nvlddmkm.sys driving me nuts

N

nugz45

n00b
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
23
I am sure many of you have heard of the dreaded nvlddmkm.sys bug and the "display driver has stopped responding and has recovered successfully" error. Well, I am sad to say that I now have the problem and I cant seem to track it down. There was an interesting thread on these boards trying to find the root of this issue to no avail. There doesnt seem to be an answer out there as far as I know.

Anyways, I am not going to try and undertake the task of fixing the issue, I'm just going to try and avoid it as best as I can.

However, I have experienced artifacting every now and then for a while with my current card (8800GTX). Happened to me a little bit in Crysis and now in Vanguard. Over the past two weeks it has gotten really bad in Vanguard, and now I cant play for more than 10 minutes without BSOD or a system lockup and artifacting to boot.

http://williamb.dot5hosting.com//artifactv1.jpg
http://williamb.dot5hosting.com//artifactv2.jpg

Those are some pics of my artifacting.

What I am asking of you guys is if you think I should just go ahead and RMA my card. Its about 3 months old. I know a lot of people out there say RMA should be the very last step, but the fact that the problems have gotten worse in the past 2 weeks, and also the artifacting and nvlddmkm.sys happening together just scream faulty hardware to me. Sure they could both be due to the same issue, but the fact that it has gotten worse over time is what gets me.

I have tried lowering all my system clocks to stock speeds, removing and reinstalling several drivers, memtest, and several fixes I have found on various forums, and nothing seems to help.

I am probably going to try wiping and installing XP tonight...this will basically pinpoint faulty hardware yes?

specs:
Q6600 @ 2.4
EVGA 680i
8800GTX factory OC @ 621mhz
4gb mushkin at 5-4-4-12 2x2GB 1.8v
650W+550W dual PSU's
Vista 64
 
I know there are many things people say cause this issue.... I tend to believe its an issue with nvidia more than anything else. If you are using Vista get SP1... I had the same nvlddmkm.sys issues as everyone else. I even had my computer rebuilt again over it and nothing fixed it. It got steadily worse till computer would bsod sitting at desktop in about 3-5 mins with the nvlddmkm.sys thing. Got SP1 installed and have had one nvlddmkm.sys error and that I think was due to a game crash and me not restarting after the crash. I got my SP1 early so its been several weeks so far and everything seems good.

Looking at the artifacting though I would think you might need the rma. I would if my card consistantly artifacted like that if it hadnt previously. Might try new drivers and if that doesnt fix then rma.
 
Before a system rebuild yesterday, I would experience those types of problems with an A8N32 based system and an 8800GTX running Vista 64 playing City of Heroes. Reverted back to XP and everything was solid as a rock. I just lost access to some of the 4GB of RAM. Now the system is rebuilt with a quad and more memory and back to Vista 64. I'm hoping the fresh install of Vista 64 and a different mobo chipset will help. Time will tell. :\ But I doubt nVidia spends much time trying to figure out Vista 64 issues.
 
I have had this error message too, very annoying. I never did have it on XP either however. I actually found aggressive memory timings for ram/northbridge can trigger this off, it may not be the card itself, but still could be. The fact that you are running stock is a little disheartening. What drivers are you running? Try and do a full uninstall, driver sweeper in safemode, CCleaner etc and put in the latest 174.74 and see how you make out.

Do you know the temps on your card during load? If they are high, too high, they will cause artifacts. Try and raise the fan speed on the card or try and get some more cooling around the card itself in your case. If none of this fixes your problem you are going to have to RMA the card. If it is only 3 weeks old that is much too young for the card to be acting up. Try and RMA through your retailer before EVGA or you will get a refurb back in return. Would hate to see you get someone elses recycled junk for your brand new card.

If it makes you feel any better I am starting to think my 8800 Ultra is slowly growing issues too. Bah, dying hardware is never fun. Best of luck.
 
One thing is for certain, it is a Vista only issue. Cant really say who is to blame for it, perhaps both parties....but thats not really what matters.

Its not my temps, they are at like 75 under load. Also the card is 3 MONTHS old, so idk if an RMA through Newegg is possible at this point.

Anyone know of a memtest for VRAM?
 
kodan said:
I know there are many things people say cause this issue.... I tend to believe its an issue with nvidia more than anything else. If you are using Vista get SP1... I had the same nvlddmkm.sys issues as everyone else. I even had my computer rebuilt again over it and nothing fixed it. It got steadily worse till computer would bsod sitting at desktop in about 3-5 mins with the nvlddmkm.sys thing. Got SP1 installed and have had one nvlddmkm.sys error and that I think was due to a game crash and me not restarting after the crash. I got my SP1 early so its been several weeks so far and everything seems good.

Looking at the artifacting though I would think you might need the rma. I would if my card consistantly artifacted like that if it hadnt previously. Might try new drivers and if that doesnt fix then rma.
Click to expand...

SP1 isn't a fix...

I've been running Vista 64 for around 6 months, and can only remember getting the TDR (Timeout Detection and Recovery) thing popping up maybe half a dozen times. Really, I can't remember it ever happening, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.

I installed SP1 last night, and I've had 3 TDR shits in the time it's taken me to read the posts in this thread and make this response. 2 dozen today in the 3 hours I've actually been using my computer, and we're not talking games, just browsing the internet. Extremely graphically intensive shit!

Everyone slags ATI for their drivers, but come on... The 2900xt in the system next to me that's been running SP1 on 64 for the last week hasn't had a single issue...


Has anyone had any luck with the beta drivers?

EDIT: make that 5 times, crashed twice when i pressed reply
2xEDIT: 6, crashed when saving previous edit...
 
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