X8100 2xGTX285 - BSOD/Freeze with 200 series nvidia drivers.

I own a clevo x8100 with 2 gtx285 cards, running win7 64.
It's working fine after I flashed it with the 06 bios version half a year ago.

I have used 197.16 Nvidia drivers for a long time, unfortunately some new games have horrible performance, sli problems or glitches with these drivers.
Using a modern driver such as 260.99 solves all of these problems, but unfortunately none of the 200 series drivers are working properly for me.

Using a 200 series driver, I get random bluescreens and system freezes multiple times a day.
I've tried pretty much anything I could think of, including a fresh windows install, but none of it helped.
I'm starting to think that due to buying the x8100 just after it got released in europe, I may have an old gpu bios causing the problems?

Right now I'm running:
Clevo Bios: BIOS_06
Gpu Bios: 62.92.AE.00.0C

I plan to upgrade to the newest clevo bios version to test if it helps.

Any other suggestions?
Has anyone ever heard of this problem?
Where can I find newer bios versions for my gpu, and how difficult/safe is flashing a gpu with a new bios?

Thanks,
Hyunkell

 

Hi!

Try to set in the nVidia Control Panel under 3D Options the Power Modus to "maximal Performance"! Also under the Progam Tab the Internet Explorer Power Modus to "maximal Performance"!

That was my fix for the same problem!

 

run Who Crashed so we can see exactly what part of the driver is failing.

 

Here's the crashdump:
http://hyunkell.com/dl/082610-27830-01.dmp

Whocrashed says:

Code:

On Thu 26/08/2010 21:53:04 your computer crashed
This was likely caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFF8800B200000, 0x1, 0xFFFFF880103A46A0, 0x0)
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\082610-27830-01.dmp
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 197.16 
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 197.16 

Please note that this was with 200 series drivers, I analyzed the crashdump after going back to 197.16 which is why it's saying it's on such a driver, even though during the time of the crash, it wasn't.

All other crashdumps state the same thing.

 

ive read on here about certain drivers having problems with sli
hopefully someone with sli will be able to advise on which driver to go for.

 

Unfortunately I have tested all of the 200 series drivers released so far, and I had the same problem with all of them.

 

maybe contact your reseller to see what advise they can give.
sorry i cant help out more than that.

 

I will, but I assume they'll advise me to use the official clevo drivers, which are even older than what I'm using.

 

I flashed my bios with:
EC 1.08
Bios 1.00.13

and installed the 263.09 drivers using a modified inf.
been running stable for 24 hours now, fingers crossed :3

Edit: Still doing good, seems like the new bios in combination with the 263.09 driver solved the problem

 

nice one. thanks for posting that info.

 

HAHAHAHAHA, its the INFAMOUS nvlddmkm.sys BSOD.

I'm gettin it too.

After doin some research i learned that GPUs since 8800 desktop series up until series 200 from nvidia - wich our gpus are based, yours is 285m, based on G92b, mine is Nividia GeForce GT 240Mm based on GT216 core - are plagued by this nasty issue.

Some ppl have this problems, some dont have it. Mine crashes in World of warcraft for example, some time more often, sometimes less often.

The thing to note is that my 240m doesnt work proprely on its standard frequencies, and to make it work i have to lower them.
Does not work, meaning i get F***ed up pixels/dots on the screen, as those that come when excesively overcloking, so i might guess that either MY 240m is some chip that didnt come up well out of the foundry and needs to be ran at lower freq, or it has some faulty memory modules.

Also note that ppl with normal gpus have this problem, and some lived with it for months, maybe years, whit no driver being able to fix said problem.

Nvidia recognized this itself, that the nvlddmkm issues is some serious shiet going on. And until now some ppl still arent able to fix this even with the latest drivers. (some just gave up and got different video card)

It is good to know that fermi chips dont suffer from this issue.

But this is one troublesome problem for those that DO have it.

There are various fixes on the net, some work some dont, and im guessin the video card bios also plays a role in this.

I havent though on updating my gpu bios, or writing a new bios on to it to see if the problem would dissapear (both the freq problem and the nvlddmkm issue) mostly because im waitin on my new x7200.

But if i hadn't got the x7200 i would probably insisted on solving this issue.
Now im gonna just sell it further, this packard bell laptop.

 

Really?

This is the first time I'm hearing of this.
I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I managed to fix it then.

My cards seem to be good though, I've actually started to overclock them a bit, now that the system is running stable, and they're doing just fine.