GPU acceleration troubleshooting

Problems with GPU acceleration:

• Why does Passware Kit not use a GPU when recovering a password for my file?
• What models of GPU cards do Passware Kit support for hardware acceleration?
• How do I know that Passware Kit is using my GPU card for the acceleration of the password recovery process?
• Why is the password recovery speed on my GPU card much lower than advertised?
• Not all of my GPUs are used by Passware Kit. What should I do?
• Why has Passware Kit unexpectedly stopped using my GPU card for password recovery?
• Why do the GPU cards on Passware Kit Agents display the “Partial Load” status?
• Why do I see “Calibrating GPU, loading data” status on the Resources tab?
• Why do I see the "Idle. Hardware disabled" message on the Resources tab?
• I get the “Failed to prepare OpenCL” error on the Log tab. What should I do?
• Why is the GPU card overheating?
• I get the “CL_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY” error on the Log tab. What should I do?

Should you have additional questions, please contact Customer Support for assistance.

Q: Why does Passware Kit not use a GPU when recovering a password for my file?

A: Make sure that hardware acceleration is possible for the selected file type:

• On the Start Page, click Recover File Password and locate the file in question. The flag "Hardware acceleration possible" should be listed as shown below:
  
• The full list of supported file types, along with GPU acceleration flags (check out the “GPU Support” column), is available on Passware website:
  

Hardware acceleration is not possible for file types not marked as  "Yes" in the "GPU Support" column. Passware Kit uses the CPU only while processing such files.

Q: What models of GPU cards do Passware Kit support for hardware acceleration?

A: Passware Kit supports all models of NVIDIA and AMD (ATI) cards with OpenCL 2.0 technology. 

Passware tip: We recommend adding the GPU driver timeout patch for your system to avoid GPU issues.  

Q: How do I know that Passware Kit is using my GPU card for the acceleration of the password recovery process?

A: Check out two tabs:

Log

When Passware Kit is using a GPU card, it displays the message "Using OpenCL device [0] [Name] for password recovery acceleration," as shown below:

Resources

Find information about the GPU temperature, load, and current/average speeds. 

Q: Why is the password recovery speed on my GPU card much lower than advertised?

A: To measure hardware performance on typical password recovery tasks, such as MS Office, APFS, iTunes backup, RAR, and BitLocker, use the Hardware Benchmark option. If the speed on your computer is much lower than the one listed on our website, try updating the driver for your GPU. You can download the latest driver from the NVIDIA or AMD website.

Passware tip: Password recovery speed depends on the encryption type and password recovery settings. The speed of the password recovery process for MS Office 2010 and MS Office 2013-2019 files with the same settings and hardware will vary.

Q: Not all of my GPUs are used by Passware Kit. What should I do? 

1. Make sure that Passware Kit lists all the GPU cards at Tools | Options | Hardware. Enable all the ones that need to be used by Passware Kit.
2. Customize the options in Hardware Acceleration and Distributed Password Recovery sections:
   
3. Install the patch for GPU devices for your system and reboot the PC.

If GPU cards are not listed at Tools | Options | Hardware, follow the steps below:

1. Install and launch GPU Caps Viewer utility to make sure the system sees all the GPU cards.
2. On the OpenCL tab check the "Number of CL devices" and record, as shown below:
   

• • If the number of GPU cards in GPU Caps Viewer is correct, but Passware Kit still does not list all the GPU cards at Tools | Options| Hardware, contact our Customer Support for assistance. 

Passware tip: Passware Kit supports devices with OpenCL 1.2 or higher. 

• • If the number of GPU cards in the GPU Caps Viewer is incorrect, update the GPU drivers to the latest version and perform a clean install. 

Passware tip: Disable the SLI mode (NVIDIA) and CrossFire™ (AMD) in the GPU card settings.

• • Make sure the GPU cards are not in the same PCI slot. if they are, then in Tools | Options | Troubleshooting click "Add setting" and in the empty fields write as follows:
    

    PASSWARE_ALLOW_SAME_PCI_DEVICES
    1
    Agree to restart Passware Kit.

Passware tip: For stable performance, if there are more than 4 GPU cards installed on a machine, we recommend running 64-bit Windows OS with more than 8GB of RAM.

Q: Why has Passware Kit unexpectedly stopped using my GPU card for password recovery?

A: If Passware Kit has unexpectedly stopped using the GPU during the password recovery process, check the Log tab for "Stopped using GPU" and "Hardware acceleration error" messages. The problem is likely connected with overheating of the GPU card. Passware Kit automatically disables the acceleration on the card to prevent the GPU from malfunctioning. 

The default temperature is set to 85C. Change the default settings in Tools | Options | Hardware window according to the recommended GPU card maximum temperature.

Passware tip: A corresponding cooling system is the only solution to prevent GPU cards from overheating.

The problem with the unexpected failure of GPU acceleration may also be connected to the power supply units. Make sure the power supply unit and its components meet general recommendations. 

Passware tip: Check whether system instability is related to the power supply with the Power Supply Calculator:

https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

Q: Why do the GPU cards on Passware Kit Agents display the “Partial Load” status?

A: Passware Kit server (Forensic or Business edition) sends batches of passwords to process to Passware Kit Agents and GPU cards. The default size of the batches differs from the encryption type. The "Partial load" status means that the GPU received a smaller batch of passwords than expected. This usually occurs for strong encryption, such as VeraCrypt, and depends on the password recovery settings, password length, recovery state, and so on. This is not an error.

If all the GPUs are working in partial load status for several hours without changes, please contact our Customer Support with the details of the recovery process, logs, and screenshots for assistance.

Q: Why do I see “Calibrating GPU, loading data” status on the Resources tab? 

A: The “Calibrating GPU, loading data” message indicates that a batch of passwords to check is prepared for transfer to the GPU. Depending on the encryption strength and Passware Kit Agent bandwidth, the process might take some time. 

Wait for at least an hour, and if the status does not change, please contact our Customer Support for assistance.

Q: Why do I see the "Idle. Hardware disabled" message on the Resources tab?

A: The message "Idle. Hardware disabled" means that Passware Kit does not use the GPU in the recovery process. To verify the reason, check the following:

• Passware Kit Agents and Passware Kit server (Forensic or Business edition) are of the same version.
• The version is displayed at Help | About for the Passware Kit server and on the Log tab for Passware Kit Agents.

Passware tip: If Passware Kit Agent version is newer than Passware Kit server one, the message "This version of Passware Kit Agent is newer than Passware Kit Server. Please update Passware Kit Server first" should appear on the Passware Kit server Log tab.

• Make sure the option "Disable GPU when the user is active" is unchecked at Tools | Options | Hardware in the Passware Kit server (Forensic or Business edition).
• Verify whether GPU acceleration is supported for the file in question (GPU Support column):

https://www.passware.com/kit-forensic/filetypes 

Q: I get the “Failed to prepare OpenCL” error on the Log tab.  What should I do?

A: Check out the recommendations below.

1. Install the patch for GPU devices and reboot the PC. 
2. Install the latest NVIDIA or AMD drivers for the GPU cards. Perform a clean install of the drivers if needed.
3. Return GPU frequencies to stock settings (Overclocked GPUs might be the issue).

If none of the above steps helps, please contact Customer Support for assistance.

Q: Why is the GPU card overheating? 

A: Make sure that:

1. The GPU cooling system is properly configured.
2. The GPU cards are on the appropriate distance from one another.
3. There are no visible defects.
4. The standard temperature value of 85C at Tools | Options | Hardware corresponds to the GPU card specifications. Change it if the maximum recommended temperature for your card is higher.

If the GPU cards keep failing due to overheating, try changing Passware Kit’s GPU usage.

Recommended method:

• In Passware Kit, click: Tools | Options | Hardware.
• Reduce GPU Utilization level on the scale.
• Restart Passware Kit to make sure the changes were applied.
• Tune in if necessary to achieve the right performance balance.

If that did not work as expected:

1. Close Passware Kit.
2. Remove the following file: %APPDATA%\Passware\Passware Kit\Current\gpu-calibration-data.json
3. Add environment variable (available since PK 2022 v2):
   
   • In Passware Kit, click: Tools | Options | Troubleshooting
   • Click the “Add setting” button
   • In the first Name field write: PASSWARE_GPU_MEMORY_USAGE_LIMIT
   • In the second Value field write: 400000

4. Click “Save,” and agree to restart Passware Kit.

Passware tip: The suggested value is based on the results of the tests that included NVIDIA 2080Ti GPUs. Try different values from 400000 for the perfect balance of password recovery speed and GPU card load. Reboot the machine.

5. Launch Passware Kit and start the password recovery process. Follow the recovery speed and GPU temperature on the Resources and Log

Q: I get the “CL_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY” error on the Log tab. What should I do?

1. Install the latest driver or the driver that includes the CL_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY bug fix.

Passware tip: For some older AMD cards, e.g. Radeon RX 470, the stable driver is 2021.2.2 from February 2021.

2. Make sure there is enough RAM on your computer. During the password recovery process, we recommend closing other applications that use RAM heavily.

Passware tip: If the memory size is less than 8GB, we recommend increasing the virtual memory size. It should be equal to or more than the machine’s RAM size. For further instructions, refer to the article:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-virtual-memory-size-windows-10.