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Igraz

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430063

September 3rd, 2006 08:00

NMI: Parity check / Memory parity error

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My laptop specs:

Dell Inspiron M1210 XPS
Intel Core Duo T2500 @ 2Ghz (2m L2 cache, 667Mhz FSB)
2 Gig DDR2 memory (was supposed to be 667MHz, but BIOS says it is only 533MHz)
100 GB SATA hard drive (7200 RPM)
256 MB NVidia GeForce Go 7400 (TurboCache)

OS = Windows XP Pro (service pack 2)
GFX driver = NVidia GeForce Go 7400 v84.29 (21/03/2006)
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I am using the installation of Windows XP that came pre-installed on my Dell laptop. When using the laptop in Windows XP the graphics become corrupted (resembles something like an image in a magic eye book), then it is followed by the blue screen of death, with the following message:

Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity check / Memory parity error
*The system has halted*

I ran the Dell diagnostics program that came pre-installed on the hard drive, and every single test passed with no errors whatsoever, I'm talking EVERY TEST, not just the memory one. :) I also tried the M$ Windows Memory Diagnostic program and the tests passed on that too. :)

Anyway, it looks like the problem isn't hardware related since I didn't get any errors during testing on either programs, plus I've only had graphics corruption in Windows XP and not in DOS.

Does anyone know what could be causing the problem, could it be the graphics card drivers?

Responses(53)

airwolf_1984

138 Posts

September 8th, 2006 11:00

I got the exact same error on my E1705. (T2300E, 2GB 533mhz RAM, Nvidia 7900 GS 256MB, Windows Media Center Edition).

I called Dell, ran the diagnostics, and like your results, everything passed.

I even updated the BIOS and video drivers (latest from Dell's download), but unfortunately, I started getting that message more frequently. Dell wound up replacing my RAM and video card, and I haven't had the problem since.

Message Edited by airwolf_1984 on 09-08-200605:19 AM

acekool

2 Posts

September 15th, 2006 20:00

I just got my XPS M1210 on Monday.

Almost the same configuration as yours:

Intel Core Duo T2500 @ 2Ghz (2m L2 cache, 667Mhz FSB)
2 Gig DDR2 memory

80 GB SATA hard drive (7200 RPM)
256 MB NVidia GeForce Go 7400 (TurboCache)
GFX driver = NVidia GeForce Go 7400

After running for an hour or too I get this kinda of washed out white screen then the Blue screen with:

Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity check / Memory parity error
*The system has halted*
I had this happen about 3 times so far. I power it down then re-start. Sometimes it runs fine for hours.

Gonna call Dell for some help.

klimprecht

3 Posts

October 24th, 2006 04:00

I have had the same problem since day 2 of my E1505. I have already had a new motherboard and new memory. First new memory then it did it again the next day. So the tech came back with a new motherboard and everything was fine for about 2 months and then it came back with a vengence! It's only when I type. First it did it on the laptop keyboard. Then it happened on the usb keyboard plugged into the back. That's what I prefer to type on. Anyway, it's always when I type. I was on Dell chat today for 2 hrs and the guys kept asking me if I got the blue screen while running the diagnostics. I kept saying "no, it's only when I type". At the end of the 2 hr session (my free time while kids are all at school), he said "Well, since every test passed and you did not get a blue screen today please chat back or call this toll free number if it is a problem in the future!! OMG, I thought, are you kidding me? It is a problem now, but only when I type and I'm not gonna call you guys at midnight when I'm trying to send an e-mail before going to bed, but keep getting kicked off and am about to cry! grrrrr I need to call back and have them send someone out again. What I want is a replacement laptop since this one seems to be malfunctioning. Could it be happening from not turning it off every day? I usually just leave it running 24x7. Is that wrong?

Kathryn

acekool

2 Posts

October 24th, 2006 06:00

After chatting and sending some pictures I took of the screen. Dell sent a tech to replace my motherboard and display screen. Took about an hour or so. It's been 2 weeks now and trouble free (X-my fingers).
My old Dell M700 is still going strong with no problems.
On my other 2 (gaming & general) main PC towers sometimes I leave them on for days. If it's not a server I would power your pc down after use, or put it on hibernate. Some say it's better to leave it on because powering up and down too much causes the electronics to wear faster. I'm not sure if it's true.
Hopefully you ger your problems resolved Kathryn.
Aloha,
Ace

jeffcmfrt

831 Posts

October 25th, 2006 01:00

I have had this issue and Dell replaced my Mainboard Ram and sent a hardrive with factory installed OS then sent me a replacement M 1710 I had the same issue I demanded a refund and was talked into trying another replacement. So far this one is fine but went through numurus hours of troubleshooting reinstalling the OS on my own and with Dell. I was furious after spending $4000.00 on one of the best laptops they make and sad to say all of this at my expence not Dell's but at least I have a working machine now but went through too much. Think this will be my last Dell laptop as I have owned 9100 , XPS Gen 1 , XPS Gen 2 and current M 1710 and have had a lot of issues and hardware failure except for the XPS Gen 2. Not too happy with Dell.

-----------------------------------------------------
XPS M1710, T2500
17 UltraSharp TrueLife WUXGA
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX
100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
D-Dock /Sound BlasterX-FI Xtream
Logitech Z 5300 5.1 Speakers
Logitech MX 1000 Cordless Laser Mouse
Nostromo n52 Game pad
----------------------------------------------------

willy_nilly11

1 Message

November 6th, 2006 22:00

As with everyone else reporting in this thread, I've also been getting the same NMI Parity Error.
Initially, the tech had me reseat my memory, run all the diagnostics (no errors found) and I even reinstalled Windows. None of the solutions solved the problem. And, since the problem only occurs every once in a while, everytime I tried something new, I had wait a while to see if the problem showed up again (which it always did). Eventually, Dell sent me new memory which again failed to solve the problem. Then, the tech asked me to try having only one of the memory sticks in at a time and see if that worked -- and it didn't. Next, the tech had me send my computer back to the repair center. Now, not to bash the repair center people too much, but the end result of sending it them was that they replaced my memory again (which obviously didn't fix the problem) and replaced my fans?!? The next attempt was sending someone to come and replace my motherboard last week... which I found out this last weekend has also failed to fix the problem (crashed again). In all, it's been over 2 months since I first contacted Dell about this problem and they still have yet to fix it. Granted that the nature of the problem makes it hard to know whether or not it has been fixed, but still, 2 months already. Now, I've got to contact Dell again and try another solution, but I thought I'd look through the forums again and see if others were having the same issue (which, based on this thread, there are). When I first encountered my problem, this thread didn't exist.

I've mostly had the Blue Screen show up on me when I'm not at the computer (like, I'm sleeping, wake up and find the system crashed, or away at work, come back and find the computer crashed. I've been leaving the computer on just in a blank screensaver). But, I've also had it crash on me when I was in the middle of surfing the web using firefox, playing a video game, and typing in microsoft word. So, I can't figure out a cause of the crash since I can't find a link between any of these.

For others who've had this same problem, when did you get your system from Dell? I wonder if there was a bad batch of some part that went through? My system was put together around the first week of August of this year (2006).

My system specs:
Inspiron E1705, Intel Core DuoProcessor T2600 (2.16GHz/667MHz FSB)
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS
100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

jeffcmfrt

831 Posts

November 7th, 2006 00:00

wily_nilly11 wrote:
As with everyone else reporting in this thread, I've also been getting the same NMI Parity Error.
Initially, the tech had me reseat my memory, run all the diagnostics (no errors found) and I even reinstalled Windows. None of the solutions solved the problem. And, since the problem only occurs every once in a while, everytime I tried something new, I had wait a while to see if the problem showed up again (which it always did). Eventually, Dell sent me new memory which again failed to solve the problem. Then, the tech asked me to try having only one of the memory sticks in at a time and see if that worked -- and it didn't. Next, the tech had me send my computer back to the repair center. Now, not to bash the repair center people too much, but the end result of sending it them was that they replaced my memory again (which obviously didn't fix the problem) and replaced my fans?!? The next attempt was sending someone to come and replace my motherboard last week... which I found out this last weekend has also failed to fix the problem (crashed again). In all, it's been over 2 months since I first contacted Dell about this problem and they still have yet to fix it. Granted that the nature of the problem makes it hard to know whether or not it has been fixed, but still, 2 months already. Now, I've got to contact Dell again and try another solution, but I thought I'd look through the forums again and see if others were having the same issue (which, based on this thread, there are). When I first encountered my problem, this thread didn't exist.

I've mostly had the Blue Screen show up on me when I'm not at the computer (like, I'm sleeping, wake up and find the system crashed, or away at work, come back and find the computer crashed. I've been leaving the computer on just in a blank screensaver). But, I've also had it crash on me when I was in the middle of surfing the web using firefox, playing a video game, and typing in microsoft word. So, I can't figure out a cause of the crash since I can't find a link between any of these.

For others who've had this same problem, when did you get your system from Dell? I wonder if there was a bad batch of some part that went through? My system was put together around the first week of August of this year (2006).

My system specs:
Inspiron E1705, Intel Core DuoProcessor T2600 (2.16GHz/667MHz FSB)
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS
100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

Believe me I have been there and know how agravateing and time consuming it is. I also use my machine to run my business on and was furious after spending $4000.00 on Dells best and the worse part It was all at my expense and my time do this do that I will send this I will send that. Or a tech will be sent do change this or that. A huge inconvenience all at my expense. I am no Guru but know my way around PC's and windows and all that was replaced and done both troubleshooting on my own and with Dell .I feel you hit the nail on the head and strongly feel it is/was a bad batch of dual core processors something to do with the dual core and Ram not in sync with each other causing this error as many have had this issue I have seen many post with the same problem and not only in this forum but others too. If I were you I would call and ask to speak to a supervisor and demand a working system and not take no for a answer or them try to say it is the OS and not hardware. Because the truth is they don't know and are guessing. Another thing that burns me up is I bought this laptop so I will have the ability to upgrade to Vista when it hits the market I had a perfectly runing XPS Gen 2 Maxed out and being a freind of mine wanted to purchase it and I want to run vista the new OS I said OK and sold my perfect machine to him and got this headach well I had the T2500 which I knew I needed to upgrade it well merom was released while all this mess was going on and Dell did not even have the decentcy to upgrade me to the T7400 knowing I had intentions to run vista and I know their is no price difference but they still gave me a replacement with the old chip and if I was to order a new machine it would have come with core 2 Duo as core duo was not even a option when ordering anymore on their site. So after all Dell put me through and me being a nice guy and not geting a refund I got the old chip and down the road it will soon cost me $400 more when I do upgrade I feel Dell should have given me the core 2 duo as I said it would have costed them nothing and saved me $400. Dell has a lot to learn when it comes to being fair with their customers. At least now I have a machine working properly. I have been a loyal Dell customer for years and always buy the best laptops they make but after this I will be looking at other manufactures when it is time to replace this one.

Good Luck & Best Wishes

vasyaya

2 Posts

January 14th, 2007 11:00

I've had the same message when performed stand by - the reason was in video driver I installed. Here is version.txt:

Title      : Video:ATI Radeon Mobility X1300, Radeon Mobility X1400 Driver
Version    : A03
OEM Name   : ATI
OEM Ver    : 8.261-060523a1-033841C
Computers : MM061;

Oses : Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional
Languages : Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Chinese-S, Chinese-T, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish
Created : Thu Jul 13 08:46:46 CDT 2006

when I reinstalled it back to one comming with notebook - the issue is solved.

Regards,

Vasily

bballzbabe19

5 Posts

January 29th, 2007 00:00

So I also have the same problem with the blue screen of death. The problem first happened about two weeks ago, and I just powered down my E1705 using the power button. It came up a couple days later so I decided to call Dell and see if there was a solution to this problem. I ran all of the diagnostics and memory tests and passed every single one. Then the screen came up again today, so yet again, I called Dell and spent about an hour on the phone with them, running more tests, and the Tech decided that they were going to send me out a different memory. But then he called back shortly after, and said that they had decided to ship me out an entire new motherboard. This whole situation is incredibly frustrating, because I'm looking at others posts and some still don't have the problem resolved! I'm really hoping this will do it. The blue screen usually comes up when I have been using Mozilla Firefox. I do not use video games, but I use Mozilla products, a VPN client, Spyware Doctor, Symantec AntiVirus, and XP Professional.

I also got my notebook in July-August 2006. Maybe there's a connection there?

klimprecht

3 Posts

January 29th, 2007 15:00

Hey there. I believe my 3rd set of memory and 3rd motherboard was back in October and would you believe the problem is finally resolved? They kept saying it is possible to keep getting bad memory or a bad motherboard and I thought it was too strange that changing it so many times was necessary, but alas, I have not had a single problem since then.

Hang in there and just keep calling Dell immediately and get that motherboard and memory as soon as possible and then use it like crazy to see if the problem comes back. I believe if they have 2 replacements within 30 days and the problem comes back during that time they will then ship a whole new system.

I hope you have the in home service contract because that saved my sanity.

Kathryn

BTW4WVU

3 Posts

February 5th, 2007 12:00

Guys,

Something you may want to try. I'm on my second computer from Dell, and after about a month of good computer usage with no memory errors, I finally got one yesterday (Feb 4th), which turned into 2, and then one again this morning (Feb 5th). I've decided to forget Dell until I know exactly what the problem is as they don't know. Here's something to try. One thing I noticed on this new system when I first got it is that I could not close the system lid and have the system go into it's 'sleep mode', because the system would make the sound that it was uninstalling and reinstalling something continuously. This basically led to the system being on all the time. To end this I would hit the FN-F2 combination to turn off the bluetooth/wireless combination before shutting down the system, which in turn allowed the system to 'sleep'.

This worked for a while, but then I noticed something else. I use my computer a lot and when it's on it will at random intervals uninstall and reinstall a HID-consumer control device. What I basically started doing was leaving the device manager open and watching as the HID device just randomly uninstalled and reinstalled itself. During one of these episodes at the point in which it was reinstalling I got my first memory parity error (on this machine, the other one did it once every other day). I then came back in and disabled the HID device and the USB Human Interface to it and then tried to re-enable it, and it gave me the blue screen for the 2nd time. I decided after reading some information out on the web about this that it's gotta be either the video card or the wireless controller, and that it has little to do with the memory.

Long story short, it seems to have to do with the Bluetooth controller. I went into the BIOS and disabled the Bluetooth as well as disabling it's connection to the FN-F2 command. It's not something that I've ever used anyways. When turning the system back on this morning, low and behold the HID device that would continually make the uninstall reinstall sounds all the time was no longer listed in the device manager, and my system has not made the sound since. Furthermore, I was able to close the lid to my system and enable sleep mode with the wireless on and not have it continue to uninstall and reinstall to keep the system on. I have not had it on more than an hr and a half this morning though to see if I'm going to get any memory parity errors though. I'm thinking I'm on the right path.

My goal is to figure out the ultimate cause by myself with these errors and then report to Dell since they cannot figure these things out on their own. Like I said this is my second E1705 as I had the first one replaced because it gave this error basically every other day. I will update here in a day or so or if I get another memory parity error in the meantime. I'm going to play some games and do a lot of intensive work on this thing, so we shall see.

jeffcmfrt

831 Posts

February 5th, 2007 12:00

BTW4WVU wrote:
Guys,

Something you may want to try. I'm on my second computer from Dell, and after about a month of good computer usage with no memory errors, I finally got one yesterday (Feb 4th), which turned into 2, and then one again this morning (Feb 5th). I've decided to forget Dell until I know exactly what the problem is as they don't know. Here's something to try. One thing I noticed on this new system when I first got it is that I could not close the system lid and have the system go into it's 'sleep mode', because the system would make the sound that it was uninstalling and reinstalling something continuously. This basically led to the system being on all the time. To end this I would hit the FN-F2 combination to turn off the bluetooth/wireless combination before shutting down the system, which in turn allowed the system to 'sleep'.

This worked for a while, but then I noticed something else. I use my computer a lot and when it's on it will at random intervals uninstall and reinstall a HID-consumer control device. What I basically started doing was leaving the device manager open and watching as the HID device just randomly uninstalled and reinstalled itself. During one of these episodes at the point in which it was reinstalling I got my first memory parity error (on this machine, the other one did it once every other day). I then came back in and disabled the HID device and the USB Human Interface to it and then tried to re-enable it, and it gave me the blue screen for the 2nd time. I decided after reading some information out on the web about this that it's gotta be either the video card or the wireless controller, and that it has little to do with the memory.

Long story short, it seems to have to do with the Bluetooth controller. I went into the BIOS and disabled the Bluetooth as well as disabling it's connection to the FN-F2 command. It's not something that I've ever used anyways. When turning the system back on this morning, low and behold the HID device that would continually make the uninstall reinstall sounds all the time was no longer listed in the device manager, and my system has not made the sound since. Furthermore, I was able to close the lid to my system and enable sleep mode with the wireless on and not have it continue to uninstall and reinstall to keep the system on. I have not had it on more than an hr and a half this morning though to see if I'm going to get any memory parity errors though. I'm thinking I'm on the right path.

My goal is to figure out the ultimate cause by myself with these errors and then report to Dell since they cannot figure these things out on their own. Like I said this is my second E1705 as I had the first one replaced because it gave this error basically every other day. I will update here in a day or so or if I get another memory parity error in the meantime. I'm going to play some games and do a lot of intensive work on this thing, so we shall see.

jeffcmfrt

I too like many others have suffered from this after numurus instals swaping Ram a couple of times a Hardrive with factory installed OS and mainboards from Dell many many hours of troubleshooting .I now have a M1710 working as it should which is the third system replacement and like I said I have had new mainboards & Ram installed numurus OS reinstals you name it.

As for the bluetooth being the culpret it can't be because I did not order my bluetooth until later on after the purchase.

I too would really like to know the culpret of this on hand as it has consumed many hours troubleshooting swaping Ram and other hardware and numurus instals.

And in my opinion any who get this error should call Dell and start insisting on a replacement if new memmory doesnt solve the problem the first time around. It will save you a lot of heartache and time in the long run trust me.

I don't think knowone has narrowed down the hardware that is causeing this problem as in some memmory parity errors it seems Ram exchange corrects it for some but not all. I was leaning twoards memmory not in synce with the dual core processors at one time because of the mainboard being replaced but have read that another poster had the same error and upon his / her 3rd mainboard replacement the errors stoped. Looking at the large percentage with theese errors it very well can be a bad batch of mainboards possiable but I am certin it is not the bluetooth.

Best Wishes

-----------------------------------------------------
XPS M1710, T2500
17 UltraSharp TrueLife WUXGA
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX
100GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Bluetooth & Intel Pro 3945ABG
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
D-Dock /Sound BlasterX-FI Xtream
Logitech Z 5300 5.1 Speakers
Logitech MX 1000 Cordless Laser Mouse
Nostromo n52 Game pad
----------------------------------------------------

Message Edited by jeffcmfrt on 02-05-2007 08:59 AM

BTW4WVU

3 Posts

February 5th, 2007 13:00

Ok, I'm just telling you what I've started trying to do, and we'll see if I get the error message again and then I'll move forward to something else. Just not sure how you can be certain what it is, as you've had to move to an entirely different system three times now. What I do know is that the BlueTooth was causing a discernible problem for me, that I was able to solve by turning off the Bluetooth capability. So if this helps someone, it helps someone. Whether or not it is the case with the masses is another issue entirely. But it has worked on my system thus far, and I'm not having the uninstall reinstall sound repeatedly either from it. So I'm pretty sure I solved some error that had to do with the BlueTooth and the mainboard, and now I will use the computer and see if any further problems result.

To just rule out something that has definitely fixed 'something' and say it definitively cannot be it is not being careful. We could have two entirely different issues, but until I have time to use and test and see if the error reproduces, we cannot be certain.

If what I've said has helped anyone as well as me then it's worthy of a post.

bballzbabe19

5 Posts

February 13th, 2007 04:00

In a follow-up of my motherboard replacement, the blue screen did not come up until today. A maximum of a week and a half passed between the motherboard being replaced and today. So once again I called Dell and now they are sending out another technician to replace my memory. My frustration is turning into anger, so I am truly hoping this solves the problem, otherwise I will be demanding a complete replacement. Does anybody else have any further suggestions?

klimprecht

3 Posts

February 13th, 2007 14:00

Hang in there. This happened to me and I have not had a single problem in months after several frustrations. I too was extremely angry about it, but felt powerless and figured that going through the appropriate channels as quickly as possible would get me to the end of the process faster, whether it meant a new computer or just resolving the problem. Sure enough, problem resolved after several motherboards and new sets of memory. Hang in there and try not to throw your laptop against the wall if you can help it. Kathryn

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NMI: Parity check / Memory parity error

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