nvlddmkm.sys error on steroids.

tvalentine · October 2009

so i went out of town for 3 days to visit family and come back to a computer that crashes on games 5 minutes in with the nvlddmkm driver crashing. This has happened to me before so i figure i would fix it somehow and be on with my life in a week or so.... yeah well while i was toying around installing the newest drivers and downloading M&B my computer completely crashed..... Ok so i figure maybe somehow cleaning my computer will magically fix the problem.... so i cleaned it, turned it on, and now i have a graphical glitch with colored lines going across my screen and a very slow boot up.... I can no longer get passed the microsoft loading bar without my computer restarting itself. I can boot up in safe mode so i dont think its any corruption in my OS. I even reinstalled my video drivers, switched out my memory testing one at a time .... i cant figure it out. So my last resort atm is to just reformat it with Windows 7 (i have vista atm), But i was wondering/hoping that anyone had a clue whats up with it..... Also the crash now shows a memory dump with the nvlddmkm.sys file as a reason (its why i tested the memory)

Grunty · October 2009

You'll need to completely remove the Nvidia graphics drivers while in Safe mode and start over with them. Upgrading Nvidia drivers doesn't always work well. It is best to remove the older driver set before installing the new set and some times that doesn't work. Look on the web for Nvidia driver removers and use due caution while doing so.

dfan · October 2009

Always use guru3d driver cleaner between changing driver sets.

tvalentine · October 2009

Originally posted by grunty

You'll need to completely remove the Nvidia graphics drivers while in Safe mode and start over with them. Upgrading Nvidia drivers doesn't always work well. It is best to remove the older driver set before installing the new set and some times that doesn't work. Look on the web for Nvidia driver removers and use due caution while doing so.

just tryed it. I used nvidia nasty file remover and driver cleaner and went through the control panel to find the nvidia driver and uninstalled it. Although after that i was able to boot up normally cept the resolution is still low and the green lines are still there. Tomorrow i'll try some older drivers, but today i think i'm done.

noquarter · October 2009

Green lines aren't a driver issue it's generally the video card running hot or failing but it could be a power supply not giving it enough power any of which will also give you that driver crash. Often that driver crash isn't due to bad drivers it's just the error that pops up when the card stops behaving the way it's suppose to and the driver doesn't know what to do with it.

Make sure the heatsink isn't loose sometimes the thermal paste is the only thing holding it on and it loses cohesion.

tvalentine · October 2009

nothing has changed and after i messed with the drivers i did manage to boot up normally. I dont see how this isnt a driver problem. I'll check the heatsink and GPU though since i'm running out of options.

tvalentine · October 2009

update...

i made sure everything was plugged in right and got it to boot up normally as usual except without the green lines.... unfortunetly i'm still crashing and cant play any games... anything thats open causes the crashes more often then if everything was closed. I still think it's some driver issue, although with the change that came from just pushing on the heatsink/gpu i dunno. There is still a issue. Overheating isnt an issue since all the fans are working and its colder then usual in my house. Hmm and as i type this my screen keeps showing green dots ... i think it is my GPU since its happened on and off for the last month. (without the crashing) I thought it was my monitor but it looks like it isnt. Anyone got any suggestions on a video card better then a 8800 ultra i can get for less then 200$?

daylight01 · October 2009

Mate this is a nightmare,it really is.

If you google the problem you will see it goes back over 2 years,there is no 1 fix for it.

I recently bought a 275gtx card and got this problem,I sent the card back and although the company say's they know of this problem they tested the card and said it had no faults,the card was away for 2 weeks and I went back to my old 8800gt card and all has been fine again,I will get my 275 card back in a couple of days but I know it is just a lump of plastic that wont work.

As I said I searched through the web to solve this problem and it really is widespread and no 1 fix to help all.

Some blame the card or the driver or the ram or whatever,this is the single biggest problem that for some reason nvidia/ATI or microsoft will not comment on or give an answer to.

Just to add the problem is the card believe's it is over heating/not responding so it stops the card to stop it from burning out,although it is not a cooling issue just some sort of gremlin at work,Like I said the company I bought the card from says this is a problem and they know of it but there seems no fix....my struggle also goes on which I hope to just get a refund for my card.

Cochran1 · October 2009

Check your vid cards capacitors and make sure none of them have ruptured, I had 2 identical cards both with that error. They started it 1 month apart turns out a few manufacturers were using defective capacitors. Check around the bottom to see if the rubber plug is pushed out, or the top will be ruptured. Bad caps will cause the driver error under the slightest load.

daylight01 · October 2009

Originally posted by Cochran1

Check your vid cards capacitors and make sure none of them have ruptured, I had 2 identical cards both with that error. They started it 1 month apart turns out a few manufacturers were using defective capacitors. Check around the bottom to see if the rubber plug is pushed out, or the top will be ruptured. Bad caps will cause the driver error under the slightest load.

It does not help mate,my card has been sent back and went through a test and they found no problems with it.

I honestly wish I knew the reason for this but I can bet you can take your card and place it in another system and it will work fine,like I said google the fault on the web to see the extent of this problem,there is no 1 fix,there is no comment to sort the problem form either ATI/Nvidia or even microsoft,although they all do admit there is a problem,even the store's know of this problem.

Cochran1 · October 2009

Originally posted by daylight01

Originally posted by Cochran1

Check your vid cards capacitors and make sure none of them have ruptured, I had 2 identical cards both with that error. They started it 1 month apart turns out a few manufacturers were using defective capacitors. Check around the bottom to see if the rubber plug is pushed out, or the top will be ruptured. Bad caps will cause the driver error under the slightest load.

It does not help mate,my card has been sent back and went through a test and they found no problems with it.

I honestly wish I knew the reason for this but I can bet you can take your card and place it in another system and it will work fine,like I said google the fault on the web to see the extent of this problem,there is no 1 fix,there is no comment to sort the problem form either ATI/Nvidia or even microsoft,although they all do admit there is a problem,even the store's know of this problem.

Wish I could help further, as for what I stated I did swap the cards when 1 was still working, and bad caps did turn out to be my particular problem. I replaced both my cards and haven't had the problem since. That's also why I didn't post any other possible solutions because you seemed to have tried everything that has been commonly suggested over the years.

All I can say is good luck, and when you find a solution that works for you post it everywhere, maybe it'll work for someone else.

tvalentine · October 2009

i've had this error before but i've fixed it multiple times... usually through just waiting it out, cleaning my case or something that isnt even software related to changing a couple settings.... This time though i've never seen it do the things its doing. I think its the GPU though this time, i took it out cleaned it, did the work with the drivers and etc (wich one time before worked) and it still isnt working.

EDIT:UPDATE2:

well i just called BFG and found out i have a lifetime warranty on the graphics card.... i'll be sending it in and getting it a couple weeks (since i'm going out of town). Hopefully this will fix the problem, the tech guy said most of the time it is the graphics card that causes the nvlddmkm error.

noquarter · October 2009

Yea BFG has a good RMA system my buddy also had an 8800GTX that died after 1 year but it was easy to deal with them to get it replaced since we didn't need receipt or anything.

Also I didn't see that part about slow boot times that makes me feel there is a slightly increased chance that it's a bad PSU - you should check how hot the air coming out of the PSU is when you are doing something that causes crashes, if it's pretty hot then the PSU is probably stressing too much and underpowering the system. It doesn't rule anything out if it is hot or cool but it can be a symptom. Do you know what brand/model your PSU is?

Horusra · October 2009

rivatuner is your friend when it comes to making sure your card is or thinks it is cool.

tvalentine · November 2009

this is my last update. Just got my card back from BFG, and to my surprise it was a GTX 260 OC..... Really happy about that and i havent had a crash yet. Looks like i wont have to upgrade my GPU for a couple more years then i expected

noquarter · November 2009

Originally posted by tvalentine
this is my last update. Just got my card back from BFG, and to my surprise it was a GTX 260 OC..... Really happy about that and i havent had a crash yet. Looks like i wont have to upgrade my GPU for a couple more years then i expected

Wow.. that's awesome. Too bad BFG doesn't do ATI, I was just looking into buying a 5770 and I'd totally buy it from them with that kind of support lol.

Anyway good to hear it's all working now.

tvalentine · November 2009

Originally posted by noquarter

Originally posted by tvalentine

this is my last update. Just got my card back from BFG, and to my surprise it was a GTX 260 OC..... Really happy about that and i havent had a crash yet. Looks like i wont have to upgrade my GPU for a couple more years then i expected

Wow.. that's awesome. Too bad BFG doesn't do ATI, I was just looking into buying a 5770 and I'd totally buy it from them with that kind of support lol.

Anyway good to hear it's all working now.

yeah i wasnt expecting it. I was afraid for a minute since the 260 is bigger then my last card so i had to take a little extra time just getting it into the case, woulda sucked if it didnt fit.

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