BSOD while streaming online content and multitasking

[chema]

Hello, just found and joined your site after googling some crash information and you guys seem on top of it!

I'm a novice when it comes to troubleshooting a computer, but I'm starting to think I'll need a new graphics card. After browsing some of the posts on here, though, I figured I should get advice from someone who actually knows what they're doing. Let it never be said that patience and good will can no longer be found on the internet!

Not sure if all of this is necessary, but I figure I should be thorough:

Bought the pc (HP e9180t) in 2009 and immediately had issues with BSOD crashes. After some initial troubleshooting, the manufacturer (HP) sent me a replacement graphics card (Nvidia Ge Force GT 220). That, however, didn't fully remove crashes.

The system was also part of the "upgrade to windows 7" deals of that year. I mention this because customer support told me at the time that the BSOD problems would be resolved with the upgrade. They weren't.

From then on, I've had recurring BSOD problems ranging from one or two a day to, most recently and hence my posting here, several within a few hours. (It's shameful what a novice pc user will live with.)

After a BSOD, the windows troubleshooter always points to the graphics card as the issue; however, it doesn't offer a solution. Pryor to this, I've tried upgrading the graphics card driver through Windows Updater, updating bios (this was a year or so ago), most recently, updating the driver through NVidia's website, and finally, rolling back the driver.

After rolling back the driver, sound became an issue: I use a flat screen tv as a monitor and though the pc had always sent both audio and video through the HDMI output, it no longer read the tv speakers after the rollback.

Also, I don't actually get a BSOD anymore when a crash occurs. The screen simply goes black and I have to perform a hard reboot. At first I thought this was due to my using a Flat screen tv as a monitor, but I connected an old monitor to the pc and the monitor lost its signal as well.

Thank you if you even made it through that long explanation that probably helps very little.

 

[koolkat77]

Welcome to SevenForums.

The recent .dmp file (obviously) blames your video card/video card drivers - BCC 116.

[FONT="Courier New"][SIZE="3"]*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 116, {fffffa800eb76010, fffff8800fe65ae4, ffffffffc000009a, 4}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+c3bae4 )

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

4: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)
Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa800eb76010, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff8800fe65ae4, 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+c3bae4
fffff880`0fe65ae4 4883ec28        sub     rsp,28h

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_FAULT

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x116

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff880`04049b88 fffff880`0ff00000 : 00000000`00000116 fffffa80`0eb76010 fffff880`0fe65ae4 ffffffff`c000009a : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`04049b90 fffff880`0fed3867 : fffff880`0fe65ae4 fffffa80`0bf5e000 00000000`00000000 ffffffff`c000009a : dxgkrnl!TdrBugcheckOnTimeout+0xec
fffff880`04049bd0 fffff880`0feffe0f : fffffa80`ffffd84d 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`0eb76010 00000000`00000000 : dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::Reset+0x2a3
fffff880`04049c80 fffff880`0ffceec1 : fffffa80`0972e540 00000000`00000080 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`0bf52410 : dxgkrnl!TdrResetFromTimeout+0x23
fffff880`04049d00 fffff800`03563e5a : 00000000`0460b59c fffffa80`0bf56a00 fffffa80`07917040 fffffa80`0bf56a00 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0x101
fffff880`04049d40 fffff800`032bdd26 : fffff800`0343fe80 fffffa80`0bf56a00 fffff800`0344dcc0 00000000`00000000 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`04049d80 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiStartSystemThread+0x16


STACK_COMMAND:  .bugcheck ; kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
nvlddmkm+c3bae4
fffff880`0fe65ae4 4883ec28        sub     rsp,28h

SYMBOL_NAME:  nvlddmkm+c3bae4

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nvlddmkm

IMAGE_NAME:  nvlddmkm.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  4e99233b

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

Followup: MachineOwner
---------
lmvm nvlddmkm
start             end                 module name
fffff880`0f22a000 fffff880`0fea1000   nvlddmkm T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: nvlddmkm.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys
    Image name: nvlddmkm.sys
    Timestamp:        Sat Oct 15 12:07:55 2011 (4E99233B)
    CheckSum:         00C61687
    ImageSize:        00C77000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4
[/SIZE][/FONT]

We have a thread by one of our BSOD experts on how to troubleshoot that particular BCC:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lo...op-0x116-video_tdr_error-troubleshooting.html

As already mentioned in the link above, please perform these tests:

Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

Monitor your temps with Speccy during this test

• Speccy - System Information - Free Download

Video memory test (for 20 passes)

• |MG| Video Memory Stress Test 1.7.116 Download

Does your motherboard have onboard VGA? Does it crash there as well?
Please go through this: BSOD Index

Check for overheating issues by monitoring the heat/celsius of the system, use Speccy or HWinfo:

• Speccy - System Information - Free Download
• CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

To be sure the GPU is at fault itself.

1. Test it on another computer.
2. Test another monitor.
3. Test another GPU on your computer.
4. Make sure the fans/power supply are working properly/not failing/defective.

On a side note, Norton is known to cause BSOD-s, consider uninstalling it with the Norton Removal Tool and replace with Microsoft Security Essentials TO TEST. You may install it back if it later.

• Norton Removal Tool

Microsoft Security Essentials.

Recommended from a strict BSOD perspective, compatibility & stability compared to other antiviruses/internet security software. It is free and lightweight:-
​

• Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows
  
  • Malwarebytes : Malwarebytes Anti-Malware removes malware including viruses, spyware, worms and trojans, plus it protects your computer
    • http://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/206705-good-free-system-security-combination.html

   Warning

:ar: Do not start the free trial of Malware Bytes; remember to deselect that option when prompted.

Run a full scan with both (separately) once downloaded, installed and updated.
Perform a System File Check:

1. Click on the start rb:
2. Type CMD on Search
3. Left click and Run as Administrator
4. Type SFC /scannow

Full tutorial here:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

Disk Check on your hard drive for file system errors and bad sectors on it:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

Reduce items at start-up. Nothing except anti-virus is required:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1401-startup-programs-change.html
• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

Hope this helps for now.

 

[chema]

Thanks KoolKat!

I've yet to try any of that--work and "real life" get in the way of fixing things.

I'll go through the steps and report back the results.

Thank you so much for taking the time. You're saving me from paying someone. I can't thank you enough.

Reading your response, the only question I have is what "on-board vga" is. I'd venture a guess but would rather ask. (I'll be googling it after posting this.)

Thanks again for taking the time to help me out.

 

[koolkat77]

You're welcome.

Look forward to your results.

 

[chema]

So, after reading through the fist post on the thread you linked me to, I decided the first step should be cleaning out the system of dust. Before that, though, I did some googling about GT 220 cards overheating and found a post where a user recommended removing the card completely to clean it thoroughly. He was right about it needing to be removed--a surprising amount of dust was lodged in the card.

After cleaning out the dust, I ran Furmark with Speccy running in the background. The rendering during the test was very choppy and moving the window around to take a peek at Speccy had some serious lag to it, but after 9 minutes, the GPU temperature maxed out at 84C. In that thread you linked me to, a user had his max out at 100C after 10 minutes, so I figure I'm good if the rendering being choppy isn't a sign that something's amiss.

I did notice the PC running a lot quieter, though. Before, just streaming off of netflix made the fan go at full speed. I also noticed the card being cooler to the touch.

Right now, I'm updating the driver since I'd rolled it back and lost sound through the HDMI output. Hopefully the newer driver fixes that. (The tv speakers don't show up as a playback device, so I'm at a loss as to what else it could be.)

I also ran the video memory stress test, but it was going to take about 40 minutes for a single pass... Should I keep it running over night or can I just skip the test all together?

I'm optimistic that all the graphics card needed was a good cleaning, but I'll report back if it doesn't take.

Thanks again for your help, koolkat! I'd be shopping for a graphics card right now if you hadn't helped me out. Your help is very much appreciated.

-Chema

 

[koolkat77]

Thanks for the update.

Since performance is better now, you may postponse the video memory stress test.

 

[koolkat77]

Hey, it's been 2 weeks! How are things?

 

[chema]

I'm back... unfortunately.

Sorry I missed your previous message, Koolkat. I check mail through my phone and I never got the notification that you'd responded.

So an update:

After that initial cleaning, it was smooth sailing for about a month. Then I moved the pc to a different room and into a different desk, and crashes came back with a vengeance. Mindful that it might be ventilation problems in the new desk, I've been monitoring the temperature with Speccy. It's pretty constant at 60-70, but still crashes with simple streaming and multitasking. Cleaned it again today and the temperature didn't improve.

I'm at the point where I wouldn't mind upgrading the Graphics Card -- any recommendations would be appreciated; my budget would be around 200 bucks.

More to the point, though, I don't want to assume a Graphics card upgrade will fix the issue and end up having spent a few hundred in vain.

Thanks again for all your help last time, it was truly appreciated!

 

[Britton30]

Depending on how much RAM you have, memtest can take several hours to do the full 7-8 passes. It will be less for one stck though, one error is bad and you can skip to the next step of the test. Each pass has 9 tests, some very slow.

Graphics cards, $100-$200

Graphics cards $200-$300

To better help us to help you would you please add your systems specs? Here's the correct way to do it. :SystemInfo See Your System Specs Under System Manufacturer/Model Number add whether it is a desktop or laptop and whether self built. Very important

Log in to Seven Forums and you will be able to transfer the info directly to the specs page in your profile from within the System Info app.

After doing this your specs will be available in each of your posts.
Click on My system Specs in the lower left of this post to see how it should look.
Full instructions are in the tutorial.

 

[FaberTech]

Moving a computer to a different location can cause things to come loose like wires and heat sinks. have you checked to make sure everything (sata cables, video card, gpu + cpu heat sink, ram etc) is in tight and snug? Intel makes cheap heat sink mounts and they come loose all the time for me. I ended up cutting off the top of my heat sink clamps and using just the lower pieces that snap into the board and then putting chassis screws threw them to hold the heat sink down. I was so tired of that thing coming loose.

 

[essenbe]

Just a few suggestions. If you have the computer inside a computer desk, get it out and up off the floor. It will keep the dust out better and will also run cooler. The computer needs fresh air to keep everything cool. The CPU and GPU are cooled by ambient air temps, so give it as much as possible. If you have the option to put in another or better intake fan, try that. But, the computer needs to have fresh air and be able to get cooler air in and hot air out. That is true for any computer.

Whatever video card you choose, check the condition and size of your PSU. Your computer has a little age on it and PSU's tend to decline with age, kind of like me. You need a card that combined with the rest of your computer does not use 100% of the computer's Power requirements. I like to stay in thr 60-70% range. Your PSU will run cooler and last longer, plus you will have room for upgrades in the future. According to your specs, your computer has a 460W Power Supply. Typically, HP does not use high quality PSU's, so consider that. The best card, in my opinion, on the cards Britton30 gave you is the EVGA GTX 660 TI. In my opinion, price/performance it is one of the best buys on the market today. The problem is, it is considerably over your budget and rquires a 450W PSU. Which means, it would probably cost you a PSU too.

Failing that, the Sapphire 7750 is well within your price range, gets good reviews, but is calling for a 400W PSU. Depending on your usage and the condition of your PSU would probably work. But you will also have to keep in mind that a PSU is possible. But, considering the activities you have mentioned using the card, it will never be pushed to it's max power requirement. But, before making a decision, I would look at the PSU and try to determine the make (HP will probably have rebranded it to their name) the total wattage and the amps on the +12v rail. It should tell you that on a sticker on the side of the PSU. Most of the AMD 7000 series or the Nvidia 600 series are more power efficient than their previous generations cards.