Screen has random blackouts (close to a fix)

[Fido-X]

Hello everyone, i've got a very persistent problem. My screen randomly goes into something like screensavermode then system is hanging and i have to restart. (Screensaver is disabled as well as turn off monitor and turn off HDD settings).

When i immediately restart without waiting around 10 minutes, then screen has a blackout before desktop loads, after the windows startup menu - this is a pattern that repeats. However everything worked fine before i installed the NVIDIA display driver which means that my hardware ain't failing. I oftenly get an error before desktop icons appear it says how something is wrong with my display settings and/or display adapter and then switches to lowest resolution and colour depth and i have to switch it by hand to the real values. I went to Device Manager to find all works fine. Then it works for a while and a blackout happens. This is going on almost 2 months. I wanted to fix it myself so i gathered data and patterns on how that happens. I checked all hardware for damage, leaky or bulging capacitors, but all is fine. I think that A FIX IS NEAR but i can't figure it on my own.

Things i've tried and didn't work:

1. Installed MSD ran it from pure DOS, wrote down and excluded memoryadresses in CONFIG.SYS and then in SYSTEM.INI. (Video and all other ROM).

2. Disabled all memory.

3. Downloaded Maximus Decim's NVIDIA Driver (latest) this driver has sameissues and also screen resolution couldn't be set to 1024x768 (Monitor Default).

So i returned to my Forceware 81.98 driver. (Resolution has nothing to do with blackouts).

4. Removed Silicon Image Sil 3112A PCI to SATA Adapter. Also i changed the slot.

5. Installed Windows 98 SE on another Hard Drive, it WORKED FINE UNTILL I ADDED NVIDIA DISPLAY DRIVER this time Maximus Decim's release. Then the random blackouts started. Just like with Forceware 81.98 version.

6. Booted into safe mode, blackouts are back.

7. Ran MEMTEST BOOTABLE CD FOR 10 Hours MORE THAN ONCE. NEVER A SINGLE ERROR. 

8. Installed Q926247 (Memory Corruption Fix) After installing this, i noticed 2 things: Slow boot time. And it asked me to add more STACKS IN CONFIG.SYS. Also Since i installed Q926247, I GOT EVEN MORE BLACKOUTS AND RANDOM FREEZING.

9. Downloaded and installed RLOEW'S KERNEL32.DLL (Replaced them from pure DOS). When i restarted a Windows protection error showed up. I restarted again. Same thing. I had something urgent so i went away. After 1 hour i switched PC on, same thing. I removed KERNEL32.DLL from DOS and put back the original one. Protection error was gone and blackouts are back as usual.

Later that day i tried RLOEW'S KERNEL32.DLL on Intel  motherboard with Pentium 2, it works fine.

10. Took the PC apart, cleaned all parts, reinstalled them back in.

NOTE: THESE CONFIG.SYS AND SYSTEM.INI ARE IN USE FOR TROUBLESHOOTING PURPOSE. SHOWN BELOW ARE THE LATEST CHANGES I MADE TO THEM. My NORMAL files have more lines in them. CLICK "Reveal hidden contents" to see the whole text.

 

My CONFIG.SYS:

DOS=HIGH,UMB 
;DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS 
;DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE X=C000-CE7F X=D000-DFFF ON NOHI NOEMS NOTR NOMOVEXBDA VERBOSE
;STACKS=16,256

BREAK=ON

FILES=60

STACKS=0,0

My SYSTEM.INI:

[boot]

oemfonts.fon=vgaoem.fon

shell=Explorer.exe

system.drv=system.drv

drivers=mmsystem.dll power.drv

user.exe=user.exe

gdi.exe=gdi.exe

sound.drv=mmsound.drv

dibeng.drv=dibeng.dll

comm.drv=comm.drv

mouse.drv=mouse.drv

keyboard.drv=keyboard.drv

*DisplayFallback=0

fonts.fon=vgasys.fon

fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon

386Grabber=vgafull.3gr

display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv

[keyboard]

keyboard.dll=

oemansi.bin=

subtype=

type=4

[boot.description]

system.drv=Standard PC

mouse.drv=Standard mouse

keyboard.typ=Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard

aspect=100,96,96

display.drv=Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA)

[386Enh]

MaxPhysPage=1EBFF

DualDisplay=ON

EMMExclude=A000-FFFF

;Rem TShoot: MaxPhysPage=1FEFF

;PerVMFiles=60

;MinTimeSlice=40

;MinSPs=16

;ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1

;PageBuffers=32

32BitDiskAccess=ON

;DMABufferSize=64

ebios=*ebios

woafont=dosapp.fon

mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd

device=*dynapage

device=*vcd

device=*vpd

device=*int13

device=*enable

keyboard=*vkd

display=*vdd,*vflatd

;EMMExclude=C000-CFFF,C000-CFFF

device=convmem.vxd

[NonWindowsApp]

TTInitialSizes=4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22

[power.drv]

[drivers]

wavemapper=*.drv

MSACM.imaadpcm=*.acm

MSACM.msadpcm=*.acm

midi=mmsystem.dll

wave=mmsystem.dll

[iccvid.drv]

[mciseq.drv]

[mci]

cdaudio=mcicda.drv

sequencer=mciseq.drv

waveaudio=mciwave.drv

avivideo=mciavi.drv

videodisc=mcipionr.drv

vcr=mcivisca.drv

MPEGVideo=mciqtz.drv

MPEGVideo2=mciqtz.drv

[vcache]

MinFileCache=65536

MaxFileCache=65536

ChunkSize=2048

[MSNP32]

[Password Lists]

********=C:\WINDOWS\********.PWL

[drivers32]

msacm.lhacm=lhacm.acm

VIDC.VDOM=vdowave.drv

MSACM.imaadpcm=imaadp32.acm

MSACM.msadpcm=msadp32.acm

MSACM.msgsm610=msgsm32.acm

msacm.msg711=msg711.acm

MSACM.trspch=tssoft32.acm

vidc.CVID=iccvid.dll

VIDC.IV31=ir32_32.dll

VIDC.IV32=ir32_32.dll

vidc.MSVC=msvidc32.dll

VIDC.MRLE=msrle32.dll

msacm.msg723=msg723.acm

vidc.M263=msh263.drv

vidc.M261=msh261.drv

VIDC.IV50=ir50_32.dll

msacm.iac2=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IAC25_32.AX

VIDC.YUY2=msyuv.dll

VIDC.UYVY=msyuv.dll

VIDC.YVYU=msyuv.dll

vidc.ffds=ff_vfw.dll

VIDC.VP60=vp6vfw.dll

VIDC.VP61=vp6vfw.dll

VIDC.VP62=vp6vfw.dll

VIDC.VP70=vp7vfw.dll

msacm.l3fhg=mp3fhg.acm

vidc.XVID=xvidvfw.dll

VIDC.HFYU=huffyuv.dll

vidc.iv41=Ir41_32.ax

vidc.i263=i263_32.drv

VIDC.YV12=yv12vfw.dll

msacm.ac3acm=ac3acm.acm

msacm.ac3filter=ac3filter.acm

msacm.vorbis=vorbis.acm

msacm.lameacm=lameACM.acm

msacm.divxa32=divxa32.acm

msacm.msaudio1=msaud32.acm

msacm.sl_anet=sl_anet.acm

msacm.l3acm=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\L3CODECA.ACM

[TTFontDimenCache]

0 4=2 4

0 5=3 5

0 6=4 6

0 7=4 7

0 8=5 8

0 9=5 9

0 10=6 10

0 11=7 11

0 12=7 12

0 13=8 13

0 14=8 14

0 15=9 15

0 16=10 16

0 18=11 18

0 20=12 20

0 22=13 22

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-7VAX 1GHZ (underclocked)

AMD ATHLON XP

RAM: 512MB (2x256 DDRAM Sticks) In SYSTEM.INI MaxPhysPage=1EBFF (492MB)

Video Adapter: NVIDIA Geforce 440 MX 64 MB AGP 8X

Video Adapter Drivers: Forceware 81.98 (Latest) and Unofficiall Maximus Decim's NVIDIA Display driver (Latest Version) (BOTH WITH SAME PROBLEM)

Monitor: Samsung Sync Master 753S 1024x768 16 and 32 bit Color (CRT)

PCI Adapter Slots: (One slot used) PCI to SATA Adapter Silicon Image Sil 3112A

System: Windows 98 Second Edition 4.10.2222A English

I work with and built PC's more than a decade and don't remember having this much trouble. Which Patches and Hotfixes do i need? I'm gonna reinstall Windows 98 SE on a reformated drive after a while. What steps do you  reccomend before, during and after Windows Setup since it is going to be on the same hardware like now? I have Autopatcher for Win 98 SE June 2007 and i will try to download what i dont have. Thank you in advance.

Fido-X

 

Edited June 21, 2016 by Tripredacus
fixed title

[jaclaz]

Have you checked the EDID? (cannot say if it applies to win 9x/Me), anyway some reference:
 

jaclaz

 

[Tripredacus]

Changed the topic title.

[pangoomis]

For NVIDIA Geforce 440 MX use ONLY the 45.23 drivers, not other version.

This version gives SIGNIFICANTLY better performance and eliminates ANY problems associated with later drivers, especially the 8x.xx drivers.

This conclusion is based on my experience with the exact same card.

Get them from this direct link:

http://http.download.nvidia.com/Windows/45.23/45.23_win9x_english.exe

[Fido-X]

MrMateczko, thanks for the driver info and link, i downloaded the driver you provided. When i tried to uninstall my Forceware 81.98 driver, i had a strange error (this time DRWATSON captured the error. I got a similar error when i uninstalled Maximus Decim's NVIDIA driver. So i deleted what i could from pure DOS, manually and then used Nasty File Remover and cleaned the registry. The files were in: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\.

The error: "NVIDIA Uninstaller utility performed an invalid memory access.

Module Name:NVUDISP.EXE

Description:NVIDIA UNINSTALLER UTILITY

Version:1,0,1,41

Product:NVIDIA Corporation

Manufacturer:NVIDIA Corporation

..................

Windows KB918547 EXE component has altered Windows system files.

Module Name: KB918547 EXE

Description: Windows KB918547 EXE component

Version:4.10.2224

Product: Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System

Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation"

What could it be? That could be the key troublemaker.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Fido-X

[schwups]

Quote

The error: "NVIDIA Uninstaller utility performed an invalid memory access.
 

The Driver Cleaner Pro 1.5 works.
 

[Fido-X]

Installed NVIDIA 45.23 driver, rebooted then set up nview. This driver works, when i wanted to uninstall it (solely to see if it throws invalid memory access error) it uninstalled fine. Then i used again all Nasty File Remover and checked (all was fine) and deleted all *.CAB files in C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP\. Then cleaned registry with Easeus Registry Cleaner and rebooted. Display worked fine. (I did all above to check that cause is the driver.) Installed NVIDIA 45.23 Driver and set up nview. Works for now with error in DXDIAG (the error was present with Forceware 81.98 and Maximus Decim's driver. The error:

"DDraw Test Result: Not run

D3D7 Test Result: Failure at step 8 (Creating 3D Device): HRESULT = 0x80004005 (Generic failure)

D3D8 Test Result: Failure at step 8 (Creating 3D Device): HRESULT = 0x8876086c (error code)

D3D9 Test Result: Failure at step 8 (Creating 3D Device): HRESULT = 0w8876086c (error code)"

I got DIRECTX 9.0c installed and working.

I ran some video games to stress the video adapter to the max:

Battlefield 1942, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (with Fritzbot), Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament G.O.T.Y. 1999, Unreal Tournament 2004 ALL VIDEO SETTINGS SET TO THE MAX. THE GAMES ARE FLYING ON THIS COMPUTER! (They use OPEN GL) And also are UNPLAYABLE IF ANYTHING SET TO USE DIRECT 3D. (I don't buy/build new PC'S because some crappy game/s dont work. I also don't care about new video games. I just sometimes play games that work on my pc so games that work will be played and games that don't work don't ever have to work.) Could Direct 3D be causing the Blackouts? Desktop is now set to 1024x768 and 16-bit High Color

No blackouts (for now).

Edited June 23, 2016 by Fido-X

[pangoomis]

The 8x.xx uninstallers are broken, I should have mentioned that :/

Weird to see the Direct3D errors, DxDiag works fine with my MX440.

I think it might have something to do with the VIA chipset in you motherboard, are all the VIA drivers installed correctly? Especially the GART driver which provides proper AGP support.

[Fido-X]

JUST HAD A BLACKOUT! While the pc was idle for about a hour monitor worked. When i moved the mouse screen went black.

Strange but when i play video games, it works fine.

Also i'm using rloew's KERNEL32.DLL - since yesterday i figured that i'm getting a windows protection error which fixes itself (now i get it, after restart it's gone)  no device or driver was mentioned in it.

Gigabyte GA-7VAX has Via 4 in 1 driver pack. That pack should have the GART driver. It's called "VIA Service Pack 4.43" I just installed VIA AGP driver. DXDIAG now successfuly tests Direct3D 7, 8 and 9.

I don't want to install other 3 drivers (they were installed when the blackouts started so later i removed them). at least untill i solve the blackout problem.

[pangoomis]

Can you test any other video card?

Maybe it is broken....

[Fido-X]

I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!

Just brought a small capacity hard drive (with no known problems) from another computer. It also has windows 98 se. In BIOS i switched boot device priority and  booted off this drive. When it started detecting hardware i refused to install drivers and when it got to PCI Multimedia Audio Device it stopped and MY SCREEN BLACKED OUT!

I restarted and again at same point it blacked out. 

Then, i booted to pure DOS and went to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM and renamed setupx.dll (to make Add New Hardware go away) , rebooted and just before desktop icons showed up i was "Greeted" with a error: "RUNDLL32 caused a general protection fault in module DESKCP16.DLL at 0003:00000223."

So Realtek Audio is causing all the mayhem!?!?

[Fido-X]

I remember now that on this same motherboard i couldn't have USB 2.0 and Realtek Audio at the same time: if i installed usb first and then audio i was unable to boot because of setupx.dll error and if i installed audio driver and later add usb, i had to rename setupx.dll in order to boot. But now it seems that it selected to attack my nvidia card (i didn't get a setupx.dll error related to NVIDIA). And that's why screen randomly goes black. 

[pangoomis]

I guess the proper way to deal with this problem is to disable the sound card in the BIOS altogether and equip a PCI soundcard.

Or simple not to install the VIA USB 2.0 drivers at all.

Try using the NUSB unofficial USB 2.0 drivers here: http://www.mdgx.com/spx/NUSB.EXE

[Fido-X]

Yeah, that is the proper and i'm afraid ONLY way. I've looked in BIOS and there's a way to disable onboard audio.  I've found about 2 months ago a combined sound and network card with driver for windows 9x (but i thought i don't have to use it so now i have to search for it, it's in one of the boxes...) Are sound cards on today's market supporting Windows 9x and if not are there unofficial drivers and how do they work? Do you mean Maximus Decim's NUSB V3.1 OR 3.3 OR SOMETHING ELSE? His USB drivers are great but neither v3.1 nor v3.3 worked on this board. The USB driver i'm using is rloew's. Works fine and doesn't install (no setup...). It's sitting in C:\WINDOWS\INF\OTHER\. 

Thank you for the tip and link.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Fido-X

[rloew]

My free KERNEL32.DLL Patch is for files larger than 2GiB.
It should have no effect of any kind unless you were playing a video larger than 2GiB.