"The n4v_disp display driver has stopped working normally"

[datter 0]

Is anyone else seeing this error?

My system:

Windows XP SP3

Q6600 2.4ghz overclocked to 3.3ghz (very stable)

2gb OCZ Reaper 9600 (stock)

nVidia BFG 8800GT OC2 x2 in SLI (factory overclock, see below)

Driver 186.18 (tried several back to 182.50, same problem)

Renamed arma2.exe to Crysis.exe to make SLI work

ArmA2 settings:

Res 1680x1050 (sometimes 1440x990 as I can't decide which I like better)

AA and AF : Very high

Textures : Normal

Texture memory : Very high (which gives me around 512mb in the cfg)

Object detail : High

Shadow detail : Very high (strangely, this gives better frame rates)

Terrain detail : Normal

Post processing : Disabled of Very high (I still can't decide whether I like it on or off but do not suffer any frame rate loss either way)

Shortcut switch : Using nointro and -maxmem 2047, though not sure the latter is needed

Frame rates : Around 30 throughout the campaign and elsewhere

I've tried ALL variety of settings, and still see this problem. I first noticed it in single player on occasion when the screen would suddenly freeze and I couldn't even alt-tab back to the desktop (forcing me to hit the reset button). It was rare, but it happened. Then I started playing MP with a friend of mine (two player co-op) and when hosting, I found this would happen to me about every 10 to 15 minutes for some reason. It would even happen when sitting int he MP lobby believe it or not. At that point I had no clue what was causing it as I'd never got an error, until one time it let me tab back to the desktop for some reason and I saw the error above. This basically tells me my video cards have stopped responding for whatever reason.

I should state that although I have overclocked my CPU, and the video cards have a factory overclock all my temps are low and the system is very stable. I monitor it constantly and have no other issues. That said, the only time I've seen the above error in the past is when trying to overclock another video card some years ago, so with that being the case I de-clocked my BFG 8800GT OC2 cards a bit just to see if that helped. I then connected to a random MP server and played for a half hour with no problems. I have also played for 90min straight in single player with no issues at all. Thinking the problem was solved my friend and I tried some more two player co-op with me hosting, and although the problem was much less frequent it still happened. Rather than me crashing every 10 to 15 min, it happened every 20 to 30 perhaps. At the end of the night he tried hosting and HE crashed (artifacting), although his system is a bit long in the tooth. No problems on my end for the 30min we played with him as host.

SO.

Has anyone received the above error?

Can that error have ANYTHING to do with hosting an MP game?

It doesn't make much sense that I'd see an error about my video cards failing more during MP than SP, but that's what seems to be happening.

Edited July 6, 2009 by datter

[nocturna 10]

Happened with me before and it was gfx card overheating... (it wasnt with ArmA 2 but that doesnt matter)

[datter 0]

Happened with me before and it was gfx card overheating...

That was the first thing I thought too, but I cracked the case open and redid my ventilation and now even under heavy load the cards hardly break 70c, which is well within the acceptable limits for these cards. When I first installed them they were running near 90c with no trouble, though I've obviously sense sorted my cooling out better.

[rowdied 44]

That was the first thing I thought too, but I cracked the case open and redid my ventilation and now even under heavy load the cards hardly break 70c, which is well within the acceptable limits for these cards. When I first installed them they were running near 90c with no trouble, though I've obviously sense sorted my cooling out better.

When you switched between drivers, do you do a clean install using a driver cleaner program such as driver cleaner pro or the like?

I had problems similar to this and did a clean install and updates to 186.18 and have had no problems since. Just a suggestion if you havne't tried it already.

[datter 0]

When you switched between drivers, do you do a clean install using a driver cleaner program such as driver cleaner pro or the like?

I had problems similar to this and did a clean install and updates to 186.18 and have had no problems since. Just a suggestion if you havne't tried it already.

Good thought, and something I should have mentioned but yes... I uninstall drivers, boot to safemode then use Driver Cleaner Pro, then boot back and install the new drivers with no virus software running.

[Ekre 10]

i have the same issue, mostly when flying with helos/planes. if im flying with a helo at around 200, im usually crash to desktop or have a black screen with nv display error, or the textures just starts shuttering and then its just crash. every other games running fine without a crash.

[datter 0]

i have the same issue, mostly when flying with helos/planes. if im flying with a helo at around 200, im usually crash to desktop or have a black screen with nv display error, or the textures just starts shuttering and then its just crash. every other games running fine without a crash.

Are you running SLI by anychance? I'm starting to think it might be something to do with that.

[MPBR 10]

Have you tried running the game at CPU stock speeds ?

Have had Nvidia cards drop out with errors before from CPU OC's.

[OUT FOX EM 10]

It's a display error (obviously), so it won't have anything to do with hosting.

I had this same exact error for awhile and couldn't figure out how to solve it, until someone mentioned that my GPU was overheating and to try lowering the clocks. I knew that was incorrect because I had been monitoring the temps and they were 58-60° C, even at full load. Temperature and cooling was obviously not the issue here. My card is a factory overclocked GTX 285, from BFG no less.

I figured what the hell, I'll lower my clocks anyway down to the stock Nvidia clock speeds and see what happens. Lo and behold, I could play just fine. There were two specific places in Crysis and one in COD4 that would cause this error every single time without fail, so I was able to test it properly. Time and time again it would freeze with the BFG clocks at the exact same points. Now that I've lowered it to Nvidia's specs, I play without a single problem on stock clocks (need to update my signature).

Even though your temperatures are good, try lowering your clocks to at least the stock speeds and see what happens. If you still run into the occasional error, drop them little by little until it's fully stable. It's nice to have higher clocks, but if you can't use them, what's the point?

EDIT: I see you're starting to suspect SLI, so I should mention my problems came (and went) before I got my second 285. Anyway, I hope sharing my personal experiences help you somehow.

Edited July 7, 2009 by OUT FOX EM

[datter 0]

It's a display error (obviously), so it won't have anything to do with hosting.

I had this same exact error for awhile and couldn't figure out how to solve it, until someone mentioned that my GPU was overheating and to try lowering the clocks. I knew that was incorrect because I had been monitoring the temps and they were 58-60° C, even at full load. Temperature and cooling was obviously not the issue here. My card is a factory overclocked GTX 285, from BFG no less.

I figured what the hell, I'll lower my clocks anyway down to the stock Nvidia clock speeds and see what happens. Lo and behold, I could play just fine. There were two specific places in Crysis and one in COD4 that would cause this error every single time without fail, so I was able to test it properly. Time and time again it would freeze with the BFG clocks at the exact same points. Now that I've lowered it to Nvidia's specs, I play without a single problem on stock clocks (need to update my signature).

Even though your temperatures are good, try lowering your clocks to at least the stock speeds and see what happens. If you still run into the occasional error, drop them little by little until it's fully stable. It's nice to have higher clocks, but if you can't use them, what's the point?

EDIT: I see you're starting to suspect SLI, so I should mention my problems came (and went) before I got my second 285. Anyway, I hope sharing my personal experiences help you somehow.

That's excellent info, thanks for sharing. I'll lower things all the way to stock 8800gt speeds tonight and see how it goes.

[OUT FOX EM 10]

That's excellent info, thanks for sharing. I'll lower things all the way to stock 8800gt speeds tonight and see how it goes.

Did that help at all?

[-)rStrangelove 0]

From my experience it's an error that happens when 1 part in an overclocked system can't keep up with the rest of your hardware. It mostly happens with cpu-intensive games (hence why ppl saying things like "it only happens in game x !!").

It can happen after 5mins to 1.5 hours. I had this error in the past on various systems during the last years and yet i always fixed them with different solutions - so the cause are widespread. Google for it and you'll find millions of forum posts with that error message, for millions of different games.

So generally it just shows there's something not optimized in your system, can be your gfx card, gfx cars slot, motherboard timings (cpu, ram, bus), can even be a slowly failing power supply, can be your rams or how the way they sit in the slots.

Temperatures, power levels, timings, conflicting IRQs, old drivers conflicting with newer ones - can be anything.

Best thing to do is to set back your system to normal speeds, rip everything out which is not needed for testing (esp a creative soundcard). Unplug all usb fancy stuff you dont need. Gently push everything you have left in your pc down on the motherboard again, esp rams.

If you have a stable system, add 1 thing at a time then play for 2 hours. Overclocking comes last cause OCing an already unstable system is not a good idea. ;)

Hope that helps somewhat. God knows i've been haunted by this error for years now.

[datter 0]

Did that help at all?

That was absolutely the problem. I didn't lower myself back all the way to stock speeds, but just backed them off a bit... not had a similar crash since. Some CTD's of course, but not of the kind related to a GPU overclock.

[private plowjoy 0]

Well, my opinion is that this isn't anything to do with overclocking. I've had this very same error using a rig that wasn't OC'd in any way whatsoever. In my case it was fixed by using the SLI 'patch'.

Low GPU temps are a surefire sign that OC'ing isn't the cause anyway. If a GPU isn't running hot then that can't be the reason the GPU falls over.

No, my opinion is that OC might exacerbate the problem, likely due to loading assets into GPU VRAM too quickly for the client to garbage collect in time. By scaling back the hardware you're artificially throttling its capability and that's what's slowing down the crash. You'll likely still get it but it will take longer.

All IMHO of course.

[OUT FOX EM 10]

Well, my opinion is that this isn't anything to do with overclocking. I've had this very same error using a rig that wasn't OC'd in any way whatsoever. In my case it was fixed by using the SLI 'patch'.

Low GPU temps are a surefire sign that OC'ing isn't the cause anyway. If a GPU isn't running hot then that can't be the reason the GPU falls over.

No, my opinion is that OC might exacerbate the problem, likely due to loading assets into GPU VRAM too quickly for the client to garbage collect in time. By scaling back the hardware you're artificially throttling its capability and that's what's slowing down the crash. You'll likely still get it but it will take longer.

All IMHO of course.

Artificial or not, the results are real. I haven't had a crash since I lowered my clocks -- neither has he.

Problem? Who knows.

Solution? Most definitely.

[An Fiach 10]

I've had this with several nvidia gfx cards and they weren't overclocked at all. It generally is a result of threading issues but what's causing it is a mystery

[An-225 0]

I also have the same problem, with a Pentium 4 (3.2GHz), 2GB of RAM and an 8800GT. Nothing has been overclocked.

However, it only occurs in the full game...not the demo.

[datter 0]

I'm still having freezing but only when flying, as mentioned here. As it's not an n4v_disp error I'm thinking it's unrelated to the GPU OC. That said, I'm curious if I pull my gpu factory overclock back a bit more if it will make these flying freezes less frequent also... worth a shot as I never did pull them all the way back to stock speeds, just down a bit from the factory OC.

Regardless of why this works, if you are having n4v_disp errors where your video card(s) basically shit the bed on you, pulling back your GPU clocks will absolutely help with that.

I'll pull my GPU's all the way back to stock speeds and see if I can fly an A-10 for any longer than 5 minutes. Would be interesting if this is related, but I don't think it is.