DLL injection reported as successful but Listdlls verification fails repeatedly on Grim Dawn v1.3.0.4/v1.3.0.5

[bigbirdbrother]

Description

IA (v1.5.9715.11589) launches and runs normally, but fails to inject the hook DLL into Grim Dawn. The injection cycle repeats endlessly: DllInjector64.exe reports success, but Listdlls verification never finds the DLL loaded in the process.

IA itself does not crash — the UI, database, cloud sync, and item search all work fine. Only the in-game hook fails, preventing any item transfers.

Environment

• IA version: 1.5.9715.11589 (released 07/08/2026) — latest
• IA DLL version: 1.5.9709.09674
• IA Playtest DLL version: 1.5.9709.09690
• Grim Dawn version: v1.3.0.4 / v1.3.0.5 (released 31 Jul / 3 Aug 2026)
• Grim Dawn path: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\grim dawn
• IA install path: C:\Program Files\IAGD\
• OS: Windows 11 (running on GPD Win 4 handheld, machine name DESKTOP-U2MG5IU)
• IA running as administrator: Yes (confirmed in log)
• Language: ZH (Chinese)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install IA v1.5.9715.11589
2. Launch Grim Dawn v1.3.0.4/v1.3.0.5 via Steam
3. Launch IA (as administrator)
4. Observe that IA starts normally, items are searchable, but the stash tab shows "Error"
5. Check log.txt — injection loop begins immediately

Behavior Before the Issue

IA was working correctly on Grim Dawn v1.2.1.6 (last successful hook log entry: 2026-07-23). The problem started after Grim Dawn updated to v1.3.0.x.

Log Snippet (log.txt)

Startup (successful):

2026-08-09 12:15:45,575 [Main] INFO [IAGrim.StartupService]: Running version 1.5.9715.11589 from 07/08/2026
2026-08-09 12:15:45,579 [Main] INFO [IAGrim.StartupService]: DLL version version 1.5.9709.09674
2026-08-09 12:15:45,582 [Main] INFO [IAGrim.StartupService]: Playtest DLL version 1.5.9709.09690
2026-08-09 12:15:56,863 [Main] INFO [IAGrim.StartupService]: Running as administrator
2026-08-09 12:15:56,958 [Main] INFO [IAGrim.StartupService]: The path to Grim Dawn is "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\grim dawn"
2026-08-09 12:15:56,967 [Main] INFO [IAGrim.StartupService]: The Grim Dawn database has been parsed
2026-08-09 12:16:03,543 [Main] INFO [IAGrim.UI.MainWindow]: WebView2 initialization successful

Injection loop (repeating pattern):

2026-08-09 12:16:03,860 [20] INFO [DllInjector.InjectionHelper]: Generating the path to the IA DLL...
2026-08-09 12:16:04,763 [20] INFO [EvilsoftCommons.DllInjector.InjectionVerifier]: Running Listdlls...
2026-08-09 12:16:07,991 [20] INFO [DllInjector.InjectionHelper]: Running DllInjector64.exe...
2026-08-09 12:16:08,360 [20] INFO [DllInjector.InjectionHelper]: Injection reported as successful.. (may or may not have loaded)
2026-08-09 12:16:08,360 [20] INFO [EvilsoftCommons.DllInjector.InjectionVerifier]: Running Listdlls...
2026-08-09 12:16:11,420 [20] ERROR[DllInjector.InjectionHelper]: Error injecting DLL into Grim Dawn.
2026-08-09 12:16:12,300 [20] INFO [EvilsoftCommons.DllInjector.InjectionVerifier]: Running Listdlls...
2026-08-09 12:16:15,357 [20] INFO [DllInjector.InjectionHelper]: Running DllInjector64.exe...
2026-08-09 12:16:15,584 [20] INFO [DllInjector.InjectionHelper]: Injection reported as successful.. (may or may not have loaded)
2026-08-09 12:16:15,584 [20] INFO [EvilsoftCommons.DllInjector.InjectionVerifier]: Running Listdlls...
2026-08-09 12:16:18,632 [20] ERROR[DllInjector.InjectionHelper]: Error injecting DLL into Grim Dawn.

This pattern repeats indefinitely (every ~7 seconds) without ever succeeding.

Hook Log (iagd_hook.log)

The last successful hook session was on 2026-07-23, before the Grim Dawn v1.3 update:

2026-07-23 20:56:04 INFO Successfully found DLL export: ?gGameEngine@GAME@@3PEAVGameEngine@1@EA
2026-07-23 20:56:04 INFO Shared stash is closed
...
2026-07-23 20:56:11 Detatching DLL..
2026-07-23 20:56:13 DLL detached..
****************************
   Hook Logging Terminated  
****************************

No new hook log entries have been written since.

What I've Tried

• Running IA as administrator
• Running IA without administrator
• Reinstalling IA
• Downgrading IA to earlier versions (same failure)
• Restarting Grim Dawn and IA in various orders
• No third-party antivirus installed (Windows Defender only)
• No special background services that would interfere

The issue is not related to permissions or antivirus — DllInjector64.exe reports success every time, but the DLL is never actually loaded into the Grim Dawn process. This suggests the hook DLL may be incompatible with changes in Grim Dawn v1.3.0.x's engine internals.

[bigbirdbrother]

[marius00]

Have you tried rebooting your PC?

I just tested with IA 1.5.9715.11589 and steam GD v1.3.0.6 (x64) and could not reproduce it.

[bigbirdbrother]

I obviously rebooted before filing this — the issue has persisted across multiple reboots since Aug 9.

I've collected the latest diagnostic files (tonight's logs confirm the problem is still present):

• Latest log.txt (2026-08-13 22:30) + previous sessions
• iagd_hook.log (last successful hook: Jul 23, silent since v1.3 update)
• settings.json
• Summary with key observations

One potentially relevant finding: the Aug 9 log shows the GD path was correctly detected (c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\grim dawn), but the latest log says The path to Grim Dawn is unknown (not great). Not sure if this is related to the injection failure, but worth noting.

Note: I can only access the user AppData directory via SMB, so I couldn't grab the IA install directory or the actual DllInjector64.exe binary.

[bigbirdbrother]

Diagnostic logs: https://gist.github.com/bigbirdbrother/d71fa8828a0159de99357cacd7b97798

Contains: log.txt, log.txt.1, log.txt.2, iagd_hook.log, settings.json, and a summary.

[bigbirdbrother]

Additional Diagnostic Results (2026-08-15)

Since filing this issue, I've done extensive deep-dive diagnostics. Here's what I found:

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 on GPD Win 4 (AMD APU handheld)
• Grim Dawn: v1.3.0.7 (via Steam)
• Hook DLL: ItemAssistantHook_x64.dll v1.5.9709.09674
• Tested both: Original IAGD 1.5.9715 and GDIA (Chinese fork) - identical failure

Key Finding: DllInjector64 reports FALSE positives

The native injector (injectAllTheThings/main.cpp) uses CreateRemoteThread(LoadLibraryW) and returns exit code 0 regardless of whether LoadLibraryW actually succeeded. It calls WaitForSingleObject on the remote thread but never reads the thread exit code (which IS the LoadLibraryW return value). So IAGD's "Injection reported as successful" message is unreliable.

What actually happens

1. CreateRemoteThread succeeds ✅
2. LoadLibraryW runs inside the GD process but the Hook DLL's DllMain either fails to execute or returns FALSE immediately ❌
3. Windows unloads the DLL → Listdlls can't find it → verification fails
4. iagd_hook.log has ZERO entries since July 23 (when GD was still v1.2). The first thing DllMain does is write "Attatching to process.." - this never appears, meaning DllMain never completes.

Ruled out causes

• ❌ Not antivirus: Disabled Windows Defender real-time protection, problem persists
• ❌ Not permissions: Logs confirm admin execution, OpenProcess succeeds
• ❌ Not DEP/mitigation policies: Checked all process mitigation policies - only standard DEP and SEHOP enabled, no dynamic code blocking, no CFG strict mode, no image load restrictions
• ❌ Not anti-cheat: No suspicious DLLs loaded in GD process, only GD's own DLLs + Steam
• ❌ Not architecture mismatch: Both injector and DLL are x64, GD is x64
• ❌ Not DLL dependencies: Hook DLL only depends on KERNEL32 + standard CRT (MSVCP140/VCRUNTIME140/api-ms-win-crt-*), all present in GD process
• ❌ Not GD version incompatibility: Verified all required exports exist in game.dll and engine.dll via objdump -p:
  • ?gGameEngine@GAME@@3PEAVGameEngine@1@EA ✅
  • ?IsGameLoading@GameEngine@GAME@@QEBA_NXZ ✅
  • ?IsGameEngineOnline@GameEngine@GAME@@QEBA_NXZ ✅
  • ?IsGameWaiting@GameEngine@GAME@@QEAA_N_N@Z ✅
  • ?Sort@InventorySack@GAME@@QEAA_NI@Z ✅
  • ?gEngine@GAME@@3PEAVEngine@1@EA ✅
  • ?GetHardcore@GameInfo@GAME@@QEBA_NXZ ✅
• ❌ Not DLL path issue: Copied Hook DLL to GD's own x64 directory, same failure
• ❌ Not GDIA fork modifications: GDIA only changed translations and WebUI assets, injection/hook code is identical to upstream

Additional tests performed

1. Custom MinGW test DLLs:
   • With CRT dependencies → GD crashes on injection
   • Without CRT (only KERNEL32) → LoadLibraryW returns NULL (HMODULE=0), GD survives
2. Shellcode injection: Wrote x64 position-independent shellcode that calls LoadLibraryW + GetLastError from inside GD process. Results pending (GD crashed before we could read the shared memory buffer).
3. Crash dump analysis: GD crash report shows version v1.3.0.7, crash occurs in the injected DLL thread.

Hypothesis

This is likely specific to the GPD Win 4 AMD APU platform. The author (marius00) confirmed he cannot reproduce this on his setup with the same GD v1.3 + IAGD version. Possible causes:

• AMD-specific Windows behavior with CreateRemoteThread + LoadLibraryW in game processes
• AMD CPU microcode or platform-specific memory protection not visible via standard mitigation APIs
• Windows handheld-specific security policies (e.g., AMD Crash Defender service is running on this device)

Log samples available

Previous diagnostic logs were uploaded via Gist in earlier comments. All show the same pattern:

Running DllInjector64.exe...
Injection reported as successful.. (may or may not have loaded)
Running Listdlls...
ERROR Error injecting DLL into Grim Dawn.

This repeats every ~3 seconds indefinitely.

[DoNotResuscitate]

I'm having the same DLL injection error with IA running under proton on linux. I am also using an AMD CPU and GPU.