bugfix(system): Prevent AMD/ATI driver crash on game launch by front loading the system dbghelp.dll (#1066)

Author: xezon

CMakeLists.txt

@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ if((WIN32 OR "${CMAKE_SYSTEM}" MATCHES "Windows") AND ${CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P} EQU
     include(cmake/miles.cmake)
     include(cmake/bink.cmake)
     include(cmake/dx8.cmake)
-    include(cmake/dbghelp.cmake)
 endif()
 
 # Define a dummy stlport target when not on VC6.

Core/Libraries/Source/WWVegas/WWLib/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ set(WWLIB_SRC
     #crcstraw.h
     cstraw.cpp
     cstraw.h
+    DbgHelpGuard.cpp
+    DbgHelpGuard.h
+    DbgHelpLoader.cpp
+    DbgHelpLoader.h
     Except.cpp
     Except.h
     FastAllocator.cpp
@@ -113,6 +117,7 @@ set(WWLIB_SRC
     strtok_r.cpp
     strtok_r.h
     #swap.h
+    SystemAllocator.h
     systimer.cpp
     systimer.h
     TARGA.cpp

Core/Libraries/Source/WWVegas/WWLib/DbgHelpGuard.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*
+**	Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour(tm)
+**	Copyright 2025 TheSuperHackers
+**
+**	This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+**	it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+**	the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+**	(at your option) any later version.
+**
+**	This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+**	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+**	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+**	GNU General Public License for more details.
+**
+**	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+**	along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#include "DbgHelpGuard.h"
+
+#include "DbgHelpLoader.h"
+
+
+DbgHelpGuard::DbgHelpGuard()
+	: m_hasLoaded(false)
+{
+	activate();
+}
+
+DbgHelpGuard::~DbgHelpGuard()
+{
+	deactivate();
+}
+
+void DbgHelpGuard::activate()
+{
+	if (DbgHelpLoader::isLoadedFromSystem())
+	{
+		// This is ok. Do nothing.
+	}
+	else if (DbgHelpLoader::isLoaded())
+	{
+		// This is maybe not ok. But do nothing until this becomes a user facing problem.
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		// Front load the DLL now to prevent other code from loading the potentially wrong DLL.
+		m_hasLoaded = DbgHelpLoader::load();
+	}
+}
+
+void DbgHelpGuard::deactivate()
+{
+	if (m_hasLoaded)
+	{
+		DbgHelpLoader::unload();
+		m_hasLoaded = false;
+	}
+}

Core/Libraries/Source/WWVegas/WWLib/DbgHelpGuard.h

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+**	Command & Conquer Generals Zero Hour(tm)
+**	Copyright 2025 TheSuperHackers
+**
+**	This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+**	it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+**	the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+**	(at your option) any later version.
+**
+**	This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+**	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+**	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+**	GNU General Public License for more details.
+**
+**	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+**	along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "always.h"
+
+
+// This class temporarily loads and unloads dbghelp.dll from the desired location to prevent
+// other code from potentially loading it from an undesired location.
+// This helps avoid crashing on boot using recent AMD/ATI drivers, which attempt to load and use
+// dbghelp.dll from the game install directory but are unable to do so without crashing because
+// the dbghelp.dll that ships with the game is very old and the AMD/ATI code does not handle
+// that correctly.
+
+class DbgHelpGuard
+{
+public:
+
+	DbgHelpGuard();
+	~DbgHelpGuard();
+
+	void activate();
+	void deactivate();
+
+private:
+
+	bool m_hasLoaded;
+};