DXVK not working: find your symptom, apply the fix

Find your symptom

Step 0: is DXVK even loaded?

This is the first check for everything on this page. After starting the game, look in the folder with the game’s .exe for a file named like GameName_d3d9.log, GameName_d3d11.log or GameName_dxgi.log. On Windows DXVK writes them there by default (F13). Under Wine it prints to the terminal and writes files only if DXVK_LOG_PATH is set (F14). The HUD is the other check: dxvk.hud = version in a dxvk.conf, see the HUD guide.

No log, no HUD: DXVK is not being used. We reproduced these causes:

The Game Checker checks the first two for you.

The game will not start or crashes at launch

Open the log (Step 0), find the first err: line and match it:

No Vulkan, or an unsupported GPU or driver

Vulkan: vkGetInstanceProcAddr not found means no Vulkan runtime at all (F31). Failed to create Vulkan instance means the runtime is there but no driver answered (F32). Install your GPU vendor’s driver from their site, not Windows Update; virtual machines and remote-desktop sessions are not supported. A driver that reports Vulkan 1.3 did not stop DXVK 3.1.1 from starting in our lab when the needed extensions were there (F33), but old GPUs lack them: see the Version Picker. The DXVK wiki also warns that Microsoft’s “OpenCL, OpenGL and Vulkan Compatibility Pack” (which uses a layer called Dozen) can cause issues next to a real Vulkan driver.

Only d3d11.dll was copied

A Direct3D 11 game needs dxgi.dll too. Without it DXVK logs Failed to create swap chain and the game gets error 0x887A0004 (F06). Copy dxgi.dll from the same folder.

A device filter that matches nothing

A DXVK_FILTER_DEVICE_NAME that matched no GPU broke Direct3D 11 completely, with Failed to create a DXGI factory and 0x80004005 (F29). Remove the filter or use a substring of the real device name.

An overlay or injector

Close overlays and test again. See overlay conflicts.

Anti-cheat refused the DLLs

The DXVK README warns that replacing Direct3D DLLs can be treated as cheating and lead to bans. Use DXVK offline only; see the safety page.

A 32-bit game on Linux

32-bit games under Wine need the 32-bit graphics drivers installed. Before we installed them every 32-bit app failed at device creation, with Wine’s own Direct3D too (F34). See DXVK on Linux.

Black screen

In order: try borderless or windowed mode; close overlays; check the log for swap chain errors; try d3d9.deferSurfaceCreation or dxgi.deferSurfaceCreation (options DXVK describes for windows that stay black when another API draws into them); read the dxvk.allowFse trade-off on the options page. We have not reproduced a black screen, so these are DXVK’s own descriptions and general advice, not tested fixes.

It runs, but nothing changed (or it got slower)

First confirm DXVK is active (Step 0). Then: DXVK helps games limited by the CPU or driver and can lose FPS when the game is limited by the GPU; the first time you play an area shaders compile, so judge the second run (stutter page); a laptop may run the game on its integrated GPU (GPU selection). We have no game FPS measurements here.

Stutter

Compile hitches: the stutter page. Uneven frames: the FPS limit page. Overlays: conflicts.

Flicker, wrong colours, missing objects

Try the previous DXVK release first (release history). Washed-out colours can come from Windows’ HDR state or from dxgi.enableHDR. Anisotropic filtering or anti-aliasing forced in the GPU control panel may not apply through DXVK: use d3d9.samplerAnisotropy or d3d11.samplerAnisotropy instead. We have not reproduced these; they are reports and DXVK’s own option descriptions.

Crashes or freezes after a while

VK_ERROR_DEVICE_LOST means the GPU hung or the driver crashed: update or roll back the driver, remove any overclock or undervolt, close overlays. 32-bit games can run out of memory, see the memory page. Alt-tab freezes can come from exclusive full-screen: use borderless. Driver-specific regressions change often, so check the DXVK issue tracker for your driver version; we list none here because we have not verified any.

It broke after an update

Which update? DXVK: go back to the previous release and keep the last version that worked. The GPU driver: see above. Windows: reinstall the GPU driver from your vendor. The game: a game update or Steam’s “verify files” can remove files it does not know, so check the DLLs are still next to the .exe and copy them again. We have not tested a launcher’s verify step.

Still stuck: report it properly

Collect the log files, DXVK version, driver version, GPU, operating system and what you tried. On Linux check ProtonDB first. Report to the official DXVK tracker only for official builds on supported setups: Windows use is unsupported upstream, so Windows-only issues may be closed, and forks have their own trackers. Run the log through the analyzer first.

Give up cleanly

Some games run better without DXVK. Delete the DLLs and you are back to normal DirectX; the uninstall guide has the full steps.