[RESOLVED] Video Controller (VGA Compatible) Driver to replace existing NVIDA Graphic Driver ?

[slickcondo]

The Basic Info
My laptop is a Sony VAIO VGN-SZ583N, running Windows XP Pro with SP3 and Internet Explorer 7. This has a switch for 2 graphic mode - a setting for SPEED and the other for STAMINA. I rarely use the Stamina mode.

In STAMINA mode, under Device Manager, the Display Adapters listed are:
1) Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family and its Property, it says the location is: PCI Bus 0, Device 2, Function 0
2) Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family and its Property, it says the location is: PCI Bus 0, Device 2, Function 1

Both Drivers versions are the same, which is 6.14.10.4847

The Problem at the early stage
Recently when I started it up, I either get some colored streaks on the screen or at times the blue screen of death error screen will appear.

Checking on the internet, I have found that the nv4-disp is a graphics driver which on my laptop is the NVIDIA Geforce 8400M GS version.

The Problem in the next few days
This got progressively worse over the days until such time that I can't see anything as these streaks got worse or just stayed on the screen or at times the blue screen of death error message will appear saying there is a problem with the nv4_disp error. Sometimes, it takes several restart before the blue screen error appears.

The Blue Screen of Death Error Message
Problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
Problem seems to be caused by the following file: nv4_disp
If this is the first time you’ve seen this stop error screen, restart your computer.

If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
The device driver got stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates 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.
Technical information:

** STOP: 0x000000EA (0x8A4803C8, 0x88FFD500, 0xBA4EFCBC, 0x00000001)

nv4_disp

beginning dump of physical memory xxxx

physical memory dump complete

contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance

More Info
Before it got to the stage where I can't read the text anymore and at times the blue screen of death appeared, I tried to reinstall the drive several times, but without success as the problem still persisted

And here is the kicker - when I set it in STAMINA mode, everything works fine. The only problem about this mode is that the text are so small that I could hardly read them properly, depending if the text is a Windows text, Message tax or the text that appears on the Inactive or Active Icon panel, but the worst is on the side panel of each page with the blue background. Not sure what this part is called - side panel ? But I hope you get the idea about the text. Even the text are not 100% black, but more like grey, in some parts when the setting said they are black which adds to the difficulty in reading them.

I have tried all the available settings in various combination and still could not rectify this to a acceptable and readable situation where the text can be read without having to use a magnifying glass or look at it close up to the screen.

But in this graphic mode, I reformatted the hard drive and reinstall Windows and all the Sony drivers, except the NIVDIA driver as this need to be installed when the switch is set to SPEED MODE. But when I switch to the SPEED mode to install the driver, the screen appears fine, but once the NVIDIA graphic is installed, the screen problem reappeared.

Please Help !!
It seems that without the graphic driver installed, at least it appear to work okish But about 20 or so minutes, is started to turned the screen into what looks like a scratched or "rusted" mirror - some parts are lighter in color and/or other colors than others and the item on these parts becomes unreadable. But after a few minutes, it returned back to look like it rectified itself. Then this will repeat itself.

Also without the NVIDIA graphic driver installed, the scrolling of the screen is jerky.

I think that if someone here can give me an alternative or a replacement graphic driver for the NVIDIA, I might be able to resolve this problem. Of course, any other suggestions are most welcome. But please bear in mind that I am not novice in computing. So please make the instruction as easy as possible.

Many thanks for your help and suggestions in advanced.

[slickcondo]

UPDATE:
What ? No one has any ideas or suggestions on how to resolve this ? How disappointing and what a let down This must be the first on here ? Or is my description of the problem too complicated or confusing ? If so, apologies for this as I thought the way I set it out would give a clearer idea what has been happening and hope you'd ask what you want to know. But so far...
So sad, but still hoping....

[jdc2000]

What happens if you remove the nVidia driver completely and use the standard VGA driver only? If you still get issues, then you likely have a hardware problem.

[slickcondo]

Hi jdc2000 - thanks for your response.
I have removed the NVIDEA driver using Uninstall in Device Manager and the problem is still there. At first, it worked ok for about 20 or 30 minutes, then the symptom started. That was yesterday and today, the symptoms are there right from the start on logging in.

So what is the likely hardware problem causing this, given that when I am in Stamina mode, everything works ok except I didn't like the graphics offered by the Intel chipset in terms of the text sizes, etc as described in my original post ? How do I go about isolating what cause this problem ?

[SpywareDr]

Sounds like it may be an overheating problem.

[jdc2000]

Possible causes:

1. Video adapter overheating and/or cooling fan(s) not working

2. Bad connection to display panel

3. Bad display panel

[Midknyte]

NVIDIA Geforce 8400M GS version.

That chipset is infamous for failing. It could very well be a bad motherboard.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...a-g84-g86s-bad

[slickcondo]

SpywareDr and jdc2000 - you both said that it could be the fan that is causing this problem. But I can hear the fan going every now and then. Besides, when I am using the laptop on the STAMINA graphic mode (which I think is using the Intel Mobile chipset), everything seems to be working ok, except that I can't seem to get the display text on some part, the way I wanted it, especially the text, no matter how I adjust the setting. Because of this, I think it is also not a bad connection to the display or the display itself that is causing this problem - agree ?

Midknnyte - thanks for the link. interesting article tho depressing. So what should I do ? But regarding the motherboard, do you think that could be the problem if as again on the STAMINA mode setting, everything seems to work ok ?

It seems that there are also a lot of people having this same problem with NVIDA when I was googling for a solution to this problem. But can't find the answer there

But so as not to leave anything to chance, how do I go about testing these possible area that seems to be the cause - the fan, display connection and the motherboard ?

Sorry guys, I don't seem to be able to use the Reply With Quote as it just keep buffering and nothing else happened.

[SpywareDr]

I have removed the NVIDEA driver ... and the problem is still there.

That eliminates NVIDEA as the problem then.

it worked ok for about 20 or 30 minutes, then the symptom started.

Sounds like it may be getting to hot.

I can hear the fan going every now and then.

Would that be because it's having a hard time spinning?

when I am using the laptop on the STAMINA graphic mode ... everything seems to be working ok

Right, but when you kick it into SPEED mode it heats up.

[slickcondo]

Good points Doc ! But it also happened right from the start when I login ie the bad screen and this is everytime now. It was ok only on occasions - like having a lucky moments amd this could be either 20 or 15 minutes after login or immediately on login and then it went bad again in about 3 ro 4 minutes But of late, it does not work anymore - ie give a good screen. However, just to be sure, how do I go about testing the fan ?

I've just heard from Sony who said it could be the Hard Drive or the RAM because I could not access the Recovery Partition to recover the NVIDA driver and because of the blue sceen of death with the error message saying the cause is the nv4-disp. But have already deleted the Recovery Partition when I downgrade this laptop from Vista to XP and also replaced the HDD to a bigger capacity over a year ago !

[jdc2000]

To eliminate RAM issues as a potential cause, you could run some memory test software.

Also, you could check the BIOS to see if there is a temperature and fan monitor there. If not, something like SpeedFan might work.

[SpywareDr]

You may want to download and burn the Ultimate Boot CD to CD. It has all the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utilities, memory (RAM) tests, plus much more. Simply boot your computer from this CD and select the utility you want to run.

Note: If you aren't sure who made the hard drive in your computer, Seagate's Seatools will work with most any make of drive.

The following instructions may prove helpful for burning the UBCD .iso file to disc:

How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD or DVD?

[slickcondo]

jdc2000 and Doc - I've download and ram Speedfan and all the temperatures range between 40C to 44C. No sure if this is above the normal range or is overheating ?

I've also ran the Ultimate Boot CD and the test said there is no error for the RAM and HardDrive. But I ran this test in the STAMNIA mode as now, even on booting in SPEED mode, the screen can't be read as it is now like a "tearing" sympton on a television screen that has really bad reception or without an aerial and the text can't be read.

What's the next step please ?

[jdc2000]

The temps are not excessive, and all other tests do not show any issues. Based on Midknyte's article, I think the next step is to start looking for a new laptop. Even if you find another inexpensive motherboard to replace yours, it will still have the same chip, and isn't going to last if it even works at all.

[slickcondo]

The temps are not excessive, and all other tests do not show any issues. Based on Midknyte's article, I think the next step is to start looking for a new laptop. Even if you find another inexpensive motherboard to replace yours, it will still have the same chip, and isn't going to last if it even works at all.

How does a bad motherboard gives a good working screen on one graphic mode using one graphic adapter and not the other ? Can you please clarify as I am confsed.

Is there a way to wrok round the need for the specific built in NVIDA graphic driver and use another ? I ask this because at one stage, I was able to get it working with another NVIDA driver, but don't know how I got there and then thought that if that graphic driver works, maybe I should try the one that's built in to wrok again. But I don't know how I got there Yes, I did get a warning that the specific driver may not be compatible, but it worked tho not sure for how long had I let it instead of changing it.