Freezing on Windows after video reset

Hi - I’ve been getting freezing on Windows. I’m on Windows 11 (fully patched), Core i7-1260P Intel NUC (NUC12WSKi7) with 32Gb RAM.

Basically I run Zwift windowed (medium detail, 720) and run some sort of video streaming website in Chrome alongside it. I’ve not really used Zwift for a few months (it was totally fine over winter) but with the bad weather we’re having I’ve been using it since the weekend. The application patched itself as usual with the new installer and I started riding.

Periodically the video seems to reset (screen flicks off then on) and then Zwift freezes. The companion app on iphone continues to work as before so if I’m doing a workout I can finish. If I stop the ride from the app, it saves normally too so it just seems like an app freeze but everything “under the skin” seems to be working fine.

Any tips?

It’s probably a safe assumption that Zwift itself isn’t the culprit, most applications will appear frozen when video settings on your device change; which, if your screen is going black completely… would mean that something is changing.

Being a NUC, definitely integrated graphics, but something must be causing the video signal to reset.

Not sure what resolution your display monitor is set to, but might be worth fiddling with different resolutions and refresh rates.

Alternatively, something disconnecting and reconnecting (or attempting to go into “sleep mode”, apparently a culprit for some with NUCs with the thunderbolt port/driver), might also be causing some fluctuation that resets the display driver.

Whatever the issue is, it’s a safer guarantee it’s related to a display driver update that came through Windows updater, or some new or different device or cable that wasn’t being used before. (But I’ll bet it’s driver related)
Windows updater shoves through bad driver updates left and right, and as of recently there haven’t been many ways to disable it; even registry adjustments don’t seem to guarantee prevention.

Try downloading an official latest driver for your NUC for the 1260P from intel and installing that and see if it helps.
If that’s not it, perhaps try a different video cable, or a different refresh rate.

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