Monitor / Display Resets - Dying Graphics Card?

[daamon]

Hi all,

I've recently started having trouble with my monitor / display in varying degrees, and often get the following message:



Sometimes the cursor goes to a black block and / or then the screen freezes followed by a reset and the error message. Other times it just hangs and I have to reboot the mobo by holding the power button for 5 seconds.

I've taken a look at the Event Viewer but can't see anything in there that sheds any light on what might be going on.

This can happen very soon after start-up (cold system) or when it's been on for a while.

I suspect that my graphics card is dying, but wanted to check a few other things before I get a new one.

* Is it likely to actually be the graphics card?
* Could it be down to needing a good clean (i.e. dust / fluff)?

Cheers,
Daamon.

[redwudz]

It could be the card, I've never seen that error. Have you uninstalled and reinstalled the video card drivers? That might rule out software problems. If you haven't checked for dust or cleaned it out lately, sure, give that a try. The way graphics cards run so hot these days, overheating may be fairly common.

If a reinstalled driver doesn't help, last thing is to boot in safe mode and run it for a while and see if you get the error. That should use the Windows drivers just in the off possibility that you have the wrong ATI drivers installed.

Other than trying the card in another computer or trying a different card in yours, I can't think of much else.

[yoda313]

Hey daamon I think I had that error on my old ati 9250 I used to have. Then the screen would get sripey green lines all over it. I finally bought a nvidia 5500 to replace it and the problems never came back. I think it might have been the graphic error message your getting.

If your start getting green lines I'd say replace the card quickly or switch to onboard graphics if you have any until you find a replacement card.

HOpe that helps again I can't remember verbatim if that was the same message as that was quite awhile ago but it was an ati card.

[isogonic]

see if this helps:

http://www.foxpop.com/imre/2005/vpurecover/vpurecover.html

[Krispy Kritter]

You can also disable the "auto gpu recover" feature. It is the video drivers way of "helping" you to recover from errors, which are quite often driver/software related and would likely go un-noticed anyway. nVidia has a similar feature in their drivers.

[Nelson37]

Only time I have ever seen that error it was a driver problem, with the ones on the installation CD. Downloaded different drivers, had to try two or three, but new installation solved the issue.

Information on the model of card, and most particularly its age, would be important for a correct diagnosis.

Cleaning never hurts, and reseating the card in the slot could well be the answer. Most especially if anything has been installed internally that might have flexed the board. I have one board that if I breathe on it too hard, it won't boot until I reseat the Video card.

[daamon]

Hi all,

Thanks for the hints and tips. I thought I'd try the easy thing first: clean out any dust, especially as I had a new DVD writer I wanted to install.

* I removed the VGA card and dismantled the (very simple) fan and gave that a good clean out, and then reinstalled the card.

* While I had the case open, I gave the whole inside a good clean.

* I noticed that there was a lot of dust in the cooling fins of the CPU's heat sink. So I tried to remove the fan to get to the fins and (get ready with the suitable emoticons) in the process managed to remove the whole fan / heat sink / CPU (yes, still attached to the heat sink) assembly. Not good. Worse still, I tried to put it back and, in short, have ended up bending a number of the fragile small pins.

OK, fire away - all deserved and accepted...

I guess, as the PC's nearly three years old, now's a good time to get a new mobo and CPU, extra RAM, and a new VGA while I'm at it. Bollocks! Still, that's life and that's what I get for being impatient. A lesson for others to learn... I was leaning that way anyway, now I have to do it!

You can also disable the "auto gpu recover" feature.

Yes, but I read that that was there to prevent the "blue screen of death".

Information on the model of card, and most particularly its age

It's in my computer details, and is nearly three years old. But immaterial now, given the above confession...

I should say that I updated the BIOS to the latest version, and installed the latest drivers for the precise model and from ATI - all to no avail. No internal hardware changes have been made in a long time that may have knocked the card (or anything else). On top of that, the card has been working fine until recently and on the original from CD drivers. All of this leads me to believe that it was probably the card just dying naturally.

[redwudz]

I've pulled the CPU out with the cooler more than once. Next thing to do is to carefully remove the CPU from the bottom of the cooler without damaging either. Sometimes you can work a thin plastic card, like one of those fake credit cards you get in the mail, between the cooler and the CPU and wedge it off. Or as long as you don't touch the pins, you may be able to twist if off. The CPU housing is pretty tough, but no wrenches, please.

Then clean both off with some alcohol and then lift up the ZIF arm and replace the CPU. Then a new application of thermal compound and attach the cooler back in place and you should be ready to go. Don't try to put the cooler back with the CPU stuck to it. Anyway, if it stuck that bad, you probably needed new thermal compound anyway. If you are careful with this whole process, you can do it fairly safely. You definitely don't want to bend the CPU pins.

Sorry, a little late for all that, but I've been there.

[Nelson37]

The same credit card can be used to CAREFULLY straighten the pins. Gentle, slow, steady hands and good light, take your time. It can be done.

The pins do not have to be perfect, just close enough to align the pins with the socket holes. Definitely remove fan and heatsink before re-insertion. The CPU should drop right into the socket cleanly, in your case this could get a bit tricky. With the pins slightly crooked, a slight amount of force may be necessary to fully insert. If all the pins hit the holes, this is OK. If just one pin misses the hole, very little force is needed to mash it completely flat. It is hard to describe, once you have done it you will know what I mean.

If a pin snaps off, you are all done. A pin which is mashed flat can be straightened, but you must be very, very careful, gentle, and slow. Flatten the same pin twice, and it will probably break during an attempt to straighten it.

The effort may not be worth it for a three year old CPU, but a working CPU and board is worth at least something, broken it's just junk.

[daamon]

If just one pin misses the hole, very little force is needed to mash it completely flat. It is hard to describe, once you have done it you will know what I mean.

Hmm... Sad news is, yes, I already know what you mean. And there's a few semi-mashed pins, i.e. properly bent mid-way through their length or at their tip, not bent at their base. In short, highly unlikely to be easily, if ever, straightened.

I've already resigned myself to the "it's not worth the effort for a 3yo CPU" view and am going for a new mobo, CPU, RAM etc.

Everything you've both said not to do, I've already done in my haste and impatience. I guess, deep down, I wanted an upgrade!!!

Buth thanks Nelson37 & redwudz for your advice.

[Nelson37]

Before you throw it out the window, and I know you want to, take it to your local tech shop and offer it to one of the techs. If you can pick a poor and needy one, that's the guy. Check the cars in the parking lot. The guy with the Mercedes ain't him, you want the dude with the beat-up, rusted old Chevy.

They may not be willing to offer anything of value for it, but think of the upgrade you are wanting. Give one of these guys a free upgrade, it might be worth something in the future, if nothing else a few minutes of his time, cable, bench test, if nothing else some good will with your local tech is worth having.

If you can get all the tips lined up, without any dramatic kinks in the pin, it can still be inserted.
Now, snapping off a pin Inside the ZIF socket can be a bit of a bear, but this is pretty rare.

[TBoneit]

Actually I use a blade from a razor knife to get between the CPU and teh heatsink when they come out together. If you bend the pins a gentle hand with a magnifying glass, really good tweezers and the afrementioned razor knife blade will help. The razor knife blade is to gently slide between rows of pins to straihghten out ones that are not upright. The tweezers are to fix ones with bends in them and the magnifying glass is to see hat you are doing and a really good light would help too.

I say this for others. Every so often we customers with bent pins coming in and wanting them fixed. We usually ask for the Mobo so we can insert the CPU and avoid more bent pins.

[daamon]

@ Nelson37 & TBoneit: Cheers for the suggestions, but I'm too clumsy / fat fingered / impatient to give the "finesse" approach a go, so the PC's currently in a store getting kitted out with new whizzy stuff.

One new question though, as I'm getting a new mobo I'll need to re-install the OS from scratch. How do I go about making sure that the other hard-drives (beyond the default C: drive) are seen and the contents retained after the new OS is in?

[redwudz]

You shouldn't have any problems with the other hard drives. I would defrag them after you get the system up and running if you haven't done that in a while. If you are installing them yourself, of course make sure the jumpers are set properly.

[TBoneit]

And if you really want to be sure just do a repair install and that should keep all your installed stuff. And to be really sure unhook all but the boot drive first.

OTOH a clean install will most likely run faster than a repaired windows with all the sludge that builds up over time. But then you will have to install all progrms, setup internet and e-mail and codecs and so on.

Cheers

[daamon]

Hi All,

By virtue of the fact that I'm making this post from home, says my upgraded PC is up and running.

Thanks to all for your help!