Solved Random Black Screen while playing SWTOR, Watching YouTube Etc

[Longstone]

For several months now I've been trying to pin down a 116 black screen of death. I'll be playing SWTOR, watching movies etc and my screen will turn black and the system will be unresponsive and I'll have to reset it.

I've updated my drivers as best I can using SlimDrivers, ran chkdsk and even cranked up the fans in my system and on my gfx card hoping (not expecting because I dont' think it's heat related) to get more stability. I've used Bluescreen View to try and pin down the problem. Some times if I'm lucky it will recover and I'll get a message saying the display driver has recovered.

I read about an instability in the latest driver so I backed down to 314.11 hoping that would help. And while it has reduced the frequency It still happens 2 to 3 times a day. Any help would be appreciated (oops just got a display driver recovery while I was typing this).

Let me know if I didn't provide the appropriate information and I'll work on getting the rest of what you need.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[YoYo155]

Welcome .

What you're experiencing is called a TDR (Timeout Detection & Recovery) and its not a real crash
in the sense that something wrong occurred in the Kernel.

"Display driver xxxxx stopped responding and was recovered"

Timeout Detection & Recovery (TDR) = "Display Driver Stopped Responding and was Recovered" is a useful feature that started in Vista and is also in W7 that allows the OS to try and recover from a video timeout so that the system does not crash to a bluescreen. Symptoms included a screen flash with the TDR message appearing one or more times or the screen blinking out to black. If the system cannot recover it will crash (Stop Error 116 typical). The issue is that the video card is not responding as expected.
.
.
.
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There are numerous reports of hardware solutions to TDR's. The most common are:

• Poor Cooling
• Problems with the power supply
• Overclocking Issues
• Bad System memory or incorrect memory timings
• Defective PC Components

• More details HERE, please read.

Using automated driver installers is a bad idea as they tend to install broken drivers
and generally not recommended at all.

Properly installing the drivers:

Install the 314.22 WHQL only.

• Uninstall All nvidia items in Control Panel > Programs and features
  • 3D Vision Control Driver
  • 3D Vision Driver
  • Graphics Driver
  • HD Audio Driver
  • PhysX
  • nvidia Update
  (Are you using nvidia chipset drivers? If so, dont uninstall anything other than those are listed).
• Now follow Drivers - Clean Left over Files after Uninstalling
• Boot normally now. Go to Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers, Download 314.22 WHQL. While installing, Select Custom (Advanced) install. In the next page, follow this settings:
  
  

Testing the RAM:

Test and Diagnose RAM Issues with Memtest86+:

• RAM - Test with Memtest86+

   Tip

• :info: Pay close attention to part 3 of the tutorial "If you have errors"
• :tip: Test the RAM with Memtest86+ for at least 7-10 passes. It may take up to 22 passes to find problems. Make sure to run it once after the system has been on for a few hours and is warm, and then also run it again when the system has been off for a few hours and is cold.

When done with the testing procedure take a picture and upload it here.

Let us know!

 

[Longstone]

Thanks for the quick response. I learned about the TDR a few months back while troubleshooting the issue prior to just reinstalling (obviously didn't work).

I've followed the clean driver install steps prior but I'll do it again and only install the driver this time (I reinstalled everything).

I'll also kick the memory test off this evening and let it run over night.

 

[Longstone]

Followed the instructions for uninstalling and re-installing just the display driver. Ran the memtest over night which completed almost 6 passes. I've kicked off another memtest that will run all day.

 

[YoYo155]

Thanks for the update , let us know how things fare.

 

[Longstone]

Well I feel pretty confident it's not the memory. I'll be happy to run more tests if you all feel you need more data.

 

[YoYo155]

I agree, even though sometimes Memtest may take up to 23 passes to produce an error.
Have you tried gaming or stress testing the GPU using the new driver?

 

[Longstone]

Well, it's not really a new driver, I've been using it for a while. Haven't done a GPU test recently. I did have to RMA my current card because two of the fans stopped working. Got it back, plugged it in and confirmed (visually) everything was working. Haven't done a stress test on the new one.

I looked up my Power supply and realized it's 4 years old. I may try to replace it blindly in hopes it fixes the issue.

 

[YoYo155]

Thank for the update, you have good reasoning.
Keep us posted .

 

[Longstone]

I uploaded my specs with the crash reports so maybe you can tell me. I'm going to go with a 600 watt PS. Hopefully that will do, if not I'll have to go spend some money on a 700+

 

[Longstone]

Ok, new PSU is in, went ahead and sprung for the 850w that way I know I don't have a power problem. I'll keep you all updated.

 

[Longstone]

New PSU has been in and I've had 3 instances of the problem.

I've noticed when it occurs and recovers the Logitech Gaming Software will still be running but my G110 keyboard's G keys will not use the macro I've configured for them. I've updated the software to the most recent version and added it to the suspect list. I'm now running 8.50.281 of the Logitech Gaming Software.

 

[YoYo155]

Thanks for the update, sorry for not posting much here, it's only because you're handling the situation very well .
If you need anything just ask .

 

[Longstone]

Ok, still not convinced I've found the issue but I just played for 4 hours and no black screen. This is with the Logitech gaming software unloaded. Found a thread by a logitech gaming guru that said to turn off the enhanced graphics in the software (which apparently disables openGL).

Starting a new gaming session with the logitech gaming software loaded and with the enhanced graphics option disabled. I'll let ya know.

 

[YoYo155]

Interesting, thank you for updating .
Keep it coming (with good news!).

 

[Longstone]

Consider me cautiously optimistic. Another 3.5 hour gaming session tonight doing everything I could do (zoning, loading etc) to try and trigger the issue. Not a single instance after disabling the Enhanced Graphics option in the Logitec Gaming Software last night as explained above.

Watched two movies before playing and a handful of youtube videos.

 

[YoYo155]

Thanks for the update .
I'm eager to verify that as a root cause!

 

[Longstone]

Not sure it's a root cause. I have a hard time believing it's the Logitech Gaming Software considering how popular logitech devices are that use the software. If this was a bug in the program I would think it was more wide spread. And even though there are a ton of people having the TDR issue I can't verify they are using the Logitech Gaming Software.

A couple possibilities exist at this point.

Most obvious is the Logitech Gaming Software OpenGL integration is the problem. Conflicts, bugs whatever.

My DirectX needs to be repaired and due to some corruption the OpenGL configuration in the LGS is causing some type of conflict causing the TDR.

Last option (off the top of my head) is this isn't the solution and it'll crash again soon. While unlikely due to the frequency of the crashes prior to deslecting the enhanced option in the LGS, it's still a possibility.

Regardless I'll post my findings. Even if that means re-enabling the enhanced graphics option in LGS and waiting for the crash.

 

[Longstone]

Locked up again last night. Only once but it's an indication the configuration in the LGS isn't what the problem is. Re-seated graphics card again and I have AeDebug ready to go.

 

[Longstone]

The card I use is an EVGA GTX 470 2WIN. It's a single card with SLI enabled (2 gpu's one card to provide single card with SLI). It has 3 DVI ports. 2 on the top like most, and one on the bottom. Looking at the card one DVI port is on the left (we'll call that DVI1) then you have the DVI Port on the right (we'll call that DVI2) and then you have a single DVI port below those two (we'll call that DVI3).

I had my primary monitor plugged into DVI3, and my secondary monitor plugged into DVI1. When I experienced the TDR issue my primary monitor would go out but my secondary monitor would stay on (even though the system was locked up). I'm not sure and there isn't a lot of documentation out there to tell me how a secondary monitor "should" behave during a TDR.

I said all that to say this. I've re-arranged my DVI ports to see if I get any further with the issue. I've plugged my primary monitor (Dell 30" Ultrasharp) into DVI1, my secondary monitor (LG IPS224T-PN 22") into DVI2. Unlikely but it is possible that second GPU (or some component on that secondary card) is having issues and running everything off the primary card (and disabling SLI) will resolve the issue.

I played all last night and didn't experience a TDR. If I do experience another crash I'll pull the card out and put it in my secondary machine. I'll pull the GTX 460 out of it and put it in my primary machine. If the problem doesn't occur on my primary machine but follows the card into my secondary machine I'll know the card is the issue and I'll go pick up a replacement.

Fingers crossed.