Solved Nvidia driver crashes once every reboot, nvlddmkm error

[Pontan]

Hello!


I have a very old computer and it really teeters on the brink of death. However I would really like to keep it alive for another few months or so. For the last couple of days the graphics driver has started acting up. It crashes once after every start/reboot. It happens if I wait for a while (time before crash varies) or I can force the crash by using for example Furmark. Once it's had its little moment everything is fine and I can play games for hours without any problems.


Things I've tried:


Remove and reseat every cable and component there is.


Removing USB components.


Removing extra hard drives.


Clean reinstall of latest graphics drivers.


All kinds of Windows scans and repairs (SFC, Chkdsk, installation repair...).


DriverVerifier. That did not go well. It made the computer blue screen during USB startup every time I tried to restart the computer. I finally fixed it after running startup repair and using a system restore point several times. Not trying that again.

I'm at a loss and would appreciate any advice that can keep this old friend of mine alive for just a bit longer.


Error codes from log:


\Device\Video6
Graphics SM Warp Exception on (GPC 0, TPC 0): Misaligned Register



\Device\Video6
Graphics Exception: ESR 0x504648=0x8 0x504650=0x0 0x504644=0x8 0x50464c=0x8



\Device\Video6
Graphics Exception: ESR 0x505e48=0x8 0x505e50=0x0 0x505e44=0x8 0x505e4c=0x8



\Device\Video6
Graphics Exception: ESR 0x506648=0x8 0x506650=0x0 0x506644=0x8 0x50664c=0x0


\Device\Video6
0a7b(176c) 0500129c ffffffef

 

[iko22]

Hello Pontan, welcome to Seven Forums.

Have you tried booting the Computer into Safe Mode? See Safe Mode

Has the Graphics card ever been "overclocked" before?

 

[Pontan]

Thank you, and thanks for your reply!

No overclocking has ever been done. I am using MSI Afterburner for fan control and have been doing so for about 5 years.

I did try booting into safe mode. As far as I can tell the problem does not occur there. It's a bit hard to tell though as I cannot run any 3d application to "provoke" it. I ran the test for hardware problems in safe mode and it dicovered two IDE channel drivers that were faulty. I tried to let Windows repair them but got a message that there was no solution for the problem. When I rebooted normally the computer froze completely. Rebooting again and running Sfc and Chkdsk fixed it enough that I'm back to the Gfx driver crashing once. I'm really at a loss here so any help you can provide would be most welcome.

 

[iko22]

That is good to hear.

Boot normally, then run dxdiag, and check the report output.

You can launch dixdiag by typing in the rb: Start Search box.

 

[Pontan]

Dxdiag reports no issues in either 32 or 64 bit mode.

 

[iko22]

The GPU could be overheating. Dust build-up in the fans, could sometimes create overheating troubles.

Use Open Hardware Monitor to check the temps of your GPU.

 

[Pontan]

Someone on Answers.Microsoft pointed me to this blog post: HELP GRANTED : [ S O L V E D ] Black Screen GTX 750 ti Games freezes all the time.
That turned out to be my problem. The card overclocks its own memory frequency on startup. After it's crashed the memory speed resets back to normal.
Now all I have to do is figure out what to do about that.
Thanks for your assistance!

 

[iko22]

Check the Nvidia Control Panel for an overclocking option. If you have older drivers, then the option may still be available. If you have newer drivers, then this option has already been removed by Nvidia.

Also, look in Afterburner - is "Apply overclocking at system startup" checkbox set/blank? You may want to uncheck that tick box.

Alternatively, create an "underclocked" profile in Afterburner, and use that for system startup.

Alternatively, stop Afterburner starting at startup. You can use msconfig to manage the startup programs.

See if any of those suggestions brings about a solution for your question.