Suggestion for Infinite Loop Problem?

TubbyTubby Maryland
edited August 2006 in Hardware
Hello all. In WindowsXP lately I've been getting the infinite loop error. At least I think it is the error I've read about with AMD systems except I'm running an Intel solution. This is happening about twice a week and just while surfing the web or emailing. The desktop goes blank and then my resolution goes to 640x480 and I get an error message that ati2mag has caused an error. I reboot and all is back to normal. In checking the system event viewer there is an Event 108 error:

"The driver ati2dvag for the display device \Device\Video0 got stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates a problem with the device itself or with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly. Please check with your hardware device vendor for any driver updates."

My specs:

WindowsXP
DirectX 9.0b
Catalyst 3.7
Crucial 9700 Pro 128mb
Asus P4C800 Intel 875 chipset
1GB PC3700 ram

I've been running the 3.7's since they came out and this problem on starting occuring last week. Any ideas on how to fix?

Thanks,

- T

Comments

  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited October 2003
    I have never heard on a computer doing an infinite loop. I have made many an infinite loop in C++. Those are always fun until it takes all the RAM.
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited October 2003
    Wow. I've never heard of the Infinite loop error on ATI-based cards.

    AFAIK, it was only related to the older Detonator's on Windows XP and it didn't matter which platform you ran (Intel, AMD, Cyrix, etc.).

    Humm... what have you changed in your system in the last 7-10 days both hardware-wise and software-wise? Might just be a corrupted driver and I'll suggest following the Rage3D FoolProof Uninstall Guide to completely removing & reinstalling your ATI Catalyst display drivers.

    If that doesn't help, we'll try something else ;)
  • TubbyTubby Maryland
    edited October 2003
    Well SimGuy to be honest it started after the catalyst 3.8's but there are no remnants of those in there. I smartly made a partition image of my C: partition before installing the 3.8's. After I started getting the LCD monitor losing signal I restored the image I had which was using the 3.7s. Follow me so far? Every since then I've been getting this error with the 3.7s.

    Yes it is strange as this problem is only supposed to affect Nvidia users. ????
  • TubbyTubby Maryland
    edited October 2003
    Here's the screenie of right after it happened. Last time was on the 25th. Like I said I was writing email. Not hard fraggin' ;-)
  • ketoketo Occupied. Or is it preoccupied? Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Getting kicked to 640X480 is VERY reminiscent of the problem with the Granite Bay chipset (E7205), which did not officially support AGP 8X. The solution in that case was to set AGP to 4X in both bios (if possible) and the SMART GART, as well as turning Fast Writes OFF. This problem was specific to ATI cards, in particular 9700Pro's. I know, I have the Gigabyte Granite Bay board.

    I'm not saying this is the problem but, for the extremely minimal performance drop, you might want to try dropping AGP to 4X and see if it helps.

    Totally agree with SimGuy, remove (totally - first uninstall the drivers and control panel then reboot then delete the folders C:ATI and C: Program Files/ATI and registry entries HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE--> ATI keys then reboot) the ATI drivers and reinstall a fresh set. It's more than worth a try. :thumbsup: SimGuy is our resident video guru :respect:
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited October 2003
    http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/13113/
    http://www.techimo.com/forum/t80271.html
    http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/5402/?o=600
    http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=33719667&highlight=infinite+loop
    http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=33719467&highlight=infinite+loop
    http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=33710128&highlight=infinite+loop

    Looks like you aren't the only one with an I875P or I865P chipset-based motherboard having problems with the ATI infinite loop. Users with a 9500 Pro to a 9800 Pro all experience the same infinite loop error as you, with the same files, but it's random at best. Nobody can seem to duplicate the problems. They occur in both 2D mode and 3D mode.

    /me scratches head...
    I'm stumped on this one. You could try this exact list of instructions provided by someone at the thread mentioned above, but there are no guaruntees that it will work. However, it did work for that guy.
    i have the exact same video card, same mobo and same processor this is what worked for me. after doing all that my problem is fixed

    follow this exact procedure ,
    1)install 3.6 catalyst suite(drivers+control panel)

    2)uncheck disable write combining and the restart

    3)turn off fast writes(smartgart tab) restart again(if they were off already , turn then on and turn them bak off)

    4)uninstall the drivers and the control panel

    5)install 3.7 catalyst(drivers and control panel)

    6)verify that fast writes are off (if they are on turn them off)and enable write combining is not checked.

    i know this sounds weird and all that to do that whole thing but after doing all that in that exact order i have no trouble now, before i had the exact same problem as you,

    btw agp can be set at 4x or 8x either way i had no problems

    good luck hope it works out for you

    //Edit: It looks like people have been able to trace the problem to shoddy AGP8x support (although that doesn't explain it on the i875 or i865, as they both fully support AGP8x). Definately re-install the drivers and try throttling your card back to AGP4x and disabling fast-writes.
  • TubbyTubby Maryland
    edited October 2003
    Thanks guys. Just downloaded the 3.7 catalyst/control panel full install. I noticed that I had the 3.7s but somehow was running the 3.5 control panel?? Maybe that's what did it. Time will tell. Thanks for the info everyone. :-)
  • TubbyTubby Maryland
    edited November 2003
    I did get another loop error yesterday even after cleaning all drivers and loading the 3.7's and control panel from scratch.

    I dunno?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    first of all ...the infinite loop error is not specific to any video card ...I get it everytime I install my oxygen drivers ...I have a registry fix that cures it however.
    So ...would your mobo chipset happen to be VIA and are you running WindowsXP?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    I get infinite loop errors all the time after installing the cats because SmartGART forces FastWrites, and unless I turn it off then at some random point in Windows I will get an infinite loop.

    So make sure you have Fast Writes turned off in SmartGart, hopefully should work for you.

    NS
  • Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
    edited November 2003
    Woah i completely forgot about the Granite Bay chipset. I remember that was supposed to the nforce2 killer, but eventually was overshadowed by springdale / canterwood. Ahh, good times.
  • CAGCAG Boca Raton, Florida
    edited November 2003
    Tubby:

    Here's an article on the infinite loop http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64 I had one on my Sager laptop about 5 months ago (P4 2.4B, 1G RAM, ATI Mobility 9000). Machine hard-locked on about every game I played. Couldn't fix it. Sager RMA'd the machine and ended up replacing the mobo along with the RAM and the video card. Works great now.
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited November 2003
    yeah i have that exact same problem running a 9700pro AIW and an IS7... wierd stuff
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    yeah like NS said ...perhaps you should ditch the fast writes and give that a try.
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited November 2003
    My question is why these infinite loop errors happen to some people, yet other with the same configuration don't get these errors.

    If fast writes aren't compatible with ATI cards, why are they enabled and functioning 100% error & infinite-loop free on both systems I use? Is it because of the Intel chipsets?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Seems like it depends on the motherboard and the card, so there will be scenarios where it works and others where it doesn't.

    We should start a list of working ones....

    NS
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited November 2003
    Fast Writes Enabled, AGP8x on the i875, AGP4x on the i850E, ATI Catalyst Drivers Utilized & Windows XP Pro SP1. NEVER had a problem with the Infinite Loop problem on the following configurations:

    Sapphire Atlantis 9800 & Asus P4C800-E (i875)
    Sapphire Atlantis 9800 & ABit IC7-MAX3 (i875)
    Sapphire Atlantis 9800 Pro & Asus P4C800-E (i875)
    Sapphire Atlantis 9800 Pro & ABit IC7-MAX3 (i875)
    ATI Radeon 9700 Pro & Asus P4T533-C (i850E)
  • TubbyTubby Maryland
    edited November 2003
    Thanks for the response all. Yes I've been disabling fast writes for this reason and it still happens. I'm using a Crucial 9700 Pro and the mobo is an Asus P4C800 Deluxe (Canterwood Chipset) & WinXP pro.

    You know I hate to bring this up, but this problem didn't start until after the 3.8 cat fiasco. I've been using the 3.7s for a while and with no hardware change on my system everything has been running smooth. Before the 3.8 upgrade I used Drive Image and made an image of my primary partition as I always do prior to a big change of software or drivers. Installed the 3.8 and was getting the monitor losing it's signal. So to make a long story straight, I then re-imaged the drive with Drive Image that had the 3.7s installed. That's when this loop problem started. I dunno. I checked the card and fan and all seems ok. Was it damaged? Is the card just wore out? I dunno. It sure is strange though.

    I'll do some further reasearch and see if I can find anything. Thanks.
  • tsusurfanamitsusurfanami
    edited August 2006
    hey well there's that solution to update the cpu - agp controller driver with the pci - pci updater. but afterwards i still have a problem. my computer is fairly old, almost a year old. but the graphics card is probably stone age. i use a radeon 7500. dunno if its pro or not but does it matter? both suck. however, just a few months ago, i start playing games like splinter cell or nubacular drop and chip's challenge which i believe use opengl or whatever and my processor 1.7 ghz starts foaming at 100%. However, other of my games like Half-life 2 and Steam games from Valve dont have this processor hogging problem. While i was playing Nubacular Drop, after pressing both buttons, my processor probably overloaded and the apocalypse blue screen appeared saying ati2dvag has problem blah blah blah infinite loop and shut down windows to stop it from making damage blah blah. i reinstalled my ati drivers and i updated the cpu-agp controllers and when i rebooted my computer it said something like direct 3d cannot takeover window. This should never happen, so there's nothing you can do. WTH! well i showed IT. i reinstalled the ati driver and rebooted and now it works but it will still have the infinite loop problem. please help. i can't play nubacular drop. or splinter cell series. im thinking that somehow, the games have reverted to using the software renderer instead of using the hardware renderer and that's why my processor is going nuts. anyway how can i solve this?

    thanks so much,
    tsusurfanami
  • CAGCAG Boca Raton, Florida
    edited August 2006
    See if this is helpful:

    http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=9

    CAG
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