Resolved crashes with NVIDIA card with latest Beta driver from NVIDIA

from GalCiv2 Forums
I have a NVidia 6600 GT SLI set up that was giving me problems. Even after turning off SLI mode, I'd get BSOD while playing the game. The symptoms I had were that the graphics would flicker a lot, espeically the fog of war, while I was mousing around the screen. Eventually, the screen would go black and I'd get a restart. I sent error reports to Microsoft and the error I was getting said that a thread was stuck in the video driver. I was running the 81.98 driver, which as of 3/10/2006, is the latest released driver from NVidia's web site.

I actually tried the Beta driver, version 84.20 (was getting pretty desperate to play this game ), and now the game works with no problems. I played until about 3:30am, so about 5 hours of gameplay without any problems. I haven't turned SLI back on yet, but I'll try that next.

I'll post system info below as an FYI. Seems like other people have seen this issue, so I wanted to post with something that worked for me! Hope it helps someone else play, too!

System Info
Time: 3/10/2006, 23:26:31
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: GANDALF
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System name
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Physical Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 250MB used, 3690MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 6600 GT
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0140&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A2
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.8420
Driver Date: 3/8/2006 21:42:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: NFORCE_VAD
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: nvapu.sys
Provider: NVIDIA Corporation
Driver Version: 6.14.0462.0000
Driver Date: 4/13/2005 12:34:02
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0


3,442 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Darn, I spoke too soon. I did have one crash today, though it seems much rarer now. This is what I get on reboot based on the feedback from sending the error report to Microsoft:

Error type:
Windows stop error (A message appears on a blue screen with error code information)
Solution available?: Yes

What does this error mean?:
You received this message because a device driver installed on your computer caused the Windows operating system to stop unexpectedly. This type of error is referred to as a "stop error." A stop error requires you to restart your computer.

Cause: A video adapter device driver

Computer symptoms A message appears on a blue screen with error code information:

STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
- or -
STOP: 0x100000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER_M



Here's the tail of the debug.err log, not too informative. I might try running in debug mode:

Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Destroying ship Heavy Fighter M4-4 391. Orbiting: 1
Debug Message: Was Orbiting: Bond I
Debug Message: Destroying ship Defender M4-4 445. Orbiting: 1
Debug Message: Was Orbiting: Dester IV
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Fleet 26. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Random Event: Begin
Debug Message: Random Event: Checking for Rebels
Debug Message: Random Event: End


So, the updated driver definitely improved gameplay, but did not completely resolve the underlying issue. I was getting BSOD after a few minutes before, now it's every 7 hours of gameplay or so.
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