Wave Client Crash on Windows

Some users on Windows 10 and Windows 11 are experiencing issues with the Wave client, including crashes or the application not opening at all. These problems often occur shortly after launching the client or when working with layouts that include multiple items. In some cases, users have also reported memory leaks or slow performance.

The underlying issue is related to OpenGL support. Many modern graphics drivers, especially those for Intel integrated GPUs and some NVIDIA GPUs, do not fully support OpenGL on Windows. As a result, the default graphics rendering option used by the Wave client (OpenGL) can lead to crashes and instability.

To solve this:

• Install NVIDIA driver version 32.0.15.5639, which has been tested and is known to work reliably in many cases. However, results can vary depending on the specific hardware configuration of your system. You can download the graphics driver here
  
  OR
  
   
• Force Wave to use Direct X rather than Open GL. Run the bat script at the bottom of this article. Select option 1
  
  Restart the Wave client
  You can confirm Direct X is being used by looking the About section:
  
  When Open GL is being used it will look like this:
  
   

A long term fix will be implemented in Wave 6.1. This will allow the client to use a new Rendering Hardware Interface (RHI) that supports multiple graphics API backends. This allows the Wave client to automatically use the most suitable rendering option for your system: Direct3D (default on Windows), Metal (macOS), Vulkan (default on Linux if supported by the graphics card), or modern OpenGL (used on Linux when Vulkan isn't available).

If you are still experiencing issues, ensure all profiles in the layout are set to Low resolution rather than Auto. You can force the client to do this via a ini file: 

1. Close the client 
2. Go to C:\Users{YOUR_USER}\AppData\Local\
3. Create a folder named nx_ini.
4. Inside that folder, create a file named desktop_client.ini.
5. Start the client once to populate settings, then close it again.

6. Open the file and replace

   defaultResolution="auto"

   with

   defaultResolution="low"

   

7. Save the file.
8. Start the client and check.

This setting will apply to all newly created layouts. It will also keep cameras in low resolution for existing cloud layouts, but only after manually switching them to “low” once.
This workaround must be applied separately for each OS user profile.