IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL on all EA Games

umpotato

Hi, first off I hope this is the right section.
Every EA game i try (command and conquer generals, simcity 4 and battlefield 1942) crashes (BSOD) right after the first splash screen, just as it is about to enter the game.
I remember having this issue ages ago when i had a poor power supply, but back then it was happening all the time with all games and at completely random times (I could actually play ea games for a bit).
But when i fixed the power supply the problem went and i could play all gamesand had a stable system.
That was a while ago but last week i went and installed cnc and this error happened.
Currently i can play company of heroes, call of duty 2 etc with no issue at all, this only happens with EA Games. System stability is fantastic.
I have tried all the different drivers, bios settings, patches, changing ram and stuff i've read from this and many other forums.
My system is:
AMD 3200
Windows XP
ATI radeon 9600xt pro
2x512mb RAM
Gigabyte motherboard (s7?)

I would greatly appreciate any advice.
Cheers, Daniel

Zelig

When I've seen this error in the past, it's been almost exclusively from problems with memory. Try booting into memtest and running that.

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Dyre Straits

I agree. It's almost always related to RAM problems. If you're stressing the RAM by using really tight CAS Latency settings, or using 1T instead of 2T, try loosening the timings in the BIOS settings.

That's AFTER you eliminate possible RAM problems with the memtest suggested.

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umpotato

Hi, in my troubleshooting i have ran memtest for 12 hours, also tried both sticks of ram on their own.
I'm not sure if my BIOS has ram timing settings? Would i be right in saying that is DRAM CLOCK which is currently set at 400mhz (i havn't played with this)?
One thing i will try tomorrow is running my audio interface/digi 001 soundcard and driver - i have definatly removed this between the time EA games worked and now.
One post on this site had a guy say something about disabling soundcard and getting success.

Dyre Straits

Yes, the soundcard and/or the soundcard drivers can pose problems.

The DRAM Clock being set to 400 MHz isn't the same as the CAS Latency Settings. In many cases, a motherboard will set these automatically, and, sometimes, the auto settings are not the optimal settings. You see these settings usually imprinted on the RAM modules as: example -- 4.4.4.12/1T or 5.5.5.18/2T. You'll have to go into the Advanced settings to get to these usually and you'll have to change the option from Auto to Manual in order to make any changes.

But, you may be on the right track with the soundcard. Sometimes, you can change the Audio Device used in the game to make a big difference here as well. Changing, for example, from 3D Hardware to Software can make a difference. So, tinker with those settings/adjustments to see what happens.

Good luck!

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BlueMak

The times that I had this damn error message was due to two reasons.
1)my graphics card was ready to leave me for a better place
2)the drivers for my graphics card were doing the whole thing.

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RoyBatty

I encountered this "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" BSOD once. It was a while after I installed the 7.11 Catalyst. So I removed 7.11, installed 7.10 again and I have not seen that eror since then.

procupine14

I got this screen several times when i first bought my 7600GT......(XFX and nvidia couldn't seem to get a good driver set) but once i got some good drivers BAM!!!! instant fix

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umpotato

I have tried both new and old catalyst and omega drivers, and I'm confident with the ram.
The only thing that is really throwing me off is why this happens only on EA Games.
I can't even get into opening videos or anything, just up to the initial splashscreen then the computer reboots (or when I change windows option to display Bluescreen I get the IRQL message). I'm googling around trying to find out what happens on EA Games at startup that is different to others.

umpotato

FIXED IT!!!!
For anybody interested:....
Went into msconfig, and removed a couple of startup options (success!!!) and through trial and error I pinned the problem down to "dvd43_tray", just unclicked that box and that was it - program is still installed, just removed from startup.
Maybe it was something to do with cd protection? I did try running EA Games with nocd patch as well but had no luck. Oh well anyways thought I would post my solution for others.
Cheers, Daniel

Dyre Straits

Congratulations!

Yes, I've had a few issues in the past similar to this, but, it's just so hard to troubleshoot when you're not at the machine.

You've done an excellent job.

Now, enjoy your games.

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