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

I think i know what it may be on the sony vaio:

"RAM Slot" problem and what Sony Vaio models have not. These two issues should cover most of you coming here searching for a solution or thinking you have a RAM problem when you may not.

The RAM slot problem has surfaced (and we've repaired) in the following models:

PCG-FX100, 200 (not FX210/215) and 300 series (One Slot ONLY toward rear of system)
PCG-GR300 series (both slots)
PCG-GRZ500 / 600 Series (both slots)
PCG-GRV500 / 600 Series (both slots)
PCG-GRX500 / 600 Series (both slots)
PCG-NV Series (both slots)
PCG-GRT Series (very few models) (both slots)

The RAM Slot problem has NOT surfaced in the following models:

PCG-FX210 / 215
PCG-FXA Series
PCG-FRV (so far no cases claimed)
PCG-F series
PCG-505 (ALL VARIANCES)
PCG-SR (ALL MODELS)

YOUR SYSTEM IS NOT LISTED AND IS OLDER AND OUT OF WARRANTY YOU DON'T HAVE A RAM SLOT PROBLEM. IF YOUR SYSTEM IS NOT LISTED AND IT'S STILL UNDER WARRANTY WE WILL NOT KNOW IF THERE IS A PROBLEM UNTIL IT AGES TO ABOUT 1 YEAR OLD.
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How can you tell if your system has a RAM Slot problem? Try this test:

Open the screen just as you would if you were going to use it normally. Now, lay the laptop on it's side. This allows you to gain access to both the bottom of the laptop and the power button and the screen area to see the results.

Next, remove the memory bay access door (on the bottom of the laptop). Then remove one stick of RAM (If two are installed) to leave only one stick of RAM installed. Now, apply gentle pressure to each end of the populated RAM slot (the beige wide body portion of the slot and NOT THE RAM CHIP or retention clip) with your thumb and index finger. With the pressure still applied, hit the power button to power on the system. Do you get a Sony logo on the screen? If not, Hold the power button in for 5 seconds. After the system powers off, remove the RAM from the slot and re-insert it into the other slot and do the same thing.

If you get a Sony Logo on the screen with either slot, then you have a RAM slot problem and it is repairable. If you do not get any image or response from the system, this does not necessarily mean that you don't have a RAM slot problem. The RAM slot leads may be too far from the pads on the motherboard to make contact. You also may have a completely different problem. Proper troubleshooting and diagnosis needs to be performed.




I got this from another site.

 

Another update to say my laptop has been fine since updating to the official nvidia drivers. Its been over 3 months now i think since doing that, im satisfied my crash problems are over now.

 

Fine here to for 2 weeks+ now.

Using 92.77 WHQL NV/Dell Drivers:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=12177

 

hey guys i talked to a technician from dell yesterday and he made me reinstall windows xp and the drivers from their site. After that my system crashed again when i was playing a video from halo. He told me to call DELL ON CALL and said they would resolve the issue. I told him it happens even when i am word processing but he insists that the games are the problem!!! Any help from u ppl?

Dell Inspiron E1705
2 x 512mb ddr2 sdram
nVIDIA GeForce 7900GS 256 mb
DVD +/- RW 8x
100 GB HDD
Intel 3945 ABG

 

Me too I have been BSOD free now for over a month after switching to the drivers from NVidia, hopefully I'm out of the woods for this error once and for all

 

hey eessie how do u use the driver cleaner thingy?

 

I think i have blown up my video card memory Because any step i take it never works. I have reinstalled windows twice and installed drivers from nvidia also. But nothing seems to be working!!! And dell is no help also!!!

 

When installing new drivers instead of going through the "add/remove program" icon in your control panel just run the driver cleaner pro software instead (it is suppose to remove any part that is related to the old driver that may be missed when using only the add/remove icon) you can download the program from here:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/Driver-Cleaner-Professional.shtml

When the program is open basically on the left hand side you will be given a choice as to which driver you want to remove: i.e. ATI, NVidia, etc... Of course in your case you select NVidia from the list and proceed with the removal... once that is done re boot your laptop and try to install the video drivers from the NVidia website from the link that I put up in an ealier post...

Just make sure to read the help info and documentation that comes with the Driver Cleaner Pro program so that everything goes smoothly if all of this still fails (you said you even reinstalled windows) and you get BSOD (when gaming and non gaming) then obviously something is going on somewhere with your system try calling Dell tech support again and speak with somebody else

 

I just called dell and they told me its some software error. And my warranty is only for hardware errors!!! WTF. I need to pay US$240 just to talk to themn about it. JEsus Christ!!!

 

Are you serious?? You have to pay money to get help from Tech support?

Btw, is there any users with ATI x1400 having this problem. seems like Nvidia users has resolved this issue.

 

Resolved? Check this out. I reinstalled windows xp I installed drivers and installed a game to play. As soon as screen loaded boom!!! BSOD. Graphics break up and pixels are distorted on screen. Does that look like a software error? and dell is 100% sure its a software error

 

I just played BF2142 at max settings in 1600x1200 for the last 3 hours and no crashes, have been able to play this and other games no probs so far.

 

@naresh: I had a similar thing when using non-mobile type drivers. The system would crash with some error about DirectX 8 and vertices or something and the screen would end up being all scrambled. The first time it was just 4-bit video and stuff and was fixed by reinstalling the monitor drivers. The second time (I hadn't restarted yet) it decided to crash and leave my system using 2-bit video with vertical pink lines. It was only resolved by reinstalling the video driver on top of itself and telling it to not reboot. Then I was able to change the resolution on the screen. The screen got all jittery and stuff when it updated during this state.

 

I run an e1705 dual 1.8ghz, 7900gs, windows xp sp2, 2x512 ddr2.

Tonight I narrowed this error down (for my system anyways) to an overheating problem of the GPU. I ran Ik8fanGUI and force speeds to high, and monitered the tempurature while playing World of Warcraft. Consistently, like clockwork, i would get the BSOD at 75 degrees celsius.

Now what gets me is this:
I can play Halflife 2 and Oblivion (offline) for as long as I want and never get the NMI Parity Error.

I dont know much about how things are physically set up inside the e1705, but if the wireless NIC and the video card are situated next to each other can they build up more heat than the fans can control, and cause a crash while playing games that require my wireless NIC?

 

Ok. It looks like im the only one who cannot get their notebook working. Can someone post some detailed steps on which drivers to install and which programs to help me with my situation?

Dell Inspiron E1705
IntelCore Duo 1.83ghz
1Gb Ram(2*512mb)
DVD+/-RW 8x
nVIDIA GeForce 7900GS 256mb
100Gb HDD
Intel 3945 ABG
Windows XP MCE 05

 

In my case, this happened after I installed my new Atheros wifi mini-PCI express card and installed the latest Atheros 5.0.0.107 drivers. The blue screens seem to have gone away after I went into the BIOS, to Wireless > Wireless Hotkey, and changed the setting to "None". For those with similar situation as mine, you may want to try to see if this works out for you as well.

Edit: It didn't work. The BSODs came back.

 

Atheros? I have the intel wireless card. Is Atheros another brand?

 

I have the exact same problem of BSOD with NMI Parity Error mostly while watching internet video's (but it does occur even while simply surfing the internet). Dell has replaced the motherboard, processor, videocard and memory. The problem still exists, so that was a waste of time, but it shows that Dell is taking this problem very serious.

My specs:
Inspiron 6400/E1505
Intel Core Duo T2250
Windows XP Home SP2
1024MB 533 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400
120GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
Intel Pro WLAN 3945

I've bought my laptop from the Ireland factory so it's an European problem too. The Nvidia-users seem to have a solution, but since I am an ATI-user I think I'll go for a refund. I'll let you know what happens next.

 

Please see my thread here... http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=101434

This is the same error that lead me to find out my laptop was producing a 19-65 volt AC charge out of the bottom of it. This voltage leakage is what fried my Ram and Video Card.

 

First read the guides of Southerngirl on the sticky thread of this Dell forum. Print them out if you need and look at it while perform the installation.

Then Get your CDs ready. : win xp CD, and driver CD
The driver cd is either from Dell or you can download online from Dell support and burn out for your own

Drivers that you needed:
- Intel wireless
- Sound card sigmatel
-Geforce 7900GS video driver
- Notebook system utility/ software (optional)
-Modem
- Ethernet Lan Broadcom


I think that's it , am i missing any thing?

 

I think 99% of the people in this thread are "blaming" the wrong pieces of hardware for causing this parity error. I have had the same problem with my E1705 for the past month and have come to the following conclusions after having my 7900gs, my motherboard, and RAM replaced 2-3 times each.

I am almost certainly positive this is a problem between your WIRELESS card and system-system bios. Have you tried completely disabling your wirless card, plugging directly into your ethernet port.. do you still get your Parity Errors surfing the web then? I don't.

I have 3 wireless cards that all provide different results. I have an Atheros Card that throws NMI errors within 30 seconds of booting the system. (actually, my errors started when I bought and installed this card, before installation, I never once saw this error) I also have a 3945 and 1390 Intel card. The 3945 throws a parity error once every hour.. where as with the 1390 card I get almost NO errors.

Just to see if it helps your situations at all (obviously this isnt a fix to the problem) .. but plug directly into your router and see if your parity errors dissappear.

 

I agree with Goronok. This error started for me right after I installed the Atheros based wireless card (Gigabyte WI01GT). I've never gotten this with the previous Dell 1390 card. I've updated the Atheros driver to the latest version and it's still happening.

Folks, if you have an Atheros based card in your Dell notebook and you're getting this error, I suggest the Atheros card is the culprit until proven otherwise (proven otherwise means turning off wireless and connecting via ethernet cable to your router - if you still get this error with your Atheros wireless card off, then you've proven otherwise). If you don't believe, do a google search on atheros, NMI, parity check, and you'll see that not only Dell, but Thinkpads also get this error with Atheros wireless cards. The other correlation is that Shinju, WackyT, Goronok and myself all have gotten this error since installing the Atheros card.

One thing I'm trying right now is to go to the Atheros device driver and turn off "Power Saving" (there are 3 settings - Maximum, Normal, and Off). This has been suggested by someone on the Thinkpad forum. I'll see if the error goes away.

The other thing I've been wondering is whether the latest Linux madwifi snapshot also gives this type of error. This will tell me whether it's a hardware issue or driver issue.

 

I got the error one time and that was just after re-installing MCE. I rarely use my wireless connection and keep it disabled 99% of the time. The card is the Intel 3945ABG. I have not gotten the "Parity Check/ Memory Parity Error" since that one time. (Knock on wood!)

 

I can confirm the problem with Gigabyte WI01GT.
I am using the Dell 640m and since I upgraded to this card the bsod's started after a few weeks. When using Vista, the problem actually gets worse?! BSOD's every hour. I disabled WIFI from the BIOS and problem solved. Going to buy a usb WIFI for the meanwhile.
Very strange problem. I have sold the 3945abg Intel card, so unfortunately can't try if this one solves the problem. The 3945abg card had connecting problems with the router I am using (Dlink 4300). Great those WIFI standards.....

So if somebody has a solution for this problem, please.
I have asked Gigabyte for support by email, but didn't get response yet.

 

I had problems with both the Dell Draft-n card and the WI01GT Wireless cards I had installed in my laptop. I just sent mine back to Dell to get worked on since within 10 minutes of mentioning the NMI error they did a supervisor override and asked me to send it to them. I made sure to switch it back to the Dell supplied wireless adapter and kept my WI01GT card. Coincidentally my laptop stopped booting at all (the power light comes on, num lock and scroll lock flashes some, then power off) as of Thursday. So mine could be something serious... like the motherboard. If it continues to happen then I think I can go to unresolved issues after a few times.

 

How come mine is different. I used the Atheros card for 4 to5 days without the problem. Just right before I send the laptop to Dell for return, I put the intel card back, and boot it up... then I ran for 10 mins and crash BSOD.

 

I started getting this error every few days about 3 months after I bought my E1705 (7900gs). Thinking back, I realized I'd installed the generic Nvidia driver from their website.

I removed it and installed the Dell drivers for the 7900gs, and have been BSOD free for over a month.

 

Well I used a number of different drivers with varying degrees of success. I used a 93 series driver using a modified inf and got a nasty DX8 error that screwed up my screen temporarily when playing HL2. I went back to the Dell ones afterwards but none of the driver fixes helped at all.

 

Crash free on NV 92.77 for a month almost now!

 

I'm having this issue and I have the ATI x1400 video card. In fact, I just got the BSOD about 30 minutes ago and sent my dell rep another letter.

I tried updating the driver with the latest one from Dell. It's the same one that's on my system (noticed that after the install).

I tried downloading the latest ATI driver from ati.amd.com (ati.com) but their verification loader says I have to go to dell for the latest drivers.

Oh, I also have the Intel 3945ABG Network card. I find this card to be one of the best wireless
card around... I am able to walk to my detached garage which is over 100 ft away from the wireless router and still be connected. None of my other laptops or desktop can hold a solid connection like this E1705/9400 + Intel 3945ABG combo.

Gary

 

Guys,

Something you may want to try. I'm on my second computer from Dell, and after about a month of good computer usage with no memory errors, I finally got one yesterday (Feb 4th), which turned into 2, and then one again this morning (Feb 5th). I've decided to forget Dell until I know exactly what the problem is as they don't know. Here's something to try. One thing I noticed on this new system when I first got it is that I could not close the system lid and have the system go into it's 'sleep mode', because the system would make the sound that it was uninstalling and reinstalling something continuously. This basically led to the system being on all the time. To end this I would hit the FN-F2 combination to turn off the bluetooth/wireless combination before shutting down the system, which in turn allowed the system to 'sleep'.

This worked for a while, but then I noticed something else. I use my computer a lot and when it's on it will at random intervals uninstall and reinstall a HID-consumer control device. What I basically started doing was leaving the device manager open and watching as the HID device just randomly uninstalled and reinstalled itself. During one of these episodes at the point in which it was reinstalling I got my first memory parity error (on this machine, the other one did it once every other day). I then came back in and disabled the HID device and the USB Human Interface to it and then tried to re-enable it, and it gave me the blue screen for the 2nd time. I decided after reading some information out on the web about this that it's gotta be either the video card or the wireless controller, and that it has little to do with the memory.

Long story short, it seems to have to do with the Bluetooth controller. I went into the BIOS and disabled the Bluetooth as well as disabling it's connection to the FN-F2 command. It's not something that I've ever used anyways. When turning the system back on this morning, low and behold the HID device that would continually make the uninstall reinstall sounds all the time was no longer listed in the device manager, and my system has not made the sound since. Furthermore, I was able to close the lid to my system and enable sleep mode with the wireless on and not have it continue to uninstall and reinstall to keep the system on. I have not had it on more than an hr and a half this morning though to see if I'm going to get any memory parity errors though. I'm thinking I'm on the right path.

My goal is to figure out the ultimate cause by myself with these errors and then report to Dell since they cannot figure these things out on their own. Like I said this is my second E1705 as I had the first one replaced because it gave this error basically every other day. I will update here in a day or so or if I get another memory parity error in the meantime. I'm going to play some games and do a lot of intensive work on this thing, so we shall see.

 

Cool keep us posted, also the tricky part in isolating NMI parity errors when your system is affected is that it can have MANY different causes i.e. bad RAM, GPU memory issue, motherboard issue, GPU driver issue(as in my case and a few others in this thread), etc... Good luck in finding the cause on your system! It seems all of us here are doing the work that Dell should be doing on their end because at the end of the day I'm convinced that the majority of these NMI parity errors are of Dell's making when they built the system in the first place

 

not that i have anything to add, except that i've not had this error in the six weeks i've had my notebook. done everything: wireless, wired ethernet, BT on all the time, streaming video / flash / audio, 3d-gaming, dvds/videos, mp3s, web-browsing -- 90% uptime on photoshop, indesign, dreamweaver.

Dell Inspiron 9400
Core 2 Duo T7400
2GB DDR2 533Mhz
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS
17" Ultrasharp 1920x1200 WUXGA (made by SHARP)
Sony 8X CD/DVD Burner
120GB SATA Hitachi HDD
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 A/B/G
Dell Bluetooth 355
stock Sigmatel sound

bios at A06, ALL latest Dell Drivers, clean MCE install.

- rarely use the built-in display -- patched into a Dell 2005FPW when working / gaming.
- using Dell BT keyboard and mouse

fingers crossed ...

 

I found this thread because I was researching the Hardware Malfunction/NMI Parity Error. I received this error for the first, and only time so far, last night. So, this could be only an isolated incident in my case that won't require any action to resolve. (BTW, mine occured when I fell asleep last night after the Super Bowl - waiting for my brother to call me. When I woke up I saw this BSOD error message. I think the only thing that was left active was the IE sessions I had been viewing.)
My system is a new XPS M1710 with nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS. I have updated all my drivers to the latest versions posted by Dell. So it is possibly a driver issue - in particular a video driver based on the experience of others here. I will also run memory tests, since this is what the error message seems to indicate, and is a possibility even though that isn't the standard experience of those here.
But, I was wondering if anyone thinks it could be a heat related issue. It is possible that changing a video driver of a high end graphics card could affect memory chip temperatures. The reason I ask is that the only thing different in my use of my new notebook when the problem occurred, was using and leaving my notebook sitting on a cloth covered hassock. I'm sure this restricted airflow through my notebook and could have resulted in elevated internal temperatures.

 

I just got this error for the first time the other day, i do not have bluetooth. So it's not that. It only happened once and it was very random. It has not done it since but it worries me..

I ran a full system diagnostics and a 24hour memory test which the system passed. The only thing that was odd was that the CMOS/System clock was 3 seconds out of sync (no big deal)


so uhh, weird.

 

there's gotta be folks in this thread using a cooler and/or i8kfangui?

FYI, FWIW: i'm using LapCool 4 + i8kfangui; right now, i have firefox, WMP, photoshop, indesign, suitcase, and background programs (windows defender, active virus shield, comodo)

CPU 47
GPU 52
Memory 45
Chipset 40

i'm hoping i never see this error ...

 

**************Question for Am Radio****************

Out of curiosity what video drivers are you using for the GeForce Go 7900 GS? Did you get them directly from Dell's technical support website or from some other site?

 

^ the latest from Dell.

** one more thing -- could be nothing, might be a factor. i can't stand having useless services, so i disabled the NVIDIA Display Driver Service after install (in services.msc).

i still have access to the nvidia control panel whenever i right-click on the desktop, and i still load NvCpl at startup, so whatever the NDD service was/is, i'm not missing it.

 

Microsoft has posted an updated article on this error too:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315223

"CAUSE
This behavior can occur if a hardware component malfunctions, or if there are damaged or incompatible drivers installed. "

GPU Drivers? NVidia IS in hot water over it's Vista drivers. Just amazing to me that Dell doesn't know what the root cause is. It just doesn't seem like a hardware issue since people have had every major component changed. Could be grasping at straws but it really sounds like a driver issue. One other thing, does the E1705 do an ECC check on the memory?

 

I'm using a LapCool 2 and i8k and I get the error about once every 2 weeks. I've gotten it about 4 times just on boot after it passes the XP screen, and I got it 2 times while just typing..

CPU 12
GPU 46
Memory 42
Chipset 39

 

As an addendum to my previous post about installing the Dell drivers for the 7900GS:

I also altered the bios settings to make the Fn-F2 key only turn the wifi on/off, not the wifi AND the bluetooth.

What a messy problem...Probably a problem with the motherboard or chipset at the root level to affect so many different folks with big differences in configurations. Seems like it's the only thing we have in common.

 

christ, it's like we a timebomb in our notebooks that can go off at anytime.

(BTW: is your CPU really at 12 degrees?!?)

 

Updating:

System just gave me a blue screen again, ran for more than a day without giving me one, but that's now 4 times in 3 days after not doing it for a month since i first got the system. When I restarted it it said that it could not use the wireless driver for my Intel 3945 Card that I installed off Intel's site yesterday and worked fine. So I rolled back the driver and that worked OK. We shall see I will continue to see what the deal is and what I can find and go from there. I'm just tired of the run around from Dell on an obvious design flaw with the 1705. I have the Vista Upgrade coming, I guess if it was possible software, that possibly Vista could fix it. Who knows.

I'll update again when I dive deeper.

 

Yeah, it's at 9 right now, that's where it is usually at. I keep the system fans on slow all the time unless i'm gaming.

 

^ that can't be right, can it? 9 degrees?!? that's amazing -- what kinda cooling are you using? my fans are on slow all the time and nowhere near that!

 

Well I'm measuring in celsius. They're on slow all the time, and my cooler pad is on slow as well. I turned the GPU up to high because it hit about 50. It's on slow again right now. Here's another shot.

 

at the risk of going OT here -- are you way up north? are you using Arctic Silver 5 or something like that too? even water-cooled rigs don't get that cool ...

9 degrees celcius is a pretty cold day here on left coast of canada -- not to mention that's significantly colder than ambient room temps. if i had those numbers, it would mean that the CPU is running COOLER than the air around it.

what kind of temps did you get with a non-beta i8kfangui?

 

Just a quick update. My previous suggestion of turning off "Power Saving" in the Atheros driver didn't work. Still getting BSODs. In fact, I've noticed that this error sometimes happens even before Windows starts to boot. So my inclination at this point is that it's a bug either in the laptop BIOS or the Atheros card firmware. By the way, Dell released a firmware update for the E1405 / 640m yesterday. The new firmware (A09) didn't get rid of the problem though. I got a BSOD just on the first boot after firmware update.

I think the suggestion of turning off bluetooth is worth a try. In fact, I'm going to play with the BIOS a bit, just because I think it's not a driver problem, but a BIOS problem.

Regarding suggestion of heat causing this, I'd have to disagree as I never got this BSOD problem before I switched from the original WLAN mini PCI express card (1390) to the Atheros card. I wouldn't think the Atheros card caused much difference in heat compared to the Dell card.

I think the reason Dell has not looked into this problem as much as it should is that it cannot be reproduced in a reliable way, and they're not dedicated enough to assign decent amount of QA resource to try to reproduce it.

 

I disagree about the Heat issues also. I let the notebook on all the time with Fans always on, the system still crash..

From many posts that other users suggest , the causes of the BSOD may be because of the following

- Bios
- Video card driver
- Wireless card (i'm not sure much about this, but some said it one of the cause for BSOD)
- Or someother unknown conflict of motherboard and other hardware in the system.

 

I haven't even opened up anything on the case! I live in the san francisco bay area, a bit inland (concord) and my house is at about 62. 9 celsius is about 49 degrees. I never knew that was even possible to get it cooler than the air around it! Although it could be the windchill factor?