Nvidia woes

Hi

I posted once before about my display drivers failing when I logged into sl.

I reinstalled my drivers as suggested and things worked fine until I ran sl. Once I got logged in, my screen flickers and I get the message that my driver failed and recovered. And then sl crashes and my screen resolution goes out of control and won't display anything properly until I reload the drivers.

When I reload the nvidia drivers to deal with the problem, everything works fine until I run sl and the drivers die again.

Here's my configuration:

- Hp Pavilion laptop
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/4MB L2Cache)
- 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 511MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do?

Thank you

I'm currently running version 179.28 of the Nvidia, and this has been the most stable for me to date...I had lots of issues with 180 or higher versions of the drivers.

Are you using the current official viewer? Which version of the Nvidia drivers are you using?

Clear your cache.
Try logging into a different location, you can select that under Preferences > General at the startup screen.

Seems like I'm saying this at least three times a day lately. The 175 series drivers are the most SL-friendly right now. I use 175.19 on my desktop (dual 8800's), and 175.16 on my laptop (dual 8700's). SL was unstable on both machines with 179 and 180 series drivers, but it's solid on both with 175.

Well, "solid" might be overstating. This IS SL, after all. It's always going to crash on occasion, no matter what. But I haven't seen that "display driver failed and recovered" message in months, since rolling back to 175. I just get the occasional viewer freezes, spontaneous closings, etc., that have plagued SL since its inception. There's no getting around those. (Man, it feels stupid to just accept that, doesn't it? But that's just how it is.)



Here's what I'd suggest you do:

1. Download 175.19 or 175.16 from the nVidia website. Don't install it yet.

2. Downolad Driver Cleaner from drivercleaner.net. It will cost you $10, but it's worth every penny. It's the only way to ensure a clean uninstall of your existing driver. Never ever ever ever change driver versions without it. I'd gladly pay $100 or more for DC, if need be. It's that important. Luckily, it's only $10.

3. Uninstall your current driver via Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs.

4. Reboot to Safe Mode. (While the computer is first starting up, tap F8, to get to the boot manager screen, and then pick Safe Mode from the list.)

5. Run Driver Cleaner now.

6. Reboot normally.

7. Install your 175 series driver.

SL should be much happier now.

Thanks for all the help..I'll give the new drivers a try and see if that helps.

Thanks again!!

Is your problem solved with the older drivers as Chosen Few suggested?
I use 181.22, if I go lower I get driver errors with SL, but that is because my video cards won't run properly with the lower drivers. I am not sure what works best for the 8600 series, but from what I found out it may differ for different nVidia cards.
I use GTX 295. I have no problems at all with SL using 181.22

So, if the versions chosen few and Wicked Picket mention don't work correctly, you may have to try some others, until you find the one that works best for you. It's a drag though...

I hope you got it working already.
Else perhaps ask others with 8600 what they use.

You raise a good point, Zuleika. It's not a good idea to use any driver that is older than the card you're trying to drive with it. The 175 series drivers predate the GTX 295 by about six months. So it's not surprising that they won't work together.

Anything in the GeForce 8 series should work with the 175 drivers just fine, though.

Hey, Chosen. I would be a little careful about recommending Driver Cleaner to all and sundry. It completely wrecked one laptop I used it on. The lappie had been fine for over a year prior to using Driver Cleaner, but I ended up wiping the disk and reinstalling. I restored the registry, but it never worked right thereafter, until I started from scratch.

I've also used it without problems on my desktop.

*shrugs*
.