[ThatRandomGuy]

My computer constantly freezes up in such a way that the cursor no longer moves. The picture is still and Ctrl+Alt+Del, Alt+Tab and Alt+F4 don't respond. The only way to elicit a reaction from my laptop is to use the power button to shut it off. I had a similar problem before that was nailed down to faulty RAM module. Refer to this thread: http://www.geekstogo...-and-even-altf/

 

However, the difference this time is that the computer almost always freezes when playing games. Maybe 1 out of 10 times, it miraculously continues running. Then, I encounter a situation where the screen blacks out and comes back, with a message that the NVidia Kernel Mode Driver has failed and recovered. However, this time it also freezes sometimes when booting the computer, especially when I try to boot it immediately after shutting it off from a freeze. I'm talking about even before I get to the login page. This is why I don't think it's a RAM problem anymore. I've run Memtest and my RAM is fine, it reports.

 

This time, I think it's got something to do with my graphics card/drivers or maybe the temperature. I tried to get some readings using HWMonitor. My CPU and computer in general reached a maximum temperature of under 75 Celsius. However, when the freeze occurs, the temperatures are around 65 Celsius so it's weird.

 

My PC Specs:

Make and Model: Asus K43SV (unmodified)

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor: Intel i7 2670QM
GPU: nVidia Geforce GT540M
RAM: 8 GB
HDD: Total - 750 GB, available - 170 GB (I've repartitioned my HDD way back so none of my partitions are even close to full. The repartitioning was done way back so it can't be the issue.)

 

Thanks in advance, Geeks.

 

EDIT: I would like to note that sometimes, intermittently, it is able to run just fine. I've even pushed the RAM usage to 6 GB and the temperatures to above 85 Celsius by playing a lot of games at once and YouTube videos at 4K. Getting higher is not possible because doing this already stretched my CPU to the limit.
 

Edited by ThatRandomGuy, 21 September 2014 - 09:59 AM.

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Are there any dumps in C:\Windows\minidump? If yes, zip them up the last 5 or so and upload the zip file and attach it to your next response.

See here: UPLOAD IMAGE - How to upload into your thread, Windows Made Easy
 

Talks about an image but do the same for a zip file.

 

Try updating the Nvidia video card driver.

[Ztruker]

Are there any dumps in C:\Windows\minidump? If yes, zip them up the last 5 or so and upload the zip file and attach it to your next response.

See here: UPLOAD IMAGE - How to upload into your thread, Windows Made Easy
 

Talks about an image but do the same for a zip file.

 

Try updating the Nvidia video card driver.

[ThatRandomGuy]

I only found 1 dump, attached here. I have updated the driver and will keep you posted if the problem persists.

 

EDIT: The problem persists.

Attached Files

•  091814-22900-01.zip   79.92KB   180 downloads

Edited by ThatRandomGuy, 22 September 2014 - 06:01 AM.

[Jared44]

Yes, the dump file indicates a TDR fault.

BugCheck 116, {fffffa800a2624e0, fffff8800fc117a0, ffffffffc000009a, 4}

//ffffffffc000009a this error code indicates insufficient resources were available to complete the API

What this means is that a TDR (Timeout Detection and Recovery) was initated because the display driver or GPU was unresponsive, it then failed to 'unfreeze' the driver/GPU and hence we bugcheck.

fffff880`041c9a48 fffff880`0ff57134 : 00000000`00000116 fffffa80`0a2624e0 fffff880`0fc117a0 ffffffff`c000009a : nt!KeBugCheckEx //it didn't respond so lets bugcheck
fffff880`041c9a50 fffff880`0ff2a867 : fffff880`0fc117a0 fffffa80`0df32000 00000000`00000000 ffffffff`c000009a : dxgkrnl!TdrBugcheckOnTimeout+0xec //bugcheck if it doesn't respond within x amount of time
fffff880`041c9a90 fffff880`0ff56f43 : 00000000`ffffd846 ffffffff`fffe7960 fffffa80`0a2624e0 fffff880`0f237f3c : dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::Reset+0x2a3 //resetting the graphics card
fffff880`041c9b40 fffff880`0f23803d : fffffa80`0e008d50 00000000`00000080 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`0de65410 : dxgkrnl!TdrResetFromTimeout+0x23 //a timeout was discovered and so we try to TDR
fffff880`041c9bc0 fffff800`0377273a : 00000000`03910b88 fffffa80`0dcd2b50 fffffa80`09d445f0 fffffa80`0dcd2b50 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0x101 //scheduling worker threads to begin video work
fffff880`041c9c00 fffff800`034c78e6 : fffff800`03651e80 fffffa80`0dcd2b50 fffff800`0365fcc0 fffffa80`0cb92810 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`041c9c40 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KxStartSystemThread+0x16

So why didn't it respond?

Well given we know the error code lets look at the faulting instruction.

4: kd> u fffff8800fc117a0
nvlddmkm+0x9a57a0:
fffff880`0fc117a0 48ff25f94eedff  jmp     qword ptr [nvlddmkm+0x87a6a0 (fffff880`0fae66a0)]
fffff880`0fc117a7 cc              int     3
fffff880`0fc117a8 48ff25d14eedff  jmp     qword ptr [nvlddmkm+0x87a680 (fffff880`0fae6680)]
fffff880`0fc117af cc              int     3
fffff880`0fc117b0 48ff25d14eedff  jmp     qword ptr [nvlddmkm+0x87a688 (fffff880`0fae6688)]
fffff880`0fc117b7 cc              int     3
fffff880`0fc117b8 48ff25d14eedff  jmp     qword ptr [nvlddmkm+0x87a690 (fffff880`0fae6690)]
fffff880`0fc117bf cc              int     3

So we keep getting int and jmp commands which generate an interrupt and then jumping to loop, it then generates and interrupt and then jumps. I suspect each time it is allocating memory until it runs out and hence no more memory can be used for the display driver so it simply crashes and stops responding.

4: kd> lmvm nvlddmkm
start             end                 module name
fffff880`0f26c000 fffff880`0fefa000   nvlddmkm T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: nvlddmkm.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys
    Image name: nvlddmkm.sys
    Timestamp:        Wed Jul 02 18:42:02 2014 (53B4446A)
    CheckSum:         00C4C7C9
    ImageSize:        00C8E000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

I would try a few different driver versions including beta drivers and older drivers.

If changing drivers fails to decrease the frequency of the crashes, then I'd say you have a bad GPU that needs replacing which can be a pretty big problem with laptops.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Ok, so the problem has not ceased using the latest 344.11 driver. However, isn't there a way to totally wipe the graphics driver and reinstall it or something? How do I do that? Maybe it will help?

[Jared44]

Yes you can use Revo Uninstaller after completely removing the driver from the control panel. You can then install the driver form the website. Only install the driver and not the 3D vision and audio drivers etc.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Ok, I will do that. Why shouldn't I install the other drivers though?

[Jared44]

One they're unnecessary unless you're using audio through your GPU and using 3D vision.

Two they can cause problems which I've seen so if you don't use them then why install them?

[ThatRandomGuy]

Well, it didn't work. I'm still facing the same problem. I'll run Memtest overnight and if that's clean, I'll have to find a time to send it to the service center. It's still under warranty.