ATI Grey Screen of Death question

[adamsonm]

I am one of the unlucky customers who still suffers from different coloured screen crashes and hangs which requires a hard reboot to get out of. Still happens roughly 2 or 3 times a weeks.

My question is whether this problem has actually been fixed yet by ATI themselves? Has there been any mention of ATI even fixing the problem?

[Phage]

Not that I've seen. The problem is quite rare now, as the cards have either been RMAd (like Andmar on this forum) or have been fixed like mine. (new BIOS)

[Grey M@a]

Not that I've seen. The problem is quite rare now, as the cards have either been RMAd (like Andmar on this forum) or have been fixed like mine. (new BIOS)

Was about to say it was a BIOS/Latest Driver fix or they were RMA'd. Been over a year since they appeared. Might be worth checking the warranty on it and sending it off if you can or asking the manufacturer if they have the newer bios available.

[adamsonm]

Oh, that seems like good news then, I guess. I have already been at war with Sapphire about a BIOS update, but they refused. I have also tried RMAing the card twice, but "Overclockers", who I bought the card from tested it twice and came up with no errors at all, so the RMA was denied. Is there a way I can flash the Bios myself? If there is, I'm not sure where to go in terms of websites, could you give me some ideas??

[Grey M@a]

Might be worth googling for a bios for your exact model of card etc. I did that with an old XFX nVidia 8800 at the time due to errors with the card. However if Sapphire haven't done a bios for the card, you may have to take the risk with another manufactures bios that may be a carbon copy.

[adamsonm]

Ok, I will have a look around the internet for some information. In the mean time if you have other information regarding the VBIOS flash it would be welcome!

[Grey M@a]

Just looking now but as you have said, Sapphire haven't touched the bios since its release, now looking about but it's not looking good atm. No mention of new bios versions at all. Will let you know if I find anything.

Out of interest have you ever had any BSOD's with it that mentions bugcheck 0x117?

Forgot to mention, try this:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/OCCT-%28...load-1880.html

It's a mem/gpu test for the cards so you will see if you get any issue's when it runs the tests and should keep a log of what is happening when. Might help to pinpoint the exact moment when the card suffers the GSOD

[adamsonm]

From looking at Action Centre, and going to the Video hardware error, under bucket ID, is this following code, "X64_0x117_Tdr:2_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys". There is 0x117 within this long code.

[Grey M@a]

From looking at Action Centre, and going to the Video hardware error, under bucket ID, is this following code, "X64_0x117_Tdr:2_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys". There is 0x117 within this long code.

Right the 0x117 is normally caused due to a heat issue but also links to the ATi drivers.

If you can get driver sweeper:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1655

Use this to get rid of anything ATi driver wise and then get the latest drivers from ATi, try that and see if you get the GSOD again. The atikmpag.sys seems to point towards the timings on the memory/clock with regards to blue screens etc.

[adamsonm]

I have already tried the method you mentioned. I downloaded driver sweeper a couple months back. I installed it and then went into safe mode and uninstalled anything to do with ATI. I then went back into normal mode and downloaded the latest drivers. I still got the black screen crash and also got different colour screen crashes, just like I normally did before I tried this method.

[Phage]

The GSOD seems most likely due the timings on the VRAM. Hence most common on the OC'd cards, can you downclock ?

[adamsonm]

I have never downclocked the card. The card was never overclocked so I never thought that downclocking would make a difference. Its not an overclocked card either.

I will try though, I suppose I got nothing to loose. Should I use the catalyst for that, or should I get a different program, like ATI Tool, or RivaTuner?

Btw, the majority of the time, when the screen does crash or hang, its normally a black screen.

[Grey M@a]

I have never downclocked the card. The card was never overclocked so I never thought that downclocking would make a difference. Its not an overclocked card either.

I will try though, I suppose I got nothing to loose. Should I use the catalyst for that, or should I get a different program, like ATI Tool, or RivaTuner?

Btw, the majority of the time, when the screen does crash or hang, its normally a black screen.

I would try the drivers once more and downclock the card to see if that works. Once you have got all the ATi drivers off, use CCleaner to make sure there are no registry entries for ATi or the drivers and then try the latest versions to see if this helps you.

[adamsonm]

Ok, I will keep you guys posted. Should I use CCleaner in safe mode? Will it even make a difference?

[Phage]

Personally, I don't go to safe mode.
1) uninstall from control centre
Reboot
2) run driversweeper (ATi drivers only)
3) run CCleaner Reg cleaner (fix all refs)
4) install latest drivers.

[adamsonm]

I have followed your instructions. I have downclocked the card using the catalyst control centre, through ATI OverDRIVE. On the slider, I set the following settings:

High Performance GPU clock settings -> 600MHz
High Performance Memory clock settings -> 900MHz

That's with the slider all the way to the left, meaning the minimum.

Below it says:

Current Values

GPU Clock: 157MHz

Memory Clock: 300MHZ