Random BSOD and Slowdowns

[mixJ2O]

Hi Guys,

First of all let me just say thanks for any help, I appreciate it.

Lately I've been getting some random slowdowns and BSOD's and I cant figure out why. Looking at the log it appears to point towards the display driver but I was wondering if anyone can confirm?

I've got 32GB RAM so was hoping I'd be able to run Photoshop CC nicely but it does lag through menus sometimes.

Attached is the full log from the SevenForums tool including the latest minidump from the BSOD which finally prompted me to fill out this thread and see if I can get this resolved..

Thanks again

 

[essenbe]

Hello, mixJ2O and welcome to the forums.Did you edit the file you uploaded? You said you included the last minidump file. Were there others? If so, we need them. One file does not tell the whole story in most cases. The dump file you uploaded was the graphics driver.

[COLOR=red]VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)[/COLOR]
Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa8022f674e0, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff8800494b848, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g. owner tag).
Arg3: 0000000000000000, Optional error code (NTSTATUS) of the last failed operation.
Arg4: 000000000000000d, Optional internal context dependent data.
Debugging Details:

TDR errors are difficult. TDR is Time Delay and Response, which basically means your graphics drivers crashed but did not recover in time. This is your current driver. I would like you to reinstall your drivers. I am going to give you some suggestions of how to do it that will make as sure as we can that you have a clean install and have no other drivers that can conflict with your Motherboard drivers. The only thing you really need is the Graphics Driver.

I am going to give you some links that will help you get a good clean install and not have any drivers you don't need that will conflict with other drivers. Download a WHQL driver from http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/329659-latest-amd-catalyst-video-driver-windows-7-a.html . Once you have them downloaded, uninstall you current driver from control panel. next clean up any left over drivers from following this tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/83814-drivers-clean-left-over-files-after-uninstalling.html and select only ATI Display Drivers. After you have done that and rebooted, install the new driver, only select custom install and install only what you have to. Very few people need most of what they include. You do not need the audio/HDMI drivers as you already have that in your Motherboard drivers. Unless there is some reason you need them, the only thing you really need is the Display Driver.

atikmpag
start             end                 module name
fffff880`04940000 fffff880`049d6000   atikmpag T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: atikmpag.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmpag.sys
    Image name: atikmpag.sys
    Timestamp:        Thu Nov 20 20:08:54 2014 (546E9EB6)
    CheckSum:         00093077
    ImageSize:        00096000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

 

[mixJ2O]

Hi essenbe and thanks for your speedy response!

Sorry, I don't have any other crash dumps - This is the only proper BSOD that actually dumped (there are no other mini dump files) prior to this I've just suffered from poor performance on graphics intensive work using photoshop.

I'll clean and reinstall drivers and get back to you with how I get on.

Thanks again for the help I really appreciate it.
http://www.sevenforums.com/members/essenbe.html

 

[mixJ2O]

All done, lets see if we crash again..

 

[essenbe]

Ok, good. You should not have poor performance with Photoshop. If you are overclocking anything, set everything back to default levels.

 

[mixJ2O]

Hi Essenbe!

Unfortunately, I've had my first BSOD since originally posting. So we lasted 2 days before the latest crash. I've attached the latest minidump file but I presume its much the same. The BSOD crash highlighted "atikmpag.sys" file again.

I don't have any overclocking, everything is setup normally.

Is there anything else I can try? Beta drivers? Old drivers?

Thanks for any help.

 

[mixJ2O]

I have a weird feeling its got something todo with the Aero Windows Setting.. I'm going to use Windows Basic theme for a little while and see.

The reason why I think this is because after I re-installed the drivers as suggested, windows was not using Aero and it turned out to be because my LogMeIn client mirror driver was stopping it - but during this time I used the system and photoshop seemed allot quicker and the whole machine just seemed ALLOT better.

I know Aero shouldn't use much ram and its actually passed to the video card etc.. but this is how it felt - like Aero was the problem.

Maybe there's an old or beta driver out there that will work for me though?

 

[essenbe]

Try an earlier driver that worked for you well and see if that makes a difference.

 

[mixJ2O]

Hi Essenbe,

Actually I haven't had a driver that worked flawlessly. I will try an older driver though.

 

[essenbe]

Good, just let me know how it goes.

 

[mixJ2O]

Sorry about the lack of updates.. going to install the AMD Catalyst™ 15.5 Beta Driver for Windows® 7 64-bit and give it a try.

 

[essenbe]

You can try it, but it is generally better to use the WHQL drivers. Beta drivers are beta for a reason.