[Benjamin Dover]

Dell Dimensions 8300 Intel® Pentium® 4CPU 3.00 GHz, 2.99 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
MS Windows XP, Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 2

Okay, when I used my computer on Saturday, my monitor started blacking out (as if someone was turing it on and off) and eventually went completely black. I forced it to shut down and when I try to boot up in normal mode, my monitor and key board turn off and I get a blue screen saying there was a problem caused by file NV4_disp that it's stuck in infinate loop.

I have been helped in the Post Your Hijack-This Section thinking this was a virus or a worm and everything (I assume since I've not heard back) has checked out but now I'm starting to think this is more of a Dell/XP issue. If anyone is aware of this, could you please offer your assistance? I've done some searching but I really want to confirm what I found before I really mess my computer up. The following is what I found:



Here’s an annoyance that found me today—the sinister “nv4_disp” problem. Hopefully my fix will allow other people to bypass any aggravation, unnecessary purchases, technician costs, or therapy.

The nv4_disp problem
I’ve had my Dell Dimension 8300 for about 18 months. It runs smooth as gravy. I haven’t installed any software in several weeks. I run virus checks and spyware removals regularly.

So wasn’t it great when my computer greeted me with the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) this morning? For those of you unfamiliar with BSOD, it’s the screen you get when your computer is really screwed. Anyhow, my computer would boot up, show the Dell Bios screen, and then hit the BSOD. Every time I rebooted, same problem.

After booting into Safe Mode first and then rebooting the computer, I was able to get an error on boot that gave me some idea of the problem. The error message said that the “nv4_disp” driver was apparently caught in an infinite loop. My nerdiness came in handy as I figured “nv4_disp” reads a lot like “NVIDIA display,” my video card. Specifically, my NVIDIA Geforce FX 5200 video card. Perhaps I had found the culprit.

The nv4_disp fix
I was able to successfully restore my computer to tip-top shape in 5 easy steps. Here’s my 10 minute solution.

Boot your computer into Safe Mode w/ Networking. For Windows XP users, this is accomplished by pressing F8 repeatedly when your computer is booting up. You will be presented with several options. Choose “Safe Mode w/ Networking.” This will boot Windows XP into Safe Mode, but you will be able to browse the Web.
Go to NVIDIA’s Web site and download the latest display drivers for Windows XP. I saved the 20MB file to my desktop for easy locating later on.
Remove the NVIDIA display drivers currently installed on your machine. To do this, right click on “My Computer,” then select Properties. Click the “Hardware” tab, then click “Device Manager.” You now see a list of hardware devices installed on your computer. Double click “Display Adapters.” You should now see your NVIDIA card listed. Click it once to highlight it, then click the “Uninstall” icon in the upper right of Device Manager menu. Say “peace!” as the NVIDIA drivers are removed from your machine.
Install the updated NVIDIA display drivers. Double-click the NVIDIA setup file you saved to the desktop earlier. The installation will run its course.
Reboot your computer.
After following these steps, Windows XP should start up as usual (prior to our little nv4_disp bug). Your “nv4_disp” problem is officially solved.

EDIT: I tried doing the above but the new driver says it's not compatible with the hard drive when being installed. I am now able to boot up in normal mode but every 15 seconds the monitor blinks off.

Edited by Benjamin Dover, 05 November 2008 - 08:45 PM.

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Every 15 seconds the monitor blinks off WITHOUT the Nvidia drivers installed?
Sounds like your video card may be overheating or failing.
Could be a memory issue as well.
Have you checked that the video card is firmly seated and everything is connected properly?
Can you take the video card out of your machine and use the on board video card?

[hfcg]

Every 15 seconds the monitor blinks off WITHOUT the Nvidia drivers installed?
Sounds like your video card may be overheating or failing.
Could be a memory issue as well.
Have you checked that the video card is firmly seated and everything is connected properly?
Can you take the video card out of your machine and use the on board video card?

[hfcg]

Click this for a guide to using Memtest



Click this to download Memtest

Run it overnight if possible
With Memtest86 the Report is accumulated on-screen while the test is scanning with various patterns.
A Pass % (percentage of Test completed) keeps a progress tally of any single test Run.
Each portion of a Test Run is called a "Pass". The term "Pass" is misleading, in that people could think it means "pass" as in a passing score.
But it actually means a "pass" like the full swing of a digital photo copy scanner swinging across the page.

Then below that Pass percentage is the progress of the specific pattern test
Below that is Testing: which shows the amount of RAM being Tested
Below that is a description of the Test Pattern being "passed" during that portion of the test.
For instance moving "inversions" "1" and "0", Then 8 bit pattern inversions, then on and on....
In pattern fefefefefe , or 45a2d44d, fffffffed, 00000020, etc

Below that information is the Results Report
Time, - Cached(RAM) - RsvdMem - MemMap - Cache on/off - ECC - Test Pass - - Errors - Ecc Errs

The critical indicator is the (green) Errors item
(on the actual test screen it is not highlighted in green and I am just using the highlight to point you at the correct item)

We won't often see any results in the ECC Errs section since this is for ECC RAM which is most often used in Servers requiring Error Correction Chip RAM. (ECC RAM stick look the same as non-ecc, but have an additional small chip for error correction) non-ecc = 8x64, ECC = 8x64 plus one small additional chip
___________________________________________________

"Any" number other than Zero under Errors constitutes a FAILURE

Ordinarily the number will be a quite LARGE number, but a smaller number (constituting a Random Sequence Error) can be just as deadly to the accurate performance of a machine as a steady failure.
_____________________________________________________

The above information is "just how I have come to understand" MemTest86 results and does not constitute any sort of authoritative wisdom.

MemTest86 has quite a good Readme.txt that comes with the zipped download and as I recall also provides additional research links. It would be well to read it.
_____________________________________________________

At the very Bottom of the MemTest86 screen is the Navigation Bar

(ESC)exit ( C ) configuration (sp) scroll_lock (cr)scroll_unlock

To EXIT memtest86 - press - ESC
(No need to turn off the machine, it will simply proceed to attempt to boot into Windows)

To configure other information for viewing - press - C

To get out-of the "other information" popup, just hit "space bar"

Hope this helps.
I was intimidated of MemTest86 the first few times I used it, just like the OP that you have been helping.

[Benjamin Dover]

Hi hfcg, Thank you for your reply but I think I have it fixed. Everytime I was in safe mode, I would uninstall the Nvidia driver and when I rebooted (in safe mode) it would reinstall itself. I found a download "DriveSweeper" which finally cleaned it out and the new driver was finally installed. So far, no blinking. Thanks again and if I have any further problems, I'll refer back to this post.

[The Admiral]

Exactly what Dell's solution is - remove drivers in safe mode, reinstall drivers in normal mode. nv4_disp.dll is a common one, unfortunately. But good to see you got it fixed!

[Herkimer33]

Similar prob here, but now I can't see my screen enuf to start in Safe Mode and try that solution.
Don't know if my card is fried, or what, but I got the same message (and of course was PLANNING on heeding it, but alas).
Event line:
a couple screen squares off color (about 1x1", maybe six)
Computer crash, Blue screen message: (paraphrased obviously)
" Prob w/ nv4_disp
If this is first time, restart, 2nd time:
yer in an infinite loop,
so, check w/ hardware mancft and drivers. "
((I have pictures of both screens on my phone))

OK, the second time i got this, I restarted in safe mode, but had to leave my home and shut down comp. Next restart I could barely make out anything, tried a few more restarts, can barely make out anything (ie, not possible to do anything via vision of screen).

I THINK:
Comp is Dell Vostro 400
OS: WIndows XP

Does anyone know if this something i can fix at home, w/ moderate skills ??

Thanks -Herkimer

PS- I use avast (free) and run scans at least weekly w/ Mbam, SASpywar, and the Avast scanner. I did all three in between the crashes, and I don't think there were any suspicious items found. AND now I get a 1 Beep, and no display!

Edited by Herkimer33, 30 January 2014 - 02:16 PM.

[phillpower2]

Similar prob here, but now I can't see my screen enuf to start in Safe Mode and try that solution.
Don't know if my card is fried, or what, but I got the same message (and of course was PLANNING on heeding it, but alas).
Event line:
a couple screen squares off color (about 1x1", maybe six)
Computer crash, Blue screen message: (paraphrased obviously)
" Prob w/ nv4_disp
If this is first time, restart, 2nd time:
yer in an infinite loop,
so, check w/ hardware mancft and drivers. "
((I have pictures of both screens on my phone))

OK, the second time i got this, I restarted in safe mode, but had to leave my home and shut down comp. Next restart I could barely make out anything, tried a few more restarts, can barely make out anything (ie, not possible to do anything via vision of screen).

I THINK:
Comp is Dell Vostro 400
OS: WIndows XP

Does anyone know if this something i can fix at home, w/ moderate skills ??

Thanks -Herkimer

PS- I use avast (free) and run scans at least weekly w/ Mbam, SASpywar, and the Avast scanner. I did all three in between the crashes, and I don't think there were any suspicious items found. AND now I get a 1 Beep, and no display!

Hello Herkimer33

Please do not post inside another members topic, your computer issue/s may appear to be the same but be completely different + your request for assistance may be overlooked as staff and members will check a topic that has yet to receive a reply but they may not if it appears that assistance is already being offered to the OP.

Start a new topic here and we will be happy to assist you there.