*FIXED*NVidia 9600GT: nv4_disp.dll BSOD - Help!

*NOTE: I just copied and pasted this from another thread to save time.

OK Guys!!! Well I got a bit of luck, got a GeForce 9600GT 1024MB for slightly less than what I would have paid for the 9500GT. Now, I got the stutter and restart again - as with the onboard, so I decided to delve deeper, and set the PC so that it doesn't automatically restart when a system error occurs. So I get a BSOD now.

It references the nv4_disp.dll, which is a clear reference to the graphics card. Now, I have the latest WHQL drivers for the card - the 195.69 I think, but I didn't re-install them after inserting the new graphics card, because it was already installed for the onboard. Could this make a difference - the fact that I didn't uninstall and re-install the drivers?

Another possible culprit could be my only-250W power supply, but I wouldn't have thought that an insufficient power supply would give an error regarding my graphics card files?

Any thoughts guys? Have any of you had this error with the 9600GT and the latest (195.69) drivers?

At the moment I am downloading the previous WHQL drivers - 191.07 - and will be trying them tonight.

Thanks in advance for the help!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2010 12:48PM by Ho3n3r.

I have the same card in low profile low power HD out type. It runs on a 250w PSU and is in a Dell low profile computer on my simulator. The OS is Vista 32 and it runs great, I can't say what drivers it has, I think they are the ones off the disc that came with it. It runs well so I haven't updated the drivers at all.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

If the 250W PSU is a quality unit (ie, not some cheap one included in most cases or some $20 crap) then it should cope with a 9600GT relatively easily. Give us some more details on it, and we should be able to find out how many amps it can push on the 12v rail.

I'd uninstall, restart and then reinstall the graphics drivers too. It should work fine with what you have, but graphics drivers can hook into the OS in other ways. I doubt it would make a difference, but it's got to be worth trying.

Does it only happen at certain times? Playing certain games? Does it ever happen when outside of a game?

Do you have dual monitors? This file is the one referenced when the OS falls over because of the old dual monitor problem on Nvidia cards (ATI and Intel can suffer the same issue). It's been a long-standing issue, but only some setups suffer from it, and to be honest I've not seen anyone complain about it on Windows 7 (not that I've been looking), so perhaps the updated multi-display code has eliminated it.

mortal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have the same card in low profile low power HD
> out type. It runs on a 250w PSU and is in a Dell
> low profile computer on my simulator. The OS is
> Vista 32 and it runs great, I can't say what
> drivers it has, I think they are the ones off the
> disc that came with it. It runs well so I haven't
> updated the drivers at all.

OK what does all these 'low profiles' mean exactly? Stoopid question but I really haven't a clue!

But, can you tell me the exact version of the drivers you are using, e.g. 175.13 or whatever? Thanks man!

Still getting these RANDOM BSOD's and restarts. Dunno what's goin'. I got a MEMORY_MANAGEMENT BSOD, and then a can't remember exactly but something like IRQL_blalalalablah_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL_THAN_blah_cantrememberanymore. And also, was playing GTR 2 for say 2 and a half hours and no BSOD's.

But I ran Memtest86 after the memory_management BSOD, but it didn't turn up anything.

Switched over to Tiger Woods 2008, got the BSOD as soon as I started my 2nd round of the evening. GP4's turn next, maybe 10 minutes, another BSOD.

I dunno what anymore. I should probably add that the games run smoothly and flawlessly when they don't actually BSOD, especially GTR2, which actually hasn't given problems as far as I can recall, now that I think about it.

gav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the 250W PSU is a quality unit (ie, not some
> cheap one included in most cases or some $20 crap)
> then it should cope with a 9600GT relatively
> easily. Give us some more details on it, and we
> should be able to find out how many amps it can
> push on the 12v rail.
>
> I'd uninstall, restart and then reinstall the
> graphics drivers too. It should work fine with
> what you have, but graphics drivers can hook into
> the OS in other ways. I doubt it would make a
> difference, but it's got to be worth trying.
>
> Does it only happen at certain times? Playing
> certain games? Does it ever happen when outside of
> a game?
>
> Do you have dual monitors? This file is the one
> referenced when the OS falls over because of the
> old dual monitor problem on Nvidia cards (ATI and
> Intel can suffer the same issue). It's been a
> long-standing issue, but only some setups suffer
> from it, and to be honest I've not seen anyone
> complain about it on Windows 7 (not that I've been
> looking), so perhaps the updated multi-display
> code has eliminated it.

Answering your q's:

1. I will check tonight exactly what power supply I have. And what is these + and - 12V rails I keep reading about? I honestly have no clue myself.

2. It happens with almost all my games, but strangely my Fiancee's Sims 2 with all 19 expansions, as well as my GTR2 hasn't had any problems IIRC. I have had no problems outside of games, no.

3. No, I do not have dual monitors, only one.

I haven't had the nv4_disp.dll BSOD yet since 2 nights ago. But all these other random ones.

Thanks for any advice guys. I am a bit frustrated now, so sorry for ALL these questions. I just really want it to work.

Can you give us some examples of the other BSODs you have been getting.

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OK I will Willb. Tried something last night, formatted my old IDE HDD, all has been well so far although I haven't played GP4 on it yet.

What is the gaming performance loss from SATA to IDE, for interest sake?

No loss, SATA is an improvement on IDE. Actually, I have two SATA drives and one IDE drive in one of my comps and I cannot tell the difference. I s'pose there is one if I did a benchmark on it.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

There is no difference. The rotational speed of the hard drive is still the limiting factor the majority of the time. That will change with solid state drives, which, other than the budget ones you get in netbooks, are far, far faster than hard drives.

Cool... SEEM to have sold my problem, and guess what it seems to have been... when you look at this picture of my motherboard, you'll see where the SATA ports are in relation to the PCI express slot.

And if you know how the 9600GT looks, you'll know the profile and the way it blocks the SATA ports. Well, I didn't realise it until last night, by accident. Currently using the IDE HDD and wanted to insert the SATA HDD as a secondary drive - but VOILA, no space under the GPU to insert the SATA cable.

And because the SATA's are so un-sturdy, I must have not realised I pushed it out when I inserted the GPU when I got it it. So the SATA connector was probably at a 45 degree angle hanging out of the slot.

Formatted the IDE as it came out of a totally different PC and played GP4 and Tiger Woods 2008 for say 6 hours last night - and this morning :P - the two games which 'caused' most of these crashes. Well, so far no problems, only plain sailing, touch wood.

Also, the IDE is much more stable and it runs great, no problems.

I wouldn't mark this as fixed yet as I want to at least test it until the end of the weekend. But I really appreciate all your tips, it really helped a lot.

For now, enjoying the original GP4 with full graphics and a high FPS and high resolution for the first time ever. One full season with Kimi in the Sauber on Pro with keyboard After that, MODS!!!

Glad it seems to be sorted. The one time no-one suggested checking or changing a cable.

Still, at least you've not spent money trying to replace a seemingly working part!

90 degree SATA cable

I thought the stock 9600GTs were single-slot ones? Have you been unlucky enough to get a dual-slot one? I say unlucky, I'd choose a dual-slot one unless a need the space, as it ought to be quieter due to a more efficient heatsink, but obviously a dual-slot doesn't suit your motherboard.

You'll also find boards are starting to come with 90 degree SATA ports on the edge of the board, like this, to alleviate that problem.

IDE is ghastly. Urgh. Works fine, but so do warts.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2010 08:33AM by gav.

WOW Gav, thanks! Will check that out today... And try it tonight!

How funny, last night I was thinking 'how useful would a bent SATA cable be right now?', without knowing they exist...

The reason I didn't check the cable is probably because I got so agitated with it that I just yanked the cables out and inserted the IDE to start and format. Wasn't even thinking.

And no, it is a single slot GPU, it just blocks the SATA's because it's so thick. Also, I have a feeling that my SATA ports are closer to the PCI-Ex slot than what that picture suggests. Because it fully blocks it.

If you built the PC or had it built for you, check the motherboard box. It looks like a stock OEM board (and I'm guessing it's a PC you bought rather than had built), and so probably didn't come with any accessories like cables, but it's worth a shot.

90 degree cables are fairly common now, though of course, in a block of 2 SATA ports, only 1 90 degree cable of a type can be used, as the other port would be blocked by the cable, so you'd have to use 1 90 degree and 1 standard, or 2 90 degree cables in ports side-by-side rather than one in front of the other. So on your board, only 2 90 degree cables can be used.

Yes it came with a box, as it was built by me, with a total of 4 SATA cables. Unfortunately, all four are the straight ones.

Luckily, they seem to be cheap. And I only need one...

You'll probably pay about £5 postage and have to wait until hell unfreezes to get it though.

Unless you have a Maplin or a computer store near you? They're bound to have one lying around. Shops will charge you more than online stores though, and Maplin will probably try and fob you off with a gold-plated one, ignoring the fact that it's a digital signal, so it either works or it doesn't. Like their HDMI cables which cost £20 instead of the same thing from the Pound Shop. :\



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2010 09:25AM by gav.

LOL. I will have a look - there are a few good stores in the area to go look. But it is South Africa, so we might still be a few years behind...

Good and bad news regarding this topic:

Good news: I found one of those 90 degree SATA cables that same afternoon - thanks gav! It fitted perfectly.

Bad news: still got the BSOD with the SATA!!! None in 10 weeks with the IDE though, so it seems to be something with the hard drive - which doesn't make sense to me - why would a faulty hard drive return a BSOD with nv4_disp.dll?

Also neither chkdsk x: /f or /r turned up anything bad...

Anyone got any further ideas for me to try?

BUMP

Good news on this as well: I upgraded from 1GB to 2GB RAM by adding another 1GB. Hasn't had even one glitch since.

And this is on the SATA HDD, since the IDE disk is irrepairably damaged.

Thanks ONCE AGAIN all...