Powercolor LCS 6970... BSOD

[maverick_brent]

hmmm just read a bit more thourghly? did u go to device manager to upgrade the drivers? rather than go to amd's site and download the most up to date?....

[Epimetheus]

yes and yes...

Installed hardware, Windows automatically notifies me that it found new hardware and updated drivers. I should have stoped there since everything was fine, but figured it best to go with AMD drivers so I downloaded and updated... now that I think of it, that's about when my problems started.

Earlier this afternoon I updated using device mgt rather than AMD (as per my previous post) and it works on first restart. Just did a second restart = BSOD, third restart (normal, not safe mode) = works. Go figure.

BSOD is too fast and scrambled to read... but on my third restart this came up:

I can get the dmp file, not that I can read it or anything, but the xml file seems to be inaccessable for some reason...


Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 4105
Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 116
BCP1: FFFFFA800911A010
BCP2: FFFFF88002E943BC
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000002
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1
Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\030711-32105-01.dmp
C:\Users\Sean\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-82165-0.sysdata.xml
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C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

[Epimetheus]

ok... I can get it to run, but it takes a bit of a process.

I need to boot into safe mode, remove driver, reboot, install driver, reboot... then it works, otherwise, I get a bsod. not much of a fix, but at least it works.

Any idea what's going on here?

[maverick_brent]

Originally Posted by Epimetheus

ok... I can get it to run, but it takes a bit of a process.

I need to boot into safe mode, remove driver, reboot, install driver, reboot... then it works, otherwise, I get a bsod. not much of a fix, but at least it works.

Any idea what's going on here?

you have to do that process everytime?

have u booted into safe mode and used ccleaner to be sure of no pieces of old drivers left...

[Epimetheus]

yes... every time... except this morning, even that didn't work and I've run out of ideas.

I just wish I knew if this was a driver issue so that I can continue my efforts in finding a fix - or if it's a hardware issue, and it's time to RMA.

It's the Liquid Cooled Solution (LCS) version, so taking it out and placing it in another machine to test is a little awkward if not impossible. PowerColor Official Website - Graphics, Cases, Power Supply -- PowerColor LCS HD6970 2GB GDDD5

I've sent an email to tech support at powercolor, and hope to hear back shortly.

Failing tech support (I don't have much faith right now), my options are:

1: continue to search for a driver/software solution (Einstein's definition of insanity comes to mind).

2: RMA and hope that it's an issue with my video card.

3: Return the card to Newegg and get a different card altogether.


Your thoughts?

[Addictedtokaos]

You should download BlueScreenView Blue screen of death (STOP error) information in dump files. and try and pin point what DLL or sys files are causing the issue or at least post back with the BSOD info here.

But if you didnt change anything after installing the card and the day it ran fine (no tweaks), then its sounding like a heat issue. You reboot, the card cools and temps stay low until you get into windows.

Download GPUZ and see what your temps are. in and out of games. If your temps are high at your 2d clock then it may explain where your BSOD are comming from.

Another thing, are you running dual monitors?

If this card is within the 30-days I would return it to newegg.

[Epimetheus]

Thanks for the tips...

I'm running a single projector at WXGA resolution 60hz

Downloaded both suggested apps and ran Bluescreenview first - interestingly, it highlights three files from the dumps: atikmpag.sys (expected), and dxgkrnl.sys and dxgmms1.sys (unexpected). Updated Directx9c on the windows website... crossing fingers.

also installed gpuz - GPU is 28, other readings are GPU #1 is 28.5, GPU #2 is 25.5 and GPU #3 is 27.5


Windows started up no problem just now - without having to go through my 5 step process... I'm a little hesitant to reboot right now to see if the Directx9c update did anything...

[Addictedtokaos]

Temps look good at idle but what about in games?

Hopefully the DX9c does fix it. I personally would reboot because I like to know if what I did resolved my issue or I need to keep diggin ;)

[Epimetheus]

put it under load - 33 degrees (about what I expected with 2 360mm radiators)

going to reboot... crossing fingers.

[Epimetheus]

No dice... bsod on first boot - chugged at second boot (windows background was loading one-slow-pixel-block-at-a-time and the mouse was non-responsive. It was either the fastest freeze I've ever seen, or the slowest boot). <--frustrated twitch.

Sending the following to Powercolor tech support.

-Getting a blue-screen on windows start-up 9 times out of 10 since installing my LCS 6970 - successful startup is hit and miss, mostly miss.

-When Windows starts up that one time out of 10 without a blue screen, everything will either work perfectly or slow to a painful crawl. On the rare occasion when things do start-up and run well, benchmarking gives decent results and temperatures remain steady at 33C under load according to gpuz.

-Blue screen is too scrambled to see any information about what driver file is likely causing problems; however, “Blue screen view" by Nirsoft (thanks to hardware canucks for the tip) highlights atikmpag.sys, dxgkrnl.sys and dxgmms1.sys

-my old card, a Biostar VA5775NHG1, works.

-Windows safe-mode works.

- Although it’s no guarantee for success; the likelihood of Windows loading without a blue screen on start-up improves when I:
1) Enter safe mode
2) Delete the video card drivers using hardware manager and run guru3d driver sweeper in safe-mode
3) Reboot using standard windows VGA drivers
4) Reinstall the drivers using hardware manager, and
5) Reboot

My computer consists of:

-Powercolor LCS 6970
-Windows 7 64bit sp1, fresh install
-Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 (socket 775) with latest non-beta firmware, no over-clock
-8Gig DDR2 patriot memory
-Corsair AX850 PSU
-Q9300 CPU
-120Gig OCZ Agility 2 SSD drive in AHCI mode
-LG 10x Blu-Ray Burner / DVD-RW SATA w/Light-scribe
-Seagate 1Tb SATA II drive
-Optima WXGA projector connected by DE-15 (VGA) cable at 1280x800 60hz

I’ve tried:

-re-seating the card and power connectors
-formatted drives and re-installed windows (act of desperation)
-reset the bios on the motherboard to default, changed only AHCI disk mode and “no floppy seek”
-installed various driver versions with windows hardware manager, AMD’s most recent software/driver install package, as well as the software/driver install package on the Powercolor website.
-updated Directx9c from the Microsoft website
-removed the SSD and installed on a Seagate Sata II drive (another act of desperation)

ps... now nothing I do will get it to run outside of either safe mode or standard VGA drivers... replaced it with my old card for the time being. hopefully Powercolor comes through with a fix.