How To Fix Football Manager Application Error (Crash Dump)

Learn how to fix the notorious application error (crash dump) that occurs in Football Manager. Guide for both Windows and Mac users.

Things you can do to fix the Football Manager crash dump error. 

Here are some things you could do to fix the notorious application error in Football Manager. This FM stopped working crash dump error is both suited for Windows and Mac users.

A crash dump is a generic name for any type of error you encounter when launching or running Football Manager.

Contained within the crash dump file is information related to what kind of crash you have, which in some circumstances Sports Interactive will ask you to upload to their FTP.

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• Deleting crash dump file will not solve your crash dump error problem.

There are a few troubleshooting techniques we suggest you undertake in order to get the game running.


Windows users

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The crash dump file can be located at the following default location:

• C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 20xx\crash dumps

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• Crash dump on launching Football manager

Normally a crash dump on game start is related to a system or conflicting error, so we suggest the following steps to be completed in the following order...

1) Update Graphics Card Drivers

Graphics card websites have tools which can scan your system and find the correct card.

• AMD/ATI - http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/pages/index.aspx
• Intel - http://downloadcenter.intel.com/
• Nvidia - http://www.nvidia.com/download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

If you know your exact graphics card make, you can download and install the latest drivers for your graphics card manually.

2) Configure your laptop to run Football Manager with optimal settings

1. Go to ‘Control Panel’.
2. Find ‘Power Options’.
3. Select ‘Maximum performance’ or ‘High performance’. If neither of these options are available, click ‘Show additional plans’ to find this option.

Nvidia Graphic Cards

If your laptop has an Nvidia card, it will most likely also have a secondary Intel card (integrated to the motherboard or CPU) which normally runs in power saving mode.

Occasionally the game can incorrectly default to this mode, so follow the steps below to check and confirm that it’s running your dedicated graphics card.

1. Right-click on your desktop and there should be a Nvidia Control Panel.
2. Under ‘3D settings’ and ‘program settings’ add ‘fm.exe’. This can be found found in;
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 20xx or where you have installed Steam and Football Manager.
3. Run with the more powerful Nvidia card over the integrated Intel card.

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• If you are having issues with this card and the game doesn’t launch or have issues, as a test it’d be worth choosing the “Integrated graphics” as main graphic processor to see if the same issues occur.

AMD/ATI Graphics Cards

There’s a wide variation in versions of the AMD/ATI Radeon Catalyst Control Center for adjusting the settings for these cards, so the process may not be exactly as listed below.

1. Go to Graphics > PowerPlay - Set Plugged In and Battery to Maximum Performance. Click Apply.
2. If the option is available to your graphics card, go to Graphics > 3D and move the slider across to Performance so it is set for Optimal Performance. Click Apply.
3. If your Catalyst Control Center has the Switchable Graphics tab go there and browse to locate fm.exe and set it for High Performance. Click Apply.
4. Do the same for Steam this can be found found in C:\Program Files\(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 20xx or where you have installed Steam and Football Manager.

3) Prevent Anti-Virus interfering with Steam or Football Manager

Occasionally due to updates or system configuration, anti-virus programs have been known to interfere with Steam and Football Manager.

Add Steam and Football Manager to the exceptions in your anti-virus. How to do this will depend on your anti-virus; search on the program’s website for details on how to do this.

By default Steam and Football Manager will be installed in the following locations:

• Steam – C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
• Football Manager - C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Football Manager 20xx

If you think it’s your anti-virus causing the problem and don’t know how to configure it to work, it may be worth uninstalling the anti-virus program to check.

In that case, make sure Windows Firewall/Windows Defender is turned on.

If you are on Windows 7 or earlier, get Microsoft Security Essentials which is solid, free and doesn’t conflict with Steam or Football Manager.

On Windows 8.1 or 10 you will already have Windows Defender installed, so avoid installing another anti-virus as this can sometimes cause conflicting issues.

4) Update DirectX and .Net Framework

Make sure you have the latest .Net Framework and DirectX versions installed. To do this, first download and install this .net framework update from here - https://www.microsoft.com/net/download

Then download this to make sure your DirectX is up to date - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

It’s an offline installer.

1. First download the offline installer linked above.
2. Go to your System folder located here - C:\Windows\System
3. Remove any files ending d2x9_24.dll and d3dx9_43.dll (which one of these files or whether you have one at all will depend on your operating system).
4. Go to your System 32 folder located here - C:\Windows\System32
5. Again remove any files ending d2x9_24.dll and d3dx9_43.dll
6. Now go to your SysWOW64 folders located here - C:\Windows\SysWOW64
7. And for the list time look for any files ending d2x9_24.dll and d3dx9_43.dll
8. Once this is done, double click the downloaded exe to begin installation.
9. When you click it, it will ask you for a folder location to extract to.
10. Create a folder on your desktop and name it something you’ll recognize (say DirectX Install).
11. Once the file has finished unzipping to your selected folder, open the folder.
12. Double-click DXSETUP to begin the process of updating your DirectX.

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• Crash dump whilst processing or clicking something in FM

1) Remove any custom graphics

Remove any custom logos/faces/skins etc from your Graphics folder so they no longer appear in game. If the crash wasn’t caused by them, try the following:

2) Delete your Cache Folder

In Football Manager, there are two ways of deleting your cache files.

1. In-Game

FM -> Preferences -> Interface

Under ‘Skin’ click the ‘Clear Cache’ button. When prompted select ‘Yes’. You will now need to restart Football Manager for these changes to take effect.

2. Outside of the game

First make sure the game is closed then do the following:

For Windows Vista and Windows 7:

1. Click ‘Start’
2. Select ‘Computer’
3. From the header, select ‘Organize’ dropdown
4. Select ‘Folder and Search Options’
5. Within here, select the ‘View’ tab and make sure ‘Show Hidden Files and Folders’ is selected
6. Navigate to C:\Users\Your Username\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 20xx
7. Delete the ‘Cache’ folder

For Windows 8 and Windows 10:

1. Click ‘File Explorer’ from within the taskbar (or click ‘Desktop/Start’ then type in ‘File Explorer’)
2. On the header click ‘View’ and make sure above ‘Show/hide’ that ‘Hidden Items’ is ticked
3. Navigate to C:\Users\Your Username\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 20xx
4. Delete the ‘Cache’ folder

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• When launching the game for the first time after completing this, you may notice the game takes a little extra time to load up (especially if you’re using custom files). This is where the game is re-caching the files in game and will only take place the first time you click on screens. From that point on, the game will be cached and should run at optimal speed.

3) Delete your Preference Folder

First of all make sure the game is closed before you proceed.

For Windows Vista and Windows 7:

1. Click ‘Start’
2. Select ‘Computer’
3. From the header, select ‘Organize’ dropdown
4. Select ‘Folder and Search Options’
5. Within here, select the ‘View’ tab and make sure ‘Show Hidden Files and Folders’ is selected
6. Navigate to C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 20xx
7. Delete the Preferences folder

For Windows 8 and Windows 10:

1. Click ‘File Explorer’ from within the taskbar (or click ‘Desktop/Start’ then type in ‘File Explorer’)
2. On the header click ‘View’ and make sure above ‘Show/hide’ that ‘Hidden Items’ is ticked
3. Navigate to C:\Users\[Your Windows Username]\AppData\Local\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 20xx
4. Delete the Preferences folder

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• Please bear in mind, these are not your save games or the same folder which contains these, this folder is completely unrelated. Upon deleting your preferences your in-game preference settings will be restored to default, so the folder will be regenerated when you launch the game. The next time you launch the game remember to change any preferences you wish to have changed (such as auto save regularity, sound level or game display mode).

4) Re-Verify Football Manager Game Cache

1. Load Steam app
2. From the ‘Library’ section, right-click on Football Manager and select ‘Properties’ from the menu.
3. Select the ‘Local Files’ tab and click the ‘Verify Integrity of Game Cache’ button.
4. Steam will verify the game’s files - this process may take several minutes. This will always download a number of files even if you’ve just verified the game.
5. Once the process is completed, the Check Window will automatically exit.
6. It’s recommended to verify your cache twice to make sure all files are fully downloaded.

Mac users

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The crash dump file can be located at the following default location:

• /Users/[Your Mac Username]/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 20xx/crash dumps

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• Crash dump whilst launching or playing FM on Mac

1) Remove any custom graphics

Remove any custom logos/faces/skins etc from your Graphics folder so they no longer appear in game. If the crash wasn’t caused by them, try the following:

2) Delete your Cache Folder on Mac OS X (all versions)

1. Open Finder.
2. Click the ‘Go’ menu in the menubar.
3. Press and hold down the ‘Option’ (Alt) key.
4. Click the ‘Library’ item in the menu.
5. Go into the folder named ‘Application Support’ then ‘Sports Interactive’
6. Click into the ‘Football Manager 20xx’ folder
7. Within here, delete the ‘Cache’ folder

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• Please bear in mind, these are not your save games or the same folder which contains these, this folder is completely unrelated. The folder will be regenerated back to default when you next launch the game.

3) Delete your Preference Folder on Mac OS X (all versions)

1. Open Finder.
2. Click the ‘Go’ menu in the menubar.
3. Press and hold down the ‘Option’ (Alt) key.
4. Click the ‘Library’ item in the menu.
5. Go into the folder named ‘Application Support’ then ‘Sports Interactive’
6. Click into the ‘Football Manager 20xx’ folder
7. Within here, delete the ‘Preferences’ folder

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• Please bear in mind, these are not your save games or the same folder which contains these, this folder is completely unrelated. Upon deleting your preferences the in-game preference settings will be restored to default, so the folder will be regenerated when you launch the game.

The next time you launch the game remember to change any preferences you wish to have changed (such as auto save regularity, sound level or game display mode).

4) Re-Verify Football Manager Game Cache

This process is universal regardless of the operating system.

Once you’ve done all this, re-launch the game and try again.

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• Last resort, report it on SI forums
• If you have completed all of the above without being able to resolve your issue, please read the Football Manager Bug Report Guidelines on the official Sports Interactive forums.