Vista and 7.3 Display driver atikmdag stopped responding error

CATALYSTCATCHER

First, apology accepted, and please realize that I understand that many users release some of their frustration in the public forum. The point that is missed is that I know how frustrating and infuriating problems like this can be. (I have been there and got the T-shirt actually quite a few :-)) PCs and the software are supposed to work flawlessly however that is not always the case.

The upshot is that letting off steam, does not end up being very productive in the problem solving department.

VSync ....Yes, Vertical synchronization. Typically 60 htz for LCD displays and it varies more widely for CRTs. In any case Vista has Vsync locked down such that it can't be disabled. (As far as I know). However there is something in SP1 that allows Vsync ro be disabled (by Vista) during low power or standby states. One of the reasons we like to know what kind of display is connected and how it is connected. VGA, DVI etc.

Now on to the scary concept that there are multiple issues causing TDRs. YES! that is a very scary possiblity indeed, because the TDR message does not tell you what actually caused the problem.

So imagine, if you have a marginal PSU, and some marginal system memory and you decide to overclock the GPU and god forbid the CPU. I think you will see the picture I am trying to elicit. One must back off and evaluate all the possibilities.

Now, most of the forum member here are pretty knowledgable as are the DH mods, but this thread has gathered a lot of new members who I don't have any knowledge of so my 3RD goal here is to attempt to keep things calm rather than have desperate new members come along and get the idea that the next driver will cure all their problems.

This thread was stickyed in the spirit of being an ongoing investigation on the TDR issues.

If the competition did not suffer the same type of random issues I would be the first to suggest that people trade in their offending card for something that works. But based on the threads I have reviewed, I don't have a lot of confidence in that potential suggestion actually solving the majority of problems.

Finally its good to see you back.

CC

SypherNL

Hmm... Vista has a nice crash reporting thingy I am a frequent user of. Every time the videocard crashes, I submit the information.

Normally it just says: Problem caused by ATI Graphics Driver, with "helpful" "tips" saying contact Microsoft or Contact ATI, Upgrade your drivers if they are available blah blah.

Now it says:
Problem caused by ATI Graphics Driver
AND....
This problem is being investigated

I don't know if this will get us somewhere, but a man can dream.
In the mean time, I'd like to suggest everybody keeps on submitting their crashlogs to Microsoft. Maybe something will change if we all keep doing that

RShnaider

BadMouth

No ATIKMDAG.SYS message pops up, Update:
Ok folks I have just deleted the driver packages and my instructions on how to prevent the ATIKMDAG.SYS message pop ups.
A new breaking solution has just dawn on me after reading the previous posts of these two members:
CATALYSTCATCHER, and SilverDev a fellow programmer.
As I stated in my first post and I will stick with it, is that I feel that the problem is related to the monitor signal and the card and drivers. I consider myself as an outcast compared to most of the posters in this thread, which posted similar symptoms. For me, my system would randomly and constantly crash along with the ATIKMDAG.SYS message. I could not and I repeat could not do anything with my system without crashing using the driver versions: 7.6 all the way up to the 8.3 drivers.
If anyone is going to solve this problem, it is going to happen with a system as mine. Why? Because as a programmer when a program crashes just once in a while, it is hard to pinpoint the cause unless we actually stumble into the problem. If a program crashes sometimes, and then sometimes, constantly crashes, then we have a program that can be easily debugged to pinpoint the cause.
Now you guessed it, my system!
Here is the WONDERFUL BREAKING NEWS of my analysis:
I am currently using the FULL package of the Catalyst 8.3 driver versions, that is right the FULL package mahahahahaha! Why am I laughing? Because I am so overjoyed with excitement!
It has been now over 6hrs with no crashes, message pops ups, and guess what? I am able to play with all the following games with no crashes mamahahahahaa!
First my major crashing game Unreal Tournament followed by Brothers and Arms and BIO Shock both also Unreal Engine game types, followed by Crysis, O yeah!, Medal of Honor Airborne, Medieval Total Wars, Need for Speed Blacklist, Need for speed Carbon, Call of Duty 4 and finally Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Los Vegas. I say, “Hit me Momma and wake me up!”
Now I bet you are wondering what I did to get this result? Here is what I did, now mind you it is still in the testing mode, however since I managed to bring my system to actually use these drivers without having a dam crash, or pop up message, I believe it is a good clue into solving this annoying problem.
1. Removed the drivers correctly accordingly to my previous post.
2. Shutdown the Monitor and System.
3. Disconnected the digital line from my Monitor and ATI card, leaving the Analog connected.
4. Turn on the system, and booted into the BIOS, from within the BIOS I disabled the Multithreading feature.
5. Booted into Vista, then within my LCD Monitor display OSD menu, I selected the DDC/CI option and selected the option Disabled. For those that do not know what DDC/CI is let us say that it allows or prevents any programs from changing the frequency signal of the monitor.
6. Installed the drivers 8.3 full with control center.
7. Rebooted my system.

OH DAMMIT! BAH! I know it is going to crash, just seen the dam random dots on my desktop!
Oh well must follow my debugging instructions; Let me run the Vista Performance test.
CRASH! Well I knew this was going to happen, Ok reboot system!
Back to the desktop, I go still random flashing dots!
Ok now it is time to do something else!
8. Double click the Catalyst control icon located at bottom right task bar.
9. Selected (Advance) settings.
10. In the control center (Monitor Properties), (Attribute) section I unchecked the (Use Extended Display Identification Data) box.
Now the following step is where I notice some changes:
11. In the Monitor (Adjustments) section I decided to place a check mark in the (Composite synic) box.
As soon as I did that, my LCD display changed and was out of whack. Now I did this because I know that if anything is going to happen it either is going to be the same, better, or worse. I had nothing to lose.
After that I rebooted my system to make the changes take affect.
WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
NO random dots appearing on my desktop? HMMM Seems as if I am getting somewhere.
Ok time to adjust the monitor to reflect the change! Within my LCD Monitor I selected the AUTO ADJUST option. After a bit the monitor WALLA! Adjusted my display perfectly.
Now hmmmm, this seems familiar, reminds me of the good old days using an Analog monitor!
Ok! Now it is time for a reboot!
Well folks after that reboot I have not seen one freaking little dot, dark line, and the Vista performance test pass like a grass over my A@#.
There you go folks the start of a good chance of finding this no good, disgusting aggravating nuisance of a crappy bug!
I will be posting later on when I make more changes, like setting the Multitasking On. I am not going to do anything now, because I am too happy to do anything, and besides I want to enjoy my games.
B.M

axmt

Catalyst,

As to the Vista thought on VSYNC. There are 2 options that can be turned off that have (from what I was told by A Microsoft Rep) alot to do with the way VISAT handles a graphics card. they Can both be found in CONTROL PANEL POWER OPTIONS ADVANCED SETTINGS. One of these is the PCI EXPRESS LINKSTATE POWER MANAGMENT it is adjustable and has an OFF option , the second is in the same palce under DISPLAY one part is the TURN OFF DISPLAY and the other IS ADAPTIVE DISPLAY Which you can turn off.Now the Microsoft guy said that these can have an impact on the video card is as they regulate the Power rather strictly depending on how they are set if they are on and when off act more like XP did monitoring but staying out of the way.

I have tried every possible thing I can think of to correct the issue on my end , I have tried replacing every part in every affected computer , I have tried every suggestion here and still have the issue. My hardware is speced out all four of my machines are identical save the OS and the AMOUNT of RAM in them.

I have one more chance with a 3870HD coming up hopefully by end of week, the 1 Card that has a confirmed Problem with the Second DVI was RMA'd and the replacement should arrive soon. I am going to try this card in the computers Starting with My Main one to see IF the Problem reappears. Now I know that the best run with a 3870HD I have gotten BEFORE the Problem reappeared was 5 days. So I plan to hold off announcing a result UNTILL it has either Run for 7 days with no Errors, or the problem rears up.

I figure 7 days is a good sign since I have not seen any other Folks saying "Hey it was good for 8 days and then WHAM".

Now I have had some bad luck so far 4 cards originally, 1 RMA out of those ( totally fried ) no apparent problems with the hardware As Per the requeisit tests at ATI direction, So I bought 4 MORE Cards thinking no one can be that unlucky.. 1 Confrimed problem Hardware , 3 exhibitng the Issue but passing Testing Muster. And then of course Purchasing every part in every computer again. I had to be thorough in my persuit of "could it be ?" But then sometimes this is part of the game.

My Specs are up on the board so you can see the hardware, if a list of software would help I will post that It is a rather short list.

Rayline TWB

Hi chaps, I thought I could post some symptoms here as I experience the same problems as described earlier in this thread.

First I can point out that these problems never happened when I ran the same rig under WXP SP2.
The OS I run now is Vista x64 SP1 (Home Premium).
I have always used the full package from ATI - even though I tried using the driver only as suggested in some earlier postings here.

As for the ViewSonic VX2235wm monitor, it is hoocked up on DVI cable, and I use only a single monitor.
My setup is not overclocked in any way, and each an every hardware or software part do have the latest drivers that are currently issued.

Some of you are experiencing these TRDs randomly, this is not so in my case. Or maybe I should call it randomly, but anyhow it is consistent.
Below I just put on display how often this happens - and it all happened during gaming Call Of Duty 4 (which also runs the latest patch).

April 12th on the following hours:
21.23
21.28
21.29
21.30
21.32
21.32
21.33
21.33
21.34
21.35
21.35
21.36
21.38
21.40
Gaming pause
23.57

April 13th
00.31
00.35
00.35
00.47
Gaming pause
17.09
17.10
17.50
18.44
18.57
18.57
19.01
19.01
19.11
19.17
19.17
19.27
19.34
19.39
19.42
19.53
20.11
20.25

And this continues at the same level for the rest of that evening, and is still active...:-)

Below is more or less the content of the produced problem report:

A problem with your video hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.
[COLOR=#0066cc][COLOR=#0066cc]Problem signature[/COLOR][/COLOR]Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1044
[COLOR=#0066cc][COLOR=#0066cc]Files that help describe the problem[/COLOR][/COLOR]WD-20080413-1942.dmp
sysdata.xml
Version.txt
View a temporary copy of these files
Warning: If a virus or other security threat caused the problem, opening a copy of the files could harm your computer.
[COLOR=#0066cc][COLOR=#0066cc]Extra information about the problem[/COLOR][/COLOR]BCCode: 117
BCP1: FFFFFA800856D010
BCP2: FFFFFA6002028844
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_0_6001
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Some of the numbers differ from event to event, but the main cause is the same every time. And as others have pointed out, the solution depicted by Windows is to run along to ATIs website and grab the latest driver lol....
I should mention that I am running Catalyst 8.3.

I have checked with different monitoring devices that my card doesn't run any hotter than expected, that is up in the 70s during the most intensive gaming rounds.

I have also tried to run ATItool, and to run the tool with setting that controls the fan dynamic based on GPU temperature with no luck, and with the setting where fan control is fixed at a certain percentage with no luck. I tried 30, 50 and 70%, but no real difference.

So, basically I am still as wise as when I started......


OH - and by the way - my system's spec is portrayed in the avatar area on the left side here.

axlryd

Hi Rayline, you are not alone, I also have the error on a regular basis when playing games. Happens very rarely if I'm not playing.

I also wanted to check if someone has tested Badmouth's solution? I'm waiting for a positive response before I go into deep waters again.

BadMouth

Just for the record folks: This DELL system is the first prebuilt system I ever bought in my life, and if god willingness will be my last.
I always build my own systems, because I like to know what I have, but
since I am in a budget I had to either pick from buying a prebuilt system, or build one from scratch.
Since building a system would cost me way over what I would pay for this crappy system, I decided to buy this SH@%. The first thing that went when I unpacked it was the operating system, and the partitions.
I like to install my own system; not having any crap that I am not going to use is a waste.

As for the advice from ‘axmt’, about power management that is the first place I go when I first install my systems, and yes, I have all set properly for a desktop system.

Now for some results:
1. After my last post, my son and I ran the computer a total of 15hrs straight, from running programs to running the games. Result AOK.

2. Before I went to work, I enabled the multithreading feature, and ran the
random image-creating program that I had made way back. This program will
take 5 pictures that I have taken and will combine them into one then save
the result into a file. I set the randomization to a total of 50, which
means it will create 50 images from several pictures before actually saving
the image. Now this program is a total CPU pig, if anything is going to happen it is going to be with this program. Results FAILED.

3. After step 2, rebooted my system, ran Crysis. Results CRASH!

From the above results, we can say it is related to the following:
1. RAM
2. Monitor signal
3. Drivers

I am not upset with the results considering I am actually using the drivers and the Control Center, with no constant crashes like I used to get. I am very pleased with the results .

I am leaving the multithreading enabled and I am going to make more changes, and will post the results later.

B.M

BadMouth

IMPORTANT:
Listen I am sorry that I have not mentioned this before, but since I got carried away in trying to figure out the problem of these dam drivers, I forgot to mention it previously.
ANYONE who has installed the “Catalyst Control Center” package whether you made changes or not using the Control Center be sure to select the (Preferences) menu tab, and reset your adapter to “Factory Defaults” before un-installing the Control Center or the drivers.
This is very important to do, especially if you are doing some testing with your system.
If you do not, you will get the same results when installing another driver whether old or newer.
So if you are experiencing the same results, after un-installing the drivers and the Control Center, be sure to install the Control Center, and reset your adapter to default even if you did not make any changes. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
Ok now that my conscience is cleared, I am still trying out some new changes, and will report later.
B.M

axmt

Catalyst, I only Use DVI Cables and all my Monitors are LCD.

Bad Mouth,
I wasn't trying to give advice as to the POWER. I was mearly Repeating what I Microsfot Rep told me in regards to the way VISTA handle a Graphics card. I thought this Might be of Some use to Catalystcatcher and his fellow staffers. He stated that he did not believe that there was any thing that one could do that would change how VISTA deals with a graphics card ( expressly in regaurds to VSYNC ) Now What the Microsoft guy told me doesn't do anything to the Control of VSYNC that VISTA seems to have a Deathgrip on , but it may ( and I stress MAY ) just help to clear one hurdle in the chain of events that everyone here seems to be tripping INADVERTANTLY that results in the annoying Errors we have all seen.

Please , don't take my posts and thoughts as though they are directly pointed at anyone they are Just general thoughts. and are posted in hope they might be of some help in tracking down the Root of the problem.

Think hypothetically here, what if those settings do have something to do with the problem ? What if they execute a bunch of code within the OS shell that Short circuits the Core of the Graphics driver program ? or Mebe the Code that gets executed changes a normally random varible to a rigid value elsewhere in the OS environment that impacts say the way 2 way multi threading is processed between the memory controller and the north and south bridge thus causing a seemingly random hang that expresses itself as a graphics error in a seemingly random manner.

As Catalystcatcher has pointed out the VARIBLES are Staggering and there are thousands of Possible culprits. It takes time to Pin it down to Just a Few Hundred or so and even more time to nailit down to the most likely culprits. It is only at taht time that there is a Decent Chance of finding a SOFTWARE Solution that may put the "bug" to bed.

Some of us have had waht appeared to be promising leads and courses of action, only to find out that our EUREKA was more of a Lead Ballon than a helpful course of action.

I am sure ATI is trying as hard as those of us here are. One thing that is promising is the Fact that ATI has someone who is ENGAGING in a Discourse here, with folks of all levels of Computing Knowledge from Novices to highly experienced Computer Modders.

And while not all of us can stat things in a PERFECTLY STRAIGHT TECH way the General Idea is bing understood. This is promising I say because it shows at least in MHO that ATI is taking this problem VERY SERIOUSLY.

BadMouth

ATI is taking this problem VERY SERIOUSLY.

Well yeah of course, they are NOW!
This problem has been around FOR YEARS that is right YEARS!
Now they are trying to figure out the cause of this problem, and you know why?
I tell you why because 98 percent of all prebuilt system in the market today
contains the nice juicy well-built operating system VISTA!
Most suckers like us bought their card thinking we can rely on them as we did
for years, LOL that is a laugh! This problem also occurs in 2000 and Xp systems
and no one can tell me OTHERWISE that it is just related to VISTA.

They are doing something now because their reputation is ruined because of the
world known bug that is caused by their drivers, but it is not just ATI mind you,
it is also Nvidia!

This problem could of have been avoided years ago, if they took it seriously back then.
If I knew this back then, I would never have bought their card.

If I created alone a 20mb program, and I handed it to you, it would take you
probably years for you to figure out what it does. Now if I created a program
with 10 other programmers, it does not take years to call in the other programmers
into a big room and discuss their code.

As I said before and I will say it again, the problem is related to the drivers,
and it is related in how the drivers are accessing the memory within the operating system.

For example: If I turned on Execute Bit within my BIOS I would get more crashes with their
drivers, then if I disabled it.

Now that was a test I done weeks ago! Moreover, it shows that the drivers are accessing
or storing values where they should not be! This is why some users only get random crashes
in their systems, and sometimes within days apart, while others like me get them all the time.
This is also, why I can run the 7.4 drivers that do not recognize my card, on my system because the
drivers are not accessing the memory or storing data at the wrong place, and also because the
drivers are not utilizing the HD technology as they would with the 7.6 – 8.3 drivers.

B.M
P.S Still testing folks!

Biffes

just a small update:

i am still using my old x1800gto. The HD3850 has been sent to the manufacturer. I will get it back next week (hopefully)

My pc got zero (!) error warnings since changing the cards. nothing else has been changed (dual monitor; vista64; 8.3 driver).
Who ever build this card- i love you, dude

axmt

Catatlyst,

I went back to the othere Computers and using a Borowwed CRT Monitor and a DVI to RGB adapter did some testing to see if the problem would show up. It does with the any of the HD3870's I have in hand currently. But, agian when I revertback to the old X700 card and the old 7950 GTX (nvidia) I do not see the problem.

I hate to throw out this conjecture but, what if the problem is in the Axccelerator at least on some of the cards ?

I only ask due to the fact ( at least what I have seen) the error messages ,BSODs, system freezes , strange diagonal screen blur lines that can not be remedyed with out a HARD REBOOT, seem to occur MORE frequently when Attempting to run A 3d App. Than when running a 2d app. They also seem to occur more frequently when attempting to run A BUNCh of 2d apps at once.

I have tried to reproduce the problem using the Old X700 card I have doing the same things I was every time I had a 3870 HD show the Errors ,but With the X700 I am Unable to produce one single Error relating to graphics.

Now I have what will appear to be a STRANGE question for you CATALYSTCATCHER.
With all of the problems reported that relate to this How affected does the 3650 Card seem to be ? More than 50 % or Less than 50 % ?

I ask as from the specs I posted on My Main Machine you can see that It is right out there on the edge. And i am curious as to wether goign with a Lower end solution might be the answer I need. But , As I have already spent a truckload I am hesitant to spend even $ 129 more in hopes of finding a solution with out having some Information as to the Rough Percentage of the percentage of those affected with the Step down.
So it is clear there are 2 3650"s avaible Locally I could try ( both by Visiontek) one is a 512Mb version and the Other is a 1GB version. So Iask what does the collected data suggest as to the percentage of those affected using a 3650 in a 512Mb and a 1Gb version?

Take your time if you need , I know this is a Sticky question to ask as I am asking to to post Percentages (IE: Odds of failure) but before I spend another dime in pursuit of possibly findng a solution and in the process gathering More data. I want as much Information as I can get.
Oh and one other request again it may sound strange Which Card that is Out there and Supported is/has been LEAST reported as having this Issue ( ATIKMDAG.SYS )?

CATALYSTCATCHER

We simply can't say, because there is no single root cause of a TDR event, how could we possibly know if a graphics card had faulted or if someone were overclocking too aggressivly and causing the fault. (Just an example by the way. I am not accusing anyone of OCing, but I know it happens and causes TDRs. I have done it myself ;-)

What I can say is that those who tend to buy the more extreme cards belong to a group who are more likely to Over clock. Where as the more casual gamers who are happy with the less expensive cards are less likely to over clock. And then there are the lower end cards that go to the masses who know nothing about overclocking.

I can also say that only a tiny percentage of any group experience the TDR issues. So any percentage difference between models would be very small if it could even be reliably detected.

Personally, I do not advise spending any more money unless you are 99+% sure it will fix your problems.

SypherNL

Finally Vista SP1 was out in other languages then English/French/Spanish... I needed the Dutch one.
It came out yesterday, and I've installed it today. After the install - which took a long time - the system seemed faster.

I've installed the new 8.4 Device Drivers that came out today. Immediatly after the setup, when I enabled Extended Desktop it crashed. Bad.

Ok, well.. Driver change requires a reboot so I did. I enabled the Extended Desktop and... It worked, great... But it lasted one hour until it crashed again.

Seems like SP1 (or 8.4 Drivers) are making the system even more unstable then before.

axmt

I understand your thoughts CATALYST. I am one of the Unfortunate folks who While I did Buy a Card out on the EDGE do not nor have I ever OC'd anything in any of my computers. I have on a few Occasiona had to UNDERCLOCK hardware ( most notably for me with the INTEL PENT 4 EXTREME EDITON that came Running 3.73 GHz. Lol I had to Underclock it to 3.50 GHz so it would play nice with my other hardware )
I just asked as I have gone so far at this point it is Rediculous, And if it SEEMED to be less Prevalant in say the 3650 Cards for those who don't OC,, Well at this point what the Heck is another 129.00 ??
But then , as I said I understand your Point as I could really just be throwing away more money. I don't know what to do at this point. The Cards I have give me the error wehn I use them, but I don't see a problem when using an Old X700 or an Nvidia 7900gtx ,, the drawback there is that the Graphics Quality really Suffers and so does overall Performance across the board.
I hope that a solution is found sooner rather than later for this.

BadMouth

Well folks after numerous testing with the ATI HD 2600 XT PCE the results are:

1. With multithreading enabled the system crashed extensively.
2. With multithreading disabled the system occasionally crashed.

1. With DEP disabled and multithreading on, the system crashed extensively.
2. With DEP disabled and multithreading disabled, the system crashed occasionally.

1. With DEP and DDC/CI enabled and multithreading enabled system crashed extensively.
2. With DEP and DDC/CI disabled and multithreading disabled system crashed occasionally.

1. With DEP and DDC/CI enabled, and background services set to full performance, system crashed
extensively.
2. With DEP and DDC/CI enabled, and foreground services set to full performance, system crashed
occasionally.

Now the above tests were done with the 8.3 drivers and the control center installed. These test range from
Printing, Gaming, Movies to productive programs such as CAD, Paintshop Pro, Visual studio 2005, Visual
studio 6.0, Delphi 7.0, Burning studio, Databases, Word etc...

Now from all the tests, that I have done so far for the past month and up to now is that the ATI drivers
are not completely the blame. What I mean is that they are partially to blame for this bug. It is not the
whole driver package causing this mess, and I have no reason to believe that the Catalyst Control Center
is the culprit. In fact, back a few weeks ago I ran the standalone driver and still got the same results
as if I had the control center installed.

Now I decided to go on ahead to Circuit City and talk to one of my friends, got a good deal on a GeForce
8600 GT, now mind you that this card is similar to the ATI HD 2600 XT card.
Ran all the tests the same way, no special tweaks or settings, and guess what? ALL PASSED!

So my solution to this problem folks is this:

1. Removed ATI favorites from my internet explorer, and in with Nvidia.
2. Deleted all my packages that I have created to run the 2600 XT, freed up 1.g
3. Deleted all references of ATI from my registry.
4. Deleted all email documents from ATI Techs.

For those who are curious as to what I did with the ATI HD 2600 XT:
WHOOOSH--- BING---BANG---CLING---CLANG---CLAMP

And in with the good!
B.M

Biffes

update 3:
my replacement-card came in today. something is really weird in here: my old card was a sapphire 3850 (256mb) on a red pcb. the new card has got a BLUE PCB, the gpu is running on 700mhz(!) by default and it has a ugly and small cooling device on it. the mem is on 828 mhz.
the 8.4 driver only says "hd 3800 series) nothing about 3850. so does gpu-z, too. i am kinda scared... well, i will check if it is tdr-stable.

Rayline TWB

Well, I am sorry to say this, but this doesn't change the fact that even people with nVidia cards experience the same fault under Vista - so the basics of this is that both ATI and nVidia have problems with their drivers/driver packages under Vista using the latest video cards.
It might even be that Windows Vista code is to blame here, but most important is that ATI, nVidia and Microsoft must examine and pull this train jointly to get a solution.

__________________
Dancing your souls away...........

Rayline TWB

This is normal and correct; HD3850 is part of HD3800 - series, so would cards named 3810, 3840, 3870 too. So I think you need not be scared m8...:-)

__________________
Dancing your souls away...........

Rayline TWB

Right, here's an update that'll make you all go happy - NOT.

I decided to update to Catalyst 8.4 today, just to see if I was lucky enough to have some of my posted problems to go away. Here's the story for ya'll:

Completely removed Catalyst 8.3.
Rebooted, and installed the 8.4 version - everything went just neat so far.

Another reboot after finishing the install, back into Windows, and the following happens:

1. CCCPrev.exe stopped working - caused by atiumdva.dll.
2. MMACEPrev.exe stopped working - caused by atiumdva.dll.

After a couple of extra reboots, I manage to supress the faulty behaviour of atiumdva.dll.

Full of hope I loaded COD4, which has given me all the errors that I posted earlier. Play for 5 mins, and the same errors happen exactly the same way as earlier posted. Bummer!!
What happens is, I hear the GPU fan slowing down (almost to a halt), screen goes black with some distortion of colours, then the GPU fan starts again, screen comes back on, and for a short second or two I also experience an ingame CI (Connection Interrupt). After this I can play for some secs/minutes again, until everything repeats itself.

I am getting rather sick and tired of this freakin' stuff.

__________________
Dancing your souls away...........

BadMouth

so the basics of this is that both ATI and nVidia have problems with their drivers/driver packages under Vista using the latest video cards.

Do not get the idea that I am trying to say to people to go a get an Nvidia card now!

I tell you the truth I do not care whether you stay with a card that keeps crashing or halting your system, especially when you are trying to do some work related to your lively hood. If you want to use a card that crashes on you randomly, or constant while trying to finish an important document within a dead line, and lose some of your work because of a crash, BY ALL MEANS PLEASE CONTINUE TO USE IT!

Before I joined this forum, I was busting my A@# trying to figure out the cause of this problem. I did more than most people in this forum, or in any other forum would do in trying to make their cards work, and from all the forums I have visited and posts that I have read, the percentage of Nvidia users are lower than ATI users. This did not stop me from giving up, I was always an ATI fan, but times have changed.

I did all these testing for a reason, and that is to try and find out or at least narrow it down, so that everyone including ATI members can get a better picture as to where the problem maybe. I had a few friends hunting me about getting a GeForce 8800 GT, in trying to make me stop what I was doing.

They were right, I didn’t have to go through all this crap, for about 2 months trying to solve this problem, I could of just as well go to Circuit City and buy a GeForce 8800 Ultra as one of my friends suggested. However, the point was to get a card similar to the ATI HD 2600 XT, so that I can see if the problems or issues do occur on my system with the card. So that’s what I did, and as for the lasted higher end cards having the problem, the ATI HD 2600 XT and the GeForce 8600 GT came around the same time, so that’s no accuse and no indication that it is just related to the latest high-end cards.

As for the vista operating system, it is one of the best systems that I ever use in my entire life, and I been around since the good old 3.1 windows. Therefore, I know a lot when it comes to a system, and believe me VISTA is not the culprit.

Therefore, I well end this with a good saying:
If the shoe fits, then wear it!
B.M

Rayline TWB

Man, you must be high strung or something.

1. Noone has acused you of anything.
2. Buying a new nVidia card worked good for you - fine.
3. I have seen a lot of nVidia card owners that don't do so fine due to this error.
4. There are a lot of us who have been around since Windows 3.1 - what a statement of you there. As if it where someone that could or even would care to prove you right or wrong on that. Any fool can say that in a forum.
5. I never said it was Windows Vista alone that makes this error. I said that ATI/nVidia and Microsoft should join forces to get rid of the problem.

6. Now, go take a pill.

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Dancing your souls away...........

SypherNL

Plus, nVidia has its own problems. Similar problems are being reported by nVidia users, so....

temeteus82

Hey all!

Just to remind you all to stay calm and civilized. You you need to let out some steam the Flaming Warzone is for that. And could you all avoid using bright colors since they aren't clearly visible on SereneHeaven site theme.

[EDIT] do avoid using custom color white too it's not readable on SereneHeaven theme.

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BadMouth

If you are too cheap to go and buy another type of card, to use as a testing device, then do not complain about your so-called errors example: “Oh dam, ran BIO Shock for two hours and it crashed on meL”. Those types of post and comments are insignificant and non-related to the cause in solving the crashes and the ATIKMDAG.SYS message pop ups. But if you want to solve this problem as much as I did get off your lazy A@#$& and start posting technical facts, and configurations that you have done to your system and the results that you have gotten while doing so.
Maybe then the ATI members can get a better picture as to where the problem maybe.
B.M

axmt

Badmouth, Some of us have posted Technical Details about our experience with the Error. From What I Can gather from reading CATALYSTCATCHER's posts some of the most important information relates to How ones System is configured HARDWARE wise. It also appears to be of interest as to what You have tried to do to create a stable workaround. The ATI folks also seem to be interested in what "Creative" solutions have been tried and what the Rational was/is behind them.
From My perspective ( and may be from some others here ) it appears as though any reasonal proposal into the possible Origin of the More than annoying errors is examined thougoughly and then responded to.
All, aggresivly worded posts are going to do is push those who can articulate the mechanics of what is being done, and how it is being done, to the Point of withdrawing from the Converstation.
And what that will do is Prolong the time frame in which it takes to find a solution.
This has been a nagging problem for alot of folks for quite some time, however there are some "TICS" and "TOCS" along the Progression of Technology that have persistant error for Long periods. This is Inevitable. And Given the fact that A New Process was developed that Brought the HD Inigrated and HD capable cards to the Scene, IN conjunction with the Constant changes in Software Vairables and Main Line hardware Form Factors over the last 2 years, growth pains are to be expected.
It may just be one of these things that has to work itself out, in as that it may be of an Origin that no one has even thought of and if that is the case , One update or another for one thing or another could solve the issue for the mass majority.
This has happened in the past with other Issues that were of great pain.

Am I defending anyone ? NO, I am not. Am I upset about this ? Sure I am, but then so are ALOT of Folks.

Catalystcatcher made a VERY GOOD point in a previous post. " Many of the folks who post here are Very Knowledgable, But there are also Folks here who just know they have an error" ( I quoted as close as I could remember without looking ).

Those Posts are SIGNIFICANT and they DO relate to the larger issue.

Why are they significant ? SIMPLE, because they document yet another Application that when used results in the errors for SOME folks. This is USEFUL Data In as much as ATI and Other Software/Hardware Bendors can then inquire of the Publisher of the APP and ask how it interfaces with Various Other software and hardware. This Data then helps to build a set of DATA that then can be refferenced against other DATA that has been Collected , thus allowing for possibility that a Common Point can be found.

If the crossroad can be found, a solution can be created and Dessiminated.

If you wish to FLAME me for what I have said go ahead, I for one am Not as you put it "To Cheap to get another Card for testing Purposes " and have as you put it "Got of myy Lazy A*** " Both by following every reccommended test and solution provided BEFORE I Posted here AND by Posting Detailed infromation as to the technical Specs of My Machines and by For good or worse Posting in GREAT DETAIL the Thoughts I had and WHY I had them and the Steps I had pursued in formulating MY OWN SOLUTION ( which worked for awhile then gave up the Ghost) .

Summary of my Thoughts here::: ANIMOSITY IS GOING TO SERVE NO GOOD PURPOSE HERE, IT WILL ONLY HELP TO EXABERBATE AN ALREADY TOUCHY ISSUE.

mrps2man

Aside from being an interesting technical curiosity, I'd like everybody to try the following "workaround" and report back as its quite interesting:

Put your computer to sleep every time that your system shows the driver recovery message for the second time (indicating an imminent BSOD).

This was working for me until I stupidly purchased a second, lower-end same generation ATI card and put it in my second PCIe slot to drive a third monitor. Aside from the fact that I needed to fiddle with the BIOS for half an hour to get my machine to boot, standby does not work and ATI support basically told me that I could always buy a FireGL and that they would not provide support on the issue... Needless to say I'm not happy about that either, but in any case, try standby, as the whole process will save any work and only takes a few seconds. Also make sure that standby works normally before posting results.

I'm not sure what it means if this works for most people since system state is technically perfectly preserved in memory as far as I know. I'm anctious to see some results!

--Corey

BadMouth

Axmt
[COLOR=#000000]I understand your point and I am not saying that everyone is cheap, or lazy. They know who they are![/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000]What I am saying just because me and some busted our brains in trying to solve this issue, doesn’t help when someone posts, “ oh, I got a crash playing BIO SHOCK” nor does it help when someone posts “hey, I just got a BSOD. These don’t help one bit, and if all want to help in finding this bug the more people that post like: ‘[/COLOR][COLOR=black][COLOR=black]mrps2man[/COLOR]’ and as I did, the more the ATI members can see the relation, or the origin as to where or how this error is related to the monitor signal, or ram or motherboard, or system type wise etc…[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]As for you I am not here to flame anyone nor did I joined this forum to do so, what I do expect is that everyone pulls together and start being creative, do some changes to your systems, buy another card, or change operating systems etc.. Then post the results. Posting anything else is not going to help in any shape or form in solving this matter, no matter how many people post they got a crash playing a certain game, or running a certain program.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Be creative and you will get more results than you think otherwise.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]B.M[/COLOR]

Rayline TWB

Instead of working yourself up over other posters, maybe you should take your time to read what has been posted during these 42 pages.
As it happens for my own deal, I have 3 cards that have been used, and I also wrote that WXP did not bring forward these errors.
So be good enough to stop the ranting and behave like a grown up, and have the common decency to quit badmouthing what other posters may or may not have brought forward in the aim of helping in this thread.
You merely act like you are the only one with brains in this thread, which to my pont of view, you have clearly proven the opposite.

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Dancing your souls away...........