Display driver crashing from YouTube videos

Hello, I have attached screenshots that I think are related to the problem.

When I watch YouTube videos, sometimes my screen goes black for a second or so, then comes back on with that popup about the display driver. The YouTube video I was watching is now just green and frozen. I have to refresh the page to get it to load properly (and it usually plays fine after that; the crash seems pretty random).

I am also unable to get my computer's rating, and the error seems to suggest that the issues may be related, so I included a screenshot of that as well.

I have been very impressed with this site so far (I had a BSOD issue for a while, but that seems to have been fixed!). Let me know what other info you need!

Thanks

Have you tried to update the driver from nivida's web site?

Oh, an update for my card came out 12 days ago! I had been pretty conscientious at checking for updates, but I missed that one :S

It's installed now, but I am still unable to get the Windows Experience Index. I'll follow up if I get any more crashes. Any other suggestions?

That's a fairly powerful gaming card, so I assume it runs games well? Does it have problems running DVD movies?

Have you run a sfc scan? If not in the search box type cmd , right click the result...select run as admin....a black box appears type( sfc /scannow ) let it do it's thing

That error message tells you you are experiencing TDR's. Your video card is not responding correctly. The fact that WEI will not run it's routine strongly indicates a defective video card. But it could be other things. TDR's are difficult to diagnose because there are many causes, not just defective cards.

Before you go and replace parts willy nilly and possibly waste money doing so I suggest running some common diagnostics to see if you can determine the actual cause. Please read my diagnostic checklist below.

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"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. The solution is in the: why?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to TDR errors. But the problem is usually found in the local environment (your computer). Finding the cause is a matter of checking every possible cause and uncovering the culprit through a simple process of elimination. By methodically running down a checklist of diagnostic procedures you should be able to find the cause and can correct it.

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

The order you do the diagnostics is not all that important. My personal strategy is to do the cheap & easy stuff first, the cheap & harder stuff next, and then the stuff that costs last. But whatever order you do it in you need to check or confirm the following:

SOFTWARE
Poorly written software and games will cause TDRs. But if this were the case it would affect lots of people, not just a few. Check the game's website & forums for patches and tips.
See if other people in the forums are having the same problem and if they were able to solve it and how.
You could also be asking too much of your video card. Check to see if your video card is tested and recommended for the game/program. Test the game at reduced settings.

WHAT ACTIONS CAUSE THE PROBLEM
It helps if you can isolate the actions that trigger the TDR. Most often it will be an application using 3D graphics. But if the incidents occur constantly it would point more towards defective hardware. If it happens more specifically (just when running Game X) it points towards overheating, settings, software, or driver issues.

GENERAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
You need to eliminate the possibility that your computer has a global problem. You can use a program like Prime95 to stress test your system. Free Software - GIMPS
You can run the "Stress Test" for a few hours or overnight. This will not tell you what the problem is, but it is helpful to uncover any issues your system has with instability and cooling.

OVERHEATING
Running a video intensive game for hours can generate some serious heat and overheating will cause video errors. You can check your temps by looking at your BIOS readings or use a free program like Speedfan SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer .
A real easy test is to just pull the side panel(s) off your case (You can also blow a house fan directly into the open case) and see if the problem goes away or gets better. If it does then the issue is definitely overheating. If you are overheating you need to look at installing some cooling upgrades. You want to look at ventilating the case (more or bigger fans), Upgrade your case to a larger gaming case (lots of fans, water-cooling), etc.
There are free utilities like BurninTest PassMark BurnInTest software - PC Reliability and Load Testing that you can use to test your system's cooling capability. Caution is recommended using these types of programs.

VIDEO DRIVERS
Bad drivers happen and they can get corrupted. Before installing or reinstalling any video drivers first completely uninstall all video software and the drivers. (Some people say to run a cleaner program from safe mode, some say this is unnecessary). Never rely on the driver package to overwrite the old drivers. Also: Delete the video driver folder (ex: C:\NVIDIA) in Windows Explorer (or windows may install the same drivers again!).
After uninstalling the old drivers and rebooting Windows 7 will install it's own WDDM 1.1 driver. Check for the video problem while using this generic Windows driver.
You can then install the latest drivers for your card (or try older drivers).
See This Tutorial: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43216-installing-updating-drivers-7-a.html#post414637

DEVICE MANAGER
Look in Device Manager and make sure there are no problem devices (yellow ! icon). Correct these by loading the correct drivers or disable the problem device and see if the video problem goes away.

POOR CONNECTIONS
Reseat video card and memory modules. Make sure the contacts are clean. Check all the electrical connections.

CHECK YOUR MOTHERBOARD VOLTAGES
In BIOS, check the listed voltages against the manufacturer recommended specs. Reset the voltages to factory defaults and see if the video problems disappear.

MEMORY
Memory errors can cause video problems. Run a program like Memtest86+ for at least 3 passes to see if there are any memory errors. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool .
You can also test for a bad memory module by installing one stick in Slot 1 and testing, and then switch it out for the next stick, etc.
When populating all of the RAM slots on a motherboard it is sometimes necessary to go into the BIOS and increase the voltage to the RAM slightly to obtain a stable system.

OVERCLOCKING
Overclocking can be a trial and error process. The clocks and/or multipliers you set or change for CPU, Memory, or GPU could be unstable. Eliminate this as a possibility by resetting these to their BIOS defaults to see if that clears the video problems. The simplest way to do this is to "Restore Bios Defaults", or “Clear CMOS”.

UNDERCLOCKING
Some people have reported that by going into the video cards control panel and "down-clocking" the cards performance settings they were able to clear up the TDRs. Since W7 does not seem to tolerate any hiccups in the GPU, this would allow you to run a poor performing card in the W7 environment.
So for instance, you could set the GPU clock from a 777 MHz factory setting to 750MHz, and the ram clock from a 1126MHz factory setting to 1050Mhz, or similar small change for your particular card.

BIOS
Check you motherboard manufacturer’s website for an updated BIOS. An updated BIOS may correct an unstable condition, particularly if it says the newer BIOS corrects memory errors or has bug fixes. You could also try loading the BIOS defaults.
Caution is recommended when updating (flashing) a BIOS. The safest way to do so is from the update utility within the BIOS. Follow instructions carefully.
While you are there, check the motherboard manufacturers forums to see if others are having issues with the same board.

WINDOWS POWER MANAGEMENT
Eliminate Power Management settings as a possible cause, especially if you are working with a laptop. These settings could be particularly important if the issue is in playing games.
Go to Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Power Options. Under "Select a Power Plan" you will find that "Balanced" is the default setting.
At the bottom you will see a Down arrow next to "Show Additional Plans". Click that and select "High Performance". See if the TDR issue is affected.
Alternately, you can click "Change Plan Settings" next to the "Balanced" plan and change the setting to "Never" put the computer to sleep (This is the default on a desktop) and/or change when the display is turned off as a test.

POWER SUPPLY
You need to know that your power supply is delivering sufficient power. Power supply problems are the most common cause of video problems, especially using high end cards.
Check the power supply's amperage ratings. Be sure it has the ample amperage for your video card and the rest of the system.
You can test the supply with multimeter to measure for a steady 12v to the card's power connectors. (The only true way to test a power supply would be to use the very expensive diagnostic equipment used in labs). But for us regular folks: I tested my power supply by hooking up my multimeter to the PCI-E connectors that I was using to power my video card (I used a spare pair from the power supply to run the card while I was testing). I then observed the meter while I used the computer, first watching the voltage, then the amps, to see if there was any drop-off or erratic behavior while booting or using the computer. My readings were rock solid. So I declared my power supply good.
Otherwise you need to replace the supply to eliminate this possibility. Or borrow one from another computer.

VIDEO CARD
I suspect that a video card must perform flawlessly to operate in a Windows 7 environment and run the most recent games. If you tried all the above diagnostics and no problems were found then that leaves you with only one possibility: a defective video card. Some brands and models have the problem more consistently than others. You could check their forums for clues.
You could try your card in another computer running W7 to see if the problem goes along with the card.
You could try a different card in your computer. I bought an inexpensive card to use. My TDR's disappeared using a "lesser" card. Or borrow a card from another computer.
Otherwise RMA or replace the card.

**********
TDR complaints have come from PC owners running virtually every PC configuration. They occur regardless of which video engine, manufacturer, driver, or system used. They are too numerous to write off as a random problem, but at the same time if people are getting their systems to run correctly using the same hardware and software that you are then it follows that your problem must be solvable.

More Info Here:
Timeout Detection and Recovery of GPUs through WDDM
NVIDIA Statement on TDR Errors - NVIDIA Forums
How to troubleshoot

Ivan:

Hello Yes, my computer seems to run games fine. I haven't played any particularly demanding games for a while, though (Diablo 2 is a bit old). Should I try, say, Mirror's Edge for a bit and see if it crashes? I don't really watch DVD movies so I don't know how it would react to those.

Tried the scan and it didn't find any errors.

TVeblen:

Thanks for the reply. A few of your suggestions can be skipped I think because it's been happening with YouTube and not a game. I have tried Memtest86+ when I had another issue recently (no errors). Voltages were at factory settings, and have been changed recently due to another member's suggestion (the crashes happened with both voltages). Device Manager looks free of errors. I'm not under/overclocking. I will however try the stress test and look for an update to my BIOS. Then I guess I'll crack open the case and check the connections, though I'm always a little intimidated when looking inside PCs. I'll report back on the results!

Try a dvd and a more stressful game...it might be overheating(check for dust, stopped or slow fan) or maybe the card is just going bad....

Make sure psu is plugged right in both ends
Whip case side off and check power to Vid card is pushed in tight.

Push vid card down into Pci-e socket - same with all other cards and memory sticks.
Check/make sure connections of all leads to motherboard/cards/hard drives etc are pushed on all the way (both ends).

I fixed that WEi (not working) problem recently on a PC - it was a corrupted system file found/replaced by Start > 'Accessories' > "Command Prompt" (right click on it - run as admin if needed) sfc /scannow

Try repairing/reinstalling vid card driver in control panel > 'progs 'n features'
Reinstall latest Flash driver 10.2.15 off adobe site!

Check 'dxdiag' for any problems.

I am actually having the EXACT same problem as you, the same error and everything. I have an EVGA GTX 470 and have been having this issue for several months now. As of late it is becoming a much more common occurrence with the crashes.

I have updated my drivers, my BIOS, I have replaced my power supply (due to it dying) and it was occurring before and after I replaced the PSU, I've done extensive testing on my memory with different timings and voltages, nothing in my system is over/under clocked, and all connections are secure within my computer case. My graphics drivers seem to crash most often when I am doing something that barely puts any load on my graphics card, such as watching youtube videos, playing low quality video games, and things as simple as some minor photo editting. However when playing high quality (and high stress) games such as portal 2, crysis 2, starcraft 2, and various others, my graphics perform flawlessly with no crashes.

I can provide more specific information about anything needed, would really like to resolve this issue.

Oh wow, your situation does sound very similar to mine I have, as well, tried demanding games with no problems. Is it not letting you get the WEI either?

I set the stress test to work overnight, but my computer decided to go to sleep within a half hour so started it again today. 3 hours and no issues yet. Guess I'll have to take the computer apart.

I can view my WEI. Never had any problems there.

Hi, I too have been having my internet videos ( Youtube, Megavideo, ect) become solid green after a video hardware failure. I have had this problem ever since I bought my computer around September last year. It occurs about every other day, varying from one to possibly ten times a day. I have an ati amd mobility radeon 5470 GPU and an amd M880G with ati mobility radeon hd 4250, though normally I use the 5470. It is definetly an annoying problem that I would really want to fix.

If your issue is only the green screen in youtube videos, and you are not getting a TDR error balloon warning, then your solution may be here:

Flickering green screen while trying to watch videos - YouTube Help

MajesticStax said:

I am actually having the EXACT same problem as you, the same error and everything. I have an EVGA GTX 470 and have been having this issue for several months now. As of late it is becoming a much more common occurrence with the crashes.

I have updated my drivers, my BIOS, I have replaced my power supply (due to it dying) and it was occurring before and after I replaced the PSU, I've done extensive testing on my memory with different timings and voltages, nothing in my system is over/under clocked, and all connections are secure within my computer case. My graphics drivers seem to crash most often when I am doing something that barely puts any load on my graphics card, such as watching youtube videos, playing low quality video games, and things as simple as some minor photo editting. However when playing high quality (and high stress) games such as portal 2, crysis 2, starcraft 2, and various others, my graphics perform flawlessly with no crashes.

I can provide more specific information about anything needed, would really like to resolve this issue.

Click to expand...

Backup all your emails sent/received etc in a different folder to the default one e.g on D:drive/USB stick

Backup anything that you have recently installed and save your latest links, bookmarks, settings etc with 'mozbackup' (firefox complete backup)

Go back (with 'system restore') to Feb 1st 2011. You might have to enable the 'older restores' box
It takes ages to restore - do NOT touch your PC or think your pc has stalled !!!!
(move mouse to stop screen saver/timeout kicking in!)
reboot = auto

Now download the last two months of Microsoft updates (set it to 'manual'/"let me install updates" first) in 'associated' small chunks and reboot in between each download to bed the newer files in.
For the largest updates download them one at a time and reboot.

reinstall firefox + run mozbackup 1.5 to repair all your settings, addons, plugins and latest bookmarks/history etc

Download latest adobe flash from their website.

Don't forget - anything you 'updated' since Feb 2011 will disappear when you invoke 'system restore' unless you back it up first (not documents as far as I know)

TVeblen said:

If your issue is only the green screen in youtube videos, and you are not getting a TDR error balloon warning, then your solution may be here:

Flickering green screen while trying to watch videos - YouTube Help

Click to expand...

Sorry, I do have the ballon message that says that my video driver has failed and been recovered.

Ok not to be ugly or anything, but Scythan started this thread to get help....Neo101, Tveblen, and Ivan & mouse are trying to help Scythan fix "his" problem....Majesticstax/Jaysp656, you need to either start your own thread, or wait to see if we can get Scythan up and running...It's not cool to hijack someone's thread, even if you have the same or similar problem....

Ok Scythan Have you updated flash as Neo101 suggested? Have you run a SFC scan as Neo101 and I have suggested? Have you done the many things suggested by Tvblen suggested? System restore? Check the card for proper install/fan working? Can you watch Hulu? Is the problem only with youtube? Can you play flash based games? Have you tried a different browser?

Hopefully we can get back on track....

I didn't do the system restore because my installation is pretty fresh, and I had the problems before the reformat anyway. I have tried Firefox as well and I believe it happened there too (I usually use Chrome). As far as I know the issue is only with Youtube, but I don't play flash games often. However, the plugin Shockwave Flash crashes regularly (every day or two, with no pattern that I can see). Could that be related?

Also I wanted to test a DVD as you suggested but didn't have one handy. So I made one with MagicISO, burnt the disc and tried that. Since I have only the trial version, it wouldn't let me burn anything large, so I made do with How The Grinch Stole Christmas, lol. I hope that's good enough for testing purposes. No problems with it, btw.

I have done the sfc scan, yes. I was looking into flashing my BIOS, but after reading the "How To" file included with the newest version, I got intimidated. This is prominently displayed in that file:
"WARNING!!!!!
DON'T FLASH FROM A FLOPPY DISK!!!!
DON'T FLASH WHEN YOUR SYSTEM IS RUNNING FINE!!!!
DON'T FLASH IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!!"

So of course I am leery of doing that now.

I haven't tried Hulu or opened my computer to check connections yet. I will do that next unless you have other suggestions, or I missed something Thanks again

Ivan the SoSo said:

Ok not to be ugly or anything, but Scythan started this thread to get help....Neo101, Tveblen, and Ivan & mouse are trying to help Scythan fix "his" problem....Majesticstax/Jaysp656, you need to either start your own thread, or wait to see if we can get Scythan up and running...It's not cool to hijack someone's thread, even if you have the same or similar problem....

Ok Scythan Have you updated flash as Neo101 suggested? Have you run a SFC scan as Neo101 and I have suggested? Have you done the many things suggested by Tvblen suggested? System restore? Check the card for proper install/fan working? Can you watch Hulu? Is the problem only with youtube? Can you play flash based games? Have you tried a different browser?

Hopefully we can get back on track....

Click to expand...

I'm far from hijacking a thread, I do not see how more information on an identical problem is a bad thing. I have searched for people with this issue for awhile now and this is the first I have seen since I started having the problem in July 2010 and I will also be trying anything suggested that A. sounds like a reasonable fix and B. I have not already tried. With that said however I would promptly do as said and start my own topic (which seems quite useless having 2 identical topics) if Scythan was in any way offended that I have explained my problems in detail as well.

And I agree Scythan, I am not going to do a system restore either as I have already tried reinstalling my OS, by request of EVGA during a troubleshooting process we went through and it was completely ineffective (I actually have had an RMA approved recently after a very long grueling troubleshooting process, EVGA does not believe it to be my graphics card, and I actually agree with them, but replacing it is a sure way to figure out quickly). I suspect its a faulty motherboard or PCI slot.

I'm okay with this being a consolidated thread for people with the same issue, so long as it doesn't make it harder to moderate or keep track of things that have been tried already. But of course it is up to the ones who are helping us so I'm fine either way.

Scythan: Don't flash your BIOS...What you need to do is uninstall adobe flash with add remove/programs download the new flash from hererich Internet applications | Adobe Flash Player....install....Youtube is flash based, since your card can game and run a DVD movie, I doubt you have a bad card, or slot. But do try Hulu, and maybe a popcap game(flash)

If that doesn't work a restore was mentioned because a corrupted Window's file could be at fault....How old or new the Windows install does not matter if a file is bad.