Nvidia 9800gt Error code 43

[Billy]

About an hour ago while playing Call of duty 4 my graphics tweaked out and since then I can't do anything(posting from my netbook). In the device manager it tells me "Device Status: Windows has stopped this device because it has reported erorrs(code 43).

Since that I have tried to reinstall my latest drivers and the Nvidia says "The Nvidia Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit." I have reseated my video card and switched the power to it and still no luck.

Has my video card died? It currently is in 640x480 resolution with very low colors. I've checked a few posts on these forums and none of the solutions seem to affect my system. Any help will be appreciated.

Edit: Just ran "Find and fix problems with devices" and got a different answer than before.
Device Status: This device is not configured correctly. (Code 1) The system cannot find the file specified( it tried to install a driver automatically and failed)

I just found this which is making me think my card has died http://social.answers.microsoft.com...e/thread/2aaa416b-ffc3-4595-b504-10bdca977afb

 

[seekermeister]

Check the driver's tab of the Display Adapter in the Device Manager to see what driver is installed. With that resolution, I would tend to suspect that it has reverted to standard VGA.

Before writing the card off, I would try using Driver Sweeper to remove the current driver (NOT THE VGA ONE) and then boot to Safe Mode as Administrator and use the Have Disk method of installation, if directly running the Nvidia driver balked again.

EDIT: Use the latest driver from Nvidia, not the one that Windows installs.

 

[Billy]

That's just it, there is no driver installed. It fails when I try to install my Nvida driver(strait from nvidia.com) or when windows trys to automatically istall basic VGA drivers. Device manager says

Video Controller (VGA Compatible)
Driver Provider: Unknown
Driver Date: Not Available
Driver Version: Not available
Digital Signer: Not available

 

[seekermeister]

The card may be bad, but I wouldn't come to that conclusion until I had done what I suggested previously. I would also post this question on nvnews.net, because that is where the Nvidia gurus hang out.

 

[Billy]

Just did it your way and have the drivers install successfully but I'm still in 640x480 resolution, I think my card is busted.

 

[seekermeister]

Did you try changing the resolution via the Nvidia control panel?

 

[mushroomboy]

Explanation of error codes generated by Device Manager in Windows XP Professional

That's the error code list, as what it describes for 43 I'd say try different drivers. Some say update bios blah blah blah. I'm going to doubt it's toast, but you still have options to try.

Re-download the driver and try re-installing. You could also try re-starting and then download and install. Don't ask what restarting does, as it shouldn't be needed for a driver but.... Restarting has been known to fix windows' glitches, even if we don't know what it is. =(

 

[Billy]

Thanks for all the help but I've tried older Nvidia drivers, reinstalled chipset, already had the latest, and updated the bios. I've tried to do all of this in safemode and normal. I forgot to mention that my splash screen(Graphical Gibabyte thing) is also funked up.
Here is an example(this is not mine)

 

[seekermeister]

You probably have a setting in the BIOS to disable that screen. It would speed your boot slightly.

 

[seekermeister]

Another thought crossed my mind, quickly enough that I'm not so sure that it is clear. Do you have the driver for your monitor installed? On mine that effects the refresh rates available, but I don't know if it would help the resolution or not.

 

[Billy]

I went ahead and ordered a $30 PCI-E x16 2.0 card to test. If that one works correctly I'll known for sure then if it's my video card or something else.

 

[seekermeister]

Reasonable, but I still have a hunch that it is something else.

EDIT: When you install that new card, you "may" need to reinstall the driver. Check in the Device Manager to make sure that the adapter is properly identified and using the proper driver.

 

[Billy]

If it is I'll be back in a few days to get more help

 

[mushroomboy]

Oh test different slots, If you have different pcie slots try that. =S

 

[seekermeister]

If your BIOS is like mine, there is a setting to select which PCIe slot to use. Also, be sure to uninstall the old video card in the device manager, before installing the new.

 

[Billy]

I would if I could, I only have 1 Pci-e x16 slot.

 

[mushroomboy]

If you have blank cd's around you could try getting a linux LiveCD and see if that'll load though I guess you'd want to test opengl/3d to see if it works but the problem is you'd have to install the propriatary drivers. =( idk if you have any small hdd's around but if you did you could get a liveCD install do that hdd (unplug everything else) then install the nvidia drivers (a lot easier than you'd expect) and then test it with glxgears or install one of the many free 3d games. At all else if you had an extra hard drive it'd give you something to do

edit: when I say unplug everything else I mean unplug other hard drives before installing linux, due to the linux windows war that is waging

 

[Billy]

Just finished installing ubuntu 9.10 on a small HDD, after I boot into it all I get is scrambled video. I had everything but my video card, mouse, and keyboard unplugged. I even unplugged my sound and extra dvd burner

 

[mushroomboy]

lol looks like we found the problem for sure haha sorry to hear that mate

 

[Billy]

My tester video card just got in and works perfect. Seems it was hardware failure. Thanks to all who helped. Time to start the RMA process, I like XFX