Alright deep breath here:
(Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit btw)
Today I installed Star Craft 2 Beta. After trying to log in, it had some issues where it said my device stopped working (referring to my video device I have to imagine). After I force quit the game there were some random "hot" (various colors if i remember correctly) pixels on the screen. I decided to reboot and try again with similar results.
I figured that maybe my display drivers could stand to be updated (I don't frequently update them as I don't often run into problems). I went out to nVidia's website and grabbed the latest drivers for Windows 7 64 bit GeForce 9 series. (I have SLi-ed 9800 GTs). Everything seemed to install fine and I performed the restart.
This is when things went from bad (can't play SC2 beta ;) ) to worse (can't boot into windows!).
Initially the very first splash screen - I think it's the bios splash screen - had lines of colored pixels covering it. It then displayed a screen that had lots of "(" on it. After that it showed the normal windows 7 splash screen as if it were going to load into Windows. Before getting much further, it BSODed on me.
It was a 0x0000003B stop error. At nvlddmkm.sys. A little digging let verified that this was a problem with an nVidia graphics device, not a real shocker.
Windows decided it would try to help me diagnose the problem, which it's only answer to was a System Restore, which did nothing to alleviate the problem.
I was able to boot up fine in safe mode and was not able to roll back the driver, however I did uninstall the driver and reboot. I still had the graphical anomalies during the first two screens (same colored "."'s and weird "("'s), but there was NOT a stop error.
Windows loaded up, found a default driver for the device and installed it and I restarted to let it load - and had yet another BSOD Stop error.
Repeat driver uninstall, this time I reloaded the same version (I think it's possible that I was running a 32 bit version or a vista versus windows 7 version, but I don't have that information handy) of the nVidia driver from their website.
Restart, same anomalies, same Stop Error.
I am at a loss - At this point all I can think is that the firmware for the Video cards got fried or there's actual damage to the cards which I sincerely hope is not the case but the sooner I know the better.
Any insight into what I might be able to do to troubleshoot/fix this problem would be most helpful.
Attached below is a dump from DxDiag.
Please let me know if there is more info that I could provide.
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 3/18/2010, 23:22:48
Machine name: BRIAN-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc
System Model: XPS 630i
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8190MB RAM
Page File: 1855MB used, 14521MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 32bit Unicode
DxDiag Previously: Crashed in DirectShow (stage 1). Re-running DxDiag with "dontskip" command line parameter or choosing not to bypass information gathering when prompted might result in DxDiag successfully obtaining this information
------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)
---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name:
Manufacturer:
Chip type:
DAC type:
Device Key: Enum\
Display Memory: n/a
Dedicated Memory: n/a
Shared Memory: n/a
Current Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (1Hz)
Driver Name:
Driver File Version: ()
Driver Version:
DDI Version: unknown
Driver Model: unknown
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: , 0 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
Device Identifier: {D7B70EE0-4340-11CF-B123-B03DAEC2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x0000
Device ID: 0x0000
SubSys ID: 0x00000000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Driver Strong Name: Unknown
Rank Of Driver: Unknown
Video Accel:
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
D3D9 Overlay: n/a
DXVA-HD: n/a
DDraw Status: Not Available
D3D Status: Not Available
AGP Status: Not Available
-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_10280249&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5667 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
Date and Size: 8/18/2008 04:05:28, 1485592 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0x0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_10280249&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5667 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
Date and Size: 8/18/2008 04:05:28, 1485592 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0x0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Description: Realtek HDMI Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_10280249&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5667 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
Date and Size: 8/18/2008 04:05:28, 1485592 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0x0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5667 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 8/18/2008 04:05:28, 1485592 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x0
Format Flags: 0x0
Description: Realtek Digital Input (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Capture: No
Default Voice Capture: No
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5667 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 8/18/2008 04:05:28, 1485592 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x0
Format Flags: 0x0
-------------------
DirectInput Devices
-------------------
Device Name: Mouse
Attached: 1
Controller ID: n/a
Vendor/Product ID: n/a
FF Driver: n/a
Device Name: Keyboard
Attached: 1
Controller ID: n/a
Vendor/Product ID: n/a
FF Driver: n/a
Device Name: ESA FW Update
Attached: 1
Controller ID: 0x0
Vendor/Product ID: 0x0955, 0x000A
FF Driver: n/a
Poll w/ Interrupt: No
-----------
USB Devices
-----------
+ USB Root Hub
| Vendor/Product ID: 0x10DE, 0x026D
| Matching Device ID: usb\root_hub
| Service: usbhub
|
+-+ USB Input Device
| | Vendor/Product ID: 0x0955, 0x000A
| | Location: Port_#0002.Hub_#0001
| | Matching Device ID: generic_hid_device
| | Service: HidUsb
| |
| +-+ HID-compliant device
| | | Vendor/Product ID: 0x0955, 0x000A
| | | Matching Device ID: hid_device
| |
+-+ USB Input Device
| | Vendor/Product ID: 0x046D, 0xC01E
| | Location: Port_#0003.Hub_#0001
| | Matching Device ID: generic_hid_device
| | Service: HidUsb
| |
| +-+ HID-compliant mouse
| | | Vendor/Product ID: 0x046D, 0xC01E
| | | Matching Device ID: hid_device_system_mouse
| | | Service: mouhid
----------------
Gameport Devices
----------------
------------
PS/2 Devices
------------
+ Standard PS/2 Keyboard
| Matching Device ID: *pnp0303
| Service: i8042prt
|
+ Terminal Server Keyboard Driver
| Matching Device ID: root\rdp_kbd
| Upper Filters: kbdclass
| Service: TermDD
|
+ Terminal Server Mouse Driver
| Matching Device ID: root\rdp_mou
| Upper Filters: mouclass
| Service: TermDD
------------------------
Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
------------------------
Drive: C:
Free Space: 324.3 GB
Total Space: 608.4 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD64 00AAKS-75A7B SCSI Disk Device
Drive: D:
Free Space: 1.0 GB
Total Space: 2.0 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD64 00AAKS-75A7B SCSI Disk Device
Drive: E:
Model: TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F SCSI CdRom Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7600.16385 (English), , 0 bytes
--------------
System Devices
--------------
Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B7&SUBSYS_000010DE&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&18
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03AF&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&0A
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03A3&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&1&00
Driver: n/a
Name: NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0267&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&78
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B6&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&10
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03AE&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&09
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0272&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A3\3&2411E6FE&1&52
Driver: n/a
Name: NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0266&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&70
Driver: n/a
Name: LSI 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_11C1&DEV_5811&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_70\4&14591D7E&0&2880
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B5&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&06
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03AD&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&08
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0270&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&1&48
Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0265&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&68
Driver: n/a
Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0605&SUBSYS_062D10DE&REV_A2\4&4BABE2A&0&0028
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B4&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&07
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03AC&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&01
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_026F&SUBSYS_CB8410DE&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&1&80
Driver: n/a
Name: NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0264&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A3\3&2411E6FE&1&51
Driver: n/a
Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0605&SUBSYS_062D10DE&REV_A2\4&10BD3C89&0&0018
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B3&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&0E
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03AB&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&04
Driver: n/a
Name: Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_026E&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A3\3&2411E6FE&1&59
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard ISA bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0260&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A3\3&2411E6FE&1&50
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03BC&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&11
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B2&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&0D
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03AA&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&02
Driver: n/a
Name: Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_026D&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A3\3&2411E6FE&1&58
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03BA&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&12
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B1&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&0C
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03A9&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&03
Driver: n/a
Name: High Definition Audio Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_026C&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&1&81
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B8&SUBSYS_000010DE&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&28
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03B0&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&1&0B
Driver: n/a
Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03A8&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&1&05
Driver: n/a
Name: NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0269&SUBSYS_02491028&REV_A3\3&2411E6FE&1&A0
Driver: n/a
---------------
EVR Power Information
---------------
Current Setting: {5C67A112-A4C9-483F-B4A7-1D473BECAFDC} (Quality)
Quality Flags: 2576
Enabled:
Force throttling
Allow half deinterlace
Allow scaling
Decode Power Usage: 100
Balanced Flags: 1424
Enabled:
Force throttling
Allow batching
Force half deinterlace
Force scaling
Decode Power Usage: 50
PowerFlags: 1424
Enabled:
Force throttling
Allow batching
Force half deinterlace
Force scaling
Decode Power Usage: 0
