MATLAB crashes when using graphics with older NVidia OpenGL drivers

Why does MATLAB crash even when using simple plotting commands such as "plot" or "patch"?

My computer is using an NVidia graphics card with OpenGL driver version X.XX.13.4052.  

Why is this happening?

In some cases MATLAB does not create a crash log, but when it does it looks like this:

Configuration:
  Crash Decoding     : Disabled
  Default Encoding   : windows-1252
  Graphics card 1    : NVIDIA ( 0x10de ) NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M    Version 8.17.12.8598
  Graphics card 2    : Intel Corporation ( 0x8086 ) Intel(R) HD Graphics Family Version 8.15.10.2361
  MATLAB Architecture: win64
  MATLAB Root        : C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2014b
  MATLAB Version     : 8.4.0.150421 (R2014b)
  Operating System   : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
  Processor ID       : x86 Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7, GenuineIntel
  Software OpenGL    : 0
  Virtual Machine    : Java 1.7.0_11-b21 with Oracle Corporation Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM mixed mode
  Window System      : Version 6.1 (Build 7601: Service Pack 1)
 
Fault Count: 1
 
 
Abnormal termination:
Access violation
 
Stack Trace (from fault):
[  0] 0x00000000dcb99492 DrvPresentBuffers+00083586 at C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv64.DLL+9213074 (file not found)
[  1] 0x00000000dcb5d167 DrvCopyContext+00009751 at C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv64.DLL+8966503 (file not found)
[  2] 0x00000000dcb47fd7 [unknown function] at C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv64.DLL+8880087 (file not found)
[  3] 0x00000000dcb489cf [unknown function] at C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv64.DLL+8882639 (file not found)
[  4] 0x00000000dcb48ac9 [unknown function] at C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv64.DLL+8882889 (file not found)
[  5] 0x00000000dcb5cfea DrvCopyContext+00009370 at C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv64.DLL+8966122 (file not found)
[  6] 0x00000000dcb5d02f DrvCopyContext+00009439 at C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv64.DLL+8966191 (file not found)
[  7] 0x00000000778487fe GetMenuBarInfo+00000638 at C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll+165886 (no debugging symbols found)
[  8] 0x0000000077848755 GetMenuBarInfo+00000469 at C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll+165717 (no debugging symbols found)
[  9] 0x000000007782cbae InSendMessageEx+00000106 at C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll+52142 (no debugging symbols found)
[ 10] 0x0000000077a911f5 KiUserCallbackDispatcher+00000031 at C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll+332277 (no debugging symbols found)
[ 11] 0x000000007782cbfa DestroyWindow+00000010 at C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll+52218 (no debugging symbols found)
[ 12] 0x0000000079681a1e [unknown function] at C:\Users\Felix\AppData\Local\Temp\jogamp_0000\file_cache\jln3539820558960665899\jln122858377656660183\nativewindow_win32.dll+6686 (file not found)
[ 13] 0x00000000779359ed BaseThreadInitThunk+00000013 at C:\Windows\system32\kernel32.dll+88557 (no debugging symbols found)
[ 14] 0x0000000077a6c541 RtlUserThreadStart+00000033 at C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll+181569 (no debugging symbols found)

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

MATLAB can abruptly exit when executing commands that use MATLAB graphics in a computer that utilizes older NVidia drivers.

To determine if you are experiencing this issue, the following three steps must be true:

1. The resulting crash log "matlab_crash_dump.XXXX" contains the "nvogl64.dll" keyword. Refer to the following article to find the crash log that was generated by MATLAB:

How do I locate the crash log files generated by MATLAB?

2. Your computer has an NVidia graphics card that uses a driver version older than the latest driver available. Refer to the following article to determine which driver version your computer uses:

How do I determine the version of my graphics card driver from my MATLAB crash log?

3. Refer to the following NVidia website to determine which is the latest available driver:

NVidia Driver Download

If your driver version is older, upgrading drivers may help resolve the crash.  Please download and install the latest driver available for your graphics card.

Note that in some instances your operating system or computer manufacturer may say your drivers are up to date, however, the driver information is still older than the driver available from the Nvidia website.

Alternate workaround:

For some NVidia graphics drivers, you may be able to work around this behavior by changing the profile the driver utilizes. To do so follow these steps: 

1. Open the NVidia control panel

2. Under 3D Settings, select the Manage 3D Settings panel

3. Under the Global Settings panel, click on the Global Presets drop-down list to choose "Dassault Systems - CATIA compatible" profile

On Windows machines, you can set this profile automatically if NVidia WMI is installed by running the following command at the Windows Command Prompt:

wmic /namespace:\\root\CIMV2\NV path ProfileManager call setCurrentProfile3D "Dassault Systemes CATIA - compatible"