E1705 + Weird BSOD = Dead PC

My computer has been rendered incapacitated in the last week due to an odd blue screen error. Now when the problem initially occured i was opening the application World of Warcraft, as i loaded into the Login screen i was greeted by this odd blue screen error that read!

*** Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity Check/Memory Parity Error
*** The system has halted ***

Ok so i was rather suprised with this occuring as i had recently replaced my Video Card (From ATI Mobility x1400 to a Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GS) as well as raising my ram from 1054MB (PC25300 NONECC UNBUFFERED 200PIN DDR2 SODIMM) to OCZ 3GB (2GB + 1GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400)

Now I read a few threads about this initial error and was told it could be many things, anything from a busted memory stick to a busted mother board and HD. Anyways once i restarted my computer i was now greeted with a more normal looking BSOD, which until i turned auto-reboot off i couldn't read. This new error read as follows.

PAGE_FAULT_IN_UNPAGED_AREA

Yada-yada i have all the error code numbers as well. I read up on this error code and it TOO can be caused by memory, so now my first thought is switch out my old memory and try it again right? So i proceed in having to reinstall Windows, replacing my new RAM with the old. Get my system up and running, everything working fine and then about 3 minutes into playing the Left 4 Dead demo I get the inital error once again and i'm stuck now.

I have now been lead to believe that this is indeed as i feared a hardware problem.. I'm going to be running a memtest on ALL 4 of my RAM sticks to just see exactly what's going on with my memory.

Is there anything else someone could help me to do? I will post my laptop's spec's as well as the Error Codes and Parameters for each of the 4 system errors i recived (2 at the inital screen 2 at the secondary on startup)

E1705 Laptop
Intel Core Duo T2500 @ 2.0 GHZ
1GB (2 x 5**MB) Dell Stock RAM (see all RAM spec's above)
256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GS
70GB hard drive
Sigma-Tel sound card
Running Windows XP professional SP3

Now for all the error codes along with dates / times:

11/8/08 (First Error)
11:24 PM

Error Code 10000050
Parameter1 f8055dbc
Parameter2 00000000
Parameter3 8052a8e4
Parameter4 00000000

11/8/08
11:32 PM

Error Code 10000050
Parameter1 f80b4dbc
Parameter2 00000000
Parameter3 8052a8e4
Parameter4 00000000

11/9/08 (Second Error)
8:43 AM

Error Code 10000050
Parameter1 f7a09dbc
Parameter2 00000000
Parameter3 8052a8e4
Parameter4 00000000

11/9/08
8:48 AM

Error Code 10000050
Parameter1 f7c8edbc
Parameter2 00000000
Parameter3 8052a8e4
Parameter4 00000000

----------------------------------------------------

Ok so I am going to begin a Memtest on all my RAM asap, should take a while. Also I'm concerned with these errors because I had been using my Video Card as well as the new RAM for a couple of weeks straight without any errors and my computer running flawlessly. I am afraid it probably isn't a memory error but i can hope. Thanks for your help!

 

It's probably bad memory.
Wait for the results of the memtest and post back.

 

So far, so good! I've tested my 2 new sticks of memory and they both came back with no errors completely passing the tests.

Now i did notice that my new RAM is a faster speed than my old stock Dell RAM. I believe the Dell RAM is 533MHz but my new replacement RAM is at 677MHz. I have also noticed that the timing (not sure what this actually does) was different. On stock it was 4-4-4-12 and on the replacement 5-5-5-15.

Can anyone tell me if this would indeed cause any of these errors? I'm testing my stock RAM at this very moment, they are both only 512MB sticks so they will be done shortly.

 

It should not cause those errors. The only time I've seen that cause errors was using slower memory in a faster system (and in that case, it was putting PC100 in PC133 boards, the memory automatically clocked up to 133mhz and caused BSODs)

What voltage is the memory? If the memory's not a stock voltage could be the problem. Or I could be totally off. After all, FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA is usually an error caused by a failing hard drive, but bad memory can cause ANY error (because the lower level system depends on it to do it's job correctly)

 

Tests are all finished and ALL of my memory is just fine! I'm now searching my minidump files to see if i can find anything worth looking into there.

Now as far as my RAM goes, the replacement RAM is operating at 1.8V. I'm having trouble finding out what voltage the stock Dell RAM is at but i've read a couple places that would lead me to assume its also 1.8V.

 

Stock for DDR2 SO-DIMMs is 1.8v. So I don't think that's the problem.
Use your manufacturer's hard drive test to give your hard drive a checkup.

 

I have just gotten done fooling around with the 4 mini-dump files i had for each of the above crash errors.

Now i have come to the conclusion that it is the file nv4_mini.sys that has been causing my computer to crash. This is disheartening because i have had 10 different sets of drivers and it took me forever to get one that ACTUALLY worked. But i guess if anyone has other suggestions i'd be glad to hear them. I'm going to try the drivers from Nvidia first, then from Dell after that who knows..

 

FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA from nVidia drivers?
I guess I've heard stranger.

Try drivers from laptopvideo2go.com

 

Well I'm not very sure of anything anymore. I'm going to try and get a diagnostic on my hard drive as i have tried to install 5 sets of video drivers only to come up with an error something like "we can't find any drivers compatible with your hardware" for EACH set. This includes the drivers from Dell's site, Nvidia's site and a few other 3rd party sites.

Ok so i ran Dell's onboard system Diagnostic and of course EVERYTHING passed. I really think something is wrong with these drivers / compatability. I still cannot get ANY of these drivers to install..

 

Ok so after a tormenting couple of hours just trying to get video drivers that work i've run into yet ANOTHER error while installing video drivers.

I took the minidump file and turned it into a text file if this will help anyone diagnose the problem please!

 

Okay well... did you reformat after swapping the graphics card or no? Because this is the kind of errors you can see if you go from ATI to Nvidia or vice versa with residual driver information left behind. There are some programs that supposedly do the cleaning (like drivercleaner, you can still get the old free version on some sites) but I prefer a reformat.

 

Yes i reformatted immediately before installing the new graphics card, as well as after i got this first set of errors. My next step i guess will be to put back my old video card and see what comes of that!

Note: I played with this graphics card / RAM for about 3 weeks before seeing any of these errors, in fact NO errors at all!

 

Well today i spent taking apart my laptop, putting in my old video card (ATI Mobility x1400) and reformatted using the Windows install disk. I succesfully put all the drivers i needed to run everything on the computer. I installed Steam as well as Team Fortress 2 for a test run. Only a minute into playing TF2 i was greeted with another blue screen error which read

PFN_LIST_CORRUPT

After the error i restarted my computer, hoping it might have been a fluke?, and looked for the error file in the Event Viewer. Only problem there was that one had not been made. Now after some thought i installed the demo for Left 4 Dead (amazing game FYI) Demo. I then tried playing this game and once again only a few minutes into this game my screen froze, sound looped, only this time the blue screen error read

This was caused by: ati2dvag

Yet another driver issue crash. I have deduced that indeed it is a hardware issue, unless anyone else has something they would like to suggest. I am going to re-test and test again my Hard Drive before i finally take it somewhere that can REALLY test it. (these windows HD tests seem like a joke) Any ideas where i can get a HD tested?

 

I've been having this problem with mine and I was able to determine that I had a GPU with bad VRAM through Dell's on board diagnostic utility. Since you tried both cards I find it hard to believe it's the same reason, but it's worth running Dell's diagnostic tool.

 

What wifi card do you have in the laptop?

 

What are you using for your hardware tests?
Memory should be memtest86+ and hard drive should be supplied by your manufacturer or GWscan.

 

I've used Dell's onboard diagnostic (Function button while hitting the power button) and it has come back that everything was fine. I did a memtest86 on all 4 pieces of my RAM and they all 100% passed. Now i ran DBAN (to wipe the hard drive COMPELETLY) this program works wonders over a normal windows reformat. Now this came back with an error saying:

DBAN finished with non-fatal errors. This is usually caused by disks with bad sectors.

Now this would lead me to believe that it is indeed my HD that is failing. I'm going to try using Flobo to see if i can't repair it for the time being but ultimately i'm probably just going to buy a new HD.

I am using the built in Wifi card that Dell put in, i believe its an Intel ProSet Wireless or something of that nature.

 

Did that DBAN error come back immediately? If so, it's because it doesn't have drivers for your chipset/HDD controller. If it came back partially through the test, then it's probably indeed bad sectors. Still, that alone should not cause BSODs, I suggest downloading GWscan and using that.

 

These errors occured about 3 hours into DBAN's wipe of my HD. I'll give GWscan a try then.

 

Well after finally taking it somewhere and replacing 3/4 of the things that could be wrong with it, it is indeed a problem on my mobo. I've found a guy in CA that specializes in fixing Dell mobo's so i'm going to ship it out to him and if he can fix it for cheap i'm going to do it, if not he sends it back free of further charge.

Hope it works, or i'm getting a desktop!

 

Can I have the system if it doesn't get fixed?


I say this because then I'd have a huge upgrade on my laptop for $170..

I'm joking about you giving it to me, I'd feel bad since those parts are valuable (the T2500 and 7900GS), but you might consider fixing it yourself.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Inspiron-9400-E1705-Motherboard-Base-DF047-WH277_W0QQitemZ120340089729QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item120340089729&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Though if you're considering selling the dead system for parts... I might be interested. My "gaming" laptop has a Radeon 9700 Mobility

 

I've taken it appart and basically assessed that i don't want to spend anymore money if i'm not sure it will work! So i'm not going to go about replacing my Mobo on my own, if this guy can do it cheap i'm gonna fix it. If not i'm most likely going to scrap it! or sell it to someone for parts