Anyone know why BSOD nvlddmkm.sys happens?

I BSOD every now and then and the cause is the nvlddmkm.sys file. Don't know why so....

I found this fix on techarena: "I have found and fixed the problem today. This is what appears to happen.
during the installation of the most current drivers 100.65 Vista, an OLD file
nvlddmkm.sys is copied into windows/system32/drivers and not the current one
in the install. As a result the new drivers are attempting to access a file
dated 11/2006 instead of 2/2007 ver 7.15.11.0065 which is in the newest WHQL
driver ver 100.65 vista 32.

Fix: Go to windows/system32/drivers and rename nvlddmkm.sys to
nvlddmkm.sys.old. Go to the nvidia directory and find the file nvlddmkm.sy_
and copy it to windows/system32. Using the cmd window (DOS box) type
EXPAND.EXE nvlddmkm.sy_ nvlddmkm.sys. When the expansion is complete, copy
the new nvlddmkm.sys to windows/system32/drivers and restart the computer.

Your computer should now work properly.

You will notice that any uninstall and reinstall of nvidia drivers will not
remove the old nvlddmkm.sys file and will not overwrite it with the newer
version. You have to do it manually. I do not know why this happens but who
cares as long it is fixed."



But it just suddenly started happening. Any thoughts? I have to do this every time I update nvidia drivers. I might reformat my 80% full 500GB hard drive if I cant figure it out.

 

I was recently plagued with the BSOD that was part of the Nvlddmkm.sys. I figured that since I was having it I might as well experiment to figure out the cause and see if I could pin point it.

After numerous different fixes, including the one you mention above I still had the issue. It started with the install of the 270.61 drivers. They gave me nothing but issues and rolling back and changing drivers did not get rid of the problem.

So I rebooted to safe mode and uninstalled all the drivers, including physX, restarted into safe mode and ran both Driver Sweeper and CCleaner, then rebooted back into safe mode again and installed the 275.27 (I just went up to 275.33 today). Restarted back into normal mode.

Since then I have had no problems. It would seem that it has something to do with lack of ownership of the folder and drivers that are not WHQL. Windows seems to use the UAC (User Account Control) to block it if you are not in safe mode, causing failure to remove certain drivers and such.

That is my experience with it.

 

Thanks. If issues persist I think I will be reformatting anyway. I have had issues with the drivers not completely installing anyway. Some error with the Nvidia Update Components failing. Maybe a fresh start will help things.

 

Its never a bad idea to start fresh if problems start building up. Good luck to you and if you have any other questions or problems you know where to find us

 

Look, the nvlddmkm.sys bsod error was implemented in the new 270 driver series in order to prevent the computer to freeze if some hardware issue occurs (need to hard reset then). It is supposed to be a good thing.

If you are having this bsod, you probably have a problem with your gt335m or you are overclocking the gpu too much (not stable). Try running your games in clock speed or downclock a little to see if that still happens. If still happens, then you have a issue. You can try rolling back to 260 series but i think you will still get freezes (without the bsod). Maybe you should contact support then...

DeeVu -> This fix only works if your nvlddmkm.sys file is corrupted or if you didn't do a clean install (removed all the dlls with driver sweeper or ccleaner). It's better to do a clean install again instead of doing this fix.

Xtrophy -> 615/1550/915 ? Are you sure you are stable on these settings (I mean, running 99 loops of crysis benchmark?). If not, this bsod will eventually visit you. I'm only stable at 530/1130/870.

 

Ah makes sense. I did overclock when it did happen. Thanks.

 

xrae- Technically no I am not stable with those, those were my bench clocks, my stable clocks are 550/1320/850. I might be stable higher than that, those are just the ones I use normally. My processor is also actually stable at 185.7 through 100 runs of Intel burn test, I just got the ram to work with that though.

Overclocking Can cause the bluescreen, that is true. However when I was suffering from it I was at stock clocks to test if that was one of the causes. I believe it is more driver oriented if you are at lower clocks and get it. If you are at clocks like the ones in my sig and try to run all the time then you will get the BSOD.

So I suppose those are a bit of a false advertisement.

 

Well, my old GPU wasnt stable at stock clock speed. Could be your GPU.

I dont suffer from the BSOD if I do not OC. It'd make sense because I am not stable at anything higher than Stock.

 

Just like xrae said, you can refer to the huge graphics issue thread that is stickied to learn more about the freezing issue. Starting from the 270 series driver, the freezing issue become the BSOD issue for the nvlddmkm.sys file. This is a good thing, as now you don't have to do a hard reset any more to get the system working again.

 

I've only had this error when pushing my GPU overclock beyond what my 335 likes.

 

If you get this bsod at stock clocks then definitely there is something wrong. The driver may have some influence in your gpu overclock, but new drivers brings a lot of fps gains in many games, so i always stick with the new ones.

I've tried 270.61 too, but didn't notice any problem. Now i'm with the newest 275.33

 

Yeah, I eventually managed to get the issue to dissappear when I quit using both the 270 drivers. Now I am on the 275.33 and I still have not had it happen since I moved to the 275.27 ones. I guess I believe that it was a driver fault because of the fact that my issue went away after a change of drivers.

I know that unstable clocks cause it after the 270's because they cause the BSOD instead of just letting the driver shut down and forcing a hard restart. However even at stock like I said I was getting the problem. Now I have gone up to the 275.33s and 27s and I have gone well above stock with no problems.

I guess in my case it was a driver issue. Maybe the driver didn't like my clocks like you said. I have to remember that just because something fixes my problem does not mean it will fix everyone's problem lol.

 

I will try to uninstall the drivers in safe mode... I am experiencing the same issue... Here goes...

 

only happens if you overclock to much, or the driver is corrupt, or faulty gpu.

 

Using 275.33... Safe mode uninstall, safe mode driver cleaner, safe mode install 275.33... Still getting it. I have tried everything aside from reinstalling windows, and I want to avoid that like the plague... Anyone have a fix?

 

Well seeing as everyone has been right so far. It only occurs if your computer is overclocked beyond the ability of your graphics card. Its a sort of failsafe.

If your GPU is at the stock settings then your card could be faulty. I know my first R2 was faulty and I had to get it replaced by dell. To fix a faulty a card you have to underclock it so that the shaders are at about 980. Its only a temporary fix as it does reduce gaming performance.

 

I got the BSOD while playing Zuma's Revenge with my Nvidia card..... and nvlddmkm.sys caused it, I don't even overclock the card so I think my card is faulty?

 

No its not. I just got it again. I think drivers are messed up. My GPU is fine on the 260 series. I was mistaken by going off what other people say your GPU is fine if there is no freezing while on older drivers. Just download the 260.99 or 267.76 driver and see if you freeze. If you do then its the GPU. If you dont then its the driver.

I got the BSOD again on the 275 driver so I installed the 267.xx driver and it has not had any issues since. I think there is just some issue with the .dll that nvidia needs to iron out in this driver.

Seems to only select specific GPUs though.

 

Glad to know it's a driver issue
I thought I've got a bad motherboard.

 

Yeah sorry about that. I guess they have to iron some things out. I was just making my assumptions based on previous people and their comments as well as passed experience. I also am glad its the driver. 267.76 has been running on my computer for 2 whole days without any BSODs/Crashes so it was definitely the driver.

 

Hey, I know this is a bit of a necropost but this was the first google result for my nvlddmkm.sys search, and it seems like a fairly common issue.

If anyone's still having trouble with it, the issue is that the NVidia drivers don't actually copy the new version of nvlddmkm.sys to the drivers folder. The fix is pretty simple.

Just go to the folder where you expanded your most recent driver installation (for me, C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\280.26\WinVista_Win7_64\International\Display.Driver) and copy 'nvlddmkm.sy_' to C:\windows\system32\drivers.

Now, open an elevated command prompt (right click on cmd.exe, run as administrator) and enter 'cd drivers'. Hit enter, then type in 'EXPAND.EXE nvlddmkm.sy_ nvlddmkm.sys'. Hit enter.

If you get an error saying that it couldn't open the file specified, make sure that you're running cmd as an administrator. After that, you shouldn't get any more nvlddmkm.sys BSOD's. Hope that helps!

 

This doesnt fix it. That is if the file is corrupt.
In 99% of the cases with this computer it has to deal with the motherboard as noted by another thread on the matter.

BESIDES, I already posted this non-working "fix" in the first. Post. READ before you post.

It does not work. Disregard his comment.

 

Just wanted to say thanks for this... not only has it stoped me getting bsod on wow but it also cured some problem that i had with playing videos and now its all working smoothly thank you sooooo much

 

Weird thing is, I'm getting this BSOD when I play warcraft 3 and not a single instance when I play witcher 2. T_T Is it perhaps a temp problem as well?