ATI device driver failure splats
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I would suggest updating drivers too. Is SU bugsplatting or are you getting black screens?
Also check that the card is physically working OK, the fans work and aren't full of dust and that the card is not running too hot. I had once a graphics card failure. The card first started to crash intermittently with SU, then with all applications and finally stopped working altogether.
Anssi
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Thanks, guys. I say the driver fails because that is the message posted, presumably by the OS. The screen may or may not have flickered once or twice or more; if it flickers off four or five times, Windows may shut down with a notice that the driver is at fault. If it recovers, and says so, it is usually just SU that splats. So I assume it is not the card itself, Anssi.
I'll go back to the Dell forums and make some inquiries. Thanks again.
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Sounds like a driver failure then. Vista and Windows7 will try to recover from driver failure, but 3D applications running while the failure happens will most likely crash.
But it's worth checking what Anissi said, ensure there aren't buildups of dust. Could be overheating due to dust and increased load while using 3D app like SU.
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@brookefox said:
If it recovers, and says so, it is usually just SU that splats. So I assume it is not the card itself...
which also appears to be not very likely for an approx. 1 year old video card.
Actually it's a known glitch of the OpenGL support of the Radeon driver f. Windows which is in general optimized for consumer purposes, i.e. speed in games but not for stability with OGL based CAx applications as e.g. SU.
If installing the latest ATI driver doesn't help, you may want check the quality moded Omega driver too... or swap to a nVidia GeForce resp. Quadro FX.
hth,
Norbert -
Thank you, T and N.
What follows is mere whine.... Dell forums have had indigestion all day after being out for a week for servicing, but once when I got my foot in the door at the company (not forum) site, the lame Dell driver update system advised after I again registered, etc. ---> "service tag not supported"; no further advice. AMD variously advises that 10.2 or 10.3 is the current driver for V64 and my board. Windows tells me the driver (ver 8.533, some two years old) is up to date (device manager)!!! -
You need to use Dell drivers? Can you not use drivers directly from ATI?
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I would say that whenever you can, use drivers from the graphics card chipset manufacturer. Computer manufacturers usually lose interest in their products almost as soon as they get them out of the door. Chipmakers seem to provide a longer span of support. The worst thing is that usually laptop graphics card support is limited to what the computer maker wants to offer. For instance, Nvidia supplies up to date drivers for quite old desktop graphics cards, but latest driver for my the GeForce Go card in my ols Acer luggable is from 2004. Only XP. If I ever can afford a good laptop again, I will choose one with a "high-end" graphics solution that is supported by the chip maker.
Anssi
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Brooke, It is my experience that Dell's system will not always update their drivers. When you use a manufacturers driver, be sure that you know how to reinstall the Dell driver, "just in case" it causes something else to fail (my guess however, unlikely that is).
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@anssi said:
I would say that whenever you can, use drivers from the graphics card chipset manufacturer. Computer manufacturers usually lose interest in their products almost as soon as they get them out of the door. Chipmakers seem to provide a longer span of support. The worst thing is that usually laptop graphics card support is limited to what the computer maker wants to offer. For instance, Nvidia supplies up to date drivers for quite old desktop graphics cards, but latest driver for my the GeForce Go card in my ols Acer luggable is from 2004. Only XP. If I ever can afford a good laptop again, I will choose one with a "high-end" graphics solution that is supported by the chip maker.
Anssi
Ditto!
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Thanks very much, all. Sometimes the Dell driver manager may provide some utility, maybe, esp. if the driver has been integrated with their hardware (?). As to the best way to handle the update, that is why I want to check the forums: it is populated with folks with this exact machine who have already jumped through this same hoop. I mentioned those various ways of updating the driver additionally because they were giving conflicting info, even ATI (AMD) themselves as to whether ver. 10.2 or 10.3 is THE ONE. (Yes, Anssi, AMD mentions bestowing on this card the heralded legacy status.)
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@brookefox said:
I mentioned those various ways of updating the driver additionally because they were giving conflicting info, even ATI (AMD) themselves as to whether ver. 10.2 or 10.3 is THE ONE.
according to the ATI driver site referenced above if using Windows XP/Vista/7 x32/x64 the recent driver version is 10.3, nothing else.
if you are using a desktop system with a dedicated video card and not a notebook, you can and should use the latest driver of the manufacturer of your video card (see above).
uninstalling the currently installed driver (see Windows control panel > software) preferrably with administrative rights and followed by an restart of Windows will avoid problems which otherwise might arise with restricted user accounts.
btw, which operating system do you use?
hth,
Norbert -
@anssi said:
If I ever can afford a good laptop again, I will choose one with a "high-end" graphics solution that is supported by the chip maker.
= Dell Precision M notebook w/ Quadro FX GPU.
Norbert
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I updated the driver a few days ago and all is well since then (though the splats had been periodic before, so fingers will remain crossed).
On a related issue, it appears the hardware thread fruit is withering on the vine, which is too bad for folks looking for some good input on gearing up to use SU.
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