Bluescreen problems

Recently, my R3 has begun having BSOD problems, with a DRIVER_POWER_STARE_ERROR message. After talking with alienware support, the tech's solution was to completely disable the integrated graphics (or completely disable the dedicated) through a modded bios he provided. He also said that this was the only way to fix the problem, and that switching to an AMD card from my 460m would not solve the problem, nor would reinstalling windows.

So, what should I do? It sure sounds like a hardware problem, given that a windows reinstall would not fix it. If it is, can I get alienware to replace it under my extended warranty?

It is semi-stable, so I can use it for most tasks, but gaming causes a crash upon exiting or while playing. And it will often crash at night, while completely idle. (the times don't line up with any scheduled tasks, at least, and I'm not on it at 5am)

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

last couple dmp files are attached.

 

The support guy I talked to did offer (after me asking) to "upgrade" me to the 6870m. Would this help?

at the very least, it would make upgrading to a 7970m later easier, right?

 

I'm at work right now but I'll analyze your dump file when I get home later today. 0x9F stop errors are usually caused by driver issues and are rarely a result of hardware issues so I'm not sure switching out your 460M for a 6870M would help. Did the tech mention what made them think it was a hardware issue?

 

First, thank you for taking a look at them!

The tech did not say it was a hardware problem, but had said that doing a reformat and reinstall of windows would not fix the problem. (almost everything on my computer is backed up to a combination of google music, dropbox and sugarsync, excluding programs and large media files, so I wouldn't lose much) If it is a driver problem, why would switching graphics card brands not work? Wouldn't they rely on different drivers, or might it be related to the intel IGP ones, instead?

Anything you can do will be appreciated! Thank you!

 

that's not an upgrade...you want them to *upgrade you to a 6990.

and there's nothing wrong with disabling integrated graphics except that you paid for a laptop that has integrated graphics as an option

 

I should re-word and say that switching to the ATI graphics card may not resolve the issue. Driver issues may not be isolated to one driver alone and can involve several drivers. We won't know for sure until I take a look at your dump files.
Speaking of which, did the Dell tech analyze your dump files?

 

No, the dell tech just opened up Nirsoft BlueScreenView, saw the error code, and went "this is your problem, there is no other solution except to permanently disable your IGP" He didn't save them or transfer the files to his computer, if that is what you mean.

Heh. I asked about a 6990m, and he said $600 USD. For that price, I could get a 7970m, which just seemed to be a little overpriced... And I definitely need the integrated graphics, as I use my laptop for school and travel... 1-2 hour battery life is not really workableable

 

BlueScreenView is ok for quick and dirty analyses of dump files but the programs "interpretations" of the dumps have been known to be less accurate. Windows Debugging Tools are the gold standard for analysing dump files. There is absolutely no way he could have known for sure that it was a hardware problem just from looking at BlueScreenView. He may have been just going on experience but like I said, 0x9F stop errors are rarely caused by hardware problems. The fact that your system crashed while idle (when your 460M should be powered down) is further evidence to that end.

 

Well, he did NOT say that it was a hardware problem, but did say that there was nothing I could do in software to fix it, which to me meant hardware. (if that makes sense)

 

Well if he suggested the switch to an ATI card he probably thinks it's a hardware problem. The BlueScreenView probably pointed to nvlddmkm.sys. If that's the case (I'll confirm when I get home) you may want to try a clean install of the nVidia drivers.

edit: As I suspected the dump files pointed to nvlddmkm.sys as the cause. Please follow the instructions here to reinstall your drivers: How to: Remove your Nvidia GPU Drivers. Please read this as well: GeForce Driver Installation Guide A guide to ensure your drivers are installed properly.

 

Well, the clean install of the latest Nvidea beta drivers seems to have cleared up my issues! I feel really stupid that it was that simple, though....

Thanks to both of you!

 

A bad driver installation can cause all sorts of issues. That would have been the first thing I would have expected to be causing trouble, especially if the problem developed in conjunction with a driver update or shortly thereafter.

If you have any more driver power state failures, simply disable hibernation and edit your power profile to not allow sleep. Turn off the system when you are not using it so it cannot go to sleep. In most cases, that eliminates those errors. Sleep and hibernation cause all kinds of issues on PCs. Some hardware just does not like going to sleep or waking up, and corrupt or poorly written drivers can exacerbate the issue.

 

I don't think I have it set to ever go to sleep/hibernate while on power, but I will change it if it is, thank you! And shutting it down at night when there isn't anything finishing up is probably a great idea too, I had just never really gotten in the habit after switching over from a desktop!

Drivers are currently at 301.24, as the 296.10 drivers were the ones installed during the crashes. I hope that a non beta 300 series driver comes out soon, though.

My 460m is not overclocked, due to the suspicion I had that it might make getting the laptop serviced in the future more difficult. My temperatures are almost always below 65 degrees, according to the GPU-z sensor log at least. (That was only at a 75% load, though, so it may go higher) Idle temps are mid 50s. Hope it's just a driver issue.

Oh, and your first (unedited) post was better, Mr. Fox- why did you change it so much? In any case, thank you!

 

Thank you. It did have a lot of detail. I started working on it and after I posted it I saw that your problem was already solved. Of course, that was great news to me, but the post looked out of place. At that point it was not relevant any more. So, I merely left what might be useful in case you encounter more problems.

Your temps are great... no worries there. And, since you are not overclocking, that's not going to be a problem either. Under the circumstances, it may have been only a corrupt video driver installation and you might be able to get away with using sleep function without troubles.

Video cards (AMD and NVIDIA, and sometimes even Intel integrated graphics) are getting to be pretty famous for TDR errors with Windows 7. The "Display driver XXXXXXX stopped responding and has successfully recovered" is very common on systems that have every reason to function normally. The driver power state problems that occur when waking from sleep can compound the TDR issues. I gained more experience than I would prefer to ever have with 6970M and 6990M troubleshooting, but it was useful knowledge that can be applied to any brand.

 

Glad to hear you no longer experience any issues

If you're interested you can read up on TDR errors here on nVidia's statement on the issue: NVIDIA Statement on TDR Errors Display driver nvlddmkm stopped...