# Nvlddmkm.sys BSOD on startup?



## Black Panther (Jul 23, 2008)

The problem is the laptop (specs in signature) not rig in system specs.

Sometimes when I switch it on, Vista loads normally.
Other times, just after the horizontal 'loading' bars and before the Vista orb appears, I get a BSOD of Nvlddmkm.sys or Nvlddmkm.dll then the laptop reboots, BSOD's, reboots... it can happen like 5 times!

I've been googling all morning but apparently there's no solution to this?

It does the BSOD only during startup. Once Vista loads, it never BSODs not even during a game.


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## thoughtdisorder (Jul 23, 2008)

It's an NVIDIA issue. What are the stock settings for your ram?


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## DrPepper (Jul 23, 2008)

I guess it will boot up in safe mode and not crash since its an nvidia driver issue and reinstalling all your drivers for chipset and that fixed it when it happened to me.


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## Black Panther (Jul 23, 2008)

thoughtdisorder said:


> It's an NVIDIA issue. What are the stock settings for your ram?



4-4-4-12
333Mhz

Yes it boots up in safe mode. Even in normal mode. I just powered it on and had no BSOD.

Should I install another gfx driver?
(lol I'm afraid to make the problem worse!)


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jul 23, 2008)

Which driver is it using?


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## DrPepper (Jul 23, 2008)

Black Panther said:


> 4-4-4-12
> 333Mhz
> 
> Yes it boots up in safe mode. Even in normal mode. I just powered it on and had no BSOD.
> ...



Uninstall and use an older one like 169.25


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## thoughtdisorder (Jul 23, 2008)

DrPepper said:


> Uninstall and use an older one like 169.25



+1. Try that, see what happens. If you google the issue it's apparent a lot of folks are having the same issue and have tried everything from new drivers to changing ram settings. Some work here but don't work there. Very odd....

<Example>


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## Black Panther (Jul 23, 2008)

DrPepper said:


> Uninstall and use an older one like 169.25



lol, the one I have is older than that, 167.62

Maybe I should try a newer one.


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## MilkyWay (Jul 23, 2008)

driver issue
ram issue
cpu issue
gpu issue

it can be bad driver, bad overclocks on ram or cpu or the gpu itself would be a problem and a gpu bios flash iwthe the latest bios might fix it

i used to get that all the time i tried new drivers and it worked then i got it again and i found it to be the cpu

now all i get is bsod and i know it the god damn x2 5000 BE just why is stumping me


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## Black Panther (Jul 23, 2008)

This is interesting. I'll have a read...


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## Black Panther (Jul 24, 2008)

I noticed, that the nvldd... error happens only when I power up the laptop on battery. Might be a coincidence? Or maybe the computer doesn't like being powered up on battery while Sli is enabled...

I'll check it a couple of times more in the afternoon...

I checked the administrative error/maintenance logs (or whatever they're called in Vista) and this never happened to the seller, who appears to have powered up the notebook a lot of times in 3 days. Maybe he always powered it up on AC. (Probably since he was installing Vista, drivers, etc...)


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## Triprift (Jul 24, 2008)

I must admit my lappy bs about a month ago after i lossed power at the time i had it plugged in the mains for some reason it didnt like it. When are we gonna see the pics and benchies Panther? id love to see what that beast is capable off


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## Black Panther (Jul 24, 2008)

Triprift said:


> When are we gonna see the pics and benchies Panther? id love to see what that beast is capable off



Yes, I'll put up the pictures this afternoon because I'm at work now.

I had them ready the day before... but I forgot my camera at the other place! 

So far I haven't done serious benching. I've played Assassins' Creed - it appears to run better than my desktop! But fraps doesn't work with Ass. Creed so I can't compare the fps.

I checked that Vista score thingy (I'm still 'discovering' Vista ) and I get 5.8 in graphics and 5.9 for the other things (ram, cpu etc).
I ran SuperPi it was ~ 17 seconds for the 1M if I remember correctly?

Yesterday I wasted a lot of time trying to set up the internet... lol I am liking the Vista really but I still don't know how to navigate it - it seems it's got the same stuff like XP, only prettier... and put in the wrong places!!  So I'm always like "ohh so _here_ is where this is..."

Vista kept asking me for a driver for my modem... finally I called my ISP who told me that with Vista I can't connect modem by USB but only by ethernet cable.  So I have to get an ethernet cable... probably I got... somewhere....

Oh and is there a way where I can stop Vista asking me to confirm every action I want to take?  It was humorous really, once I got a popup where it told me I wasn't allowed to do something, and please press continue... and then it 'allowed' me... Duh!


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## Mussels (Jul 24, 2008)

Black Panther said:


> Vista kept asking me for a driver for my modem... finally I called my ISP who told me that with Vista I can't connect modem by USB but only by ethernet cable.  So I have to get an ethernet cable... probably I got... somewhere....
> 
> Oh and is there a way where I can stop Vista asking me to confirm every action I want to take?  It was humorous really, once I got a popup where it told me I wasn't allowed to do something, and please press continue... and then it 'allowed' me... Duh!



ethernet is a lot faster than USB anyway. USB is... well its the worst method to connect possible!

as for UAC, go to start->run (or hit windows R) and type  MSCONFIG. on the last tab, there is a 'disable UAC' option. click that then hit launch... on a reboot its gone.


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## Wile E (Jul 24, 2008)

Since it only does this on battery power, could it be a setting in power management/saving? Perhaps the SLI setup doesn't like some of the power saving settings? Set it to performance mode and see if it does it.


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## Black Panther (Jul 24, 2008)

I had checked, it is all on max performance.
I don't know but I read it somewhere that for battery power SLI should be disabled... I just don't remember where. It's not in the manual I think.

Well, if that's the only problem then it's not worrying. I wouldn't be gaming on battery anyway! I'll check and recheck to see if it _only_ does it on battery and not a coincidence...


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## LiveOrDie (Jul 24, 2008)

i had this problem befor its not the CPU it was the video card or ram try using one stick at a time


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## WhiteLotus (Jul 24, 2008)

this is going to suck BP if it is a RAM issue. I hope it just a driver because that would suck having to send it back etc.

Also Ass Creed rocks!


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## Wile E (Jul 24, 2008)

If it was bad ram, I would just buy a knew kit if I were her, instead of sending it back, after all the stress the poor woman went thru waiting for the thing to arrive. lol.


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## Triprift (Jul 24, 2008)

Thats some great numbers for the Windows experience index considering the highest score ya can get is 5.9 for each. My lappy gets an overall score of 4.6 for comparison and the super pi ones not to shabby either.


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## Black Panther (Jul 24, 2008)

I checked and re-checked and re-checked.

The BSOD/Reboot only happens if:
1) I power up on battery; and
2) I have SLi enabled.

If I power up on battery with SLi disabled I don't get a BSOD.
If I power up on AC power (whether SLi is disabled or not) I don't get a BSOD.
If I power up on battery with SLi enabled, I get 4 BSODs out of every 5 attempts.

Now if only I can remember where on earth I read that the D901C must not be powered on by battery if SLi is enabled.........  I'll do a quick search...

Btw, I posted some photos in my other thread.


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## LiveOrDie (Jul 24, 2008)

Black Panther said:


> I checked and re-checked and re-checked.
> 
> The BSOD/Reboot only happens if:
> 1) I power up on battery; and
> ...



you mite not have the power to boot with sli, in the power setting should be set on laptop


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## Black Panther (Jul 24, 2008)

Live OR Die --- that appears to be the only logical explanation.



Mussels said:


> as for UAC, go to start->run (or hit windows R) and type  MSCONFIG. on the last tab, there is a 'disable UAC' option. click that then hit launch... on a reboot its gone.



That worked... but now I get a warning every time I boot saying that UAC is turned off, and the red shield warning in the taskbar.

Any idea how to turn _those_ off now? 

Ehhhhhh Vista!!!


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## Triprift (Jul 24, 2008)

yep go to control panel then security centre then click on change the way security centre alerts me and you can disable the msg and the icon from there.


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## Mussels (Jul 24, 2008)

Triprift said:


> yep go to control panel then security centre then click on change the way security centre alerts me and you can disable the msg and the icon from there.



^ he beat me to it.

you can actually get to the menu by clicking that prompt - i just disable all warnings.


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## Black Panther (Jul 24, 2008)

Thanks to both. 

I'm guessing I'd be needing a lot of Vista help........ 

Like getting a message and actually installing flashplayer. Then I'd get the same message again....

Also I keep benchmarks history on the internet at pcpitstop.com -- it's not allowing me to download the activeX thingie...

Well, I downloaded tweakguide's for Vista, and will be giving it a read tonight, so I'll try to hold on the questions!


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## Black Panther (Jul 25, 2008)

Suxxxx, it started doing it again randomly, whether on battery or not, Sli enabled or not. 

I think I'll update to the latest driver when I get home. I'm still using 167.26 (I think) dated January 2008. I hope I solve this!


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## DrPepper (Jul 25, 2008)

Changing the drivers for the gpu will probably fix it since it did with me


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## Triprift (Jul 25, 2008)

Yep id say that will solve ur probs panther fingers crossed for ya


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## Black Panther (Jul 25, 2008)

Thanks for the encouragement. I really wish this goes on well...

I just installed the latest driver from the Sager website 176.02. The guys with similar laptops on the forum.notebookreview.com have been running this one and the one before it with no problems. Hopefully it'll be the same with me.

Coincidentally I am going to Germany next September, on business, and if I keep having problems I'll catch a train to Dresden, notebook and all!

Another thing - I bought my RAM as Kingston HyperX 4-4-4-12
The latency is correct, but my RAM is running at 667Mhz   *Does that mean they've sold me slower RAM?* Or was it underclocked for some purpose???

Oh and the HDD's, instead of Seagate, they're Hitachi... 

Now which program can I check the rpm? (I'll check SIW) I ordered mine 7200rpm... if I find them 5400rpm I'll be getting very pi...ed


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## Mussels (Jul 25, 2008)

check the CPU-Z tab to see the speed of the ram. the memory tab says what its at, the SPD tab says what its capable of.

EG, 2GB of 667 + 2GB of 800 would run as 4GB of 667... or it could be 800 ram and the laptop could only support 667 as a max.


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## Black Panther (Jul 28, 2008)

Updated to 176.02 graphics driver.

Problem solved.


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## Triprift (Jul 28, 2008)

Awesome good to hear Panther now lets see what benchy scores ya get


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## Mussels (Jul 28, 2008)

woot woot panther!

its seriously the best laptop i've ever seen, you should go post in the 'rate the system above you' thread.


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## eidairaman1 (Jul 28, 2008)

nvidia driver fault, there is also a recall on certain video chips from the laptop makers, you may want to check yours to see if it makes that list


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## Black Panther (Jul 28, 2008)

To say the truth, I changed the driver last Friday.

I had ran 3Dmark06 on the old driver first. I don't remember the exact score but it was ~ 136XX Marks.

After installing the new 176.02 driver, I ran 3DMark06 again and my score was ~ 10K 

Lol then I realised I was running with SLi disabled.

I tried 3DMark again, and after the test finished it wouldn't let me upload and I didn't know how to get the score lol.

I'll run 3DMark again this afternoon to check my score with SLi enabled.


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## Triprift (Jul 28, 2008)

great scores Panther i think if i remember correctly i got 3k odd with my lappy and agreed mussels best lappy seen period


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