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"Out of Memory" error after resuming from hibernation in LaunchBox or Big Box

📝 Description

Some users running LaunchBox 13.21 on Windows 11 may encounter an “Out of Memory” error after waking their PC from hibernation or hybrid sleep. This occurs particularly when 3D features are active in LaunchBox or Big Box.

🔧 Technical Details

This issue stems from a known problem in the .NET 3D engine. During hibernation, Windows moves RAM to disk. When waking, LaunchBox or Big Box attempts to access 3D elements that were previously in memory. Because these resources are no longer where expected, the .NET engine misinterprets it as a memory failure, resulting in a crash. This only appears to affect Windows 11; Windows 10 users are not impacted.

🛠️ Workarounds

💡 For full details and step-by-step instructions, please refer to our full guide:

👉 Out of Memory Error When Waking from Sleep

As of 13.22, we’ve implemented a partial workaround in the software. When possible, LaunchBox attempts to detect upcoming hibernation and unload 3D content preemptively. This works best in:

  • Big Box views using Wheels

  • Game Discovery Center

However, the timing isn’t always reliable — especially in LaunchBox and hybrid sleep scenarios.

In the meantime, you can try the following user-level workarounds:

  • In LaunchBox:

    • Go to Tools > Options > Visuals > Game Details

    • Uncheck “Show 3D Model”

  • In Big Box:

    • Switch to text-based views instead of Wheel views to reduce the likelihood of a crash.

  • Disable hibernation or hybrid sleep entirely via your system power settings. This completely avoids the issue and is the most effective option until a .NET fix becomes available.

🚧 Status

We’re monitoring Microsoft for updates and will adopt a patched .NET version as soon as one is available. A full fix is not currently possible on our end, but we’ve taken steps to minimize the impact in the meantime.

Thanks for your patience and continued support!

Affected Product
OS Version
Windows 11
LaunchBox Version
Plugins
NA
Status: Investigation4 comments

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Comments4

  • TheRyanMonty

    •

    May 10, 2025

    At first I was running into the issue of images not displaying when coming back from sleep on 13.21, but after disabling windows hibernation with the powercfg command I am now consistently getting the out of memory error when waking the computer. I will watch this post for news.

  • AstroBob

    Team•

    May 7, 2025

    Apologies for the delayed follow-up here. As you’ve probably seen, this is a known issue on our end that the team is working on fixing up. I’m going to go ahead and merge your post into our known issue, so that you can follow along with its updates and be notified when it is resolved.

    Thanks for bearing with us while we get this sorted.

  • jackmeat

    •

    Apr 30, 2025

    I have this issue and do NOT use hybrid sleep nor hibernation.

  • jackmeat

    •

    Apr 30, 2025

    Seems to happen even more frequently when coming back from sleep. Oh, just saw the known bug. I have hybrid sleep DISABLED.