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Cannot escape 640x480 resolution!
Running a Dell Inspiron 530 Dual Core 4300, 2GB RAM. Vista Premium, Nvidia 8300 GS video card, and an ATI Theater 650 Pro TV Tuner. System worked very well for over a year - got the odd blue screen when using Media Center, but nothing crazy. One day noticed the PC had rebooted on it's own in 640x480 resolution. Device Manger gives me the error code 43 for the video card (Windows has stopped this device because it has reported errors). Viewing the problem details further gives nvlddmkm.sys as the driver with the issue apparently.
I've tried probably five different versions of the driver software; the current one at the time, subsequent releases, the most current version (178.24 from 10/15), the original drivers that came with the PC, but no luck. Also tried several times to uninstall, reinstall, disable the driver, nothing worked there either.
Every once in a while one (5% of the time) after doing of the above things or just taking a break for a few days, the PC will boot up successfully. High resolution comes up, all programs including Media Center and watching TV will work. But after about 20-30 minutes the PC will blue screen and reboot itself again. This even has happened if I am not actively doing or running anything at the time. Someone suggested this might indicate a fan not working. But I cannot recreate the successful reboot - so if XYZ version of the driver works once, then later reboots me, it does not work again the 2nd time.
From a few other forums/searches I've also tried updating the BIOS, ensuring that the nvlddmkm.sys driver exists in the correct folder and is the same version as the rest of the software (it initially wasn't, but getting the right one out there did not fix). Ran the memory diagnostic tool as well - no issues there.
The only other information I can think to give is that in the taskbar in the bottom right corner, the Safely Remove Hardware icon is there and the ATI Unified AVStream Driver is listed as a device that I can stop, I'm not sure why though - Device Manager tells me that this is working properly. Not sure if this might be related at all.
Any help would be REALLY appreciated. Is it really a driver issue at this point? Could it be the card itself?
jackshack
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November 14th, 2008 10:00
Your description certainly suggests that the card has failed. If you haven't done it already, you might try re-seating the card in its slot. Sometimes oxidation will occur between the contacts of the slot and card so that you no longer have a good connection. While the card is out you should make certain that the heat sink of the graphics processor is free of dust and that it's fan (assuming it has one) turns freely.
If that doesn't work I'm afraid you will need to replace the card.
leigh293
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March 27th, 2009 19:00
I was wondering if you had any resolution to the problem you described above and if so, how you went about fixing it. I am having the exact issues you had and it's becoming frustrating. My only difference is the programs listed when I hit the Safely Remove Hardware icon. There are 4 listed(USB Mass Storage Device, Samsung HD321KJ SCSI Disk Device, TSST corp CDRWDVD TS-H493B SCSI CdRom Device, and PBDS DVD+- RW DH - 16W1S SCSI CdRom Device) and they all appear to be in working order. I'm at a loss so if you have any advice, I'd really appreciate it!