BSOD + visual anomalies + atikmdag.sys error

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon Drivers Section' started by Tarc, Jul 26, 2013.

  1. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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    BSOD + visual anomalies + atikmpag.sys error

    Hi all, could you please help me with my issue? I searched the web for hours but cannot find a definite/most possible reason (hardware? driver?)

    I'm about to buy a new videocard this afternoon but want to avoid it if it is not definitely a hardware fault

    What happened:

    - PC crashed in a game, textures and models went all over the place and performance slowly slowed down (cursor+response). Could not quit or Ctrl+Alt+Del either. Had to hard shut down with the PC switch.

    - Booting up.. Gives visual anomalies right before BIOS onwards: weird patterns (like when a monitor cable is loose).
    - I have dual boot, Vista and Win 7 x64
    a) Win 7:
    Gets to Win loading screen but the logo stops animating then gives BSOD :

    [​IMG]


    b) Vista: Appears to load but gives only a cursor and a black screen. Runs for minutes like this (haven't tested longer).

    I cannot update a driver etc as I cannot get there.
    I've not yet tried Safe Mode as I'm at work

    I'm also quite happy to buy a new card if it's most likely a hardware problem.
    My question is, could it be a driver problem if neither OS loads?

    Any help would be appreciated

    ** UPDATE:
    atikmpag.sys - was a typo
    the video card is ATI HD 4850 - I took it out and cleaned it thoroughly, I suspect it could have been overheated easily+ PC sits by the window.

    My rig is a 3y old setup, I have not updated any hardware for 2 years, no driver update etc either in recent days.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2013
  2. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    Any artifacts before Windows loads indicates a hardware problem.

    Squares or lines like in your screenshot are 9.9/10 times due to bad vram.
     
  3. Fox2232

    Fox2232 Guest

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    Overheated memory. You may be able to get into safe mode. If it works there, kill drivers and try normal OS boot.

    Remove heatsink, clean, reattach it, don't forget thermal paste and new thermal pads.

    If you can't renew thermal disipation ability, then:
    Modify VGA BIOS to have lower clock/higher voltage. Before you do so, you should test values with OC utility.

    Other thing to think about is your 400W PSU, it may have overheated too.
    - Is fan in it running?
    - Does it have clean dust filter or is unit dusty?
    - If you ar enot confident about health of your PSU get new one with new GA (you do not want to kill another one)

    Side note: Do not expect significant performance boost from new VGA, due to your old CPU. May be time for whole new rig.
     
  4. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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    Hi both, thanks a lot for your quick answers, much appreciated!

    Pill, I'm so glad you pointed out that it's most likely VRAM - I will confidently get a new gfx card soon. (A HD7770 or 7790 but I know it won't give me a huge difference)

    Fox, I might actually try the BIOS settings first then. Never had a single problem with the PC ever though, if I ran games on it for half a day even. Now it was just idling in Win, then I launched one mediocre game, only ran for 30 sec... before this happened.

    Yes the PSU is a problem... its fan died 6 months ago, then I was really worried but then never had the smallest performance drop so I left it.... bad decision.

    I don't know how big a PSU I should get though. The 7790 would be a needier one I guess.
     

  5. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    A good quality 500W PSU is OK for a mid-range card. Where are you buying from and do u have a budget?

    P.S. - can u boot in safe mode?
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2013
  6. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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    Thanks - well I will visit a local pc shop (prices here are good as webshops' )
    Budget-wise... I would choose a normal one, not pricy but not the cheapest.

    I cannot test safe mod till the afternoon, but then I will miss my chance to buy the card today. So I don't know if I should even try the safe mode things, I got carried away by the thought of the new VGA :D
     
  7. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    OK well u can list some models in your price range and we can tell u if they are junk or not....lol

    Btw that E8400 should overclock to 4Ghz without too much trouble....
     
  8. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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    Awesome!
    I saw two ones at my price range:
    Cooler Master RS500-PSAPJ3-IT 500W
    Chieftec 500W GPA-500S8 12cm with OEM iArena

    Didn't link them cuz it's a Hungarian webshop

    Really? Because I didn't dare to OC it really - I built it by parts but never gamed too much.
    I have an ASUS P5Q SE mobo, I'll look into how I can change all settings there
     
  9. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    You'll prob need a better cooler, like a CM Hyper 212 Evo.

    Btw those PSU's aren't very good....any others? Or maybe a link to site?
     
  10. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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  11. Fox2232

    Fox2232 Guest

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  12. aminfri

    aminfri Guest

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    I had the very same problem with my 4870, baked it and its been working just fine ever since. give baking a try. i take it your card is out of warranty so nothing to lose really.
     
  13. kevsamiga1974

    kevsamiga1974 Master Guru

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    Gather ye old aluminium foil for covering and a heat gun in circular motions over the chips. Oven method makes all your subsequent pizza's toxic, and there is also running the risk of having everything fall off the board, or bake to a crisp. :)

    If it's the VRAM memory that's fried it likely wont work anyway to reflow the BGA solder but nothing to lose at this point.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2013
  14. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    Yeah doesn't hurt to try baking. I saved my 8800GTX using the oven trick.
     
  15. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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    Wow. First time I hear of this, I will google it. Yes warranty is not valid anymore + bought it in the UK so yeah no way I could utilize it.

    NEW Problem is .... I bought a 7770 and physically installed it.
    Installed latest official driver from ADM website. Happiness as BIOS+Win loaded without artifacts.
    Tested it with a game. However it felt slower than the 4850... knew something was not right. Checked CCC > Overdrive. Now, it should display real sensor data there right? Check this:

    [​IMG]

    after this I enabled overdrive and left everything at the same settings seen there and hit Apply.
    THIS is when the nightmare started. I've been struggling with it for 2 hours.
    It froze the PC, had to hard reset, just like before... at next boot, Windows loaded the desktop and in 10 sec it froze again before I could open anything (Say, CCC to disable stuff).

    I did a clean driver uninstall, and installed it again.
    Did not help.
    Went to safe mode, tried to ran the installer to choose Uninstall - failed obviously. Somehow I did delete it and installed

    Now I installed the default driver that came with the CD (it's a Sapphire GHz OC edition).
    It installed CCC 13.1 too...

    So far it works okay, but I don't dare to touch the overclock settings now...

    Also in the PC shop I asked if I can take it back - said yes. However at home I noticed the packaging was already open - thought it was normal as it could be shown to someone etc... but now what if what I have is a used device...? I would never know...

    And one more thing...
    [​IMG]
    My 4850 had a cable like this.
    The 7770 has only of those 4-pin ones. Don't know if it's normal. :D...probably is.

    Any help please?
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2013

  16. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    Overdrive shows 300mhz because that is the 2D clock speed, with CCC open you are in 2D mode.

    No need to touch Overdrive clocks.....

    13.1 drivers are a bit buggy, try these http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=379775
    It's OK.
     
  17. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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    Of course, I don't want to overclock it at all. I was only concerned because it was not showing the right clock speed. A game was running in the background, surely it should have made the clocks move somewhat... activity from 0 > 1% at least.
    Still, the others aren't fine, like temperature at 0°C. Unless it is known not to work
     
  18. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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  19. Tarc

    Tarc Guest

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    The latest I've found on Guru is Catalyst 13-4 driver which is the same I kept trying and trying - but just gave it a try nevertheless. Windows still freezes at the exact time it always does. (just after it loaded everything on the desktop +startup apps).

    I got it working once by running a small game ASAP after Win loaded - the system was fine up until I closed it. Then it froze 10 seconds afterwards.
     
  20. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    If you disable all startup items (CCleaner) does it still freeze up?
     

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