New Teams crashes on startup
Hi,
I have the “old/classic” Teams running fine but I’ve been getting asked to switch to the new Teams.
I did that and I can see the app loading showing me my contacts and the latest messages and then after 3-5 seconds it just crashes.
I’ve had this since day 1 when the preview appeared, and I’ve been getting all updates in cases things changed (as it was Preview back then) but I still have this issue.
I’ve tried re-installing, uninstalling and re-installing again, Repair, Reset, delete local app settings, pretty much everything I could think of.
Any other ideas?
Thank you
Teams, version 1.6.00.30666 (Runs OK)
New Teams version 23285.3604.2469.4152 (Crashes)
Hi Ahmed, thanks for reaching out.
The issue seems to be that after launching, Teams is attempting to load DirectShow filters (*.ax files) that are registered on your system and it seems that some 3rd party DirectShow filters (one provided by Pleora eBUS SDK specifically in this case) cause Teams to crash and that this has been an issue since Microsoft Lync days (Lync being the predecessor to Skype for Business which is the predecessor to Teams). Removing the software with these DirectShow filters from your system or simply unregistering the filters completely solves the problem.
Note that you (I’m speaking to anyone reading this) may not have the same exact issue but below I have outlined the process I used to identify the problem so that hopefully you can do the same. I’d first take a look at Programs/Features and see if you have Pleora eBUS SDK installed – if you do then skip to step 9 below first and try that to see if it fixes the problem. If not then you can use the rest of the instructions to try to identify the cause of the problem.
So, how did I figure this out? Short answer: Sysinternals Process Monitor to see everything Teams was trying to load and noticing one of the last libraries loaded probably wasn’t something Teams should be using. Read on to learn the exact steps I used.
Make sure Teams is configured to use New Teams and that it is closed (I assume it is since you’re having this problem!)
Download Process Monitor, extract the .zip file, and run Procmon.exe
Stop capture with (Ctrl-E) and clear current capture (Ctrl-X)
Open the Filter dialog (cyan filter icon on toolbar at top) and add the following filters:
Process Name containing ms-teams
Operation is Load Image
Start capture (Ctrl-E) and then launch New Teams and wait for it to crash.
After crashed, stop capture (Ctrl-E). If your problem was similar to mine then you should now have the information needed to figure out what is causing it to crash. For me, Process Monitor had logged 383 entries. These are all the libraries that Teams is loading and my theory was that one near the end was likely causing this crash.
Scroll down to the end of the list and look for things that seem out of place. For me this was the second last library loaded being a DirectShow filter (*.ax files are DirectShow filters) seemingly provided by something called Pleora eBUS SDK. When I saw this I suspected immediately that Teams had no business trying to use this library. Pleora eBUS is installed as part of a different SDK that I use for developing software that uses various cameras (scientific cameras, nothing Teams should need to do anything with).
After a bit of Googling for this PvDSSource64.ax file I discovered these release notes for this eBUS SDK which specifically call out this DirectShow filter as having compatibility problems with Microsoft Lync (the predecessor to Teams and even the predecessor to Skype for Business). These release notes are for an old version of the eBUS SDK where they claim this filter is not registered by default due to this compatibility issue but it looks like it is being registered automatically for me and I suspected causing the problem.
Using the instructions provided at that link (search on the page for “PvDSSource.ax”, or 64-bit version simplified below since that’s likely all anyone these days needs) I used regsvr32 to unregister the offending DirectShow filters and voila! Now Teams works properly. You don’t even need to restart your computer.
Open command prompt as Administrator
Navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Pleora\eBUS SDK\
Run the following command: regsvr32 /u PvDSSource64.ax
Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Pleora\eBUS SDK
Run the following command: regsvr32 /u PvDSSource.ax
Alternatively, completely uninstalling the Pleora eBUS SDK application (using usual Windows Program/Features uninstallation process) also solves the problem since it removes the offending DirectShow filter along with it.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask, we’re here to help you further if needed.
Your VAF Team.
