Win7: FFXI Crashes Constantly (NVIDIA-related)
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Win7: FFXI crashes constantly (NVIDIA-related)
I'm in the process of installing the Virtual Machine for Windows 7 now. Do I have to install all of the updates for Windows 7 for it or would that probably not be necessary for what I'm using it for?
Well that was a bust. :(
Within about 20 minutes of running FFXI (I had to disable numerous options in the Config (Bump/MIP Mapping in particular), as most textures weren't loading), I got a BSOD (on my non-VM'd Windows 7). It's not in BlueScreenView for some reason but the error said KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR. Try overclocking your RAM.
I had a similar problem. PC would bsod with those same errors. Ran plenty of tests on every hardware piece but everything came back fine each time. Overclocking my RAM was what finally fixed it (not 100% fix, it still does bsod but only like once a month) I think the hardware just isn't completely compatible with each other. Speeding up the RAM just let it communicate better with the other devices. Quetzalcoatl.Zorik said: » Try overclocking your RAM. I had a similar problem. PC would bsod with those same errors. Ran plenty of tests on every hardware piece but everything came back fine each time. Overclocking my RAM was what finally fixed it (not 100% fix, it still does bsod but only like once a month) I think the hardware just isn't completely compatible with each other. Speeding up the RAM just let it communicate better with the other devices. Warranty has long since expired so that's not what I'm worried about. Lakshmi.Dyshonest said: » I'm in the process of installing the Virtual Machine for Windows 7 now. Do I have to install all of the updates for Windows 7 for it or would that probably not be necessary for what I'm using it for? as for the BSOD: your hard drive may be going bad, have you done a full check disk on it, with error checking? basically something from the page file couldn't be loaded into memory, which either means something wrong with the hdd or the ram. If you have like 8gb of ram, and only assigned about 2gb to the VM, you could try to disable the page file and try again. Jetackuu said: » Lakshmi.Dyshonest said: » I'm in the process of installing the Virtual Machine for Windows 7 now. Do I have to install all of the updates for Windows 7 for it or would that probably not be necessary for what I'm using it for? as for the BSOD: your hard drive may be going bad, have you done a full check disk on it, with error checking? basically something from the page file couldn't be loaded into memory, which either means something wrong with the hdd or the ram. If you have like 8gb of ram, and only assigned about 2gb to the VM, you could try to disable the page file and try again. I had assigned 4GB (of my available 6GB, VMWare said this was the highest I could safely go) RAM to my Virtual Machine, and two processors (I use a quadcore i7, IIRC they have 8 processors?). Didn't think I needed many processors, considering FFXI doesn't utilize more than one, so that's why I only gave it two. Lakshmi.Dyshonest said: » Jetackuu said: » Lakshmi.Dyshonest said: » I'm in the process of installing the Virtual Machine for Windows 7 now. Do I have to install all of the updates for Windows 7 for it or would that probably not be necessary for what I'm using it for? as for the BSOD: your hard drive may be going bad, have you done a full check disk on it, with error checking? basically something from the page file couldn't be loaded into memory, which either means something wrong with the hdd or the ram. If you have like 8gb of ram, and only assigned about 2gb to the VM, you could try to disable the page file and try again. I had assigned 4GB (of my available 6GB, VMWare said this was the highest I could safely go) RAM to my Virtual Machine, and two processors (I use a quadcore i7, IIRC they have 8 processors?). Didn't think I needed many processors, considering FFXI doesn't utilize more than one, so that's why I only gave it two. Regardless of the cores, you still only have 1 cpu. I'd have assigned 1 cpu/2 cores to it at the most, only due to XI being cpu heavy, but even a single should handle it, you're fine. (not all i7's are octacore, I have a quadcore). as I recall you doing a ram check already (I think) a failing HDD could possibly be the root of your issues. Even beyond the windows checks, there's 3rd party tools (or in the case if you're using your HDD manufacturer's tool's, 2nd party I guess???)
that you should probably use to determine it's health. Each manufacturer has their own tools, and some are better than others, I've used a few, don't recall which is the best right now. Edit: some bios even have a HDD check. Windows Memory Diagnostics and chkdsk both reported the same thing for both my memory and the hard-drive - no errors.
Overclocking (anything) isn't an option. My BIOS don't allow for anything to be adjusted. EDIT: Ran Dell's Pre-Boot System Assessment, which is a very thorough ~30 minute process that checks the RAM, hard-drive and CPUs. Everything checks out fine. Am I likely to be receiving the same errors/BSODs if I were using Windows 8? Aside from a few specific cases I've only ever seen this reported as happening with Windows 7. Did an OS change ever fix it for anyone/anyone ever try it? Reformated and installed Windows 8.1 Enterprise (Microsoft offers a 90 day free trial, so I decided to try it) and immediately install FireFox and FFXI, and nothing else to rule out compatibility problems.
Just Nvidia crashed. I guess my video card is dying, or something at this point? It isn't related to my RAM, CPU, hard-drive, OS, or temperature... Sounds like it, you may be able to reflow it, but aside from that it may be a good idea to just replace the laptop.
If you want something to just play XI, you should be able to throw something together for about $300-500 depending on what all you want in it. Okay, this is really bizarre.
I stumbled upon a topic on a Dell support forum about this error, and I saw a support guy say to try underclocking the GPU. I underclocked it by 20%, not sure if that's too much or not. Performance/FPS-wise, it was pretty bad. No errors, though. I then reduced it to 10%. FPS drops are still noticeable, etc, but no NVIDIA crashes, so that's good. On the other hand... I've gotten quite a few of the internet disconnection errors that I reported happen when I use my integrated card. Possibly a coincidence, though? I'm going to be picking up a can of air soon, then opening up and cleaning out my laptop. Some NVIDIA forum posts say that dust can be a major factor in the error. I'm just curious though... why is FFXI the only thing to trigger this error/the BSODs? I've even had several (AI-controlled) games of Left 4 Dead 2 running without seeing the error, which heats my computer up far more than FFXI ever does, and consumes many times more resources... If MSI Afterburner is correct in what my limits are for clocking my video card the source of this issue was a serious manufacturing error...
Core Clock (MHz) was, at its default, at 691. Yet according to MSI Afterburner, I can only adjust it between 202-265. Memory Clock (MHz) was, at its default, at 900. According to MSI Afterburner, this is valid as I can adjust it between 450-1170. The latest settings I've tried were 260 Core Clock/880 Memory Clock, which though it was a bit slow, it was completely stable. I'm going to be trying 265 Core Clock/900 Memory Clock, which are probably what my settings were supposed to be. I can't adjust voltages via MSI Afterburner, I assume it's due to the fact that I'm using a laptop or something. But adjusting the clock speeds seems to be working very well. I'm still using Windows 8.1 Enterprise. I don't know if that has anything to do with it either. I'll have to reinstall Windows 7 somewhat soon though, as my 8.1 trial runs out in August. I've yet to dust out my laptop though, as it seems like it will quite challenging. To even access the fan I have to disassemble it entirely, which... sounds a bit scary to say the least. Meh, taking apart a laptop is fine as long as you have a clean workspace, and good screwdrivers and don't strip the screws, and be very careful with the ribbon cables, they're easy to tear.
Putting it back together is the real challenge (with all the screws too). If you do take it entirely apart, you may want to replace your thermal paste while you have it apart. I still haven't done it yet, I'm trying to find some good videos for putting it back together. I get the gist of how to take it apart now from picture guides and stuff but putting it back together seems like it'll be REALLY tricky.
Unfortunately accessing my fans require it being entirely disassembled, and the fans are the most important thing to try and un-dust, I think. The real factory settings for my video card (not counting the manufacturing error that had my Core Clock Speed way too high), according to MSI Afterburner appear to be 265 MHz Core Clock Speed and 900 MHz Memory Clock Speed (which was present when my Core Clock Speed was set too high previously). At these settings, it runs very good. No Nvidia errors, little lag (outside of some cutscenes or if I'm mobbing then use an AoE spell but I imagine those would cause some degree of lag on any settings), it's actually normal. I added this at the end of the first post: 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. How did you get it to change if the bios won't let you change it?
MSI Afterburner can change clock speeds of the video card.
I'm not sure why it can do that when no other program seems to be capable of any clock speed changing. (I looked for some time for a program to do this and none of them allowed me to adjust anything.) I guess it's programmed to bypass clock adjustment block-outs for the video card. Interesting, does it work even if you close the program, or does it need to be running to have the changes effective?
You just have to click Apply, I think it applies immediately, but I restart afterward just to make sure.
It also has a thing for saving Profiles, I'm not sure what that's for (all five numbered boxes near Profile are greyed out and non-selectable) but hitting Save helps, because afterward it'll tell you if the under/overclock settings were valid. If they aren't valid, whatever you adjusted gets reset to 0 from what I can tell, so just try different settings until it saves the changes. http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm I have been having this driver crash problem for a long time with no solution. I have tried different cards, different computers, all sorts of different settings and I still have the graphics card crashing problems.
Current setup is a Windows 8.1 running on an i7 4930k with 64gb of ram with 2 EVGA 780ti OCs in SLI. Used for Quadboxing. This crashes reasonably frequently especially after having been in Delve, interestingly. Other setup is Windows 7 running on an i7 965 with 24gb of ram with 2 660ti OCs in SLI. Used for Quadboxing. Crashes were frequent, especially after Delve. System retired, replaced with above. Another setup is Windows 7 running on an i3 3249 with 8gb of ram with 1 660ti OC. Used for Dualboxing. Crashes occasionally. Another setup is Windows 7 running on an i3 3220 with 8gb of ram with an EVGA GT 640 I had lying around. Used for Dualboxing. Hasn't crashed once yet. Another setup is a Windows 8.1 running on an i7 4770k with 16gb with an EVGA 760. Used for single boxing. Hasn't crashed yet. Can't really find a commonality between these setups except windower, and a Microsoft OS. I'm sorry for not seeing this sooner, I more or less forgot about this topic after I resolved it via adjusting the clock speeds on my video card.
I did some testing... Even with the adjusted clock speeds that, for me anyway, are known to work for Windows 8.1 (Enterprise), it can and WILL still crash FFXI on Windows 7. After about... two hours or so I got a BSOD. The DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL one. So I restarted. Adjusted my clock speed lower than usual (another verified safe setting, though slow) and tried again. Nvidia error immediately after I click "Character Select". The error... appears to be a complicated amalgamation of things that are entirely different depending on the OS. For Windows 7: - It'll find some crash/error no matter what. More common when you allow the Nvidia card to handle some duties ("Auto-select" instead of selecting purely integrated/Nvidia) or purely rely on it (select "Nvidia" as the primary graphics processor). - Integrated is more stable to a point but seems to cause some internet-related issues and is very slow. For Windows 8.1 Enterprise: - Clock-speed issue. Lowering the clock speed stops the Nvidia error. Use your judgment on the best settings, took me awhile to find ones that worked well performance-wise. Looks like I'll have to buy Windows 8.1. (they allow you a 90 day free trial of Windows 8.1 Enterprise on their site, that's how I've been using it.) Not all is fixed it seems.
A few weeks back I got the typical "Display driver NVIDIA [...] has crashed" error while watching a YouTube video on a site. FFXI wasn't running. And just a few moments ago... http://i.imgur.com/4pYtfhk.png My second non-FFXI-related Nvidia error. It behaved very similarly to an error surrounding Shockwave Flash crashing suddenly. Quite a few periods last year Shockwave Flash would spit out that error to me when watching YouTube during many of their interface updates. It also isn't too uncommon to see it when playing browser-based flash games. So, to say the least, I'm familiar with the error, its triggers (things that overload Flash generally), and how it behaves before/during. When it happens on YouTube the audio continues to happen briefly (until Flash actually stops working period), the video freezes and the rest of the browser can't be used until you say to stop Shockwave Flash (when the prompt appears audio also stops). Well, preceding these two Nvidia errors, it was much the same. The video and browser stopped working, but the audio went on for a bit until the Nvidia notice appeared. Okay. This is bizarre.
http://i.imgur.com/SWWJVVZ.png <-- Globally, all programs are set to use my Nvidia card. This seems to work fine, no slowdowns in video files, etc. http://i.imgur.com/nBzCRCv.png <-- This... isn't working fine? If Firefox is using Integrated Graphics why on earth am I getting Nvidia-related crashes from Flash-related sites like YouTube? When I set Firefox to use my Nvidia card specifically, I got an Nvidia error the moment I started it. I switched it back to Integrated and so far it's working normally again. I assume Flash isn't using my Integrated card like my browser? Lakshmi.Dyshonest said: » I still haven't done it yet, I'm trying to find some good videos for putting it back together. I get the gist of how to take it apart now from picture guides and stuff but putting it back together seems like it'll be REALLY tricky. Unfortunately accessing my fans require it being entirely disassembled, and the fans are the most important thing to try and un-dust, I think. The real factory settings for my video card (not counting the manufacturing error that had my Core Clock Speed way too high), according to MSI Afterburner appear to be 265 MHz Core Clock Speed and 900 MHz Memory Clock Speed (which was present when my Core Clock Speed was set too high previously). At these settings, it runs very good. No Nvidia errors, little lag (outside of some cutscenes or if I'm mobbing then use an AoE spell but I imagine those would cause some degree of lag on any settings), it's actually normal. I added this at the end of the first post: 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. Anyone else find this working for them? My GT660 is popping d3d8.dll errors whenever I multi box, hell it crashed just having multiple toons logged in. It used to work well now not so much... Lakshmi.Dyshonest said: » Okay. This is bizarre. http://i.imgur.com/SWWJVVZ.png <-- Globally, all programs are set to use my Nvidia card. This seems to work fine, no slowdowns in video files, etc. http://i.imgur.com/nBzCRCv.png <-- This... isn't working fine? If Firefox is using Integrated Graphics why on earth am I getting Nvidia-related crashes from Flash-related sites like YouTube? When I set Firefox to use my Nvidia card specifically, I got an Nvidia error the moment I started it. I switched it back to Integrated and so far it's working normally again. I assume Flash isn't using my Integrated card like my browser? That might be correct. New browsers use your video card for certain tasks. Flash being one of them. I would disable hardware acceleration in Firefox if it hasn't already been turned off. http://lifehacker.com/disable-firefoxs-hardware-acceleration-to-fix-slowness-749344037 I turned it off. Still got about ~8 Nvidia errors during a short 6 minute video.
Not too bothered by it though. Video error/crash? Hit Refresh (sometimes you have to re-open Firefox), skip to where you were. FFXI crashes? Deal with a likely BSOD, if not... reopen PlayOnline, log in, etc... Takes a lot longer and it's more distracting to have gameplay snipped than a video forcibly paused lol. Though I wonder if I can find where my Flash is located to force that on Integrated too? I don't really see why Flash would even need my video card to begin with. I guess for gaming but it's a bit odd if I don't have an option to pick what I want to use of my two video card options (integrated/Nvidia) for Flash. Had a (hopefully, anyway!) false alarm before. While walking around Aht Urghan I had two Nvidia crashes. I looked and saw I had some links from wikia.ffxiclopedia open though, and they have embedded YouTube videos on the right, so that's probably what caused it for me. After closing the tab, seems to be fine. EDIT: Located "Adobe Flash Player Plugin" and forced it on Integrated just like how Firefox is. I'll see how that works. EDIT EDIT: 3 more Nvidia crashes and FFXI was the only thing running. A quick run of MSI Afterburner revealed the likely culprit though. My underclock settings got reset. I guess this might happen every now and then because it's not a BIOS (under)clock change. DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
So we meet again, Blue Screen of Death. I was browsing YouTube, and instead of the usual Nvidia error, it got VERY laggy and unresponsive... Not even Task Manager would appear after clicking it in Ctrl+Alt+Delete. After more slowdown... I got a BSOD with the error code above. Very brief searching says it had to do with a graphics card driver issue for some people. So it's very likely tied to whatever is causing my Nvidia errors, similar to the DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error I got on Windows 7. FFXI still doesn't cause any problems, but I'm worried now that something as simple as Flash is causing BSODs. When I set "Adobe Flash Player Plugin" to use my integrated graphics card it didn't work - the Nvidia error still occurred. Not sure why Flash is 100% forced into using my Nvidia card. Without fiddling with it, it is hard to tell as to why it's using the wrong card, do you have flash player and the plugin installed? Are both and your browser all set to use the integrated?
On another note: ctrl+shift+escape will bring up the task manager without having to go to the ctrl+alt+del screen, great for if you need it open when playing XI, when the menu will crash XI. I put a 650 TI card in my desktop and started having the driver restart problem. No issue on ff14, but ff11 gave it to me one time.
I changed these things and haven't had the problem since:
I... just got an odd sequence of errors.
Training Sparks in Abyssea Altepa, and mid-mob... Black-screen freeze. Intel Graphics Accelerator error crashed it. (I have NOTHING set to use Integrated...) Right after that prompt I get an Nvidia error. Another black screen. THREE more Nvidia error prompts. Another black screen. A final Nvidia error prompt. I think both of my graphics cards are at their ends at this point... Rebooted, reapplied my underclocking... and I get three Nvidia errors when PlayOnline opens. Oh my. |
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