Will I ever resolve infinite loop issue.

Question

I have owned the following system for 2 years and have never been able to successfully install the newest ATI drivers supplied by the ATI website:

Time of this report: 5/5/2005, 09:34:15
Machine name: DG6XJK21
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Dimension 4550
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 230MB used, 635MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

After installation of the driver, I am able to reach the WinXP login screen, upon clicking my User name, the desktop will begin to load and then crash to a black screen Inifinite Loop:

c:\windows\LogFiles\Watchdog

// The driver for the display device got stuck in an infinite loop. This
// usually indicates a problem with the device itself or with the device
// driver programming the hardware incorrectly. Please check with your
// display device vendor for any driver updates.
//

EaRecovery: 1
ShutdownCount: 870
Shutdown: 0
EventFlag: 1
EventCount: 1
BreakCount: 1
BugcheckTriggered: 1
DebuggerNotPresent: 1
DriverName: ati2dvag
DeviceClass: Display
DeviceDescription: RADEON 9500 PRO / 9700
HardwareID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E45&SUBSYS_30021002&REV_00
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
DriverFixedFileInfo: FEEF04BD 00010000 0006000E 000A1924 0006000E 000A1924 0000003F 00000008 00040004 00000003 00000004 00000000 00000000
DriverCompanyName: ATI Technologies Inc.
DriverFileDescription: ATI Radeon WindowsNT Display Driver
DriverFileVersion: 6.14.10.6436
DriverInternalName: ati2dvag.dll
DriverLegalCopyright: Copyright (C) 1998-2004 ATI Technologies Inc.
DriverOriginalFilename: ati2dvag.dll
DriverProductName: ATI Radeon WindowsNT Display Driver
DriverProductVersion: 6.14.10.6436

Here is a checklist of items I have tried to perform to break the 'Infinite Loop' syndrome:

I have carefully followed Chris's instructions for Radeon drivers.
I have carefully followed Chris's instructions for Omega drivers.
I have updated Bios from A05 to A08.
I have run the chipset utility program per Dell site, not Intel.
I have updated the power supply from stock 250w to 400w per ATI senior tech and per this thread.

ATI senior tech also sent me this thread.

As for the Omega drivers, I installed 2 ways, normal install, and the middle option 9500/9700 soft-mod. Neither option worked.

As for any ATI drivers,meaning previous versions, I have never successfully installed. I am following specific instructions including Registry Cleaner, ATI uninstaller, rebooting Safe Mode, running Driver Cleaner, Cab cleaner, etc.

What I do find odd, is that Device Manager refers to the Radeon card as a 9700 TX w/TV-Out. ATI tech laughed at me when I mentioned it was a TX. As it is my understanding, this card was made specifically by/for Dell. Now, could this be the underlying problem?

I am running out of solutions. The reason for the need for the upgrade is the newer games, for example, 'Chronicles of Riddick' have horrible textures/shadows/polygons on my system. I troubleshooted my system with the Tech from 'Chronicles of Riddick'. After 30 minutes of debuggging, he stated my system should run the game great if I obtain the newest Video drivers.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm on my way to visit the Miscrosoft thread for Infinite Loops for breakfast and the viaarena thread for lunch. Cheers!

Linkmstrg · Answer

05/09/05   I finished a conversation with ATI senior tech. He stated that ATI will not support the Radeon 9700 TX. That pretty much finished my hopes of help from ATI people. Now let's see what Dell has to say....

Linkmstrg · Answer

I just finished speaking with a Dell supervisor. She was very kind and had me insert the Drivers and utilities resourceCD. Restarted the computer, hit F12, boot to Cd-rom, and she walked me through the video diagnostics. We discovered the the card was faulty in it's video memory (read/writing). I'm off to buy a new card now. I hope my scenerio will help others diagnose problems easier.   Cheers.

Voltec · Answer

I hope you are still watching this thread - or are notified when I post this. I am having troubles with my 9500 and I suspect it could be hardware failure... it is a new card and the video would go reverse colors and scattered letters. It looked like driver failure, so I went back a version to catalyst 5.4 and it 'took'... except that the system would become unstable and reboot anywhere from 20 minutes to 2-3 hours later. After a few days of that, I attempted to uninstall and reinstall - it took me over a day (and a dozen websites) to get the old version out and a sucessful re-install - had to be at least 12-15 attempts... only to find it was as unstable as before.

So I started with a fresh install and the Omega driver... and it seemed to work but within 1 day the machine was rebooting on it's own... aka, no better than before.

Now I suspect it isn't the drivers but the hardware itself. Please let me know where i can find that 'utility and diagnosis Cd'. I have a trouble request into ATI as well, hopefully they will point it out to me. I want to try it out and see if I have a faulty card as well.

Thanks,

Matt

Fayidar · Answer

The Utility and Diagnostics CD mentioned should have been included with your computer from Dell. It's one of the blue & white disks "already installed on your computer." On the right hand side, mine says:

Contents:

Device drivers
Diagnostics and utilities

When I called about this problem ocurring on my 'new' refurb D810, they tried all sorts of fixes and had me try to repair my Windows installation. It works fine in Safe mode, so it seems like a software problem, but nothing has helped yet.

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Will I ever resolve infinite loop issue.

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