BSOD while playing games, error 116

Phazonmasher · 06 Apr 2013

Hi all,

After about a week of self diagnosis and doing everything possible, I come to you as my last resort. For the past week and a half, my PC has blue screened while playing pretty much every game I have. It used to do it very infrequently, and started while playing Assassin's Creed III. Since then, it's happened once during BioShock Infinite, and it happens pretty much all the time in Far Cry 3.

So, what have I done? I've cleaned the registry with CCleaner, use a driver cleaner to wipe my nVidia driver installation and reinstall, cleaned out my PC of all dust, made sure the video card was installed properly, etc, etc. I've pretty much done everything possible, and I still can't really come to a solid conclusion.

So, here I am, humbled and broken asking for help from those far more knowledgeable than I. My dump file from your wonderful Windows 7 diagnostic tool is below. If you could look through that and find something, anything, that could be causing this, I will be forever in your debt.

Thanks! (Oh, and you can find all my specs in my profile).

Attachment 262950

After reading additional threads on this forum, I have tried a new approach that seems to somewhat work. I have pushed Far Cry 3 down to medium settings and it seems to work fine now. I was going off of the recommended settings from nVidia Experience before, and I got a solid 30 FPS from it. It didn't seem like it was putting much stress on the card, and it wouldn't really explain why it blue screened right as I jumped into the game.

I also took off the side, and put a box fan up to it. It doesn't seem to be doing much in terms of cooling, but it also didn't crash where it usually does.

I would really appreciate it if somebody could go through my logs to see if something else is wrong, but it seems that it may be ok if I just don't push my system, even if it totally could play games on high settings with no problems before.

marsmimar · 06 Apr 2013

Hello Phazonmasher and welcome to Seven Forums.

Your most recent dump file shows a problem with the nVidia Video driver nvlddmkm.sys, the DirectX Graphics Kernel dxgkrnl, and the DirectX Graphics MMS dxgmms1.

Code:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)
Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa8007e194e0, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff8800521e6ac, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g. owner tag).
Arg3: ffffffffc000009a, Optional error code (NTSTATUS) of the last failed operation.
Arg4: 0000000000000004, Optional internal context dependent data.

Debugging Details:
------------------

FAULTING_IP: 
nvlddmkm+9336ac
fffff880`0521e6ac 4055            push    rbp

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_FAULT

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x116

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

STACK_COMMAND:  .bugcheck ; kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
nvlddmkm+9336ac
fffff880`0521e6ac 4055            push    rbp

SYMBOL_NAME:  nvlddmkm+9336ac

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nvlddmkm

IMAGE_NAME:  nvlddmkm.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  51427b3c

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

fffff880`0248eb88  fffff880`04526000 dxgkrnl!TdrBugcheckOnTimeout+0xec
fffff880`0248eb90  00000000`00000116
fffff880`0248eb98  fffffa80`07e194e0
fffff880`0248eba0  fffff880`0521e6ac nvlddmkm+0x9336ac
fffff880`0248eba8  ffffffff`c000009a
fffff880`0248ebb0  00000000`00000004
fffff880`0248ebb8  00000000`00000001
fffff880`0248ebc0  fffffa80`07e194e0
fffff880`0248ebc8  fffff880`044f9867 dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::Reset+0x2a3
fffff880`0248ebd0  fffff880`0521e6ac nvlddmkm+0x9336ac
fffff880`0248ebd8  fffffa80`08e04000
fffff880`0248ebe0  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ebe8  ffffffff`c000009a
fffff880`0248ebf0  fffffa80`08d89410
fffff880`0248ebf8  ffffffff`feced300
fffff880`0248ec00  fffffa80`09ede820
fffff880`0248ec08  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ec10  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ec18  fffffa80`08d89ba0
fffff880`0248ec20  fffffa80`08d89b00
fffff880`0248ec28  fffffa80`09bfa950
fffff880`0248ec30  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ec38  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ec40  fffff800`00b96080
fffff880`0248ec48  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ec50  fffff880`053cddc0 dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread
fffff880`0248ec58  fffffa80`08d89410
fffff880`0248ec60  fffffa80`08d89410
fffff880`0248ec68  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ec70  00000000`00000080
fffff880`0248ec78  fffff880`04525e0f dxgkrnl!TdrResetFromTimeout+0x23
fffff880`0248ec80  fffffa80`ffffd84d
fffff880`0248ec88  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ec90  fffffa80`07e194e0
fffff880`0248ec98  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248eca0  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248eca8  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ecb0  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ecb8  00000000`00000001
fffff880`0248ecc0  00000000`0027f81a
fffff880`0248ecc8  00000000`0000000f
fffff880`0248ecd0  fffff800`00b96080
fffff880`0248ecd8  fffff880`053cddc0 dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread
fffff880`0248ece0  fffffa80`08d89410
fffff880`0248ece8  fffffa80`08d89410
fffff880`0248ecf0  fffffa80`08d89410
fffff880`0248ecf8  fffff880`053cdec1 dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0x101
fffff880`0248ed00  fffffa80`09ede820
fffff880`0248ed08  00000000`00000080
fffff880`0248ed10  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ed18  fffffa80`08d89410
fffff880`0248ed20  fffff800`03054e80 nt!KiInitialPCR+0x180
fffff880`0248ed28  00000000`00000018
fffff880`0248ed30  00000000`00000001
fffff880`0248ed38  fffff800`0317934a nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`0248ed40  00000000`028022f2
fffff880`0248ed48  fffffa80`08abcb50
fffff880`0248ed50  fffffa80`06a0c040
fffff880`0248ed58  fffffa80`08abcb50
fffff880`0248ed60  fffffa80`06a0c040
fffff880`0248ed68  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ed70  00000000`00000000
fffff880`0248ed78  fffff800`02ec9946 nt!KxStartSystemThread+0x16
fffff880`0248ed80  fffff800`03054e80 nt!KiInitialPCR+0x180
fffff880`0248ed88  fffffa80`08abcb50
fffff880`0248ed90  fffff800`03062cc0 nt!KiInitialThread

The nVidia driver can be updated here:

Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

The DirectX drivers can be updated through Windows Update.

Sometimes the latest and greatest driver may not be the best for a specific computer. When it comes to drivers, a lot of knowledgeable people say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." You may find your computer works better with an older nVidia driver.

You should also check for any damaged or corrupt system files by running a system file checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two.) If problems are found, run the scan 3 times and immediately reboot the computer after each scan.

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

Phazonmasher · 06 Apr 2013

Thanks for the suggestions, Marsimar!

Unfortunately, they seemed to have done nothing to fix my current issue. I rolled back to the last stable driver - 314.07 - and ran the system file checker to find nothing was wrong. I already have the latest DirectX drivers unless Windows Update is hiding the update from me. After doing all this, Far Cry 3 crashed within a minute of starting. The latest dump is below:

Attachment 263029

If you have any more ideas, or if this latest dump has any new revelations, that would be fantastic. Thanks again for doing all this. You guys are great!

EDIT: Would there be any merit to switching my GPU to a new PCI slot? I'm kind of at wits end now, and am willing to try everything.

marsmimar · 06 Apr 2013

I'm at work right now and I'm unable to open or do a bug check analysis on your latest dump file.

In the meantime you might want to go through the troubleshooting tutorial prepared by one of the Forum experts. It also includes some hardware diagnostics.

Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

You could also try stress testing your graphics card by using ATITool or FurMark.

ATI (you may want to go directly to the developer's site at techpowerup<dot>com)

FurMark

Phazonmasher · 07 Apr 2013

Thanks again for all the help!

I thought I would roll back my drivers to an even earlier date - this time to the drivers released in early January. I then ran Furmark for an hour with my GPU maxed out and running at 71C. It handled that like a champ so I'll check to see if it can start playing games again. Thanks again!

marsmimar · 07 Apr 2013

Phazonmasher said:

Thanks for the suggestions, Marsimar!

Unfortunately, they seemed to have done nothing to fix my current issue. I rolled back to the last stable driver - 314.07 - and ran the system file checker to find nothing was wrong. I already have the latest DirectX drivers unless Windows Update is hiding the update from me. After doing all this, Far Cry 3 crashed within a minute of starting. The latest dump is below:

Attachment 263029

If you have any more ideas, or if this latest dump has any new revelations, that would be fantastic. Thanks again for doing all this. You guys are great!

EDIT: Would there be any merit to switching my GPU to a new PCI slot? I'm kind of at wits end now, and am willing to try everything.

Phazonmasher said:

Thanks again for all the help!

I thought I would roll back my drivers to an even earlier date - this time to the drivers released in early January. I then ran Furmark for an hour with my GPU maxed out and running at 71C. It handled that like a champ so I'll check to see if it can start playing games again. Thanks again!

Just got home from work a short while ago. Sorry for the delayed response. I took a look at that last dump file and it seems like the same nVidia driver and DirectX items are still flagged. If the driver rollback to early January works, that would be great. Please post back if you continue to have problems.

Code:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)
Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa80076ec4e0, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff88005f7b6c4, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g. owner tag).
Arg3: ffffffffc000009a, Optional error code (NTSTATUS) of the last failed operation.
Arg4: 0000000000000004, Optional internal context dependent data.

Debugging Details:
------------------
FAULTING_IP: 
nvlddmkm+9316c4
fffff880`05f7b6c4 4055            push    rbp

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_FAULT

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x116

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

SYMBOL_NAME:  nvlddmkm+9316c4

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nvlddmkm

IMAGE_NAME:  nvlddmkm.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  5116d804

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

Followup: MachineOwner
---------
Priority 15 BasePriority 15 UnusualBoost 0 ForegroundBoost 0 IoPriority 2 PagePriority 5
Child-SP          RetAddr           : Args to Child                                                           : Call Site
fffff880`009fdb88 fffff880`0614f000 : 00000000`00000116 fffffa80`076ec4e0 fffff880`05f7b6c4 ffffffff`c000009a : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`009fdb90 fffff880`06122867 : fffff880`05f7b6c4 fffffa80`08d74000 00000000`00000000 ffffffff`c000009a : dxgkrnl!TdrBugcheckOnTimeout+0xec
fffff880`009fdbd0 fffff880`0614ee0f : fffffa80`ffffd84d fffff800`00b96080 fffffa80`076ec4e0 fffff880`05637dc0 : dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::Reset+0x2a3
fffff880`009fdc80 fffff880`05637ec1 : fffffa80`06cf7260 00000000`00000080 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`08be5410 : dxgkrnl!TdrResetFromTimeout+0x23
fffff880`009fdd00 fffff800`0311d34a : 00000000`02941854 fffffa80`08a3bb50 fffffa80`06a0c040 fffffa80`08a3bb50 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0x101
fffff880`009fdd40 fffff800`02e6d946 : fffff800`02ff8e80 fffffa80`08a3bb50 fffff800`03006cc0 fffff880`018fd975 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`009fdd80 00000000`00000000 : fffff880`009fe000 fffff880`009f8000 fffff880`009fd120 00000000`00000000 : nt!KxStartSystemThread+0x16

Phazonmasher · 07 Apr 2013

So, after this morning's successful Furmark test, and being able to play Far Cry 3 for about two hours; I thought I was in the clear. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case. I just jumped back into Far Cry 3, and it crashed on the loading screen this time. It would appear the same error happened again as I got the same BSOD code as the last few times.

I've pretty much tried everything now. I would love to see if I could fix the DirectX problems, but everywhere I've looked offers no solution beyond updating DirectX, which is impossible as I'm on the latest version. I was going to upgrade my PC later this year and do a fresh install of Windows, but part of me feels like I might have to start upgrading sooner if this doesn't stop.

EDIT: Well, I went ahead and did a repair install. Everything seemed to be going well until I tried out Far Cry 3 again, and it crashed within a few seconds. Would it even be worth uploading the error report again? It seems to be the same problem all over again. It seems that I'll just have to do a full clean install of everything.

EDIT AGAIN: So... this could just be the conspiracy theorist in me talking, but could Ubisoft's Uplay software be doing anything? Furmark and other non-Ubisoft games ran fine today, but Far Cry 3 then crashes. I've only experienced crashes, aside from a single crash during my 12 hour playthrough of BioShock Infinite, in Ubisoft games. I think it's just me being crazy and wanting to find an easy way out, but is it possible that a game overlay like Uplay could be messing with something?

Thanks again for helping me out with this. I feel like I should be paying you or something. :)

Oh and here's the latest dump just in case it changed after the repair install:

Attachment 263230

One Final Edit: Ok, scratch the Uplay idea. Now it's just happening at random. In fact, it's happened twice in the past hour while just browsing the net. Would this be a good time to just do a complete format/install of Windows?

Final Final Edit: Ok, well, I did a clean install of Windows last night. Got rid of everything from Windows, and only retained my games with a backup. Started up Far Cry 3 again! and it crashed with the same error on the loading page. So, what does this mean? Even with a full clean Windows install, it still crashes; does this mean it's a hardware issue that's making everything go bonkers? Is my video card just awful or something? I'm just so confused right now.

Here's the latest dump it made after it crashed after the clean install:

Attachment 263295