Hello Adobe Support,I have been experiencing a persistent issue with Substance 3D Sampler 5.x on my system, and after extensive troubleshooting with NVIDIA support, the issue still remains unresolved.Problem Summary:Sampler 5.x works correctly right after a clean Windows installation.After 1–2 weeks of use, the application suddenly fails to launch.Version 4.5.2 works without any issues.Event Viewer consistently shows errors related to vulkan-1.dll during the crash.The issue only affects Adobe applications (Sampler and Designer). All other games and applications using Vulkan run without any problems.Steps Already Taken:Multiple clean driver installations (both Studio and Game Ready drivers, using DDU and NVIDIA Cleanup Tool).Tested on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 – same issue occurs.Performed multiple full OS reinstalls (4+ times) and confirmed the same pattern:Works after a fresh install → fails to launch after some time.Tried with offline local Microsoft account (not cloud-linked).Disabled/removed third-party software (antivirus, VPN, AdGuard, etc.).Performed SFC /scannow, DISM, clean boot – no effect.Confirmed this is not hardware-related, as the problem only affects Adobe Sampler 5.x.Additional Notes:NVIDIA engineers analyzed the case and suggested that this is most likely an application-level issue in Adobe Substance 3D Sampler’s Vulkan implementation.Other users have reported similar crashes in Adobe forums, but there is no confirmed fix yet.I have attached the Event Viewer logs (.evtx) that consistently show the Vulkan runtime failure.Request:Could you please investigate whether there is a known compatibility issue between Adobe Substance 3D Sampler 5.x and NVIDIA Vulkan drivers? If so, is there a fix or workaround available?At the moment, the only solution is to revert back to version 4.5.2, which is not affected.Thank you for your support,Utku Göğüş

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Answered

Substance 3D Sampler 5.x – Application Fails to Launch After Clean Install (Vulkan Error)

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
October 3, 2025
22 replies
1193 views

Hello Adobe Support,

I have been experiencing a persistent issue with Substance 3D Sampler 5.x on my system, and after extensive troubleshooting with NVIDIA support, the issue still remains unresolved.

Problem Summary:

Sampler 5.x works correctly right after a clean Windows installation.
After 1–2 weeks of use, the application suddenly fails to launch.
Version 4.5.2 works without any issues.
Event Viewer consistently shows errors related to vulkan-1.dll during the crash.
The issue only affects Adobe applications (Sampler and Designer). All other games and applications using Vulkan run without any problems.

Steps Already Taken:

Multiple clean driver installations (both Studio and Game Ready drivers, using DDU and NVIDIA Cleanup Tool).
Tested on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 – same issue occurs.
Performed multiple full OS reinstalls (4+ times) and confirmed the same pattern:
- Works after a fresh install → fails to launch after some time.
Tried with offline local Microsoft account (not cloud-linked).
Disabled/removed third-party software (antivirus, VPN, AdGuard, etc.).
Performed SFC /scannow, DISM, clean boot – no effect.
Confirmed this is not hardware-related, as the problem only affects Adobe Sampler 5.x.

Additional Notes:

NVIDIA engineers analyzed the case and suggested that this is most likely an application-level issue in Adobe Substance 3D Sampler’s Vulkan implementation.
Other users have reported similar crashes in Adobe forums, but there is no confirmed fix yet.
I have attached the Event Viewer logs (.evtx) that consistently show the Vulkan runtime failure.

Request:
Could you please investigate whether there is a known compatibility issue between Adobe Substance 3D Sampler 5.x and NVIDIA Vulkan drivers? If so, is there a fix or workaround available?

At the moment, the only solution is to revert back to version 4.5.2, which is not affected.

Thank you for your support,
Utku Göğüş

error.txt

error_2.txt

DxDiag.txt

Kayıt_2025-09-18_204159.zip

Correct answer Guillaume_Substance3D

Nice.

So I guessed right, it was an overlay app.

Glad to see you solved your issue.

Have a nice day.

Guillaume_Substance3D

Correct answer

Community Manager

Nice.

So I guessed right, it was an overlay app.

Glad to see you solved your issue.

Have a nice day.

U

Utku92Author

Participating Frequently

Hello,

Thank you very much for your help and effort. With the log file and assistance from ChatGPT, I was able to resolve the issue. The FPS Monitor application in my Steam library was assigning a value to the Vulkan location in the Registry. After deleting that entry, the problem was fixed. Thank you again, and I wish you all the best in your work.

Bilgisayar\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Khronos\Vulkan\ImplicitLayers

Guillaume_Substance3D

Community Manager

Thanks, I will check with developpers.

U

Utku92Author

Participating Frequently

New log file :

https://limewire.com/d/fWq1e#rYjyRE4VQk

U

Utku92Author

Participating Frequently

It’s a problem that no one has been able to solve :D. I’ve probably talked to six different people from the Nvidia support team, but we didn’t get any results. I also have Bitdefender Total Security, but I don’t think it’s a virus. I have no idea which program or running software could be causing this.