CreateNewDevice() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Engine\Private\AudioDeviceManager.cpp:752] > UnrealEditor\_Engine!FAudioDeviceManager::RequestAudioDevice() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Engine\Private\AudioDeviceManager.cpp:477] > UnrealEditor\_Engine!UGameViewportClient::Init() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Engine\Private\GameViewportClient.cpp:527] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UEditorEngine::CreateInnerProcessPIEGameInstance() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\PlayLevel.cpp:3075] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UEditorEngine::OnLoginPIEComplete\_Deferred() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\PlayLevel.cpp:1680] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UEditorEngine::CreateNewPlayInEditorInstance() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\PlayLevel.cpp:1943] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UEditorEngine::StartPlayInEditorSession() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\PlayLevel.cpp:2956] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UEditorEngine::StartQueuedPlaySessionRequestImpl() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\PlayLevel.cpp:1257] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UEditorEngine::StartQueuedPlaySessionRequest() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\PlayLevel.cpp:1160] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UEditorEngine::Tick() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\EditorEngine.cpp:1792] > UnrealEditor\_UnrealEd!UUnrealEdEngine::Tick() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\UnrealEd\Private\UnrealEdEngine.cpp:519] > UnrealEditor!FEngineLoop::Tick() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\LaunchEngineLoop.cpp:5812] > UnrealEditor!GuardedMain() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\Launch.cpp:188] > UnrealEditor!GuardedMainWrapper() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\Windows\LaunchWindows.cpp:107] > UnrealEditor!LaunchWindowsStartup() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\Windows\LaunchWindows.cpp:244] > UnrealEditor!WinMain() [D:\build++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\Windows\LaunchWindows.cpp:284] > UnrealEditor!\_\_scrt\_common\_main\_seh() [D:\a\_work\1\s\src\vctools\crt\vcstartup\src\startup\exe\_common.inl:288] > kernel32 > ntdll Here’s an alternative version of the crash report after adding a default submix from the ‘engine content’ ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/3/f/4/3f4e86158627f3bfcdb9076e0fb4fe7db8265332.png) ---
**Author:** ![LukasDaum](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/lukasdaum/32/624985_2.png) [@LukasDaum](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/LukasDaum)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 7:41am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/2 "2023-05-23T07:41:01Z")
having the same issue. just started looking into the code. thats where it is crashing ```auto void FNiagaraDataInterfaceProxySubmix::AddSubmixListener(const Audio::FDeviceId InDeviceId) { check(!SubmixListeners.Contains(InDeviceId)); //LINE 191 SubmixListeners.Emplace(InDeviceId, new FNiagaraSubmixListener(PatchMixer, NumSamplesToBuffer, InDeviceId, SubmixRegisteredTo)); SubmixListeners[InDeviceId]->RegisterToSubmix(); } ``` in fact the chack statement intentionally crashes the app if the condition is not met. so to me it seems like there got some bug into 5.2 that should be handled by the devs if you have a source build and can change it you could change that line to ```auto if(SubmixListeners.Contains(InDeviceId)) { //report warning to fix later return; } ``` this may however lead to other crashes 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Michael.Galetzka](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/michael.galetzka/32/924122_2.png) [@Michael.Galetzka](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Michael.Galetzka)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/3 "2023-05-23T13:00:00Z")
Thanks, it’s a known issue and on the list for 5.3 to be fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Anthony\_Attwood](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Anthony\_Attwood](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Anthony_Attwood)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/4 "2023-05-30T19:18:45Z")
Thank you so much LukasDaum for finding this. I was going to look myself to see if there was anything I could do but I’m not using a source build. A workaround for now seems to be to just do the work you need to then restart the engine, then without touching anything just press play and it’ll work. This ofcourse isn’t good at all. I’m hoping 5.3 comes out quickly I don’t have much time left on this project lol ---
**Author:** ![Michael.Galetzka](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/michael.galetzka/32/924122_2.png) [@Michael.Galetzka](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Michael.Galetzka)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/5 "2023-06-13T18:37:07Z")
The issue is resolved in the current 5.3 branch. If you go to [Unreal Engine Issues and Bug Tracker (UE-152571)](https://issues.unrealengine.com/issue/UE-152571) you can see a link to the Github commit. It’s a simple fix that you can easy backport into a 5.2 source build if needed. ---
**Author:** ![LukasDaum](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/lukasdaum/32/624985_2.png) [@LukasDaum](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/LukasDaum)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/6 "2023-06-27T16:09:24Z")
seems it is also fixed in 5.2.1. i updated and tried it. no crash in editor, niagara editor or PIE. also the release notes mention a bugfix regarding submix stuff 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dilucio.us](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@dilucio.us](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/dilucio.us)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/7 "2023-06-30T20:00:59Z")
Thanks for fixing this, it made my day! ---
**Author:** ![AreC](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/arec/32/935913_2.png) [@AreC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/AreC)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 10:36am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/8 "2024-03-09T10:36:52Z")
@Michael.Galetzka What is the process of backporting a fix to an older engine version (5.2 source)? I tried updating the scripts and rebuilding the plugin, but it didn’t work. Would doing a full rebuild of the packaging process, after updating the scripts, work? ---
**Author:** ![Michael.Galetzka](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/michael.galetzka/32/924122_2.png) [@Michael.Galetzka](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Michael.Galetzka)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/9 "2024-03-14T17:02:29Z")
Are you using a source build from github? If so, you should be able to merge the linked change directly via git and then rebuild your engine. Otherwise you can manually look at the change and merge it to your c++ files by hand. What do you mean by “it didn’t work”, do you get a compile error? ---
**Author:** ![AreC](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/arec/32/935913_2.png) [@AreC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/AreC)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/10 "2024-03-14T22:45:03Z")
@Michael.Galetzka Thanks for the reply. So I have to rebuild the entire engine? What I tried that didn’t work was manually updating the scripts (making sure I changed things exactly), and using RunUAT.bat to build the Niagara plugin folder. I do get an error when doing so. I’m not sure if this is the right approach, not sure if I need to rebuild the engine, just the project, or simply do a full rebuild inside the editor when packaging. **Edit:** I tried making a copy of the Niagara plugin and moving to my project folder to edit it there, so it would take precedence over the engine plugin. However, packaging returned an unknown error. Are there any logs where I can look into the specifics of what went wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Michael.Galetzka](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/michael.galetzka/32/924122_2.png) [@Michael.Galetzka](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Michael.Galetzka)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/11 "2024-04-18T22:51:51Z")
Yes, you have to rebuild the entire engine, not just the Niagara plugin. You also can’t copy the Niagara plugin to your project as it needs access to engine modules that it won’t get from your project folder. It would also break dependencies from other plugins and modules to Niagara. ---
**Author:** ![AreC](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/arec/32/935913_2.png) [@AreC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/AreC)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/12 "2024-04-19T17:18:17Z")
I understand, thanks a lot for clarifying! I’ll keep this in mind for similar cases. ---
**Author:** ![WilliamAlex0](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/williamalex0/32/937230_2.png) [@WilliamAlex0](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/WilliamAlex0)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 9:58am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/13 "2024-04-20T09:58:56Z")
not fixed yet! even in 5.4 ---
**Author:** ![Ivan3z](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Ivan3z](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Ivan3z)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 2:14am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/14 "2024-07-22T02:14:10Z")
UE5.4.4 (2024) Stanalone only ![1](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/6/3/0/630084b37a0e8b523702820005e0f9f2c84b3b86.png) ---
**Author:** ![useronym](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@useronym](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/useronym)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 7:27am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/15 "2025-04-03T07:27:57Z")
In 5.5.4: ```auto Fatal error: [File:D:\build\++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\D3D12RHI\Private\D3D12DescriptorCache.cpp] [Line: 761] Missing uniform buffer at slot 1, stage SF_Vertex. Please check the high level drawing code. Hashes: Vertex: 73D8C566264C15939E0651268E8DF5A1DE7D1FCE, Pipeline: 44D3DB418E13AE74A9BDD7C1D550BDD22FAEB797. UnrealEditor_D3D12RHI UnrealEditor_D3D12RHI UnrealEditor_D3D12RHI UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_Renderer UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_RHI UnrealEditor_Core UnrealEditor_Core UnrealEditor_Core UnrealEditor_Core UnrealEditor_Core UnrealEditor_Core UnrealEditor_Core kernel32 ntdll ``` ---
**Author:** ![useronym](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@useronym](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/useronym)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-2-crash-caused-by-niagara-particle-system-audio-spectrum-niagaradatainterfaceaudio/1170362/16 "2025-10-01T13:40:54Z")
For my above issue, I found it was being caused by the materials used by the Niagara system set to use additive blending. Workaround: 1. Find any and all materials used by the Niagara system you’re trying to open 2. Set their opacity mode to anything other than additive. Translucent or opaque will do. 3. Now you can open the Niagara system and tweak it. 4. Once you’re done, close the Niagara system and re-set