Random Black Screen while playing SWTOR, Watching YouTube Etc

Longstone · 04 Sep 2013

For several months now I've been trying to pin down a 116 black screen of death. I'll be playing SWTOR, watching movies etc and my screen will turn black and the system will be unresponsive and I'll have to reset it.

I've updated my drivers as best I can using SlimDrivers, ran chkdsk and even cranked up the fans in my system and on my gfx card hoping (not expecting because I dont' think it's heat related) to get more stability. I've used Bluescreen View to try and pin down the problem. Some times if I'm lucky it will recover and I'll get a message saying the display driver has recovered.

I read about an instability in the latest driver so I backed down to 314.11 hoping that would help. And while it has reduced the frequency It still happens 2 to 3 times a day. Any help would be appreciated (oops just got a display driver recovery while I was typing this).

Let me know if I didn't provide the appropriate information and I'll work on getting the rest of what you need.

Thanks in advance for the help.

YoYo155 · 04 Sep 2013

Welcome :) .

What you're experiencing is called a TDR (Timeout Detection & Recovery) and its not a real crash
in the sense that something wrong occurred in the Kernel.

TVeblen said:

"Display driver xxxxx stopped responding and was recovered"

Timeout Detection & Recovery (TDR) = "Display Driver Stopped Responding and was Recovered" is a useful feature that started in Vista and is also in W7 that allows the OS to try and recover from a video timeout so that the system does not crash to a bluescreen. Symptoms included a screen flash with the TDR message appearing one or more times or the screen blinking out to black. If the system cannot recover it will crash (Stop Error 116 typical). The issue is that the video card is not responding as expected.
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There are numerous reports of hardware solutions to TDR's. The most common are:

Poor Cooling
Problems with the power supply
Overclocking Issues
Bad System memory or incorrect memory timings
Defective PC Components

More details HERE, please read.

Using automated driver installers is a bad idea as they tend to install broken drivers
and generally not recommended at all.

Properly installing the drivers:

Arc said:

Install the 314.22 WHQL only.

Uninstall All nvidia items in Control Panel > Programs and features
- 3D Vision Control Driver
- 3D Vision Driver
- Graphics Driver
- HD Audio Driver
- PhysX
- nvidia Update
(Are you using nvidia chipset drivers? If so, dont uninstall anything other than those are listed).
Now follow Drivers - Clean Left over Files after Uninstalling
Boot normally now. Go to Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers, Download 314.22 WHQL. While installing, Select Custom (Advanced) install. In the next page, follow this settings:

Testing the RAM:

koolkat77 said:

Test and Diagnose RAM Issues with Memtest86+:

RAM - Test with Memtest86+

Tip

Pay close attention to part 3 of the tutorial "If you have errors"
Test the RAM with Memtest86+ for at least 7-10 passes. It may take up to 22 passes to find problems. Make sure to run it once after the system has been on for a few hours and is warm, and then also run it again when the system has been off for a few hours and is cold.

When done with the testing procedure take a picture and upload it here.

Let us know!

Longstone · 04 Sep 2013

Thanks for the quick response. I learned about the TDR a few months back while troubleshooting the issue prior to just reinstalling (obviously didn't work).

I've followed the clean driver install steps prior but I'll do it again and only install the driver this time (I reinstalled everything).

I'll also kick the memory test off this evening and let it run over night.

Longstone · 05 Sep 2013

Followed the instructions for uninstalling and re-installing just the display driver. Ran the memtest over night which completed almost 6 passes. I've kicked off another memtest that will run all day.

YoYo155 · 05 Sep 2013

Thanks for the update :) , let us know how things fare.

Longstone · 05 Sep 2013

Well I feel pretty confident it's not the memory. I'll be happy to run more tests if you all feel you need more data.

YoYo155 · 05 Sep 2013

I agree, even though sometimes Memtest may take up to 23 passes to produce an error.
Have you tried gaming or stress testing the GPU using the new driver?

Longstone · 06 Sep 2013

Well, it's not really a new driver, I've been using it for a while. Haven't done a GPU test recently. I did have to RMA my current card because two of the fans stopped working. Got it back, plugged it in and confirmed (visually) everything was working. Haven't done a stress test on the new one.

I looked up my Power supply and realized it's 4 years old. I may try to replace it blindly in hopes it fixes the issue.

YoYo155 · 06 Sep 2013

Thank for the update, you have good reasoning.
Keep us posted :) .

Longstone · 06 Sep 2013

I uploaded my specs with the crash reports so maybe you can tell me. I'm going to go with a 600 watt PS. Hopefully that will do, if not I'll have to go spend some money on a 700+