PCI: crashes, AGP: graphical artifacts?

minimidge · Dec 30, 2007, 10:18 PM

I'll try to keep this short and sweet.

I've been having a lot of problems with Half-life 2: episode 2 lately, so I tried using the Omega's. First, I installed them using the AGP option, this solved my bluescreens, but I have graphical glitches now. I tried reinstalling with the PCIe option, and graphic glitches went away, but the bluescreens returned.

Here are some screenshots of the graphical problems:

I have 10 mini dumps (from PCIe mode)that I can post, all of them are blaming ati3duag.dll.

My question is this: Is there a way to fix the ati3duag.dll problem when using PCIe, or is there a way to fix the graphical problems (AGP)?

Crashes with PCIe only happen in Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2
The graphical glitches with AGP happen in all Source games.

My specs:
XP Home
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1278MB RAM
Radeon Xpress 200m (128MB dedicated)
Omega 3..8.421 with ati tray tools

Dyre Straits · Dec 31, 2007, 05:20 AM

First, welcome to DriverHeaven!

There is a very, very long thread and information that just may be what you're looking for over here:

ATI BSOD FIXED FINALLY!!! IT WILL HELP ALL OF YOU. ati3duag.dll , squeal of death, et

This was posted earlier this year and has helped with the ati3duag.dll problem for others.

Let us know if this helps or not.

Good luck!

minimidge · Dec 31, 2007, 08:16 AM

Unfortunately, I have already read through the above topic, to no avail. All my symptoms were the same, but manually downloading and installing the updates didn't work, and those updates were already installed anyways. Thanks for replying though.

One interesting thing I noticed in the minidumps:
LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from bf27a3ca to e3ba2946
LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from bf27a3ca to e1d1cb46
etc., etc.

The "from" part is the same throughout all of my quickly accumulating dumps. I believe that bf27a3ca is a memory address that is being occupied by my IGP. My IGP uses [B0100000-B010FFFF] & [C0000000-CFFFFFFF]. I have little experience with memory addresses so I'm not sure about this speculation. Not sure if this is significant, but I though I'd bring it up.

Dyre Straits · Dec 31, 2007, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimidge

Unfortunately, I have already read through the above topic, to no avail. All my symptoms were the same, but manually downloading and installing the updates didn't work, and those updates were already installed anyways. Thanks for replying though.

One interesting thing I noticed in the minidumps:
LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from bf27a3ca to e3ba2946
LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from bf27a3ca to e1d1cb46
etc., etc.

The "from" part is the same throughout all of my quickly accumulating dumps. I believe that bf27a3ca is a memory address that is being occupied by my IGP. My IGP uses [B0100000-B010FFFF] & [C0000000-CFFFFFFF]. I have little experience with memory addresses so I'm not sure about this speculation. Not sure if this is significant, but I though I'd bring it up.

Although I haven't had to go through that process outlined in the posted information, it's my understanding (through reading through it) that you have to uninstall and/or disable the files that are installed by the video card drivers and, instead, use the Microsoft driver/s. While the updates may have been installed, I believe their priority is not such that they override the video card drivers. So, if that's the case, you have to uninstall/disable those that are installed by the video card.

Is that what you've attempted to do?

minimidge · Dec 31, 2007, 06:18 PM

I think I see what you mean, but I says not to use microsoft drivers:

3) Downloaded and installed all the updates, and also installed the .Net Framework 1.1 (Just in case) Also please DO NOT install any audio or video drivers offered by Windows Update.

Other than that, should I try uninstalling the updates, video, and sound drivers, then start from about step 5 in the topic?

Dyre Straits · Dec 31, 2007, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimidge

I think I see what you mean, but I says not to use microsoft drivers:

3) Downloaded and installed all the updates, and also installed the .Net Framework 1.1 (Just in case) Also please DO NOT install any audio or video drivers offered by Windows Update.

Other than that, should I try uninstalling the updates, video, and sound drivers, then start from about step 5 in the topic?

That statement is a little bit misleading and needs clarification:

What that is actually saying is to NOT download full version driver updates for any audio or video cards. The only thing you want to do is to disable/uninstall that particular .dll that installs with the video card drivers and then use that Microsoft HOTFIX posted prior to this statement.

Hope that clears things up.

minimidge · Dec 31, 2007, 11:24 PM

[COLOR=Black]I don't know if I'm brainfarting here or something, but your saying that I need to:

1: Uninstall/Disable the ati3duag.dll, as in move it out of the system32 folder or delete it.
2: Install the [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]KB900485 and the [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]KB920872 updates

Sorry if this still isn't right, there's just something that isn't clicking in my brain.

EDIT: Well, I uninstalled the video drivers, then installed the ones on windows update, they were drivers from 2005. I restarted and installed the two updates (again). Anyways, Portal loaded up to the menu screen for the first time in a while. I didn't have much time to test it, but I'll report back when I do.

EDIT 2: So Portal now loads up the menu screen successfully, but it still crashes after about a minute of playing, so stability has increased, but it still bluescreens on me.
[/COLOR]

Dyre Straits · Jan 1, 2008, 10:32 AM

At this point, I'd check the RAM that you have installed to be sure it's setup properly. (Never use AUTO in the BIOS settings for the RAM. You need to set it manually per the manufacturer's specs.)

Once the RAM is set up correctly, run Memtest86+ for a few hours to make sure there are no problems with the RAM.

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

As far as the other article is concerned, there are several things that were done in the bug checking for the problem. But, let's make sure your RAM is setup properly and is in good shape before continuing.

minimidge · Jan 1, 2008, 07:19 PM

I've already checked the RAM, and it checked out using both Memtest and microsoft's memory diagnostics tool.

I even switched out my 1GB stick and replaced it with my old 256MB stick. The problem still occurred, even though I've never had any problems with the 256MB stick.

Unfortunately, I have a "watered down" BIOS that wont let me change memory timings.

Here's a dump if it helps:

Code:

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.8.0004.0 X86
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini123107-05.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: 
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) UP Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Built by: 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x805533a0
Debug session time: Mon Dec 31 21:58:54.453 2007 (GMT-8)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:30:45.012
Loading Kernel Symbols
....................................................................................................................................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
...............
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, e62adb78, a7b2f9a4, 0}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ati3duag.dll
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for ati3duag.dll


Probably caused by : ati3duag.dll ( ati3duag+121144 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M (1000008e)
This is a very common bugcheck.  Usually the exception address pinpoints
the driver/function that caused the problem.  Always note this address
as well as the link date of the driver/image that contains this address.
Some common problems are exception code 0x80000003.  This means a hard
coded breakpoint or assertion was hit, but this system was booted
/NODEBUG.  This is not supposed to happen as developers should never have
hardcoded breakpoints in retail code, but ...
If this happens, make sure a debugger gets connected, and the
system is booted /DEBUG.  This will let us see why this breakpoint is
happening.
Arguments:
Arg1: c0000005, The exception code that was not handled
Arg2: e62adb78, The address that the exception occurred at
Arg3: a7b2f9a4, Trap Frame
Arg4: 00000000

Debugging Details:
------------------




EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx" referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

FAULTING_IP: 
+ffffffffe62adb78
e62adb78 0f122a          movlps  xmm5,qword ptr [edx]

TRAP_FRAME:  a7b2f9a4 -- (.trap 0xffffffffa7b2f9a4)
ErrCode = 00000000
eax=00000030 ebx=e33e7040 ecx=0000019c edx=41325a40 esi=e33a3030 edi=e33a3194
eip=e62adb78 esp=a7b2fa18 ebp=bf800000 iopl=0         nv up ei pl nz na pe nc
cs=0008  ss=0010  ds=0023  es=0023  fs=0030  gs=0000             efl=00010206
e62adb78 0f122a          movlps  xmm5,qword ptr [edx] ds:0023:41325a40=????????????????
Resetting default scope

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  5

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  COMMON_SYSTEM_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x8E

PROCESS_NAME:  hl2.exe

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from e33a3184 to e62adb78

SYMBOL_ON_RAW_STACK:  1

STACK_ADDR_RAW_STACK_SYMBOL: ffffffffa7b2fa2c

STACK_COMMAND:  dds A7B2FA2C-0x20 ; kb

STACK_TEXT:  
a7b2fa0c  e62adb78
a7b2fa10  00000008
a7b2fa14  00010206
a7b2fa18  e33a3184
a7b2fa1c  00000000
a7b2fa20  e33d2274
a7b2fa24  00000003
a7b2fa28  bf1d3144 ati3duag+0x121144
a7b2fa2c  e33a3030
a7b2fa30  e33d2274
a7b2fa34  e5f21d10
a7b2fa38  a7b2fad0
a7b2fa3c  e33d25c0
a7b2fa40  00000003
a7b2fa44  000002c8
a7b2fa48  00000000
a7b2fa4c  00000000
a7b2fa50  e33a3030
a7b2fa54  e33e7040
a7b2fa58  e62ada80
a7b2fa5c  e3275010
a7b2fa60  e33d2274
a7b2fa64  bf1e526e ati3duag+0x13326e
a7b2fa68  e313f010
a7b2fa6c  e33d216c
a7b2fa70  e33d0010
a7b2fa74  00001f80
a7b2fa78  00000001
a7b2fa7c  e624e020
a7b2fa80  000002c7
a7b2fa84  00000000
a7b2fa88  00000001


FOLLOWUP_IP: 
ati3duag+121144
bf1d3144 ??              ???

SYMBOL_NAME:  ati3duag+121144

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: ati3duag

IMAGE_NAME:  ati3duag.dll

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  42f1834d

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0x8E_ati3duag+121144

BUCKET_ID:  0x8E_ati3duag+121144

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

kd> lm
start    end        module name
804d7000 806cd580   nt       # (pdb symbols)          c:\symbols\ntkrnlpa.pdb\F612363DB38C423CB08559DDBCA9F2F71\ntkrnlpa.pdb
806ce000 806ee380   hal        (deferred)             
a7441000 a7464980   portcls    (deferred)             
a7645000 a766f180   kmixer     (deferred)             
a77c8000 a77d1380   camc6aud   (deferred)             
a7bee000 a7c02400   wdmaud     (deferred)             
a7cb3000 a7cb6b20   aswRdr     (deferred)             
a7d93000 a7de4480   srv        (deferred)             
a7e5d000 a7e89400   mrxdav     (deferred)             
a7ed2000 a7ee0d80   sysaudio   (deferred)             
a7f56000 a7f58e40   mdmxsdk    (deferred)             
a7ff2000 a8007700   aswMon2    (deferred)             
a8308000 a830b280   ndisuio    (deferred)             
aa540000 aa557480   dump_atapi   (deferred)             
aa580000 aa5a0f00   ipnat      (deferred)             
aa5a1000 aa60fa00   mrxsmb     (deferred)             
aa610000 aa63aa00   rdbss      (deferred)             
aa703000 aa724d00   afd        (deferred)             
aa725000 aa74cc00   netbt      (deferred)             
aa74d000 aa7a4d80   tcpip      (deferred)             
aa7a5000 aa7b7400   ipsec      (deferred)             
aa7fc000 aa7fe900   Dxapi      (deferred)             
bf000000 bf011580   dxg        (deferred)             
bf012000 bf049000   ati2dvag   (deferred)             
bf049000 bf07d000   ati2cqag   (deferred)             
bf07d000 bf0b2000   atikvmag   (deferred)             
bf0b2000 bf2f3820   ati3duag T (no symbols)           
bf2f4000 bf390380   ativvaxx   (deferred)             
bf800000 bf9c2180   win32k     (deferred)             
f6643000 f6676200   update     (deferred)             
f6717000 f6727e00   psched     (deferred)             
f6728000 f673e680   ndiswan    (deferred)             
f673f000 f67eab00   HSF_CNXT   (deferred)             
f67eb000 f68e8780   HSF_DP     (deferred)             
f68e9000 f6919e00   HSFHWATI   (deferred)             
f693e000 f6992980   camc6hal   (deferred)             
f6993000 f69a4080   Rtlnicxp   (deferred)             
f69a5000 f69b5800   sdbus      (deferred)             
f69b6000 f69dd980   tifm21     (deferred)             
f69de000 f6a38c00   bcmwl5     (deferred)             
f6a39000 f6a68220   SynTP      (deferred)             
f6a69000 f6a8b680   ks         (deferred)             
f6a8c000 f6aaee80   USBPORT    (deferred)             
f6aaf000 f6ac2780   VIDEOPRT   (deferred)             
f6ac3000 f6c08000   ati2mtag   (deferred)             
f72b5000 f72cf580   Mup        (deferred)             
f72d0000 f72fca80   NDIS       (deferred)             
f72fd000 f7389400   Ntfs       (deferred)             
f738a000 f739cf00   WudfPf     (deferred)             
f739d000 f73b3780   KSecDD     (deferred)             
f73b4000 f73c5f00   sr         (deferred)             
f73c6000 f73e5780   fltMgr     (deferred)             
f73e6000 f73fd480   atapi      (deferred)             
f73fe000 f741c880   ftdisk     (deferred)             
f741d000 f743a480   pcmcia     (deferred)             
f743b000 f744ba80   pci        (deferred)             
f744c000 f7479d80   ACPI       (deferred)             
f757b000 f7583c00   isapnp     (deferred)             
f758b000 f7599e80   ohci1394   (deferred)             
f759b000 f75a8000   1394BUS    (deferred)             
f75ab000 f75b5500   MountMgr   (deferred)             
f75bb000 f75c7c80   VolSnap    (deferred)             
f75cb000 f75d3e00   disk       (deferred)             
f75db000 f75e7200   CLASSPNP   (deferred)             
f75eb000 f75fad80   Serial     (deferred)             
f760b000 f7614480   NDProxy    (deferred)             
f763b000 f7649100   usbhub     (deferred)             
f765b000 f7663360   aswTdi     (deferred)             
f767b000 f7683880   Fips       (deferred)             
f768b000 f7693700   wanarp     (deferred)             
f769b000 f76a3700   netbios    (deferred)             
f76ab000 f76b9d80   arp1394    (deferred)             
f76cb000 f76da900   Cdfs       (deferred)             
f76db000 f76e3d80   HIDCLASS   (deferred)             
f771b000 f7729000   AmdK8      (deferred)             
f772b000 f7735380   imapi      (deferred)             
f773b000 f7747180   cdrom      (deferred)             
f774b000 f7759080   redbook    (deferred)             
f775b000 f7767e00   i8042prt   (deferred)             
f776b000 f777a180   nic1394    (deferred)             
f778b000 f7799b80   drmk       (deferred)             
f779b000 f77a7880   rasl2tp    (deferred)             
f77ab000 f77b5200   raspppoe   (deferred)             
f77bb000 f77c6d00   raspptp    (deferred)             
f77cb000 f77d3900   msgpc      (deferred)             
f77db000 f77e6900   pcouffin   (deferred)             
f77eb000 f77f4f00   termdd     (deferred)             
f77fb000 f7801200   PCIIDEX    (deferred)             
f7803000 f7807900   PartMgr    (deferred)             
f7893000 f7897280   usbohci    (deferred)             
f789b000 f78a1800   usbehci    (deferred)             
f78a3000 f78a9000   kbdclass   (deferred)             
f78ab000 f78b0a00   mouclass   (deferred)             
f78b3000 f78ba580   Modem      (deferred)             
f78bb000 f78bf880   TDI        (deferred)             
f78c3000 f78c7580   ptilink    (deferred)             
f78cb000 f78cf080   raspti     (deferred)             
f78eb000 f78f0200   vga        (deferred)             
f78f3000 f78f7a80   Msfs       (deferred)             
f78fb000 f7902880   Npfs       (deferred)             
f7903000 f790a080   SCDEmu     (deferred)             
f7913000 f7917940   Aavmker4   (deferred)             
f791b000 f7921180   HIDPARSE   (deferred)             
f7923000 f7927500   watchdog   (deferred)             
f798b000 f798e000   BOOTVID    (deferred)             
f798f000 f7991480   compbatt   (deferred)             
f7993000 f7996700   BATTC      (deferred)             
f7997000 f7999d80   ACPIEC     (deferred)             
f7a23000 f7a25280   rasacd     (deferred)             
f7a43000 f7a46900   atitray    (deferred)             
f7a4b000 f7a4d580   hidusb     (deferred)             
f7a4f000 f7a51f80   mouhid     (deferred)             
f7a5f000 f7a61280   wmiacpi    (deferred)             
f7a67000 f7a6a700   CmBatt     (deferred)             
f7a6b000 f7a6d580   ndistapi   (deferred)             
f7a73000 f7a76c80   mssmbios   (deferred)             
f7a7b000 f7a7cb80   kdcom      (deferred)             
f7a7d000 f7a7e100   WMILIB     (deferred)             
f7ab3000 f7ab4280   USBD       (deferred)             
f7ab5000 f7ab6100   swenum     (deferred)             
f7abf000 f7ac0f00   Fs_Rec     (deferred)             
f7ac1000 f7ac2080   Beep       (deferred)             
f7ac3000 f7ac4080   mnmdd      (deferred)             
f7ac5000 f7ac6080   RDPCDD     (deferred)             
f7ac7000 f7ac8a40   EABFiltr   (deferred)             
f7acb000 f7acc100   dump_WMILIB   (deferred)             
f7b43000 f7b43d00   PCIIde     (deferred)             
f7b44000 f7b44d80   OPRGHDLR   (deferred)             
f7b45000 f7b45680   giveio     (deferred)             
f7b50000 f7b50d00   dxgthk     (deferred)             
f7bf4000 f7bf4c00   audstub    (deferred)             
f7c45000 f7c45b80   Null       (deferred)             
f7cbf000 f7cbf8a0   nxsIO32    (deferred)             

Unloaded modules:
f691a000 f693e000   portcls.sys
f777b000 f7785000   camc6aud.sys
a7645000 a7670000   kmixer.sys
a7ba0000 a7bcb000   kmixer.sys
f7ba9000 f7baa000   drmkaud.sys
a7bcb000 a7bee000   aec.sys 
a83e8000 a83f5000   DMusic.sys
a7eb2000 a7ec0000   swmidi.sys
f7ae1000 f7ae3000   splitter.sys
a7e21000 a7e35000   Parport.SYS
f766b000 f7674000   processr.sys
f78e3000 f78e8000   Cdaudio.SYS
f7a1f000 f7a22000   Sfloppy.SYS
f78db000 f78e0000   Flpydisk.SYS
f78d3000 f78da000   Fdc.SYS

Robert McClelland · Jan 1, 2008, 10:13 PM

Um You might want get more graphics ram 128 megs doesn't cut as much playi games these days. You might want up your ram extra 512 if possible. that way you have 1gig for ram and 512 for windows.

minimidge · Jan 1, 2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert McClelland

Um You might want get more graphics ram 128 megs doesn't cut as much playi games these days. You might want up your ram extra 512 if possible. that way you have 1gig for ram and 512 for windows.

Unfortunately it's a notebook, I forgot to mention that in my first post. The most I can do is configure it to 128MB dedicated and 128MB shared.

As far as more ram, I think I'll probably build a new computer before I up the RAM. They did just recently drop the prices of my type of RAM from ~$85 for 1GB to ~$50, so it's more reasonable now price-wise. I'm just trying to get what I can with my current setup.

Dyre Straits · Jan 2, 2008, 08:10 AM

Being it's a laptop does throw a few curves at the mix.

minimidge · Jan 3, 2008, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

Being it's a laptop does throw a few curves at the mix.

Yes unfortunately.

One thing I noticed is that all of my crash dumps indicate that kmixer.sys is both a loaded AND unloaded module. Possibly triggering a memory read error? Hence the c0000005, memory could not be "read", exception. See my crash dump above.

Dyre Straits · Jan 3, 2008, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimidge

Yes unfortunately.

One thing I noticed is that all of my crash dumps indicate that kmixer.sys is both a loaded AND unloaded module. Possibly triggering a memory read error? Hence the c0000005, memory could not be "read", exception. See my crash dump above.

If you read through that entire post/thread I linked to, yes, you'll see that 'kmixer' is one of the components that cause the problem. I believe that thread is pretty thorough in explaining things, so, I hope it can help you get things working.

minimidge · Jan 3, 2008, 09:27 PM

I'm not sure what else I can do though, as far as the ati3duag.dll topic, other than reinstalling XP.

The two updates were already installed, so I went ahead and just manually downloaded and installed them again, didn't work.

I uninstalled the 2 updates, sound, and video drivers. Then I installed the video driver, then the sound driver. Then I let windows install the 2 updates again, didn't work.

One thing I don't understand is why the two updates weren't already installed with the first windows update he did. Same with another person who responded to that topic, why weren't the updates installed already?

cruelfeline · Jan 5, 2008, 04:50 AM

I'm having the same problems as the original poster, except in Viva Pinata. The game will play okay for around 15 minutes, then icons will start to flash black and the game will crash to a BSOD with the 0x8e stop error.

Minidumps blame ati3duag.dll. The other files mentioned (aec.sys, etc.) are all listed as unloaded modules.

I was all excited after finding the apparent windows update fix, but it also does nothing for me

.

I reformatted my harddrive completely, reinstalled Windows XP, installed all of my drivers EXCEPT for video and audio drivers, installed the updates, then installed video and audio drivers (I've tried both the latest ATI drivers and the latest Omega drivers for my x1400 mobility card). Afterwards, I installed my games. Viva Pinata still gives the BSOD, complete with very annoying stuttering.

What am I doing wrong?

Robert McClelland · Jan 5, 2008, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruelfeline

I'm having the same problems as the original poster, except in Viva Pinata. The game will play okay for around 15 minutes, then icons will start to flash black and the game will crash to a BSOD with the 0x8e stop error.

Minidumps blame ati3duag.dll. The other files mentioned (aec.sys, etc.) are all listed as unloaded modules.

I was all excited after finding the apparent windows update fix, but it also does nothing for me

.

I reformatted my harddrive completely, reinstalled Windows XP, installed all of my drivers EXCEPT for video and audio drivers, installed the updates, then installed video and audio drivers (I've tried both the latest ATI drivers and the latest Omega drivers for my x1400 mobility card). Afterwards, I installed my games. Viva Pinata still gives the BSOD, complete with very annoying stuttering.

What am I doing wrong?

Sound like you need more ram too

for your notebook.

cruelfeline · Jan 6, 2008, 02:04 AM

Okay, no. I am honestly tired of everyone telling me that I need to update drivers or need more RAM or whatever. Other games, more graphics intensives games (Bioshock, for example), run without crashes.

I can't believe this is an issue of not having enough RAM. If I was complaining about the game running slow as heck, or not running at all, then yea, okay. But this game will run perfectly fine anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes before crashing. It runs beautifully at that time; great graphics, good speed, no issues. Then, suddenly, icons gone and 0x8e crash.

So does anyone have a definitive answer to this? Other than "update your system specs"?

**kris23** · Jan 6, 2008, 02:14 AM

are there any updates for the game?

and also, just because the game is less graphically intensive doesnt mean that it doesnt need more RAM, there are several points in the programming that could cause the game to go out if it isnt run under better hardware, seen that happen many times with games that arent programmed effectively.

so go and look for updates for your game on the website, if that doesnt work, and since you dont want to upgrade system specs........ youre out of luck

minimidge · Jan 6, 2008, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

are there any updates for the game?

and also, just because the game is less graphically intensive doesnt mean that it doesnt need more RAM, there are several points in the programming that could cause the game to go out if it isnt run under better hardware, seen that happen many times with games that arent programmed effectively.

so go and look for updates for your game on the website, if that doesnt work, and since you dont want to upgrade system specs........ youre out of luck

The game is updated often, and it's automatically updated using Steam. (talking about Portal, etc.)

The thing about the Source engine is that various crashes (along with various error messages) seem to have absolutely no relation to types of hardware, as crashes happen on some computers, yet not on another computer with similar specs. If you check out any topic about crashes for Episode 2, Portal, etc., there is nobody with related hardware.

I really think this problem has more to do with the Source engine itself, but it still doesn't make sense to why it crashes with some GPUs, and another setup with the same GPU has no problems whatsoever.

I wouldn't really say the engine is unstable, it's just extremely sensitive to drivers, background tasks, etc.

Dec 30, 2007, 10:18 PM	#1
minimidge DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	PCI: crashes, AGP: graphical artifacts? I'll try to keep this short and sweet. I've been having a lot of problems with Half-life 2: episode 2 lately, so I tried using the Omega's. First, I installed them using the AGP option, this solved my bluescreens, but I have graphical glitches now. I tried reinstalling with the PCIe option, and graphic glitches went away, but the bluescreens returned. Here are some screenshots of the graphical problems: I have 10 mini dumps (from PCIe mode)that I can post, all of them are blaming ati3duag.dll. My question is this: Is there a way to fix the ati3duag.dll problem when using PCIe, or is there a way to fix the graphical problems (AGP)? Crashes with PCIe only happen in Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 The graphical glitches with AGP happen in all Source games. My specs: XP Home AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 1278MB RAM Radeon Xpress 200m (128MB dedicated) Omega 3..8.421 with ati tray tools

Dec 31, 2007, 11:24 PM	Thread Starter #7
minimidge DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	[COLOR=Black]I don't know if I'm brainfarting here or something, but your saying that I need to: 1: Uninstall/Disable the ati3duag.dll, as in move it out of the system32 folder or delete it. 2: Install the [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]KB900485 and the [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]KB920872 updates Sorry if this still isn't right, there's just something that isn't clicking in my brain. EDIT: Well, I uninstalled the video drivers, then installed the ones on windows update, they were drivers from 2005. I restarted and installed the two updates (again). Anyways, Portal loaded up to the menu screen for the first time in a while. I didn't have much time to test it, but I'll report back when I do. EDIT 2: So Portal now loads up the menu screen successfully, but it still crashes after about a minute of playing, so stability has increased, but it still bluescreens on me. [/COLOR] Last edited by minimidge; Jan 1, 2008 at 07:22 PM.

Jan 1, 2008, 10:13 PM	#10
Robert McClelland PAX Tweaker, PAX Expert. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Somewhere in Wood County Ohio Same Town :) Posts: 10,611 Rep Power: 196 System Specs	Um You might want get more graphics ram 128 megs doesn't cut as much playi games these days. You might want up your ram extra 512 if possible. that way you have 1gig for ram and 512 for windows. __________________ "XTREME AUDIO IS CRAP!" "There no support for it. It's crapist card on face of the earth it should be throw into the sun" http://www.speedtest.net/result/1949536385.png

Jan 5, 2008, 04:50 AM	#16
cruelfeline DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	Same Issues I'm having the same problems as the original poster, except in Viva Pinata. The game will play okay for around 15 minutes, then icons will start to flash black and the game will crash to a BSOD with the 0x8e stop error. Minidumps blame ati3duag.dll. The other files mentioned (aec.sys, etc.) are all listed as unloaded modules. I was all excited after finding the apparent windows update fix, but it also does nothing for me . I reformatted my harddrive completely, reinstalled Windows XP, installed all of my drivers EXCEPT for video and audio drivers, installed the updates, then installed video and audio drivers (I've tried both the latest ATI drivers and the latest Omega drivers for my x1400 mobility card). Afterwards, I installed my games. Viva Pinata still gives the BSOD, complete with very annoying stuttering. What am I doing wrong?

Jan 6, 2008, 02:14 AM	#19
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	are there any updates for the game? and also, just because the game is less graphically intensive doesnt mean that it doesnt need more RAM, there are several points in the programming that could cause the game to go out if it isnt run under better hardware, seen that happen many times with games that arent programmed effectively. so go and look for updates for your game on the website, if that doesnt work, and since you dont want to upgrade system specs........ youre out of luck __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Dec 31, 2007, 08:16 AM	Thread Starter #3
minimidge DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	Unfortunately, I have already read through the above topic, to no avail. All my symptoms were the same, but manually downloading and installing the updates didn't work, and those updates were already installed anyways. Thanks for replying though. One interesting thing I noticed in the minidumps: LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from bf27a3ca to e3ba2946 LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from bf27a3ca to e1d1cb46 etc., etc. The "from" part is the same throughout all of my quickly accumulating dumps. I believe that bf27a3ca is a memory address that is being occupied by my IGP. My IGP uses [B0100000-B010FFFF] & [C0000000-CFFFFFFF]. I have little experience with memory addresses so I'm not sure about this speculation. Not sure if this is significant, but I though I'd bring it up.

Dec 31, 2007, 06:18 PM	Thread Starter #5
minimidge DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	I think I see what you mean, but I says not to use microsoft drivers: 3) Downloaded and installed all the updates, and also installed the .Net Framework 1.1 (Just in case) Also please DO NOT install any audio or video drivers offered by Windows Update. Other than that, should I try uninstalling the updates, video, and sound drivers, then start from about step 5 in the topic?

Jan 3, 2008, 09:27 PM	Thread Starter #15
minimidge DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	I'm not sure what else I can do though, as far as the ati3duag.dll topic, other than reinstalling XP. The two updates were already installed, so I went ahead and just manually downloaded and installed them again, didn't work. I uninstalled the 2 updates, sound, and video drivers. Then I installed the video driver, then the sound driver. Then I let windows install the 2 updates again, didn't work. One thing I don't understand is why the two updates weren't already installed with the first windows update he did. Same with another person who responded to that topic, why weren't the updates installed already?

Jan 6, 2008, 02:04 AM	#18
cruelfeline DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	Okay, no. I am honestly tired of everyone telling me that I need to update drivers or need more RAM or whatever. Other games, more graphics intensives games (Bioshock, for example), run without crashes. I can't believe this is an issue of not having enough RAM. If I was complaining about the game running slow as heck, or not running at all, then yea, okay. But this game will run perfectly fine anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes before crashing. It runs beautifully at that time; great graphics, good speed, no issues. Then, suddenly, icons gone and 0x8e crash. So does anyone have a definitive answer to this? Other than "update your system specs"?