Problems running VASP: crashes, internal errors, "wrong" results.
Moderators: Global Moderator, Moderator
-
phillip_rotzell
- Newbie

- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2025 6:34 pm
#1
Post
by phillip_rotzell » Wed Sep 03, 2025 3:30 pm
Hello,
I've been trying to optimize TiO2 anatase 010 for some time now, but I repeatedly receive this error. I've previously tried setting ISIF=3 but it yielded a structure that shrunk the vacuum too much. Attached is the INCAR and POSCAR I've been using. Any help is appreciated.
Screenshot 2025-09-03 112508.png
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
-
manuel_engel1
- Global Moderator

- Posts: 269
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2023 4:08 pm
#2
Post
by manuel_engel1 » Wed Sep 03, 2025 8:09 pm
Hello,
Welcome to the VASP forum and thanks for reaching out. Could you please upload all the relevant input and output files according to our forum posting guidelines. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to say what the issue in this calculation is.
Manuel Engel
VASP developer
-
manuel_engel1
- Global Moderator

- Posts: 269
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2023 4:08 pm
#4
Post
by manuel_engel1 » Mon Sep 08, 2025 5:56 am
No worries. Unfortunately, it seems that you have not uploaded any files. Could you please try again?
Manuel Engel
VASP developer
-
phillip_rotzell
- Newbie

- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2025 6:34 pm
#5
Post
by phillip_rotzell » Fri Sep 12, 2025 7:21 pm
Apologies, does this work?
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
-
manuel_engel1
- Global Moderator

- Posts: 269
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2023 4:08 pm
#6
Post
by manuel_engel1 » Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:02 am
Thanks. There are a few things potentially wrong with your calculation. I believe that the error you see is just a symptom that is somehow related to these things. Could you please try to address these issues and then see if you still run into the same problem?
Your NCORE value does not make sense. VASP writes a warning that it will reset it to 52, which is all the available CPU cores on this node/job. This is usually not very inefficient. I suggest that you change it to 4 or even 1 to see if it resolves the issue.
Do not set NPAR and NCORE at the same time.
For spin-polarized calculations, you should set MAGMOM manually in the INCAR file.
You specify IALGO twice with different values. In your case, VASP chooses pure RMM-DIIS (IALGO=48). This might be the main reason you see your instability. It's usually best to use blocked Davidson first and then switch to RMM-DIIS later. I suggest to switch to ALGO=Normal or ALGO=Fast instead.
Let me know if that helps.
Manuel Engel
VASP developer