nv4_disp error

[Pirin 0]

I recently got a new 8800GT card and since then ArmA has crashed on me several times. I think it might be heat, but the error doesn't feel like a heat crash even though temps are getting high. Just wanted to see if others have seen a similar error or if I need to start playing ArmA in my freezer!

Basically the game will be running perfectly smooth with no problems at all, then suddently freeze. Sound keeps going, and apparently AI still works too since I'll hear vehicles move and people keep shooting. After about 5 seconds I crash to desktop which has turned into 800x600 4 colors with the following error:

Quote[/b] ]Application popup: Windows - Display Driver Stopped Responding : The nv4_disp display driver has stopped working normally. Save your work and reboot the system to restore full display functionality. The next time you reboot the machine a dialog will be displayed giving you a chance to upload data about this failure to Microsoft.

Event viewer lists this just before it:

Quote[/b] ]The driver nv4_disp for the display device \Device\Video0 got stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates a problem with the device itself or with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly. Please check with your hardware device vendor for any driver updates.

My stats are as follows:

2.13GHz P4

2GB RAM

XP Pro SP2

DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Nvidia 8800 GT 512MB (not OC'd)

169.21 drivers WHQL.

Normally a heat lockup would just freeze the machine right? It wouldn't just corrupt the video of Windows and leave you with enough control to start a shutdown? My cards temp peaked around 88C, but with the fan turned to 60% it peaks around 78C.

Thanks for any input!

[boomboomer 0]

Sounds like a driver issue, if it were over heating you would normally see artifacts if it was bad enough to cause a crash.

You say it's a new card, did you do a complete removal of the previous drivers? I'd also try the new 174 beta drivers (they work well on my 8800GTS). Also make sure your upto date with DX9 too, March 2008 I think is the latest.

[boomboomer 0]

Oops, double post.

[Maverick806 0]

I used to have these problems myself all the time. By any chance are you using fraps? Somehow that was my problem.

Other than that, yeah, update to 174.74 and that should help

[Pirin 0]

I uninstalled my 169.21 drivers, then ran driver cleaner pro to get rid of my anything left, including my old ATI drivers, and then installed the beta drivers.

Now I'm crashing in almost the same way, except this time there's no error messages logged.

[rowdied 44]

Pirin,

Do not use those drivers 169.21 !!! I've had nothing but problems with them and crashing just like you. I actaully reverted to the drivers my 8800gt came with 169.09. The newer 174's will work, anything but those 169.21 . And keep vsync on and prerender ahead to 3, or you'll have problems too.

[misinformed 0]

I had an 8800GT untill recently and it did exactly the same thing your describing, crashed, but the sound still kept coming, loss of signal to the monitor. And sometimes a bsod.

Now ive got a 9600GT and im just getting the BSOD every once in a while, its very annoying. And still having to deal with the texture stretching issue. And all this after getting a new processor, motherboard, PSU, RAM and a fresh install of XP. So keep your attention on the graphics card and its relation to the game because its very unlikely to be anything else.

Try and find out what bios version your 8800GT is using some manufacturers have updated bio's available but id read up on the whole "flashing your graphics card bios" thing first.

Nvidia control panel > Help tab > system information

I also tried pretty much every driver known to man but that's not going to sort it.

And this specific problem has nothing to do with Power supplies either in case anyone mentions it because it did the same thing with my old generic 400W PSU as it does with my new Antec 500w.

[FritzDaKat 0]

B.T.W. if ya' do update your DX instalation (refuse to call it 9 or 10 anymore for fear of confusing ppl. lol ) be sure to either reinstall or update your video and sound card drivers as during their initial install they "set certain parameters" relative to DX at time of their install. It'll just help to be sure they all work together as intended.

I've also had a similar issue where one of the driver components (nvlddmkm.sys iir) suddenly stops responding and black screens me since installing SP1 (Vista 32) yesterday but luckily so far It's been recovering. Also had my Gamma / brightness go nuts for a while, like the sun suddenly moved 500m from earth. GPU Temp's have been in low to mid 50's C. range may have hit 60? (Hoping it's not my Vid Card giving me hints / 7600 GT-256Mb)

***EDIT***

So after a few hours of digging thru a whole load of forums / websites dealing with this Nvidia v.s. Vista issue I think I've stumbled across a possible fix. Seems many ppl with all sorts of Nvidia cards and chipsets have been having all sorts of trouble with Vista (Why mine didnt surface till after SP1 I dunno,,,) NE way, in my particular case it seem the nvlddmkm.sys file (windows\system32\drivers) was not being updated properly when I installed different drivers.

I ran across a particular thread (forgot the exact site) which stated as follows,

Quote[/b] ]I have found and fixed the problem today.  This is what appears to happen.

during the installation of the most current drivers 100.65 Vista, an OLD file

nvlddmkm.sys is copied into windows/system32/drivers and not the current one

in the install.  As a result the new drivers are attempting to access a file

dated 11/2006 instead of 2/2007 ver 7.15.11.0065 which is in the newest WHQL

driver ver 100.65 vista 32.

Fix:  Go to windows/system32/drivers and rename nvlddmkm.sys to

nvlddmkm.sys.old.  Go to the nvidia directory and find the file nvlddmkm.sy_

and copy it to windows/system32.  Using the cmd window (DOS box) type

EXPAND.EXE nvlddmkm.sy_ nvlddmkm.sys.  When the expansion is complete, copy

the new nvlddmkm.sys to windows/system32/drivers and restart the computer.

Your computer should now work properly.

So I looked and sure enough, my working copy of the nvlddmkm.sys file was older than the nvlddmkm.sy_ file in the update packages I had downloaded.

Unfortunatly the Admin-command prompt- expand.exe thing didnt work for me, so I got brave and used a tool called move on boot to just delete the old file outright when I restarted next. (Made a backup of the old nvlddmkm.sys first just to be safe and had recently made a restore point ne way) (

Move on Boot is under the file utilities section here )

So, with the file deleted, when I first booted I got an error with nvapi.(sys/dll?) not responding, but it wasnt a bsod, just reduced resolution which allowed me to continue and reinstall the new beta drivers, which I'm glad to say finally updated the nvlddmkm.sys file

 So I guess what I'm suggesting is that you check the details tab of the properties window for whatever Nvidia file you're having issue with and compare it to the details tab on the "same" *.sy_ file you will find in the driver update package you last installed.  

Now I'm gonna go see if this actually fixed my problem (hasn't happened in 20 minutes so far, was happening with increasing frequency previously - 5-10 minutes)

:crosses fingers :  

UPDATE

Didn't fix the display driver hanging up for me, BUT it was very much worth the trouble, game runs alot smoother.

[malick 0]

Hello all,

I have the same issue, but AFTER I have updated all drivers ! I'll try the last trick proposed by FritzDaKat, but don't really believe this will change anything for me (EDIT : Doh ! Vista only..). Any ideas ?

ASUS M2NE

AMD4600

2Go DDR2 Dual Channel

GeF8600GT 256Mo DDR3 with nVidia 174.74 drivers

DirectX 9.0c, march 2008 update

WinXP SP2

Strange that I've got everything new and up to date and that it bugs now, and not before ...

Malick

[mattxr 9]

I got this exact same issue, and i fixed it by going to GURU3D and downloading the lastest nivida drivers 173 or something along those lines. WinXP 32bit

i was getting the BSOD with nv4_disp error but now thats fixed.

[malick 0]

I finally "fixed" this issue by reverting back some changes : my drivers and video didn't accept 0 frames rendered ahead, so I put it back to 1, instead of 3 by default. Works correct, for now.

Malick

[FritzDaKat 0]

(EDIT : Doh ! Vista only..). Any ideas ?

Well, the process I described was intended for Vista, however thats not to say that your Nvidia drivers are being correctly updated.

If you come to a point where you decide to update your vid drivers again, after uninstalling them, check your system32 and drivers folder, perform a search for nv_* and see what might show up. I do seem to recall XP having a similarly "Evil" folder which hung on to old info like the "File Suppository " folder. At least worth checking into.

However, even having the drivers updated properly (all showing nearly the same "last modified" date) has not solved my problem Thou I have at least been noticing a steady improvment in actual game performance (Crashing / errors aside) with the successive driver versions so theres a little light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm starting to wonder if it's just a case of Nvidia hiring a fresh batch of coding-school dropouts ( ITT: Suma Cum Neva' to write their drivers in which case, we're all fubar, regardless of OS.

Nvidia's been pissing alot of folks off for a while, I've even noticed a growing # of 3rd party modded vid. drivers getting released. (Google Nvidia drivers and check the first few pages, you'll see what I mean.) All I know is that right now, if someone told me that istalling the Sasser worm on my system would fix my frigging performance issues theres a good chance I'd try it as a last resort to the can of gas and book of matches I'm thinking more and more of these day's.

Quote[/b] ]Strange that I've got everything new and up to date and that it bugs now, and not before ...

New != Better

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

 Nvidia's been pissing alot of folks off for a while,

I concur,

I purchased SLI for Vista in Feb 07', but it was late May before Nvidia could get it to work with Vista. Still today, I have small issues.