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

love my box so far, and still haven't seen this error. woo-hoo!

but if i do, i'm going to be pissed off. how can Dell sell gear that's going to crash? having reliable gear is key to my business (and lifestyle) -- rebooting can be annoying, but BSODing and losing work and time will cost me money. Dell trying to fix it post-sale is nuts -- surely some of these issues must have come up during testing?

philosophical questions:

1. depending on how widespread this issue is, would DELL issue a RECALL of suspect boxes/product lines?

2. further to that, this isn't exactly batteries exploding, but what about CLASS ACTION?

 

@khanfat
I'm going to agree with you on both points. I have one of the Gigabyte mini-PCIe cards and the range is about as good as the broadcom ones although it can keep it at a faster speed. The intel one that I just purchased works alot better than both of them. I made sure to purchase an Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG mini-PCIe card. Got it for $33 on Amazon.com then when I installed it I made sure it was recognized by BIOS. Sure enough it was as it was identified as Intel Wireless for the adapter name and I even used the Dell drivers to install it. The kicker here is that it picked up on a local 2Wire DSL Gateway and I didn't know we had it available.

Oh and that wear is awful.

 

Id like to add yet another post to this thread unfortunately Would be nice to have a concrete answer to all of this, though I may (emphasis on may) have somewhat of an answer. I have been getting these BSOD's more frequently in the past week it seems, and for me, 90 % of the time it is while gaming, only maybe once or twice it has happened from coming out of standby. So today I get about 5 of them while trying to play Titan Quest (the game isnt the problem, happens with all the games I own). So I said enough is enough, and I got in touch with Dell via their online chat as I didn't feel like sitting waiting on the phone for 20 minutes like the last time I called. So anyway, the representative told me to run a diagnostic by shutting down the laptop, then pressing and holding the Fn key as well as the power key, she told me to run the diagnostic on the hard drive, video, and mboard. So I go and do the HDD and Mboard first, no problems. So then I get to the Video, right off the bat I recieved an error. It read as follows:

"Error 5300:0119
Msg: Detected a failure while writing and reading video memory. Video Mode 6h(640x200x2) Address 39064h, expected to read FFFFFFFFh, but read FDFFFFFFh instead"

There were many, many more of those errors with different video modes, Addresses, and different expected to reads, but... I managed to write as many of them down as I felt like but they seemed never ending so I stopped writing and ended the diagnostic lol. They are supposed to give me a call back sometime, I will let you guys know what becomes of this.

Ps. My video card is the 7900 go GTX, just in case anyone wonders.

 

ATI X1400 pass flawlessly everything pass flawlessly even Dell's repair center only suggest to replace HDD.

The freaking thing just crash for no reason.

UPdate: I received the "mistake" shipment from the repari depot @ 3PM. I open the box and it says: send unit to customer as unrepaired to complete system exchange -- what does that mean? Shortly after that few hours , UPS came and pick up the system @ 8PM . ( I chat with Dell so they scheduled the pick up).. If i keep the system until the warranty is out it could be FREe system right there.

off topic: I boot the Dell up and it's still the same, I got some time to play with it and do some screen's comparison bettwen my Asus and Dell . The result is Dell won with its wonderful LG screen. I'm a little bit disappointed at Asus on their screen, but it's not an issue. I'll open up a thread about the comparison pix. I miss my Dell's keboard on that laptop. There is no flex and the size is perfect, the keys on Asus is a little small and flex.

 

Weird probleme...I've got the same blue screen, one time and a simple restart seem to resolve the probleme....What'S very hard to explain is the moment when it happen....I was un ''MYspace.com'' and a funny pub was there''Knock Rocky down and win a plasma tv'' And just for fun i knock rocky down and close the pub windows, and do it again for severral times and a little fast ....Then the parity check message appear.. I don't know if it's cause a played with a non-game software but its not come again.....(euh thank to be comprehensif for my poor english expression)..

 

i got the error agin today, when i was beta testing lord of the rings online all on max settings. So i called dell right after the error he told me to test 1 ram at the time so i did that ram a in slot a and 10-15 min after that in lord of the rings bam same blue screen so i tested ram a in slot b playd for 30 minutes and still no problem so far.
So what im going to do later this weekend i to test ram B the same way i did with A, and see f i get error in slot A and not in slot b with ram B.

 

Looks like slot a is bad. If that is the case, as it could be, then the motherboard will need to be replaced.

 

But a few weeks ago i did test my memory with memtest for 7 houers both of my memory was in the slots at that time and i passed.
So my question is do memtest only test the memory and not the slot in the motherboard or how do that work?

 

I have the same problems with my Lenovo / IBM thinkpad t60p.
Has anyone suggested that this may be a software "resolution" issue. This could explain why errors happen when we play games, return from system standby because the resolution is being altered. If we play 3d games etc. the screen resolution is being adjusted ingame so that the graphics look good and once we finish playing the display is returned to the default screen size set in windows. My laptop at 1400 x 1050 16 bit which is the manufacturer default works perfectly, but say I reduce the resolution or increase to 32bit I get the nmi: error am I the only one?

 

Update on this one.

Today i did a swap to ram block B and put it in slot A on the motherboard, after 25 min og gaming lord of the rings online i got the Error so i called dell and told what i have done , and now they send me a new motherboard, so i gues that can do the fix for me.

 

Funny how the reviewer here
http://www.epinions.com/content_307026824836
casually references the BSOD as if it's just a minor annoyance. In his case at least, it was resolved by swapping out the memory. He had the Hynix ram like I do, so maybe it bodes well for me finding a solution.

@rav2002
you said:
----------------
"Error 5300:0119
Msg: Detected a failure while writing and reading video memory. Video Mode 6h(640x200x2) Address 39064h, expected to read FFFFFFFFh, but read FDFFFFFFh instead"
----------------
That is NOT the same memory error that this thread is about. That probably signifies a problem with the video card itself or its drivers.

 

I am aware that what I was speaking of was video memory and not system memory, at any rate, I am going to be getting a replacement video card sometime soon from Dell, so we shall see how that goes.

 

This thread has 32 pages now it 15 when I last posted! ill give you another update on my Lenovo-ThinkPad T60 for those who don't know I had the same problem first Lenovo replaced my Motherboard , ATI X1400 , Hard drive , Ram after that they sent back the machine informing me that it was over later while watching online videos boom! BSOD! Again so i sent back to Lenovo and they sent me a new machine first day of receiving it I immediately went to youtube and watched videos and boom! BSOD again I called Lenovo and they told me its a software issue not hardware please bare with us I said ok few days later I received an email from Lenovo support requesting me to do a clean install of windows XP and updating the bios to the latest 2.09 and downloading latest drivers I did that and now for 3 months I’m BSOD free so please wait don’t send you machines for DELL to play with them this issue will be solved and its software thing not hardware.

 

I cannot belive that such a big company like Dell is not able to release a BIOS to fix this issue that has been going on since eternity (even though I have managed to fix my NMI parity error going on 3 months now) there are still A LOT of people out there with this problem and having your laptop crash on you on a regular basis in the middle of work is not funny. Lenovo released a BIOS that fixed their NMI parity error why can't Dell do the same...or could they STILL be in the dark about this issue. God help us all if they still are!

 

I'm using a PCMCIA card when insert it in my notebook and go to youtube and watch videos ill get the error when i remove it and do the same it never happens!

 

After looking at the screen shot previously, my bsod is different. Mine dumps the physical memory. To be more specific "driver irql not less or equal"

 

I have the Wireless Zero Configuration turned off in the services.

 

You are right. Today I got the full refund on my bank account. Most people I spoke with at Dell were very understanding. So my experience with the Dell Technical Support and Customer Care was overall very good. My point was: they should prevent this during the phase of product development.

My next laptop will definately be a Dell again. And that has everything to do with their outstanding Technical Support.

 

Yes. Customer Service speaks alot for a company. I know as a customer and as a technical support representative for the company I work at.

 

i un-installed the intel wireless utility instead of leaving it disabled. that seems to have helped a bit. Now my quickset crashes on logon...

 

I just googled the error and arrived at this site. I get the NMI Parity error, too. I don't have a Dell. I have an IBM Thinkpad T43p. Specs are P M 2.13GHz, 2GB RAM, ATI FireGL 256MB video card, DVDRW/CDRW combo drive, 802.11abg, security chip, and a stunningly beautiful 15" UXGA(!) screen (1600x1200).

At first, I got the error every two days or so. Last night I got it after not having problems with it for 2 1/2 WEEKS! GRRRRRRRRR! This is NOT an annoyance. I've been using at least 10 (TEN) different Thinkpads over 8 years and I've loved every single one of them. This is the ONLY one that has ever done it.

 

This error has happened with Vista also

 

good question and a good answer from Ryland : In VIsta it's still crash.... weird.

 

I got my replacement laptop about 2 weeks ago. So far no BSOD at all. It has been running smoothly without issue. Rather than clean installing a new copy of XP, I actually stripped out the software I didn't need then installed in the other software that I did need.

 

Just got this BSOD today. Bought the laptop last October. I have a four year on-site warranty (and I'm in Ireland near EMF/EMEA headquarters), so I'll be onto Dell if it happens much again, but I have a deep sense of foreboding by reading this...

Dell Inspiron 6400; ATI X1400 installed, Intel Core Duo 2.73 GHz, 80GB 5400rpm HDD. Intel Pro Wireless but no bluetooth. No hardware mods since buying, bar using a plugin bluetooth adaptor.

No weird software: Win XP Pro reinstall from Dell OS CD with superfluous services disabled, all Dell driver etc. applied, not using any device s/w e.g. Intel Pro Wireless or ATI CCC except Synaptics thingy. User software; just a couple of games, MS Office, Firefox+Tbird, net/comms utils (WinSCP, PuTTY, Amaya, Skype, Nokia Suite - no peer-to-peer).

I'm doomed to a lot of hassle and talking to clueless people, aren't I? *Sigh* - and it was all so perfect, there's no way I wanted any non-Dell alternatives nor could I have got the same specs for €1200 anywhere else (in Ireland without stupid high shipping from somewhere else).

 

I personaly think the problem has something to do with a conflict between a Core Duo-motherboard and an external videocard (hardware or driver). Thats the only thing we have in common. Especially because my brother has all the same specs as me, but without the X1400. He has never had a BSOD.

 

That may be the case. However there is at least one post in here where the user has an integrated video card in his laptop and also got that issue. Therefore it may not be that in all cases. Also some users have reported that disabling (i.e in bios) the wireless adapter resolved their issue.

 

Any chance it's heat related? Hence those with external (more powerful and hot than integrated) video cards more affected?

 

I am pretty sure that there isn't any single reason behind the NMI errors. I was getting them with an older version of the Atheros wireless driver when my laptop would try to sleep. Once I updated that driver the NMI errors seem to have gone away.

Other people have gotten rid of the error using various nvidia drivers.

It is hard to say if there is a single root cause to these but heat is as good as any other.

 

Yea. I think mine may of been hardware related on my last laptop but I cannot be certain. I didn't get to have it long enough with the new install before I sent it back. My current laptop has been running for over 2 weeks on the same install with no BSOD at all. It is running all the most recent drivers and Dell software plus a newer than released Broadcom 444x Ethernet driver. I posted the drivers here earlier and they are an inf only install. The system exhibits the odd screen blanking during logon when doing a cold bootup but I think it is because of StyleXP since it didn't actually start happening until after I installed that application.

 

I'm also getting that screen blanking thing, where shortly after logon, the desktop flashes once with a blank screen or random garbage (dots). It's a recent phenomenon with me, has been present for a week or two prior to the first blue screen. No new software installed recently.

If the laptop is overheating, presumably any hardware could cause trouble. Updated graphics drivers perhaps allow the graphics hardware to run cooler. I'm focussing on heat because well, these things don't exactly run cool - you could fry an egg on the base of my laptop after extended use. Those underside vents are terminally stupid too.

Also I've seen previously on desktops weirdness due to graphics/memory crashes. Well, that and improperly seated memory, but we know that's not the case (I reseated mine just in case, but it was perfect already - the latching mechanism is effective).

Haven't had another BSOD yet, fingers crossed it was a once-off (the room was particularly warm - so if it's heat related...)

 

Well about 6 weeks ago I installed the mobile NVIDIA drivers from their site and I still had XP on it at that time and it ran great for 3 weeks. I then installed Vista Home Premium and it has still been running like a champ with no NMI Parity Errors! My only problems now are minor Vista bugs but that's to be expected. Hope you guys get your machines running error free, but def give the NVIDIA mobile drivers a try...worked for me!

 

Yup, those were the same drivers that helped me cure my NMI Parity Error, its been almost 4 months now BSOD free.

 

Time to enter the club it seems
Hey! I hope any of u guys out there can help me with this problem, since it doesnt seem Dell or any other Technicians can solve it..
For about two weeks ago my system halted in games such as City of Villains, Battlefield 2142 and i also tested it in games as Battlefield 2 and neverwinter nights 2.. all games with very good graphics in them. The error is as follows; blue screen with the message:

Hardware malfunction
NMI : Parity Check / Memory Parity Error
The System has halted

I have run diagnostics and seem to always fail at the Video test, but pass every other test. (error code 5300:0119) and some times Color defects appear on the screen, tiny small dots, red blue yellow etc..
I tried formating the disk, reinstalling windows XP, tried new drivers for the video card and tried updating the Bios as suggested by Dell.
A technician has been here 3 times already.
Day 1: new Videocard.. still same error..
Day2: two new ram chips..still same error..
Day 3:a new motherboard..still same error..

I have run games on full graphics in the past with absolutely no difficulty at all.. but i have also tried setting it to low and medium settings, it just takes a longer time for the error message and blue screen to appear.
I first thought it might be the Videocard or CPU that overheated.. but i downloaded the Invidea Temperature Logger and it seems to stay around 50-60 in temp. So it doesnt seem to reach any higher as 104 which is max. And, all the fans are working also.

this is my pc:
XPS m1710
Intel CPU 2.00 ghz dual core
2.00 GB ram
nvidea go 7900gs
hard drive: 7200rpms

 

Hey guys sorry I was away. I have had this problem since December and since then it has been working but then it has been gradually lowering on its performance. A month ago it just stopped working. Dell has sent me replacement Ram but that has not worked. I live in the caribbean now and i bought my laptop in the states. Now dell wants to replace my motherboard. i have transferred my warranty to where i am now and waiting for it to be fully transferred. My problem seemed to be the VideoCard. Now i cannot have the computer on for longer than a few minutes. It will show the graphics all messed up and the pixels will become distorted.

 

well, next thing DELL did now was telling me they'll send a Technician to replace the CPU (and probably the 2 ramms and videocard AGAIN..) on monday.. if doesnt work by then im gonna ask for a whole new computer, seeing its the 4th case by now and they still cannot solve the problem ..

 

I feel sorry for you man.... Even though I don't have at home service but the technician knows nothing about this issue. They just replace the parts in the laptop and that's it... Well, good luck in finding a lucky replacement that doesn't have BSOD. 8 months of using and 3 exchanges are enough for me to give up.

 

cheers ^^
anyone else had this problem and DELL solved it by giving u a brand new XPS in the end "as a solution" heh ? well, would be ok i guess getting a new one..but not much use for a new one if the same error accures on the new one as well im gonna ask the Technician if he can bring a geforce nvidea 7950GPX video card also.. see if this card would be better..maybe i can sweet talk or something into replacing it with it

 

Uninstalling the Intel Wireless stuff seems to have solved my BSOD troubles. But after doing that the Dell Quickset thing crashed right at logon. Re-installing the intel stuff fixed this. However, I disabled the intel stuff at startup. So far no BSOD for me! It always happened when I was using lots of wireless. I gave my card a workout this week, and it's all good

 

I haven't had the Intel Wireless stuff installed since I setup the system. Still got this BSOD recently. Fortunately I have not had it a second time yet - fingers crossed.

 

hey again all ^^
today the Technician guy came again to replace the CPU.. but he tried putting in a new Videocard again.. not had any BSOD's yet in battlefield 2142 at least at full video setting hopefuly i can take a breather for now xD hehe keep u posted if it turns " ¤%#%&#¤& " again
cheers!

 

It's happening to me too

Dell 6400, Core 2 Duo 1.6ghz, 1gig RAM, ATI X1300, 120gb HD 5400rpm.

My CPU does't usually get above 55degrees so it's def not temperature, and it happens randomly too, like when I'm using photoshop, but not when I play games, So I can't see how it's GFX related.

 

Hi Gang,

As the original thread starter, I have replaced the video card and still got the BSOD after about 2 months. So I decided to install some different ATI drives from omegadrivers, and go the BSOD twice more.

I have no idea what issue is, but it still exist!
Good luck everyone.

 

Argh, this is really winding me up

 

I got my error lastnight (thurs) for the first time on my e1705 when I was trying to load up Call of Duty. Got the E1705 in November 2006. I upgraded a 7900gs in my system from a 1400x on Wed and everything worked great with drivers from dell. I gamed that night for a couple of hours. My fiance was using the laptop in bed on thurs. and I immediately thought it overheated as this was mentioned earlier.

I shut it down and rebooted and a change in some of the settings had occured (resolution). After 3 attempts and 3 blue screens I went to bed. I used driver cleaner to make the switch from ATI to Nvidia. I had a software issue with the ATI that dell diagnosed after it passed all video/memory tests and they replaced the video card. The tech lady forgot to put a screw back in the palm rest when she reassembled and I have a dead pixel or pixels in my screen at the bottom since she was here and still no fix. so I took advantage of the situation and upgraded the HD to a 7200 100gb and reinstalled a really clean install of win xp pro . I don't have bluetooth, almost exclusively use wireless, have 2 gb patriot memory, and a Hitachi Travelstar hd, with A07 bios.

Not really looking forward to the Dell go around since I am just coming off a somewhat realted non diagnosed error with them already. I imagine no one can add anyhting to what is already here. I will try the Nvidia site driver, and reseat memory etc. tonight. just wanted to log this problem in here.

 

I have never had this error once until just now. I just installed Command & Conquer 3 and was messing with Powerstrip to find a good balance for game play. I had the memory boosted pretty high but it was running stable so I started to play C&C and bam...my first blue screen ever with this laptop. I've always run wireless. I have Bluetooth running as well and never had any issue with that error until now. I rebooted, boosted the memory not quite as high and all is well. I really don't have any conclusions from this but the only thing that has triggered this error for me is increasing the clock speed for the memory on the GPU. Temp wasn't an issue because I was using I8kfanGU to keep my fans on high. Just wanted to pass along the info and add my experince for this issue.

 

Just an update. It's been almost 2 weeks. I think my BSOD troubles are gone for good!!

 

My sister in law owns an alienware m5550 with an ati radeon mobility x1400 video card. Now if I don't disable the powerplay function in the ati control panel she also gets the dreaded NMI: Memory Parity Error at random. and also quite frequently. Once disabled the error disappeared.

 

All good going on 3 months now on the nv drivers i posted before.

Play lots of BF2142 and Stalker all good so far!

 

Hi guys , well I've been watching the progress of this thread for quite a while now, ever since I had the BSOD with the above error message, for some possibly 1 1/2 to 2 months ago now

I've got the Inspiron 9400, dual core T2400 1.83 Ghz, Nanya 1024 megs ( 2 x 512 megs ) 533 mhz DDR2 ram (think they are partners in the company, cheap ****ty ram sold for a premium, thanks Dell :-S), Hitachi 60 Gig 5400rpm SATA drive (should've thought about the speed of the drive before I ordered really but anyway...), Philips SDVD8820 DVD-RW drive (getting replaced ) , with the Intel Pro WLAN 3945 Wireless card and the 256 meg NVidia Geforce 7900 GS. I'm running XP Pro.

Unlike you guys ( maybe ), I took my Inspiron 9400 travelling and am presently in Phuket, Thailand, and have been here ever since the end of November 2006. Before then, I went to Indonesia and stayed over there on a surf charter boat for about month with no problems at all with the laptop, then came back here to stay for abit and find work, not that it's been easy, bloody difficult actually. But anyway, like I say, I've had this error for almost 2 months now, but also unlike you guys I've only once been able to boot up in Safe Mode and haven't been able to since. I've ran all the Diagnostics software and no errors

I've read all the related forum replies from here and elsewhere and still no fix. I did diagnose, through the error, that one of my memory modules was duff, which I'm being sent two matching modules in replacement, as I don't like to install singles cos they might not be from the same batch. The dvd rewriter I'm also getting replaced because I've heard how unreliable the Toshiba/Philips (? Can't remember...) dvd drives are, or were, and I've also had some problems myself with it during playback of some films...and they weren't all copies trust me ! So, they're sending me a different drive instead.

Anyway, I can boot into the BIOS fine, but no further, it's constantly on the Scan Drive For Errors option, which I decided to do some time ago...I think during the first and last Safe Mode thought....

I'm in the process of waiting for the replacements to come through at the moment, I had to get the stuff sent to my parents' address first and them send the parcel onto me, apparently because Inspiron notebooks are only supported in Europe so I have to foot the bill for postage. Well done Dell ! Why oh why does a mega huge company like Dell not support Worldwide Support ? It's beyond me.

Anyway, when they do arrive what the hell do I do ? Nobody seems to have a clue, or a definate answer to the problem...Dell definately hasn't got a clue, otherwise they would be calling a Recall to these laptops, or at the very least a new BIOS, and not just sending replacement parts in the hope that it'll fix it, very costly ! The Dell representative told me to transfer my Warranty over to Thailand, or the nearest Dell manufacturer, but Dell Thailand is hopeless for Support, so I've heard and I don't know if any other country near would take it on....

I still don't have a clue how it happened in the first place, cos I don't play any games on here ( well, not yet anyway ) and don't do anything graphics card intensive....apart from very basic photo editing, though, I have been using the wireless card quite alot...Internet Cafes, friends's wireless routers, etc., you know, the ususal stuff when you are abroad with no telephone line....anyway, should I turn off the card and see what that does ? Trouble is, it hasn't been playing up....I just got shown the BSOD once and that was it, no warning....one time in Safe Mode and now it doesn't boot, with the same message as everyone else on here.

I've managed to backup all the stuff that was on there, through getting a couple of SATA connection cables, buying a cheap desktop that I bought for my girlfriend, and connecting it up to that but at my cost :-( not on Dell ! But it was the only way I could get my stuff off of there, I had no space for any backup disks when I took off travelling...it was meant as a permanent plan.

Anyway, I really look forward to hearing back from anyone with any help to my dilemna, grately appreciated.

Ade

*Please excuse my babbling, it was late night/early morning when I typed it and haven't had any sleep yet, once again....apologies

I also forgot to mention that my brother has the exact same one as me ( they double ordered by mistake...a common mistake apparently amongst the Dell user communities ), and he has had no problems whatsoever, with anything...strange eh ? Everything exactly the same, talk about bad luck eh ?