I’ve been experiencing pretty regular crashes since upgrading to Cubase 15. After contacting support about it, I was told it’s most likely caused by a 3rd party plugin. I’ve been through most of my recent sessions, checking to make sure plugins are up to date and that I wasn’t mistakenly using any VST2 plugins, however as far as I can tell, everything seems to be good in that respect. If anyone is able to read crash files, I have attached one to this post from a crash that happened this morning while Cubase was sitting idle for around 5 mins. I also still have Cubase 14 installed on this computer and even in the same session, never experience any crashes. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and let me know if you need any more information.
This doesn’t look like it the fault of a plugin to me, but tbh I have no immediate idea what the issue is. Could even be something outside of Cubase.
STACK_TEXT:
00000000`0a03fb08 00007ff8`7edce9e0 : 00007ff8`7edd2c10 00000000`00000000 00007ff8`7ee38280 00000000`7ffe0386 : 0x00000002`7cf0c7c0
00000000`0a03fb10 00007ff8`7edd2dc0 : 00000001`e2640390 00000000`00000000 00000000`0a03fd98 00000000`7ffe0386 : ntdll!RtlpTpTimerCallback+0xe0
00000000`0a03fb50 00007ff8`7edd63cd : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : ntdll!TppTimerpExecuteCallback+0x1b0
00000000`0a03fc00 00007ff8`7db4e8d7 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : ntdll!TppWorkerThread+0x80d
00000000`0a03ff60 00007ff8`7edec53c : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 000004f0`fffffb30 000004d0`fffffb30 : kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0x17
00000000`0a03ff90 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : ntdll!RtlUserThreadStart+0x2c
SYMBOL_NAME: ntdll!RtlpTpTimerCallback+e0
MODULE_NAME: ntdll
IMAGE_NAME: ntdll.dll
STACK_COMMAND: ~547s; .ecxr ; kb
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: SOFTWARE_NX_FAULT_c0000005_ntdll.dll!RtlpTpTimerCallback
Google just told me that I have actually seen and analyzed this error in other threads here on the forum 
, but those didn’t yield any resolution (OPs didn’t answer anymore).
GoogleAI suggests the following:
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Third-Party Audio Drivers (ASIO): This specific fault is frequently reported in high-performance audio software like Cubase. If you use an external audio interface, uninstall your current ASIO drivers and install the latest 2026 version from the manufacturer’s website.
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Corrupt Shell Extensions: Background services that integrate with Windows Explorer (like Google Drive File Stream or Dropbox) can trigger this fault during timer callbacks. Try temporarily disabling or uninstalling these services to see if the crashes stop.
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System File Corruption: The
ntdll.dllfile is a core Windows component. If it or its dependencies are damaged, use the Microsoft System File Checker by runningsfc /scannowin an administrative Command Prompt. -
Data Execution Prevention (DEP) Conflict: Since this is an NX fault, the system is blocking an instruction it deems unsafe. Ensure your BIOS/UEFI firmware is up to date, as modern CPU security features can sometimes conflict with older software
I would rule out solution 3 and 4, as C14 seems to work, but I would give the first and second one a try ( in that order), can’t hurt.
Thank you very much for the great insight. It is very interesting to hear it may be something outside of cubase thats causing this issue. I’ll try those fixes and report back if anything changes.
same issue sir, if you get a fix please do let us know
steinberg says its a plugin issue, while i cant find any issue- all are genuine and licensed plugins
Hi and welcome to the forum,
Please, attach the *.ips/dmp file, so we can have a look at where it crashes on your side.
So far, I believe the problem has been solved for me. I tried the other suggested fixes but nothing seemed to change. What I ended up doing was the tried and true reset of the preferences folder.
If you go into your Steinberg folder in C/Users/Username/Appdata/Roaming/Steinberg and move all folders containing the name “Cubase XX” (XX being the version number) to your desktop, restart your computer then open Cubase and let it rescan and rebuild the preferences folder. This will reset everything like routing, custom presets and such but if you open a project in this refreshed state and confirm the crashes have stopped, you can start copying/pasting any custom preset files and folders from the Cubase folder you moved to your desktop into the newly created one ( they will mostly be clearly labeled but a google search will give you the exact file name for whatever you need).
I can get why Steinberg would want to leave these older preferences folders when upgrading to a newer version but they seem to constantly be the cause of issues every time I upgrade. I really wish there was a better way to handle or store custom files apart from typical program files cause as it is now, they seem highly integrated amongst each other and that seems to be the root of these types of issues. Hope this helps!
Edit: I will also add, keep VST2’s turned off in the plugin manager and either find a VST3 replacement or just stop using them. They also will cause this issue.