Gateway FX P7805u back screen crash and charger

I have a Gateway FX P7805u with a GeForce 9800GTS and about a year ago it started getting random crashes while gaming, started using the RivaTuner fix (with forcing the Performance 3D Setting) and that worked fine until just about a month ago. It now will black screen crash indefinitely as long as its plugged into the charger. I changed out the charger to a new one (Targus) and that didnt make a difference. In the mean time I have also tried the "Definite solution to the nvlddmkm video crash on the P-7805u!" Definite solution to the nvlddmkm video crash on the P-7805u! , but that didnt change anything. If I'm running on just battery I can run the whole life of the battery without any problems, even overclocking a little bit. If anyone has any input on this situation it would be greatly appreciated.

PS. I also have the latest NVidia drivers.

 

The easiest least guesswork way to do this would be if you have a second spare 2.5" HDD and a windows install disc. Oh wait, are you using Vista or 7? I've had 7 on mine since I bought it and it worked/works wonderfully. If you have either a Vista or 7 disc, either will work. 7 will work better, though. If you don't have the spare hardware to try this, here's the tedious way:


If it is a software issue, and you've only updated the drivers without a clean install, I'd start from square 1 and do all of this:

1 - Get rid of the Rivatuner and set back to default settings for powermizer
2 - Use the Nvidia installer and check the 'Clean install' option, let it uninstall everything.
3 - Reboot and don't continue with Nvidia setup yet. Cancel it.
4 - Nuke the Nvidia remnants completely with this program
5 - Restart, and reset the BIOS settings to default
6 - Save and exit
7 - Once booted, do a full reinstall of the drivers.
8 - Reboot and try to run a game or whatever you used before that causes blackouts


If none of this works, it may be a hardware issue. It may be getting too much heat under full power. It is almost 4 years old, so the GPU heat paste might be decomposing, and the heat exhaust ports may be stuffed full of bunnies insulating it on full power and overheating it. Have you ever cleaned out your heat exhaust vents? Has the thermal grease ever been replaced on the GPU?




If it still isn't working right the card is going bad. Last resort is to try updating the main BIOS and then undervolting the GPU via the VBIOS (its easier than it looks just follow the steps closely)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gateway-emachines/439488-guide-gpu-undervolting-78xx-series.html

 

I cleaned it out pretty thoroughly about 4 months ago and have tried to make sure to air dust it on a semi regular basis. Also have done a reinstall of Windows twice. I try to keep an eye on the temps also and they rarely go above 78-80, usually keep the laptop on a raised platform with fans built in under it. Going to try driver sweeper now and uninstall RivaTuner now and see how that goes, will report back soon with results, thanks.

 

Were your reinstalls over the installation, or a full format and clean install?

And actually, the undervolting really isn't a last resort. It was pretty easy and its something I'd have done the day I got it had I known how much it can benefit a CPU/GPU and if the the tutorial were available. Just take it a small step at a time.

 

They were full formats before reinstalling. Just tried to do a clean uninstall of the driver and used the sweeper to clean it out and reinstalled it, but still not luck, cant get more than a minute or two out of it as soon as I plug the charger in. How would I go about undervolting it? Also never replaced the thermal grease on it, going to go ahead and look into that as soon as I find my thermal paste

 

On a side note, I can run it in safe mode with the charger plugged in.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gateway-emachines/439488-guide-gpu-undervolting-78xx-series.html

And are you running 7 or Vista? Might make a difference. Also, I know you're not stupid, but just in case, make sure you've got the 9800 m drivers

 

Yah. definately have the 9800m drivers. I'm running 7. Have the laptop apart now, looks like the paste on the gpu is just a thing layer of solidified once-was-paste. Gonna clean that off and reapply some and see how that goes. Will try the undervolting next.

 

Just got it reassembled with a little new thermal paste, started it up and had the charger in, the moment it got to the Windows loading screen is turned off, turned on again without the charger in and it booted up. Gonna try to undervolt it as soon as I get a new USB drive

 

Sounds like the video memory is just about toast.................