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