Silver Efex Pro 2 demo merely crashes on LR 3.4.1

Question

I wanted to try this interesting package, and d/l'ed from Nik Software. Installation is straight forward, and when opening LR I have the option to use Silver Efex as a filter, but all I keep getting is an "...error occurred and needs to close." I'm wondering if there's a connection to a similar error I had originally with LR crashing certain effects due to the older AMD processor I'm running (the patches provided took care of that); wondering if there's supposed to be a patch on Sliver Efex to fix it????

Answer 1

So here's what Nik said in response. I will see if there's an update video driver and go from there. If it doesn't fix, I won't have a chance to try their other suggestions for a day or two...
Thank you for contacting Nik Software.
Silver Efex Pro 2 additionally takes  advantage of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) of the computer system.  The GPU  is also sometimes referred to as the Display Adapter or Video Card, in any case  they are all the same.  Sometimes certain video cards will not handle this  additional processing.  You will note this when opening an image into Silver  Efex Pro 2 and one or more of the following happens: 1. Silver Efex Pro will  crash right away, or  2. If it opens the imported image will sometimes not be  displayed correctly (solid gray, black or white image), or 3. the buttons will  not display correctly, or 4. the responsiveness is simply very slow. 
In order to resolve this, the first  measure would be to update the Display Adapters or GPU driver. 
Mac Users:  Generally the video card  that comes with your Mac will be updated automatically.  The exception may be  when there has been an additional video card added.  In that case the user may  need to go to the video card manufacturer's website to download an updated  driver for their secondary GPU.  If you are using Mac OS Snow Leopard (10.6)  ensure to update to 10.6.6 or higher as this can affect performance. If this  does not apply to you, please go to the next section  below.
Windows Users:  Locate the manufacturer of  the GPU as well as the model number.  Once this is determined, it is then  recommended to go directly to the GPU manufacturer's website (best option) or if  that is not possible to go to the computer manufacturer's website (secondary  option) to obtain an updated video card driver.  It is NOT recommended to use  Windows Update as in general we have found that these drivers are not updated as  frequently.  To identify which video card you have please do the  following:
Click on Start >Control Panel >System & Security  >System >Device Manager and then click on the plus next to Display  Adapter, this should display the make and model information.
Windows XP  users: Click on Start >Control Panel >Performance & Maintenance  >System then click on the "Hardware" tab followed by the "Device Manager"  button.  Locate "Display Adapter" in the list and click on the plus next to it,  this should display the make and model number of the GPU.
Go to the manufacturer's website (you may need to search for it  via Google) such as Nvidea.com and with the model number you should be able to  search for the latest driver. If you are unable to locate the driver you may  need to contact the manufacturer of your computer to obtain an updated  driver.
Once the latest GPU driver is located, download and install the  new driver.
Restart the computer and try Silver Efex Pro 2 once  again.
If after following the above steps, you  are still experiencing the same issue, the next step will be to either disable  the GPU (if possible) or force Silver Efex Pro 2 to not use the GPU  (safe-mode).  In order to disable the GPU in Silver Efex PRO 2 please do the  following:
If you are able to open Silver Efex Pro 2 and can see part of  the interface, see if you can click on the "Settings" button in the lower left. 
In Settings locate the section "GPU" and expand it, in this  section you will see a check box "Enable GPU Processing", uncheck this so the  GPU will be disabled, then close the settings window.
Close out of Silver Efex Pro 2 (click Cancel), quit out of any  and all host applications (Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture), and then relaunch  Silver Efex Pro 2 to see if this corrects this issue.
If you are unable to disable  the GPU via settings (e.g. Silver Efex Pro 2 crashes or the buttons are not  displaying correctly), please try the following steps below after quitting out  of all host applications (Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture):
Mac Users:
Open a finder window (or double click on the Macintosh HD on  the desktop) and navigate to:
Macintosh HD :  Users : <user name> :  Library : Preferences : Nik Software : Silver Efex Pro 2
Locate the file, SilverEfexPro2.cfg and right-click and choose  "open with..." and then click "Choose" and then locate the applications,  "TextEdit" to open this file.
At the very beginning (before all the text) of the  configuration file, paste the following code below verbatim:
<configuration>
<group  name="INTERN">
<key name="UseSafeMode" type="bool"  value="1"/>
</group>
</configuration>
Now save the file, close it and relaunch Silver Efex Pro 2 and  see if the issue has been resolved.
Windows Users:
Click Start and type in the search box below: %localappdata%  (exactly as shown with % symbols on each end), when the yellow folder "Local" is  displayed in the search list, click on it.
Windows XP: Click Start >Run  and type, "%USERPROFILE%/Local Settings" without the quotes and press  enter.
The local folder will open, now double-click on "Nik Software"  followed by "Silver Efex Pro 2" and locate the file SilverEfexPro2.cfg and then  double click to open.  Windows will ask you which application to use to open  this file, locate and choose "Notepad" to open.
At the very beginning (before all the text) of the  configuration file, paste the following code below verbatim:
<configuration>
<group  name="INTERN">
<key name="UseSafeMode" type="bool"  value="1"/>
</group>
</configuration>
Now save the file, close it and relaunch Silver Efex Pro 2 and  see if the issue has been resolved.
If you have any further  questions, please reply to this email or call our Customer Service Department  toll free at 1-888-284-4085 ([phone] outside of the US).  Our office  hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm PST.
Best  Regards,
Matthew
Matthew Hall
Nik Software,  Inc.  |   Photography first®
7588 Metropolitan Drive  |   San Diego, CA  92108
Tel - 619.725.3150   |   Fax - 619.725.3151 
[email protected]  |  www.niksoftware.com