BSOD while playing video games, caused by nvlddmkm.sys

hungry · 24 Nov 2011

Hey all,

So before I begin, here are the stats of my laptop.

-Asus G60JX
-Windows 7 - x64
-Nvidia Geforce GTS 360M
-OEM
-1 1/2 years old.
-Have never reformatted or reinstalled OS.

So i've had this gaming laptop for around 1 1/2 years old and it's been blue screening since as long as i can remember. I should have taken the laptop back but at that time i was not very knowledgeable about computers (still aren't), and didn't know how bad BSOD's were. As far as the BSOD's go, it actually doesn't occur too frequently, maybe like once every month or so. But, it has happened on a consistent basis, ever since as long as i can remember. 95% of the time, the BSOD's occur while playing games.

I just updated the BIOS to the newest version about a week ago, but just got a BSOD while playing Battlefield 3. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a driver relating to my graphics card, but i'm no expert. If you guys can help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. Please keep in mind that i'm still a novice when it comes to this computer stuff. Thanks.

FredeGail · 24 Nov 2011

Hello hungry and welcome!

Analyses
The BSoD you had caused your Graphic Driver. Follow the steps below to make a secure remove of your driver.

Steps

i) Find your driver here, save it to your desktop
ii) Download Driver sweeper, for the leftover files
iii) Uninstall your driver from the Control Panel
iv) While rebooting, go into safe-mode without internet (tip: plugout your LAN cable or disconnect wireless)
v) Run Driver Sweeper, click all the Nvidia components and analyse them
vi) Clean them all
vii) Head into Windows, without internet
viii) Install the Driver from the desktop

Update DirectX

Download

Temperature
Check your temperatures on your Graphic Card with software like Speccy.

The Graphic Driver is of course the main cause, but you need to do the other things sometime anyway.

Update these drivers

Code:

- ASMMAP64.sys
- sncduvc.SYS

How to Find Drivers
search Google for the name of the driver
- compare the Google results with what's installed on your system to figure out which device/program it belongs to
- visit the web site of the manufacturer of the hardware/program to get the latest drivers (DON'T use Windows Update or the Update driver function of Device Manager).
- if there are difficulties in locating them, post back with questions and someone - will help you search Google for the name of the driver
- compare the Google results with what's installed on your system to figure out which device/program it belongs to
- - if there are difficulties in locating them, post back with questions and someone will try and help you locate the appropriate program.
- The most common drivers are listed on this page: Driver Reference
- - Driver manufacturer links are on this page: Drivers and Downloads

Fred.

hungry · 24 Nov 2011

Thanks for the quick reply Fred,

I've followed the instructions but had a few questions. Even after i unplugged the internet and rebooted my laptop in safe mode, graphics drivers were automatically being installed on start-up. (this is probably the OEM drivers). Either way, i ran Driver sweeper, cleaned everything that it found (it found many things), and rebooted. I then installed the latest drivers.

The link to update DirectX seems to be broken.

As far as the temperature for my graphics card goes, i have measured it in the past. It runs at about 45 C idle, and when i'm playing games, it peeks from 80 C - 85 C. I know this is a bit hot, but from doing some research, this is pretty safe for NVIDIA graphic cards, as they can reach a maximum temperature of 105 C i believe. This laptop actually use to peek at 91 C, but i poked holes on the bottom of my laptop panel with a drill bit and now it runs cooler.

As far as updating ASMMAP64.sys and sncduvc.sys, i cannot seem to find the corresponding drivers to update.
I found this page:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download G60JX
which has all the drivers for my laptop, but i don't know which one i'm suppose to download.

Thanks.

FredeGail · 24 Nov 2011

Hey hungry!

You should be totally fine with the setup you have right now.
The driver Windows installed would be the default one, and it'll always do that, doesn't matter in that case.

If you're experiencing other BSoDs just upload the dump!

Fred.