P-7801u nvlddmkm driver stopped working

hello fellow NBR users! i know that this issue has been post many times, but i believe my situation is quite unique. you see, when my laptop is on a flat surface the problem does not occur. whenever i would bring my laptop to my bed or my couch, the error would occur within 5 minutes of me being situated. i speculated that the changing of angles may be the problem and the GPU heat sink may be loose, as the GPU itself is fully functional. this machine is great, but the only setback is the graphics driver constantly crashing and it BSODing on me. should i disassemble the laptop and take a look inside? attached is a picture of the BSOD i get every time it happens. thanks!

 

Maybe, just maybe the GPU is overheating because the laptop is not on a flat surface!

 

This is nvidia's drivers messing up what I would do is the following

1. Download Drive sweeper http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

2. Uninstall Nvidia Drivers.

3. Reboot into safe mode use drive sweeper to remove all Nvidia files.

4. Reboot into normal mode, download the latest Nvidia drivers http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us install then reboot. Hopefully that will fix the problem.

 

Whatever fixes your current issue, i'd still suggest not to use this beast on a bed without a stand even when ur not gaming. I have this habit of using it a lot on bed. If ur not interested in using a cooler since good coolers are costly i'd suggest using this laptop stand on bed. Its a good buy if its available nearby. Especially for those who use 17'' laptops on bed without any stand or coolers.

 

although it does go on my bed, i usually set it on top of my lap when i'm using it. it would run fine for minutes, then visual artifacts start appearing. sounds from videos or music would be looped and the screen would then black out. i was careful to not block the ventilation as i know it would increase the temperature. i noticed when i'm on the couch or bed, the laptop is angled upwards but when i'm on the computer chair it is completely parallel to the floor. could the positioning of the laptop be the problem?

 

Have you checked the temperature ? Seems like a more of a hardware (which i guess could be graphic card) problem.

 

the temperatures i get are around 41 degrees celsius idol and 48 degrees celsius when running games. i am starting to lose patience with this laptop. it's almost a year since i got it and it is already giving me a lot of trouble.

 

Temps look fine. 48 Degrees while gaming looks very cool. Kinda wierd. What kinda games ?

 

WoW and diablo 2. i just had a chat with the gateway live support and they gave me this link: http://support.gateway.com/s/Checklists/BPC/ck20070928123.shtml#step6
i read other user's post and they have all received the same response.

 

Reinstalling the driver hasn't fixed i suppose. Also may i ask if you undervolted your GPU by flashing the VBIOS like people do here ?

 

nope, never undervolted my GPU. now i am getting artifacts each time i turn on the computer. talk about a nuisance.

 

Thats bad news. I suspect its the GPU.

 

right now, the laptop is acting normal again. many times, this happened:

 

does anyone have a viable solution to my problem?

 

I think you should take a look at this thread and check with the OP if he had the exact problem. Hope there is another solution for this issue.

 

I have this exact same problem on my 7805. That gateway "common bsod" list is just something the tech support people have to send you. After about a week of arguing with tech, they transfered me to level 2. He said this was a common problem, and that he didnt no how to fix it and that he would email or call me back once he got any news. I dont expect to be emailed back anytime soon, im just going to keep calling till they do something about this.

 

well, the problems are occuring less frequently now. i no longer take it anywhere that does not have a flat surface. i noticed that when i stress tested my GPU, the problem seemed like it has disappeared. could it be that the soldering between the GPU and motherboard were loose?

 

The notorious G84/86 bump material problem?

 

I've done tons and tons of research on this. Its called a "TDR" error and its supposedly all microsofts problem. I've even talked to gateway tech level 2 about this problem, and he didnt do anything. Couldnt even offer me a solution. There are several hotfixes you can try that could possibly fix it, but none have worked for me.
@the gpu stress test, same thing. Mine even lasted the "Extensive GPU burn" or whatever on furmark for about 20 minutes before i just turned it off. It lasts till indefinitly on the stability test also.

 

you know the area where the GPU is seated? if i apply slight to moderate pressure around that region, the graphics would mess up. Artifacts would immediately appear. i have tried many different GPU drivers to no avail. i really hope it is microsoft's problem.

 

Does it BSOD or just artifacts now?

 

Ive never heard of that happened when pressure is applied. I'll open mine up and see anything is impacting the card. Last I heard, microsoft doesnt really take responsibility for it, nor does nvidia. Honestly I dont see a solution for this anytime soon T_T.

 

I hate to say this - If you press down on the GPU die with the HS on, it shouldn't react this way unless it's a hardware problem.

Did you fully tighten all the screws?

 

it BSOD and artifacts. i would get artifacts during bootup. afterwards, it would take more time for it to load. when it loads, it BSOD.

 

i don't think that gateway could do much about it. this problem has destroyed every bit of patience i had with this machine. i'm contemplating either getting it repaired or leaving it at home as a desktop replacement. at this point, i'm annoyed enough to destroy it out of frustration.

 

its not always the gpu when you get this stupid error. i have a desktop computer that would always bsod or loop the nvwhatever.isuckass has stopped responding but has recovered crap. it would do it constantly. i at first also thought it was the gpu and replace my 7900gt with an 8800gt but the problem remained. i replaced the mobo using evga warranty but problem remained. i reinstalled on a new hdd but problem remained (this worked on a diff comp though) the thing that ended up fixing it was changing the mushkin ram to ocz.(i had replaced the ram 3 times under warranty but still remained) i dont know exactly what the deal was with the mushkin on my 680i mobo but that fixed the issue. i would try using different components one at a time to find out what the issue is.

oh it could also be dust in the ram port. i have a friend that would experience ramdom bsod because the slots were a little dusty. a quick spray of compressed air fixed it right up. i know it rediculous to have to do this but i feel yah man i was at that point as well. the frustration gets to yah pretty good. makes you wanna punch someone.

 

hmm, maybe it is worth a try to dust out the ram ports. i really don't feel like tearing apart my entire laptop to find nothing.

 

dusting out the RAM ports did nothing. after browsing through archives on google, many say that the error is typically found in windows 7 and windows vista. with that said, is it wise to downgrade into windows XP? where could i find the drivers for my laptop?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=295516&highlight=7811+sound+fix
The drivers for the 7811 are the same. That should also link to rancids sound fix, but you still wont get use of your webcam. Also if its worth anything, putting xp didnt fix anything for me. It just made me blue screen instead of having my drivers restart.

 

thanks tehkun. the constant BSOD and artifacts has rendered this beast of a machine handicapped. to stop it from BSODing/artifacting, i have to disable aero. this is definitely not part of the bargain when i upgraded to windows 7.

 

Wait so disabling Aero actually completely fixed it? Thats one of the things i didnt bother with because i still had the problem in xp, and no fixes i read on google called for disabling aero. Ill try see what happens for me.

 

disabling aero did not completely fix it, but it reduced the frequency of the problem. over time, you still get artifacts but it is more likely to recover from it. the "nvidia stopped responding" description would appear less.

 

according to nvidia, there are a variety of reasons behind this. Most of them are hardware/voltage related. i'll do individual testing to root out the problem.

 

I'm not sure why you're continuing to test. The troubleshooting pretty much stops at "I put pressure on the case here, and it immediately screws up". Time to RMA it

 

perhaps you're right. maybe it is time to RMA it. problem is, i don't think my notebook is in warranty anymore and knowing gateway they will return my laptop with the same problems.

update: it cost $199 to repair it at gateway's repair depot.

 

I no what you mean. Ive returned my laptop twice, each time comming back with a new problem, along with the nvlddmkm stopped working. First it was my laptop literally not turning on, then when they fixed that they massacred my keyboard to where half the letters stick. Apparently every hardware component in my laptop has been replaced except for my video card, which is what i asked to have replaced in the first place...

 

that's exactly why i don't want to send it in. paying aside, i don't think they would repair my notebook seriously. it is a hassle to constantly send in my notebook and having to pay for individual repairs. my notebook is fine when it's not outside, so i'll leave it be.

 

Seting it on your lap is still a problem if the air intakes are blocked. This is why you need a hard flat surface to be sure the air can circulate.......

 

the main problem is not air intake though. it's the fact that any pressure whether it be minimal or hard would cause the notebook to malfunction. at first, i thought drivers and windows 7/vista was the problem. then it turned out to be something hardware-wise. it works fine when it's on a flat surface. sometimes, it's hell trying to get this thing to boot up as i get vertical artifacts during bootup.

 

Im not sure about you guys but I only get this problem when the laptop is running of battery power. When it's plugged in, I never have any errors. On battery power, it's usually happens within the first 30mins of start up with very little load on the computer.

This is very annoying since i've tried almost every nvidia driver and even modded drivers all with the same results. My gpu temps according to HWMonitor are normal. It's definitely a driver issue.

 

This may sound strange but I have the same laptop and I upgraded to two 320GB Western Digital HDD in Raid 0. Every time I would place the laptop propped up on something to get airflow underneath it then pick it up, it would blue screen or sometimes just shutdown like I pushed the power button. I would walk out of the room, come back 25 minutes and it would say on the screen it recovered from an unexpected shutdown. Very unstable...changed over to 2 Seagate 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD in RAID 0 and have never had one problem again! I can drop this laptop on my bed from about two feet high and everything works perfect...has never blue screened since the new Seagate HDD's. Could be a HDD issue?

 

at first, i thought the problem resided with my GPU or RAM. i never thought that my hard drive could be one factor. i'm going to give it a try and see if it resolves the problem.

 

I just wanted to say that I too used to get this error at random times when browsing/gaming/watching videos or pictures on vista home premium x64. I recently upgraded to Win7 ultimate x64, and now I have never gotten this error again. Upgrading the OS did it for me

 

i downgraded and upgraded several times and the result was still the same. i contemplated on fully downgrading to XP, but threw that decision out the window once I realized how tedious it was. there were members of this forum that still experienced the problem although they have downgraded to XP, so unless that is the absolute last resort i'm open to other options.