NVIDIA Geforce2 mx/mx 400 causing instability?

[Kirei Blossom]

Hello,

When I switched on my computer after hibernation, there was no display, and then it shut down. On restarting, I got an error message saying that the shutdown was caused due to a device driver instability, and that it was because of NVIDIA Geforce2 mx/mx400.

And then another error message saying that the system has recovered from a serious error.

I'm attaching the latest minidump. I last updated my NVIDIA driver in 2005, and its a version 8.1.9.8. I have quite an old PC running Windows XP.

Help please. Though, the problem only happened once and since then I've hibernated/shut down/restarted the computer a few times and it seems to be working fine with no more error messages.

 

[Route44]

Your error is 0x000000EA: THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER

A device driver problem has caused the system to pause indefinitely (hang). Typically, this is caused by a display driver waiting for the video hardware to enter an idle state. This might indicate a hardware problem with the video adapter, or a faulty video driver.

The driver cited is nv4_mini.sys which is part of the Nvidia driver file.

 

[Kirei Blossom]

so, any suggestions on what to do?

 

[Route44]

Try this:

1. Dowload the free version of Driver Cleaner Pro.

2. Download but don't install the latest drivers for your video card. Save it to your desktop.

3. Uninstall your Nvidia drivers.

4. Reboot your system into Safe Mode and use Driver Cleaner Pro. if it doesn't find anything Nvidia that is quite okay.

5. Reboot your sytem into normal mode and install the latest drivers from Nvidia.

* Let us know of the results.

 

[Kirei Blossom]

Which would be the updated driver for my video card?

 

[Route44]

Go to Nvidia's site: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Use Option One and follow the directions.

 

[Kirei Blossom]

Hello,

My computer's having some problems again, relating to this existing thread, so I'll continue from here:

I updated the NVIDIA display driver a month ago (from the same site and option Route44 mentioned above) , and installed version 93.71, dated 2006. I'm not getting any more error messages or any minidumps, but sometimes the screen display flickers or blacks out for a second or two. Sometimes, the whole screen just freezes, and then my computer goes into an unresponsive state, and then either it stays that way, or the display blacks out.

Today I dusted out the whole case and cleaned the videocard. And again the screen froze for a second, but this time it recovered itself and didn't black out.

Any suggestions? Is the driver not compatible? Or is it my video card going faulty?

 

[Route44]

Hmmm, it could be several things such as your power supply, video card's fan failing to work, or your video card is dying. Do you experience any screens that seem checkered board or have black lines as well?

 

[Kirei Blossom]

I had the checkered board screen before I updated my driver. Now, the screen just freezes as is, or goes black.

 

[Route44]

I had the checkered board screen before I updated my driver. Now, the screen just freezes as is, or goes black.

Then your video card is dying. The checkerboard pattern is a sure sign it is the vid card. If you know someone who has an extra video card and it can work in your system swap out and see if that brings stability. make sure you install the correct drivers for said card, but first uninstall the old drivers.

I would begin searching for a new card.

 

[Kirei Blossom]

Before I get a new card, are there any other ways to figure out that it isn't the power supply or fan?

Does the video card dying involve the CPU usage to shoot up to 100% randomly, stay that way for a while, freezing everything, and then continue normally? Just curious..