NMI: Parity Check/ Memory Parity Error -- System crash

update on my situation: Its about to be the 30th and as expected no replacement computer came from dell or even any further mention of it. I'm going to call tech support when I get out of work tonight and see what they say about it and what they will do to resolve the issue. This will be my 5th call to dell support.

 

Dell support are pretty good, but unfortunately they don't seem to have a clue what the solution is.

My CPU was at 39 degrees C (i.e. not hot) when it crashed last. I know this because about half the time it's a "freeze-up" crash, and I can still see the I8KFanGUI temperature reading on the desktop. It also crashed again today when I was just reading a web page, not even touching the mouse or pressing any keys, and the only application (apart from the stuff running in the background) running was Firefox.

Dell told me to try taking out the memory chip that wasn't replaced and running with just the new chip (i.e. on 512 MB), which I did, but eventually got the same blue screen NMI error.

I downloaded and installed the following drivers off the Dell website:
- Chipset
- WLAN card
- Intel Pro/Wireless
- ATI X1400

so presumably I have the most up-to-date versions. Still crashing.

GaimeGuy - where did you get the wireless card drivers that helped you - off the Dell website?

I'm at a bit of a loss what to do next.

I might try a totally fresh Windows install off the CDs rather than the system restore (which I've done already), as someone said that helped, but it's a major headache. And if I'm using the same drivers from the Dell website, it shouldn't make a difference. There are instructions on the Dell website how to do it, but you have to pay if you want Dell to talk you through it over the phone, and when I talked to their software people they talked me out of it because they said they were "100%" it was a hardware, not a software issue, and reinstalling Windows wouldn't help.

darkdreamr - let us know if your recommendations work for you.

 

Hey guys, why dont' you guys check the new 1720 has the NMI thing .

 

Snowjoke: My drivers are provided by Intel. I got them off of Intel's website

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2259&lang=eng

Go there for 3945 card drivers.

 

Ok I called tech support saturday early morning. Spoke to an American and he tried to blame the lcd, lol...After a few tests that proved it wasn't the lcd he setup a replacement. He told me that I could call anytime a dispatch is setup and confirmed that the previous agent did not setup any dispatch at all. I just sent a complaint via the bbb. The graphics card is turning out to be hell though. It's overnight shipping but it's going to take a week to get me! They sent it Monday, DHL tried to deliver it Tuesday. They tell me there was no apartment number on the address, so they couldn't deliver! I find this out around 8pm after frustrated chat with a dell agent who told me dhl tracking was down, but the part is on the way. I checked the dhl site and I find the error. I call them up and find they are of course, not delivering on the 4th of july. Even better, I'm off work monday, tuesday, and most of wednesday! So now that I will be back at work from 12pm-12:30am, it's going to come on thursday. I'm so mad, this better work.

 

Latest news: Dell technician is coming tomorrow to replace the motherboard (again) and put in new memory chips (again) AND do a full hard drive format / XP re-install. I hope the solution isn't just to install the drivers GaimeGuy recommends!

 

Hey guys,

Just got the error last night after a week of being errorless, called Dell Tech and they want me to send in my laptop for repairs and diagnostics. I kept asking the Tech if I could just have a replacement laptop, he said there is no way he could do that and that is not an option. Am I being jipped here? Should I keep pressing for a replacement or go along with sending in my laptop? I'm sending it in tomorrow afternoon. Let me know.

Regards

 

By the way, I've gone through two memory replacements, a motherboard replacement, over 7 different diagnostics (which all passed by the way), two reformats, so I'm wondering if sending it in is worth my 8-10 days of not having a laptop. I'm started to get extremely angry.

 

Have you tried installing the Intel wireless card drivers that GaimeGuy recommends? How often is it crashing?

I sent mine back to Dell once, but since it's still crashing, they've agreed to send an technician to my house.

I don't think you're likely to get a whole new machine unless you're in the first month or if they've replaced the motherboard twice. Personally I don't think it is the motherboard, but tech support are now telling me that's what it is (strange that they didn't know to start with and got me doing all the memory diagnostics over and over).

 

Hello I have a sony vaio N21S/W, running vista home premium, 1 gb ram...i have this problem when using the built in WLAN adaptor, when using etherent there is no issue but since my house went fully wireless this problem has come more of a problem, some times it will last hours then cut out, others 10 mins, can have no programs running or a whole host of programs...have tried contacting sony....no reply, has any had the same issue with similar models or does anyone have any advice on how maybe to stop this problem?

Many Thanks

 

I have some good news to report. After getting lucky this morning and hunting down the dhl driver on my way to work, I got the replacement 7900gs. On my lunch I exchanged the cards. First thing when I booted up, I tested COD2 which was crashing the system fast. I got through the training level with no crashes. In fact I was happy to see some frame-rate loss and stability. Next I ran the dell diagnostics. The video memory test is passing now. Also of note, I noticed the version on the sticker on the card went from vera00 to vera01. I then loaded up COH, which was another stability killer. Up until last night, it would crash on the title screen. I got the title screen and loaded up the benchmark test. It loaded and completed. I adjusted the settings a bit, then loaded it again. It completed again. I loaded up the lasted replay of the week from gr.org, I fell asleep and when I woke up, the game was over and the system was still up! I can't find any artifacts on the dell screen and windows xp screen as well.

I can't say that I'm happy, relieved is more like it. I had to go through a lot of crap to get this 3rd graphics card, and it took about a month to resolution. Although my anger will subside now that my system is working the way it's intended, I doubt my next laptop purchase will be from dell after all the hoops I just jumped through. Had I not known what I know about computers, I would likely be trying out a new lcd screen right now, and pissed off that I still have artifacts on load screens.

On a stranger note, the heatpipe on the 7900gs was bent inwards and I had to bend it out to fit it in the case correctly...

 

The Dell Technician I am working with has guaranteed me a new replacement laptop if the repairs and diagnostics being done on my current laptop fail. I have gone through three major dispatches, which entitle me to a new laptop according to the warranty I have.

 

Well I had my motherboard replaced again, and perhaps more importantly, a full hard drive format and Windows re-install last Thursday (including removal of MediaDirect and Dell restore partitions).

No crashes so far. The technician said he hadn't heard of this error before, but he reckons it's a software issue. In my case it definitely wasn't the memory chips and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the motherboard.

So I'd recommend people try a full format of their hard disk and re-install from the CDs. I'll report back if I have any more problems.

 

Don't get too comfortable yet. After the replacement of my motherboard and memory (for the second time), I was crash free for about a week to two weeks. Just a few days ago I received the error for the first time since the replacements. I'm hoping the technicians at the Dell Depot can repair my computer, if not, I get a new one.

 

Did you format the hard disk and re-install Windows from the CDs?

I'm suspicious the problem could be something to do with the WLAN card so disabling radio might fix it. Someone else said they didn't get it when using an Ethernet connection. Although obviously if like me you use wireless internet the whole time this isn't an option.

I'd repeat, format the hard disk and re-install from the CDs. I'd be interested to hear if there is anyone who has done this and still has the problem. I still haven't had any crashes.

 

Hi guys , back again, after abit of a wait from last time....

Well, I've managed to get my warranty transferred over to Dell Malaysia, Dell Thailand don't support Inspiron laptops....not sure why but they don't in a few countries apparently, and have now been in talks with them over the situation....obviously I pointed them in this forum's direction too !

It's taken about a week so far, and I've managed to get some Dell Resource cds, unfortunately there must've been a mix up and they didn't send me the Restore cds along with the rest and am now waiting for them to arrive by the beginning of next week. The Dell Thailand technician was sent a replacement motherboard, a replacement dvd writer drive because the original one was playing up and a replacement 7900GS card too, they and he arrived the next day to fit them. He fitted them well, turned it on, ran the Dell Diagnostics Express test and ok, there was no errors. He rebooted and tried Safe Mode and just a freeze at the mup.sys file line....nothing happened for about 10 minutes so he rebooted again and started it in Normal Mode....now, I did this the one and only time that I was able to boot up in Safe Mode after the first occurence of the NMI blue screen message and still repeats the task, the Error Checking on the hard drive, it does this every time on bootup and I can't seem to stop it because it won't boot into Windows.....but all of the times I've noticed that it gets very very hot on the graphics card side, and yet it's not running anything graphics intensive is it ? so why is this ?

He fitted the new parts, the Error Checking finishes and it shows exactly the same message, I feel the graphics card vents and they're hot....worryingly hot! And that's even after a change of new parts....I spoke to the guy at Dell Malaysia on the phone that I normally email and he can't understand it either, so he suggested the next step will be to replace the hard drive, nothing wrong with it really because I've had it connected to the desktop for atleast a 2/3 week period but I'll accept anything to get rid of this and solve the issue. I also mentioned the wireless card might be the culprit, he's going to replace that too, all that's left is the normal Network Adapter Card, the screen and the shell and that's the whole thing replaced ! I did speak to him about whether it's probably more economical to replace the whole laptop but he said, ' As soon as I can build a good enough case for that I will take it to my boss and the company will consider it ', said in a nice way because he really couldn't do enough to solve this issue, unlike Dell UK who waved the problem on through about 8/9 other support people

The trouble is though, is that I haven't got the original ram installed because I sent them back to the UK, they sent me the replacement ones to my UK address, because they wouldn't send to any other address and my parents had to send to me in Thailand unregistered post, because apparently Royal Mail don't support any registered post outside of the UK....they didn't arrive, even after 4 months, and I had to buy some more and that's what I have currently installed.....so I haven't a clue what's gonna happen :-S

Anyway, waiting for the parts and cds now, I'll let you know how I get on Strange about the heat from the graphics card after the hard drive check eh ?

Ade

 

I forgot to say too, they're also replacing the graphics card fan aswell, apparently this is separate to the graphics card, the Dell Thailand tech guy said that the fan wasn't turning on or something, according to my thai girlfriend anyway....she translated for me while he was talking to his boss on the phone...they have their uses ;D eheheheh

 

My experience: Inspiron 9400, T7200, 2Gb ram, Dell Draft, Bluetooth, Nvidia Geforce 7900gs

NMI BSOD all the time with a fresh windows install. Then I changed my video drivers: anything at version 9x will just work fine (e.g. from Laptopvideo2go). Both Dell drivers gave me the bsod. The video driver from M1710 also works fine.

I'm certain this is the issue, because I tried reinstalling Dell drivers and then again I got the BSOD.

Hope this can help. Bye!

PS The only thing with non-official drivers is the screen doesn't turn off when I close the lid. This is annoying actually.

 

well I have started getting this error for the last week, and I am quite sure it is because of the wireless drivers. The day AFTER my dsl internet stopped working and I was using my uncle's wireless connection (who lives next door), I was getting these memory parity errors.
I had never gotten them before that point (almost a year).

Im going to try to update my wireless drivers and see how it goes.

 

Hi all, well, after reinstalling the OS and the essential drivers and things on Saturday I recieved a call from Dell Thailand Monday morning to say that the parts have arrived, the technician's just left a couple of hours ago. He's put the new keyboard in, works like a treat , he put the new wireless card in, can't diagnose anything cos I haven't got wireless internet yet, fitted new fan for graphics card, now this is where it's got abit controversial....the fan appears to work correctly, it's spinning, but it's not cooling the graphics card at all. I put my hand over all of the vents and it's still running very hot and there was nothing running that would be pushing it, just a normal desktop image. I told him not to bother with the hard drive replacement because I would've had to install everything all again and also I only have the Restore Cds...not sure how they install the OS from a Restore Cd do you ?

Right, the technician got on the phone and spoke to his boss at Dell Thailand and he told her about the graphics card running so hot, a long conversation later and they decided to have a look for another graphics card in Thailand, and if not they would get one from america, they quoted another two days until they would get back to me.....

* I had a real problem downloading and installing the new Bios firmware from both Dell.co.uk and Dell.co.my ( Malaysia ), not sure why but it would just not install even after 4 or 5 times of downloading, but the one from the Dell Thailand site worked just fine I'm also getting a ' Please insert the part of the file ' when I try to install the new version of Dell Diagnostics Graphical Interface software, not sure where I get this from, any ideas ? That was the one off of the Dell website....

I'll keep you posted as to what's going on next, I've had just one month of use out of this laptop and I've not run any games in that time, the only graphics I've run are from dvds, photo editing and 3D architecture software, and it's pretty basic architecture software, nothing too intensive. I have used the wireless card abit in the time it was working and have always updated the software from Intel, not Dell. The graphics drivers were downloaded before from Nvidia but I've got some 2006 Dell drivers installed at this minute, I was going to install the laptop2go video drivers but I thought I'd keep it pretty standard while the technician was around, just in case

My suggestion of trying to bend the heatpipe down abit more and getting rid of the heatsink compound pad and replacing it with Arctic Silver 5 instead was an idea to be considered but it was my two cents and just an idea, it just seems like the graphics card is working overtime to try and gain proper contact with the motherboard, but as we couldn't see it working without the casing and with a heatseeking ( is that right ? ) infared laser or light it was only a thought....

Keep you posted,

Ade

 

Well, I still think it was a heat problem. I have an Inspiron e1705 with the GeForce Go 7900, and I was having this problem at least once a day until I...
1) switched to NVidia's graphics drivers
2) installed I8kfanGUI and had it run the fans aggressively
3) disabled my wireless card since I was using wired connections anyway.

After doing this, the memory parity errors stopped immediately. I haven't had them for over a month now. Last week I wanted to use wireless so I re-enabled it. I even opened photoshop and some games. I was able to play Guild Wars wirelessly for the entire battery life of the computer without crashing. Next day I went back to the same place, computer flush against the desk, and did the same thing but with I8kfanGUI not controlling the fans. I got the blue screen in about 30 minutes. Last I checked the GPU was over 70 C.

So. This means that for me it wasn't the NVidia/Dell drivers. Although they may have helped, I don't know. Clearly there are many different problems that can cause this error. For me, I am convinced it was overheating due to CPU/GPU work, exacerbated by using the wireless and maybe the battery also. I have definitely crashed on ethernet and AC power though, so I think those are just contributing factors in my case. I know it won't help all of you, but before you enter into battle with dell support, try
1) clearing out your vents with compressed air
2) installing I8kfanGUI and putting the fans on higher settings
3) use a desk fan or AC to cool the back/bottom of the case if you can
Someone mentioned propping the computer up on a book or something. Maybe that can help too. Best of luck.

 

Yeah, this is the only certain thing. In my case, overheating was not determinant, as I had the Memory Parity issues even after a long idle time.

 

I'm still running great and now that i have a good part, I'm going to do the 7950 gtx mod. I just won an auction on ebay for 300 bucks for the part. I'm gonna sell the 7900gs.

 

Hi guys, I was suffer in this crash several days ago, and i spent all day to read carefully all posts. Until now, there is no completely solution for that.
I bought Inspiron 6400 (core 2 dual 2.0, ATI 1400X)
this is my experience in this crash:
I only got this error when I connect to internet by both Ethernet cable and wifi. when I disable Wifi, there is no crash at all.
And today I'll test my Dell by accessing internet only with Wifi.
Let see what happen!
Good luck to all you guys

 

Signed up to post today as I have had this problem for about a month with no hope of remedying it in the near future because I refuse to have my laptop sent to a depot for a week.

Anyways, I don't think that this is a heat issue due to the fact that setting the fan program at aggressive settings doesn't seem to affect whether or not I receive a blue screen. In fact, I have noticed that my chances of crashing are much higher AFTER ceasing to do things like gaming, video encoding, photoshop, etc.

So far I've had ram and motherboard replaced twice apiece. After the second motherboard replacement, my battery stopped being recognized.

I love Dell.

 

Memory Parity Error problem solved for Inspiron 9400, T5500, 2Gb ,7900gs by installing Nvidia drivers v94.22 (from Dell web for 7950gtx).
was able to reproduce that error fast (30s-10min), but now i can't.

 

Post back in about a week or so with your findings. This one looks like it hasn't been tried before and it just might work.

 

Hi all,

I have an Inspiron 9400 with 3945ABG wireless and 7900GS and am seeing the NMI memory parity error. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view I've only seen it twice in the 2 1/2 weeks I've had the laptop. (First time was about a week and a half in).

My first email to Dell support somehow went missing even though I got an autoreply. As a result I'm now talking with one person in customer care and one in tech support.

Other pertinent info:
- All the diagnostics ran fine here
- memcheck-86 3.3 default test picked up no problems with memory
- Problem occurs for me when wirelessly connected and not under load. Temp doesn't seem to be an issue for me either although I'm surprised at how hot it does get (72 degrees normal under load?)
- I happen to own Call of Duty 2 and it runs fine with all graphics options turned up though I've only played it for about 15 minutes. I've had MS Flight Simulator 2004 running overnight with no crash (of the PC it is...the plane went down )

I installed the Intel wireless drivers Gaimeguy suggested. My last message to Dell support was a plan to resolve the issue as follows:

I would like to proceed as follows:
1) Run for a few weeks with the new Intel wireless drivers and see if the error occurs again.
2) If the error occurs replace video drivers for my GO7900GS with compatible 90 series drivers on the Dell web site listed for the GO7950GTX.
3) If the error still persists after 2 pursue any option Dell decides is needed including software install, full operating system reinstall, and hardware replacement
4) If we exhaust all options above I do want to flag at this early stage that it is not acceptable for me to have a machine crashing like this. I would like either a refund or exchange of computers, to be discussed should we reach this stage.

Basically I've asked them to hold off swapping parts or forcing me to reinstall the OS.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this epic thread so far. It's a damned frustrating problem. I really do hope video or wireless drivers are the issue. I'll keep everyone posted on my results.

 

syousef:
new 3945ABG wireless driver (2007 over 2006) not helped, reproduced error in 5 minutes, changed video drivers to v94.22 and running system 2 days at same condition without errors.
Uninstalled old drivers v.8x>deleted related to nvidia *.inf file from windows\inf(hidden)>restart>instaled v.94>restart

If u want reproduce error fast u need unlock Vbios>Powermizer to Power saving state>increase 2D memory by ~20mhz=BSOD in 10mins.
Found that trying to solve "tearing" movies problem when Powermizer=at saving state. +20mhz solved "tearing" problem, but... So now v.94 driver solved even both problems.

 

Saduka, I think different people are seeing different causes to the error.

I have no issues with tearing movies. DVD, Youtube and other internet video play perfectly. I have no stuttering graphics in 3D games (tried Call of Duty 2). I can't reproduce the issue by putting the system under load. I haven't overclocked the graphics or modified it in any way. I don't think overclocking the graphics memory just to force the same error will show anything for my system since this error is so general. I also do not wish to void the warranty.

At the same time I have no doubt at all that the issue on your system was the graphics drivers. Do you remember which version of the drivers you started off with? I'm in a slightly different boat in that I bought the system with Vista but now dual boot and usually run XP. I updated to the latest drivers (only one of which appeared when I selected my system - 84.69) Also I've seen this error only with XP but that's because I hate and rarely use Vista.

My issue has occurred when the computer has been idle so it is possible that it's related to power saving states. I'm turning on powermizer (maximum power saving when plugged into the adapter) to see what it'll do. So far 5 minutes and no issue. I'll let the system go idel. Then I'll try launching some 3d games and see how that goes.

I've read every page of this thread to come up with my plan.

We haven't heard from GaimeGuy for some time and unless I missed something he believed he'd fixed his problem with the wireless drivers. I wonder if his silence means his issue was completely resolved when he switched the drivers or if he gave up all together. I've sent him a private message in the hope of finding out.

 

A little off-topic:

Does this driver work fine for the 7900 GS? Both the Dell and nVidia drivers officially listed for the 7900 GS are more than a year old, so i guess a newer driver wouldn't be a bad idea, especially for recent games.

Does it improve the performance somehow?

Tobi

 

syousef:
i started with v.84.69, A01 drivers. I've seen this error only when idle and temps low, and before vbios tweaking. "tearing" Divx-Xvid problem related to wuxga resolution 1920x1200 (when watching fullscreen), at resolution 1600x and lower movies played fine.
Powermizer automaticaly switch to "maximum power saving" when idle.

Tobi1982:
yep it works perfect, thought its a unified driver, but miss classic control panel. no noticeable perf improvement.

Run some tests with FarCry v1.33/Research benchmark:

1920x1200 (375/507) AA=4 Anis=16 -All High
with v.84.69 Min FPS: 31.19 Max FPS: 51.92 Average FPS: 41.00
with v.94.22 Min FPS: 31.74 Max FPS: 51.57 Average FPS: 39.73

1920x1200 (460/760) AA=4 Anis=16 -All High
with v.84.69 Min FPS: 43.19 Max FPS: 67.56 Average FPS: 52.43
with v.94.22 Min FPS: 44.52 Max FPS: 66.38 Average FPS: 54.63

some funny moment:
1920x1200 (460/760) AA=4 Anis=16 -All Very High
with v.94.22 Min FPS: 54.11 Max FPS: 78.72 Average FPS: 67.20 (same nonsense with v.84.69)

 

Okay I was able to recreate the video "tearing" you're describing if by this you mean stuttering and some artifacts. I played a DVD in PowerDVD at full screen 1920x1200. As you described the problem only occurs in 1920x1200. That's reason enough to try an upgrade.

I then installed Dell's own driver file version 94.22 (Dell file R153005.EXE) and the tearing problem did go away. I was happy to install this as there was no need to hack anything - the file just installed. (I also didn't use driver removers, just installed over the top. We'll see if I regret that in the long run).

I didn't find this early because I only tend to run my flight simulator software and the occasional 3D game at 1900x1200 - I play DVDs and do most desktop stuff at 1280X800 because a little bit of blur or blockiness is less strain on my eyes than reading tiny print (personal preference, YMMV).

So now I have both fixes in place. If I get an NMI error, I'll have to talk to Dell again.

 

By the way you can re-enable the classic control panel with the 94.22 driver I use. I hate the new control panel too, and I don't think we're alone.

 

@sadukar

Thnk you very much, I think I'll try the new driver. I could imagine it's better for newer games. I'll post if I notice any difference.
My current driver is also 84.69. Tried the "performance driver" fron nVidia once, it's 84.63, but newer date than Dell's 84.69(?) Didn't have any improvement, but lower 3D Mark rating, so I switched back to 84.69.

 

I was getting this error since march this year and even after getting my mobo, dvd drive and graphic card replaced twice i was still getting the error. After some research i can say that this problem is caused either due to heating issue or due to wireless card (i only use wifi at home).Upgrading the drivers and bios did't help me. Dell is now giving me a new inspiron 1520 as a replacement cause they no longer provide e1505 in the same configuration.

For people who are still getting this error try i8kfangui program and force fans to high speed it decreases the frequency of the BSOD error.

 

Hmm, hey guys, back from all the palarva

Well, I haven't managed to try the ' new ' drivers for the 7950 but will in the effort to try and get this heating problem sorted, we've practically exhausted every other solution....new motherboard, new keyboard ( though it had nothing to do with the error but was faulty ), new graphics card, new fan for the graphics card, new wireless card, new hard drive wasn't worth installing as I would've had to install everything again and the old one worked just fine with my desktop system anyway, new dvd drive ( which had nothing to do with the error but was having problems getting stuff burned on it and reading stuff wasn't too easy ) , had to reinstall XP Pro again and had to install all the available updates from the Dell site.....

They were meant to be looking for a newer made 7900GS available in Thailand and if not they were going to get one sent from America, which I got a delivery to my doorstep again in a couple of days but it turned out to be a new processor ( the same Yonah chip ), cpu fan, cpu heatsink and I can't remember what else....which I was abit puzzled about as they were meant to be finding me a newer graphics card, so he didn't fit it. But, after many tests and an hour later the heat next to the graphics card vents seemed to be getting worse, with nothing going but the startup screen.

So he then spoke to his tech team ( Dell Thailand ) and it was decided that the Dell UK support team would be getting back to me via an email, haven't a clue why because I had switched my warranty over to Dell Malaysia previously, to let me know what was going on next...whether it would be a replacement system to the same equivalent, or my money back. Now, I talked to the Dell Malaysia support guy the last time the technician was here and was understanding that after three major replacement parts being delivered that I would be legible for a replacement system or a refund, now Jason ( Dell Malaysia support team ) says that the only thing that they could possibly try is installing an ATi equivalent to the 7900GS.....is there any such thing around ?

I know I haven't tried the 7950 drivers but can they really solve the heating problems and the BSOD Error too ? Also, I haven't tried that fan setting software either because I feel I shouldn't need to install separate software just to get my laptop back to the state it should've left the factory in in the beginning....What do you think I should do ?

I'm at my wits end and have only had one month of use out of the machine and I've had to buy a desktop as temporary measure because it's been totally unuseable for the rest of the time, I've also had to waste four plus months of my warranty waiting around for them to try and solve the issues, of which I'm trying to get them to compensate me for this....we'll see. But really, what should I do and what rights do I have in this situation....? I'm living in Thailand, which doesn't support Inspiron laptops, and the only place close to Thailand that does support it is Malaysia, but that's quite far away....he said it would be easier and quicker for both of us to just send a new replacement ATi equivalent replacement card but should I accept this ? I can't seem to find anything like the same quality by ATi online....

I'd be really glad to hear your suggestions, many, many, thanks,

Ade

* Excuse me for the size of my posts, I feel so frustrated about this situation that I just want it to go away as soon as possible so that I can get back to using what I paid for normally

 

I can only say that in my case, both times I've seen the error the laptop has been wirelessly connected and idle. Though it's not impossible (say if the fans went completely dead) I find it hard to believe that this is just a heat issue.

In fact its really frustrating that I can't reproduce the error. The only way I know how is to leave the system switched on for a week or so.

Though it's not occuring often it's still not good enough. I'd like to be able to leave the laptop unattended and I don't want to be forced to reboot every time Im about to burn a DVD or flash a bios. I want to know when I leave the thing performing a task overnight that it won't simply crash 10 minutes after I've left.

 

You know what. Fan control just might be a contributing factor.

Before installing the wireless drivers and video drivers I was seeing temperaturs reach 72 or 73. I'm running prime95 toture tests (one on each CPU) as we speak. Only started a few minutes ago but so far my peak is 46. Call of Duty 2 at 1920x1200 was running even lower CPU temps and the GPU temp peaked at 49 degrees.

I wonder if what's happening is that fan control isn't kicking in appropriately - even when things are running idle the fans shouldn't be silent the whole time. That could explain why sometimes we'd see the error with the system idle. What the relationship exact relationship could be with certain drivers is I don't know.

Note that I am using i8kfan for monitoring only. I imagine Dell might have a reason to void the warranty if you were to put a 3rd party piece of software in charge of the system fans.

So far I've only:
- Updated drivers (one from Dell itself, the other from the manufacturer of the wireless card)
- Used monitoring and testing utilities.

I refuse to modify hardware, or run software that might give Dell reason to claim I contributed to any "damage" to hardware etc. Note that they haven't suggested that they would do so on the phone. So far apart from losing my first email (despite automated response) Dell support has been easier to deal with than previous experiences. Credit where it's due.

CPU temp just hit 48 while writing this up....increasing very slowly.

 

Didn't want to leave the tests running unattended so stopped after 20 minutes.
I may try a longer test later. Max CPU temp reached was 48. Stopping the tests saw it drop 20 degrees in about 15 seconds and it's now sitting at 19/20.

I'll have to try burning a DVD again and see if there's something funky going on there. I swear I was seeing 73 degrees before at some point. The vents were never blocked. I have no explanation for this at all.

CPU temp just dropped to 15/16 as this I've been writing.

I hope this doesn't mean the machine is going to be useless in summer.

 

15C? its very low, what kind of cpu u have? maybe u forced fans?

 

My processor is a T7200. (I didn't feel like paying through the nose for 130Mhz more speed when I bought the laptop).

Fans are on automatic (4 options and I've picked the first one that says monitor only. Not sitting in front of the laptop at the moment. It's at home and I'm at work.) The fans are on high quite a bit. I think they take a while to switch off after the PC is under load even though the temp comes down. This was just after running prime95 on both cores.

Also temps are cold here in Sydney at the moment, especially in the morning. I was still breathing vapour at 8:30 am! I'll have to see if taking the laptop into an airconditioned room makes any diff.

Of course there could be something else going on eg. incorrect temps being reported but at this stage I have no reason to suspect it.

 

So sadukar and Gaimeguy have your problems disappeared since changing respective drivers or has it happened again since?

 

still not happened.

 

I guess it's a waiting game now.

I'm getting married sept 1st and will be away on honeymoon most of sept. So I'll try to remember to post one more time mid-late august if I don't get the error (and will definitely post sooner if I do). I won't use the machine for about a month and look at it again in October.

I'll leave the machine on and idle as much as I can while I'm away at work.

This problem is a pain. I do wish Dell tech support would take specific action given that so many users seem to be affected.

 

Switching to the 94.22 drivers as well. This looks like the winning ticket.

Update: When I tried to install over my old drivers, the computer would not boot up. Switched over to safe mode, rolled back, uninstalled 8.4.6.9, used nvida nasty file remover (google it), restarted, installed 94.22, restarted, voila.

I hope this all works out.

 

Hi 'theloafingone', which drivers do you mean by the 94.22 drivers ? The laptopvideo2go ones ? It's the only ones I've seen with those build numbers, abit of a complicated install by the looks of it, unless I read it wrong...editing .inf files ? Hmmm, am I right ?

Does this solve the heating problems with the 7900GS ? The blue screen error I've gotten rid of now, though I haven't done much with the laptop apart from watch small clips of a dvd during the testing stage, no games or anything yet, I just want to get rid of the heat distributed by the card and if those drivers do then ok, cool, I'll install them as long as there's no editing of .inf files. I've gotta keep it as clean as possible because I'm meant to be taking it with me to Malaysia when I go next week....

I've just decided to turn it back on now and am waiting to see what it does as far as heat goes....thanks for your info

 

I realize you are not really talking about the problem on D610 - but I can't resist mentioning that my D610 with ATI X300 graphics also bluescreens with this error. It has happened about five times - each time when running Google Earth.
Memory passes memory diagnostics.
I think it is a graphics card heat issue, or could possibly be graphics driver.

 

The dell drivers I used were R153005.EXE

Release Title: Video: nVidia GeForce GO 7950 GTX, Driver, Windows XP, Multi Language, XPS MXG061, v.94.22, A02

Type R153005 into the keyword search

Here's the direct link that I get to. Not sure if this will work.
http://support.us.dell.com/support/...eid=R153005&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=203882

Usual disclaimer: Use at your own risk. These drivers have been put up for a different model of computer and graphics card. They happen to support the 7900GS but I've received no advice from Dell that they should be applied. (However I'm more comfortable installing Dell version of the drivers than hacked drivers.

 

Just for those who want to install the new NVIdia driver just for reasons of gaming performance:

Just installed the 94.22 driver. On the first attempt, I got a bluescreen at the point, where normally the screen goes black shortly (had removed the old one before, but didn't verify it, so maybe, something went wrong there).
After rebooting, the new driver was installed anyway... I removed and reinstalled it and everything went fine.
I ran 3D Mark 03 and 06, but the score was almost exactly the same. I'll see if it improves in-game performance somehow.

84.69
3D Mark 03: 14573
3D Mark 06: 3823

94.22
3D Mark 03: 14583
3D Mark 06: 3820