Skeetz

PC Specs:
OS: Vista Home Premium 32 Bit
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 (2.4 GHz per core)
Video Card: VisionTek X1300 512 MB. And no, it's not overclocked. I also have an external cooler running on it. I couldn't turn up my card's fan in ATi Tray tools, because no fan was detected. It was to replace the 6150LE on board, and as I understand, that's a fall back. I had an integrated chip in my old mobo in my old comp, and never had any problems. Nonetheless, I uninstalled the Nvidea drivers on here.
2 Gigs Ram.
400 GB hard drive.

Also, this is an HP computer. System Model: RK569AA-ABA m7750n

Nothing is overclocked. I also posted my specs in a previous post, unless I am thinking of another forum.

CATALYSTCATCHER

Thanks for the detail, and you did post that info previously in this thread.

I don't know why Tray Tools doesn't detect the fan, but the only reason you would want to tweak the fan is to cool the GPU more. Do you suspect it is overheating is causing your problems?

Please also accept my apology for my earlier comment. It is very difficult to remember who has posted in a long thread like this, let alone remember system details and the exact nature of the individual problems.

I must also ask if your 1300 is an AGP board or PCIE?

Also consider if the error is occurring randomly without any obvious trigger, then there is something in the hardware or hardware setting that is likely the cause. Rather than the driver being the focus of the problem. For example, system bios AGP settings may have an effect. Just for troubleshooting purposes you could try underclocking system memory , if possible, or other options in an attempt to isolate the source of the issue.

If the issue can be reliably reproduced then please provide the details required for us to try and duplicate the issue.

Skeetz

Don't worry about forgetting. I don't care, really. I was just pointing it out. Anyway, it is a PCI express, as is the slot on the motherboard, and it is not AGP. There is a trigger- it's after I play any demanding game (Half-Life 2, for instance.) After a while, (usually the same amount of time, which is about 15-20 mins, according to my personal estimations.) Then, if I try to play immediately afterwards, it lasts a lot shorter. In Halo, it's the same deal, except after the black screen, it goes right back into the game, where I was, but then the black screen comes every 30 seconds or so, from my personal estimation. if I let it sit for a while, ten I can play for about 15-20 mins again, so in the end, it does seem like overheating to me...

The thing is, I have both pointed a big fan into the computer, and now, I have an external cooler running, but still the same result. The cooler should be facing towards the card, blowing air into it, not out of it, correct?

Anything else does not bring the error. Also, much less demanding games (like Marathon, Myth II, Doom, or Super Mario World on an emulator; even NiGHTS on an emulator works without the error.)

So, in short, yea, I can reproduce the problem. Playing any modern game brings it about. Still, I'm worried no tuning program has picked up my card's fan...

But I have done everything to try and fix the overheating, so.

CATALYSTCATCHER

Yes a fan blowing directly on the GPU heatsink should reduce temps to some degree.

Have you been able to monitor the temps on the GPU? If so what are they at idle and under load?

Have you tried lowering the clocks on the 1300 as an experiment? Lower the clocks before entering a game that crashes to see if the problem is better, the same or worse.

Some of the above suggestions require you to use a tweaking tool, but please know that a tweaking tool can also interfere with how the driver controls the card. For example it could be that the tweaker is interfering with the drivers ability to control the fan. So please be very careful and take the appropriate action to ensure that your current tweaker is not clouding the issue.

All these cards have an internal max temperature for the GPU. Once this value is reached the card will essentially turn itself off to protect the GPU from permanent damage. The max temp is somwhere around 110-120C. If the heatsink feels extremely hot then you are likely hitting the limit.

Yes, the cards work the hardest when a current 3D game is running.

If it is getting that hot despite the additional cooling then you should consider returning the card or having it repaired.

Skeetz

I can't monitor the temperature in game. What programs let me do this?

Hmm, well I probably can't return the card after 6 months, but from my understanding, you can give old cards to ATi for 50 bucks credit, and I have two cards (well, three, besides my current and a 9800 Pro, I have a rage, but I don't think they would take that.) I was planning on getting a new card with DX 10 anyway, so yea.

Also, I guess I should throw in that I can't bring my resolution past 1024x728. Even though I have the max resolution in Catalyst set to 1400x1050. When I right click the Catalyst quick launch thing, it shows two things labeled as "Radeon X1300/X1550 Series."

Still, it seems purely like an overheating thing to me.

CATALYSTCATCHER

Yes, it seems like overheating........but.......that problem is more likely with one of the higher end products. Of course any product can overheat, it's just that the 1300 should not get that hot, unless , maybe the heatsink assembly is simply not contacting the actual chip properly. The heatsinks are not just for show, they add too much to the cost of manufacturing, so the heatsink needs to function. If it is not mounted properly, the chip may easily get very hot, because the internal heat has no where to go. This theory is worth investigating.

Skeetz

Well, how do I find out? I don't know how a chip assembly works.

xeav

there's one issue i have to let you know :.

if app uses dx,> crash, and recover
if app uses ogl,> crash, app crash.


e.g. 3d software: maya, xsi use ogl and it's not possible to work in vista, only 3ds max is usefull, insane

:|

Skeetz

Half-Life 2 uses DX, and it doesn't recover.

Slayer175

I posted a while back now, and for the moment (i guess a few weeks now) using the bundled driver in vista has seemed to work quite well - no crashes thus far. Bioshock/WOW/HL2/BF2/2142 all used to go to crap after a min or two, run brilliantly now.

~~
/m2n-e
/2gb mushkin xp 4-4-4-12
/AMD x6000+ (now properly overclocked to 3.9GHz)
/ATI radeon X1900XT 512mb
/All water cooled, so all temps well below normal

BFsMarvinTM

I have been getting the "atikmdag error" for over 2 months and still not working here with 7.10

System specs
AMD64 3200+ 939pin running at 2GHz
2048GB ram in Duel Channel (4 sticks of 512)(just put in the other GB last week)
ATI 1900XTX PCIE

kezg

This thread is the no.1 result returned when googling for 'atikmdag' so i thought i'd post here the experiences i've been having with crossfire and vista, and cat 7.10 drivers.

My crossfire system was running perfect on my old system : amd X24400 + 2 x X1900's in crossfire + 600Watt Enermax psu.
I upgraded the cpu, ram and Motherboard (to a Gigabyte- GA-X38-DQ6 + Intel Quad6600 + my original 2 x X1900's in crossfire + the original 600Watt Enermax psu).
Since the upgrade as soon as I turned on crossfire I started getting the blue screen crash telling me about 'atikmdag' failure almost every time i tried to start up a game, occasionaly it worked, mostly it didnt.

I tried several things i found online that people said worked for them but nothing worked.

Although i thought my 600Watt Enermax power supply was plently powerfull enough, I am running 6 hard drives also + case lighting and other accessories that i had daisy-chained together. Plus the psu only has 1 6pin cable for graphics cards and the other graphics card was powered via 2 4pin hard drive/accessory cables.

I decided to buy another psu, so i went for it and got an Antec Truepower Quattro 1000Watt, a modular cable design, with more then enough juice for all.

Since then i have not had a single atikmdag bsod, it's been about 1 week now and feel pretty safe to say it's fixed the problem.

I would of thought 600watts is enough, maybe newer versions are fine but I think it's worth considering.

Power supply units are supposed to be one of the biggest causes of system problems so it's worth the upgrade anyway.

BFsMarvinTM

good idea about the psu. I checked and I have a Enermax 485W EG495P-VE SFMA Noisetaker II Power Supply and according to this site ( eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5 ) I only need a 305W PSU. so Im thinking in my case its a software problem.

RexDexter

Have same problem...BSOD atimdag.sys or just crash to desktop and ATI driver failed to recover.

Happens to all demanding games.
But is only testing on HL2 team Fortress 2 at the moment. Since i know i can get a crash within 2 minutes (guarantee)

1:. removing Creative soundcard. And use onboard
2:. only one X2900XT instead of Crossfire & disable Crossfire.
3:. remove Ageia physX
4:. different PSU.
5:. standard settings for CPU & run Memory test.
6:. difrerent catalyst settings & versions.
7:. reinstall 3 times of Winodws VISTA
8:. Different DX versions from DX7, DX8, DX8.1, DX9 & DX10
9:. Mounted 120mm fan to blow directly to GFX card

10:. I solved one BSOD issue by removing Creative soundcard (would get more than 12 different BSOD a day). Aparently...Creative stinks when it comes to Vista 64

11:. I still had around 7 different BSOD after. So found out that ULI raid on DFI CFX3200-DR is a no go. Drivers is a joke for VISTA 64. Use SIL raid instead...works like a charm.

12:. Now i´m down to one BSOD only! The atimdag.sys "Attempt to reset display driver or recover from timeout failed HEEEELP

13:. STEAM issue for all HL gamers. And it does not matter if you use NVidia or ATI CmeshDX8::lockvertexbuffer
Solution from Steam support is to change DX version. Is not helping so far i´m afraid But will keep testing

14:. launch game in WIN XP SP2 mode in VISTA...No luck neither Nice try Microsoft

Here is DX info...if it can help (DELETED NOW) If some one will complain...i will delete all this info ASAP. Just hope go get a resolved issue for all of us.

System/rigg setup...
OS:. VISTA 64 & XP
CPU:. AMD X2 4400+
Mobo:. DFI CFX3200-DR
GFX:. Crossfire Club3D X2900Xt
PhysX:. Ageia PhysX
RAM:. Corsair 2GB
PSU:. OCZ 1015W

i have tryed all possible solutions i can think of. It´s driving me mad now
Many things can be wrong Microsoft(VISTA), STEAM/Valve, ATI...hardware or driver issue.

please tell me some one has gotten closer to a solution!!? it sucks to have an exspensige crossfire rigg...when it "Does Not Compute"

iateyourmothersdog

Thought I'd share my (much less irritating) experience on this problem. I bought a new notebook (Toshiba A200 18M; 1.8Ghz intel centrino, 2GB ram, 256 ati radeon HD 2600, vista home premium) and the atikmdag problem came up exactly as someone already described, ie media centre worked fine, but any videos on media player or any games screen would flicker with the message and after a few of these would blackout. Thought I'd be able to fix it by downloading new drivers or whatever, but obviously wasn't the solution. Ended up taking it back to the shop and getting a new one (they tried to argue it was a software problem and therefore not their responsibility at first) and I eventually got them to give me a replacement that was exactly the same, and it works fine.

Know this isn't exactly a realistic solution for anybody but maybe interesting/helpful?

CATALYSTCATCHER

Thank you for contributing. Your story implies that the first notebook had a hardware problem as opposed to faulty drivers causing the TDR messages. I am assuming that the second Toshiba was configured from the same image as the first. But this is a reasonable assumption for notebooks and many systems provided in retail outlets.

steve40

I was getting the ATIMDAG.SYS BSOD problem with Vista Ultimate 64-bit, Catalyst 7.9 drivers, ATI HD2900XT setup using a two monitor extended desktop configuration. I've switched back to using only one monitor and now the driver recovery/BSOD problem is no more!

SypherNL

In June of this year I've bought myself a brand new pc with a E6600, 4GB's of RAM, Vista Home Premium 64-bits and a Sapphire ATi HD2900XT 512MB. At first i was having some problems with Splinter Cell Double Agent in some level. When i reached a certain point, it just gave me a bluescreen.

Quite annoying but that was fixed. I haven't had any problems since.

I was using my card with a Samsung monitor, connected with DVI. I was also using S-video to connect to my television. Because i wanted to reach higher resolutions, i've replaced this S-video cable with a HDMI cable.

All went well, in the Sapphire box was a nice converter for DVI to HDMI so i used that to connect to my TV. The resolution and colors were fabulous, but then everything started to go wrong.

The same day, i got a message stating that the atikmdag driver stopped working and was restarted. This was just a single time this happened, with a nice persisting yellow exclamation mark in my system tray.

At this time i was using the Catalyst 7.9 drivers (non-hotfixed).
I hoped that 7.10 fixed this issue, so i removed the 7.9 drivers, rebooted, installed the 7.10 and rebooted again.

All seemed fine until the atikmdag was restarted 5 times. After 5 times it just gives a blue screen.

So i've decided to revert back to 7.9, as a exclamation mark isn't that harmful ( though it never should have happened in the first place!). Nope, still blue screens.

I repeated this process all over again, but then with 7.8. It seemed to work as i didn't get any blue screens OR atikmdag restarts in 72 hours. But then it started all over again.

This is really, really frustrating. When i unplug my HDMI cable, doesn't matter on which side, nothing happens and the "atikmdag reset loop" stops.

Ok, lets try updating the drivers. I've updated the chipset drivers. No luck whatsoever.

So i thought. This must be a temperature issue, as i never got these problems during games.
I didn't recall hearing the fan lately. Normally it would be very loud every 5 minutes, and then stopping after 20 seconds or so.
For 3 days I've ran a game on the background, and all was fine.

But of course, this was just a temporary thing. Blue screen, again.

Ok, next try. Disabling the secondary monitor (extended desktop) and only enable it when needed.
Worked for 4 days and then it started again, while i was using the tv.

When this problem started, i filled in the Driver Feedback for Vista and opened a ticket with ATi.
In this ticket i gave a pretty extended problem description, with codes on the blue screen etc.

No, cable's can't cause this and neither does the converter. According to ATi Support. Seemed reasonable.

At some point the ticket was moved over to some other department, but they seem to be unwilling to cooperate. Their response: Here is a RMA form.

This is pretty annoying, it doesn't look like a specific pattern. It happens sometimes, and only when the tv is connected (and enabled).

Well, this has been a pretty long post but i wanted to share my problems with people having similar problems.

I am now considering going back to my S-video cable with max 1024x768 resolution instead of 1280x720. What a waste of money...

SypherNL

Microsoft called me today. They suggested me to use a different DVI output.
Also, they stated that Vista does not include a VPU recover function, which strikes me as odd.

CATALYSTCATCHER

There have been some who find that switching the display connection alleviates their problems. I don't know why, but it is certainly a simple thing to try.

Vista does not have a VPU recover function, but it does have the TDR function which effectively serves the same purpose. My guess is that MS is simply quibbling over terms. BTW, the TDR function is simply a watch dog timer. A concept that has been around longer than Windows or MS. In the early days it would be something implemented in actual hardware. With the same overall impact depending on what was getting restarted.

simdude

Hi, new guy here.

I just got myself a new notebook computer and so, I had to drop by and say that the atikmdag error is still alive and kicking with catalyst 7.10. I'm getting it even while opening/closing windows and while in Opera on the net. I can't even get to the 3d preview tab in the CCC, it instantly locks and blacks out.

Maybe by 2020 and catalyst 7.67 version will get it sorted out.

SypherNL

Well, since Thursday last week i haven't had a blue screen.. So i was happy...

Until yesterday, exactly one week and then.. boom.
I wrote a small tool which disables the second monitor to stop it from restarting atikmdag, this thing seemed to work. One time, it disabled the monitor.

Then i killed the ati2evxx service and restarted it (don't know why i did that and if it was effective)

A little while later i re-enabled the second monitor and used it for 40 minutes without any problems, then i stopped using it.

Its odd, ah well, if this is the only thing that's left and my tool keeps my pc from going blue.... Beats the alternative.

And if it doesn't, i'll probably just go and switch the DVI ports.. But i'm still sceptical about that.

By the way: What is the acceptable temperature of the LM64?

CATALYSTCATCHER

Hmmmm, you assume the driver is the problem, however, just about everyone who has been able to find a cure has found that a hardware problem was at the root of the issue. It could be as simple as changing system memory timing all the way through replacing bad components or the whole computer. If you just got the notebook, is there any way you can get some hands on support regarding this issue? Perhaps have the machine replaced?
If the problem is occurring with any regularity there should be no problem demonstrating it to whomever supplied the notebook and getting some hands on action.

BFsMarvinTM

well I'm still getting the problem here and still no idea why. I have even done a full reinstall with still no fix. and its very annoying it will happen once then not again for at least 24hrs or more

mrbill317

I am getting the Red Screen of death with regards to the ATIKMDAG.SYS
I have a brand spanking new system

AMD X2 - 6400+
2- ATI HD 2900 XT with 1gb Memory each in Crossfire mode
2gb Corsair XMS2 Memory
1000W Coolermaster Real Power Pro
Vista 32bit Ultimate
Just 1 20" monitor hooked up.
I am running 7.10 Catalyst.

Crysis , Bioshock both crash with either blue screen or red screen of death.
I have a top of the line case with plenty of fans and a video card fan tunnel.
These are ATI Sapphire 2900's

So far with my new system I cannot run any games.

mrbill317

Ok here is an update , so far HalfLife 2 with everything on High and 4xAA is running fine.

adambu1988

I sent my card back to overclockers.co.uk... they detected a fault with it...they sent it to ati for "repair or replacement"... i FINALY got it back after 4 weeks yesterday... and ITS STILL F***ING BROKEN!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!

I have tryed EVERYTHING NOW...
clean install followed by CCC 7.1
clean install followed by CCC 7.2
clean install followed by CCC 7.3
etc...

I've tryed ati tool
switching DVI sockets
Upgrading PSU
Replacing Ram
Removing PCI Cards
Updating BIOS
Updating VGA Chipset Drivers

IT'S DRIVING ME MAD!!!
My Computer is now in my cupboard!

protoz

I recently stumbled upon this thread looking for an answer to an issue that started after I upgraded my PC from:
AMD 3500+
1GB DDR400
to
Intel Dual Core E2140
2GB DDR2

I kept my x850xt because my processor and ram were my main bottlenecks. I started having the driver recovery issue when I tried to play The Witcher. It's a buggy game so I thought it was the install so I reinstalled The Witcher and no change.

I played quite a bit of Team Fortress 2 without issue. I even boosted the settings and overclocked and could not get it to crash.
Same for Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer <--Notoriously buggy game

I fired up Savage 2 (still in beta) and I played for a bit. The driver recovered. Kept playing. Recovered. Crashed.

I tried running the two crashing games as an Administrator but no help there.

I read that this issue became more apparent when users have 2GB of ram or more. I haven't been able to run a memtest on this new ram but I will tonight.

I'm still not sure why a few games would work fine and others would not. That to me sounds like a driver issue or Vista being a little over zealous with it's TDR.

ATi has built in VPU recovery. Why should I rely in Vista? Can I turn off TDR?

CATALYSTCATCHER

Different games use different code structures to get the job done. This reality means different functions or capabilities in the driver may be used or stressed more in some games than others. So, yes a problem with a specific game may indicate a driver issue but could also be a problem in the game itself.

For each case the developers must trace the code being used at the time the problem occurs to determine what is actually causing the problem. That it why randomly occuring TDR events are so difficult to unravel.

VPU recover is for XP only. In Vista the TDR does basically the same function for all core drivers in an attempt to allow a graceful (opinions vary :-)) shutdown rather than a complete system hang.

It is not advisable to disable the TDR functions as you are simply hiding problems that affect the system. (like ignoring a toothache) Best to resolve the problems before you can't boot into Windows.

protoz

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm going to try some of the fixes I read here and elsewhere and see how it goes before I go back to XP and see if I still get the same issue.

If it is not the driver then it has to be the memory or the motherboard not liking my 420W power supply. It ran perfectly fine with my old rig but I don't have the new 8 pin 12V connector. The manual says the old P4 style 4 pin works just as well so that's a moot point.

Could the 2GB+ memory actually be an issue? A majority of users on here have 2gb+ for RAM and they all have the same issue.