Win7: FFXI Crashes Constantly (NVIDIA-related)

http://i.imgur.com/sJGZT0F.png
The picture is old (I also wasn't getting the crash nearly as much when the picture was taken), but the error is the same.
The only difference is the driver number, I am now on the latest drivers for my graphics card, 335.23.
This crash happens CONSTANTLY. It will occur more frequently if I am actively playing, especially when using skills or other graphical things, but inevitably, even if I'm parked in an empty map with nothing going on, I'm still going to see the crash. Actively playing merely speeds up the inevitable.

The worst variant of this Nvidia error is when it causes a Blue Screen of Death, citing nvlddmkm.sys as the offending file.

I have also gotten this error immediately after selecting my character. This actually happened a few times on 4/21, although this was the first time I've seen it before ever being able to play the game.

I am using Windows 7.
The specs of my computer can be found here: http://i.imgur.com/BE8DrF7

I have tried:
- running FFXI purely on my integrated graphics card (did nothing; below for the errors it produces)
- reinstalling FFXI (did nothing; did this a few times)
- reinstalling Windows entirely and then reinstalling FFXI (did nothing)
- buying a non-Steam copy of FFXI (did nothing)
- using various outdated drivers for my NVidia card that reportedly "fix" the error (did nothing)
- using outdated versions of DirectX (did nothing)
- various recommended registry edits to stop the error (did nothing)
- disabling Intel Turbo Boost (did nothing)
- turning off the Windows Aero theme (did nothing)
- running FFXI in full-screen instead of windowed (did nothing)
- using the Graphics Stabilization option in the Config file (did nothing)
- turning off shadows and weather effects in-game (did nothing)
- disabling Nvidia HD Audio (did nothing)

And probably more things I can't remember. My instance of the error appears to be a unique one. Most people report it with several programs, or anything graphically demanding. Only FFXI causes this error for me.

These errors are severely crippling to my gameplay and I'm honestly at a loss at this point...
Most searches I can find about this error seem to have one thing in common: Windows 7. Does FFXI not support Windows 7 any more?

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Running Final Fantasy XI purely on my integrated graphics card yields two possible errors:
http://i.imgur.com/mS6mOGN.png <-- Display driver Intel Graphics Accelerator Drivers for Windows 7(R) stopped responding and has successfully recovered. Also crashes Intel(R) Turbo Boost Technology.

Another one that will happen is FFXI claiming I lost all internet connection (the error saying to check your internet cables, etc), which has thus far not been true any of the times it has occurred.

POSSIBLE FIX!!!
Download MSI Afterburner and underclock (NOT VOLT!!! Just clock speed) your video card. There's two options, Core Clock and Memory Clock. I can't recommend any specific settings, as it seems clocking of either variety (over/under) is entirely different depending on the machine, video card, etc. So just try what works.

I tried 20% less clock speeds for both but found that was a bit slow, so I started upping it more and more until I was satisfied. 5% less of both also works great, with little lag.

I get an error that i think the same ill see if i vs if i can find out what it is.

I was having this issue constantly for a while, and recently, with the 335.23 drivers. I noticed that the problem was really prevalent when Intel® Rapid Storage Technology was installed. After uninstalling the program, the driver crashes weren't as common. I'm not sure they were related, but I've noticed RST has huge stability issues with gaming systems.

Also, check your GPU's temperature and see if you have adequate cooling. To the best of my knowledge, I've only seen BSOD triggered by nVidia drivers when my GPU got to critically high temperatures.

Barring all of that being successful, I've had zero driver crashes using the GeForce 337.50 Beta drivers. This revision seems very stable.

I hope some of this can help you.

Chances are your GPU is over heating. Next time you get that error, quickly check your GPU's temp and see if it's hot as f*ck. You might want to reposition fans or use canned air to clean everything out as dust can block airflow. Finally your card's cooling fan might be going out on you.

go into control Panel and Disable Nvidia HD Audio
i had this problem with my Nvidia 660ti
disabling or Uninstalling the Nvidia HD audio Resolved the issue for me, hope this works for you also.


it can also be caused by Nvidia TDRdelay which is more troublesome to fix

@Ayasha: Is there a way for me to see if those drivers are applicable for my video card? Or are they universal?

I can't find an Nvidia HD Audio to disable. I've tried the registry edits involving TdrDelay (and another one involving outright disabling that feature), but they didn't work.

My computer generally does overheat (it's a laptop, to my knowledge there's not much you can do to really cool down a laptop?), but nothing major.

Last summer it was overheating rather badly on a daily basis, and I wasn't getting the error.
Though, if the temperature did get excessively high (and it did a few times), my computer just shuts down.

I've also had it happen immediately after a restart and not running any games or anything for hours (so the laptop would still be cool and stuff), and it still happened very quickly.

Games or programs more graphically demanding (and overheat-inducing in general) than FFXI don't trigger the error, even when left on for hours.

hmm, you could try one of these to help cool it down
Laptop Heatmat

but make sure if u do get one that it is the correct one for the make of your laptop

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Ultra-Slim-R9-NBC-XSLI-GP/dp/B005C31HC0/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398517554&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=cololer+master+laptop

I've been using one of those for a long time now. It does keep it far cooler than before I got it, but I do still overheat often (just not as badly, unless it's a really hot day, in which case it'll overheat badly but it won't get to a critical point).

there is another thread on AH site i dunno if there could be a solution in there,
click

I had the same issue on 2 systems with Nvidia 600 series cards. I was originally blaming a bad video driver update, however I was able to pin it down to an incompatibility with Bitdefender Antivirus Software.

Removed it and used AVG instead haven't had an issue since. Hope this helps.

try reinstalling the motherboard Chipset drivers

Can you overclock your GPU? That helped me with this error. Also things like turning off shadows helped. I always used the latest Beta driver. It's a very frustrating crash that is very common with Nvidia cards and FFXI. You just have to find the right balance (clock speed, graphics setting, etc) for your system. Best of luck.

Reading this reminds me, I need to reinstall Avast... One of the many things that are hard to remember to do after a reformat.

If it's a software compatibility issue like you had, I'm not sure what it would be.

I had to update the .NET Framework a few days back for an unrelated program, so that's currently up to date.

I *think* they're up-to-date, unless I need to find the website for the manufacturer of the motherboard. The drivers for my laptop listed on Dell.com are from 2012 or so (and some of it I can verify is outdated. I had to get the latest drivers for my integrated/onboard Intel graphics card from Intel.com).

I'm not sure if I could. How would I know? Would that be in the Control Panel for my video card?

I tried turning off the shadows and weather, and also saw in the Control Panel for my video card that some programs were set to "conserve" power. I turned that off.

Initially I was quite happy as it was performing rather well, even during some as demanding as a busy Wildskeeper Reive (which are usually a very good way to trigger the errors/crashes), but saw a new type of crash: The entire computer locks up on the FFXI screen, forcing me to cut it off via the button as nothing can be done.

@Razorfang: I haven't seen that link previously.

Interesting... A poster (Templite) there also came up with a similar thought I've unfortunately been suspecting: OS compatibility issues. He mentioned the .NET Framework as the likely suspect of the compatibility problems, though I'm on the latest version of it.

If it's an OS issue, would upgrading to Windows 8 even help or would I be likely to see the errors/crashes persist?

I just run my FFXI in a vmware virtual machine, it works very well.

i think we all had the same extreme slow pol today.

When you run the installation wizard, it will auto-detect your card to see if it can install. If it's not found, you might be able to find a modified .inf file that carries your video card's hardware id and will allow the driver to install.


Unless you actually checked the temperatures on your card, or your laptop case turned in to a liquid puddle of plastic in your lap, you won't know if it overheated. I don't know the exact number, but the critical temperature of the GPU is around 95 degrees Celsius, or 203 degrees Fahrenheit. Get CPUID HWMonitor. It will show you all the temperatures and some other relevant information reported. If your GPU is exceeding 70C, you got cooling issues.

What OS is the VMWare Virtual Machine running, out of curiosity?

I use a program called SpeedFan, which checks the GPU, HDD, and Core temperatures.

I just turned on my computer (after being off for many hours) and the temperatures are:
GPU: 34C
HD0: 26C
Temp1: 44C
Temp2: 44C (not sure what the Temp1/Temp2 are, RAM?)
Core0: 39-41C
Core1: 37-41C
Core2: 40C
Core3: 40C

Unfortunately when playing FFXI my GPU does indeed reach 60-70C regularly given some time, the Cores do as well. I assumed this to be normal for a laptop, as there's not really a whole lot that can be done to cool one down (additional fans only help so much, desktops can actually have cooling systems).

I'll edit this post/make a new one (if there's been a reply) on my temperatures when FFXI has been on for about an hour (assuming I don't crash, lol).

win7x64

I think I have 3gb of ram assigned to each 1cpu/1core each, but my main system is a 3570k i5 w/32gb of ram, so it can kind of afford to just hand things out.

I like it as I can freely manipulate monitors and what controllers are on each VM without worrying about crashing.

The cores as well as your GPU are just fine at that range. They are made to withstand temps up to 100C. If you are worried about your CPU actual temperature you can check it through your bios, the normal if if memory serves i about 70 or so.

By the way because this was happening to me also with the graphics card, it has nothing to do with the cooling it has to do with the drivers.

It's on the nvdia forums somewhere but the gist of it is that at best you have to tweak the registry a bit.

For me I found out that it was just corrupted drivers when I did the graphics update so a clean install later and all works just as they should.

Edit : And as another user said, disable the Audio of Nvidia

And here's my temperatures with FFXI being on for about an hour:
GPU: 78C
HD0: 38C
Temp1: 84C
Temp2: 84C
Core 0: 83-88C
Core 1: 84-88C
Core 2: 82-86C
Core 3: 79-83C

Not sure why it's so high. Usually averages 60-70C on the non-HD0 temperatures.

How do I disable Nvidia HD Audio? Reinstall the drivers but select not to install Nvidia HD Audio?

Not sure how they are disabling it, but you can do it right from device manager, but it really shouldn't be causing any issues.

I'd just say use a different version of the driver.

Also your CPU is running pretty hot, may want to replace your thermal paste.

That's not the cpu btw that's the cores, to check your actual cpu restart and get into your bios.

Cores temp is about normal though I'd check if it needs some more cooling.

Temp1/2 seems a bit high

Edit: if in the bios the CPU is over 75 you probably need some extra cooling or check if everything is placed properly

same error with a pair of gtx 670s, shadows/weather effects off and graphics stabilization completely removed it for me

it's a driver/software problem, and neither SE or nvidia seem to care about resolving it

if I were nvidia i probably wouldn't either tbh

yea, i don't blame nvidia as much as SE, but when I made a topic in SE's support forum they moved it to resolved issues and locked it without fixing the problem

i doubt they're even capable of fixing it tbh. the way the PC version of this game works is likely so mired in ***that it'd take more resources to repair these sorts of issues than they're willing to put down.

luckily, for whatever reason, 337.5 drivers are really stable with XI. whatever blanket directx optimizations they stuck in them had some effect; I can have shadows and weather on my main character's window with minimal changes in crash frequency \o/

So far so good with the 337.5 drivers.
Windows Aero completely crapped out (screen went black and the transparent effect on the taskbar/etc was gone) while AFKing in Port Jeuno, but FFXI didn't crash or suffer any noteworthy lag.

A little while later Windows Aero came back. The screen flickered black as it came back, again not causing any FFXI problems.

I'll update later when I get a chance to play and do more graphically demanding actions. Hopefully with good news!