System Lock-up, freeze and other apparent video problems

I recently purchased a new video card (an nVidia based GeForce 6200 with 268mb of video, AGP). This is not a powerhouse card, but a substantial upgrade from where I was at a very reasonable cost. That, along with an increase in memory was intended to allow me to extent the life of my three year old computer another year or two.

My immediate objective was to improve my SL experience by reducing “lag”. My experience in-world convinced me that much of my “lag” problems were really client side issues since I experienced lag when others did not.

After the hardware was upgraded things were indeed noticeably faster and commands crisper in SL. Unfortunately, I had a new problem. Now, at random times with no apparent pattern, my system would simply lock up when I was in SL. It was so locked up that the only way out was to turn the system off with the power switch as ctrl-alt-del would not give me the the Task Manger to find and kill the offending process. I finally left the system “locked-up” for an extended period of time and eventually it returned the message that the offending file for the crash was an nVidia driver file.

When I checked the nVidia site I ended up at a page that basically recommended that I tune up and test my motherboard. My first reaction was that this is a typical troubleshooting response, blame the other guy. However, the nVidia explanation does make sense in that the video card is involved almost continually in almost anything you are doing on the computer since it is drawing to the screen all the time. In addition, a system such as Second Life because of its graphics intensity, puts stress on the computer beyond most typical programs. So, since I had already had a few days of SL problems, I gave the “tune-up” a try and, sure enough, I have not been experiencing lock-up problems since.

Here is a summary of the nVidia suggestions and brief, simple user explanations. The original nVidia explanation can be seen at the nVidia FAQ Answer ID 22. A few of the suggestions are mine and are clearly marked as such.

Here is a summary of the steps with a couple of my own thrown in for good measure. As with all good troubleshooting, you should put your computer through some typical tasks BETWEEN each step to make sure you did not introduce some new problem with any changes.

START-UP (my suggestion): Take control of your start-up process. As you add programs to your computer, many add processes to your system start-up sequence. Many of these programs are required but many are not. You should know what processes are running on your computer and what their purpose is. I use a program called “Startup Delayer”. The stated purpose of “Startup Delayer” is to organize your startup processes to improve the flow and to avoid delays caused by every process trying to start-up at once. However, just as powerful is the ability to see every process that runs when you start your computer and the ability to turn each process off with a simple check mark. On my computer I was able to turn off 10 processes that were starting ever time I turned my computer on.

For instance I have Adobe Reader on my computer (don't we all). However, I don't need “Adobe Reader Speed Launch” running all the time, especially since I may go several days without starting Adobe Reader. Remember that ever process that is running on your computer is draining resources and is a potential conflict with other processes.

You may find some processes that will reinstate themselves as you try to pass control to “Startup Delayer” or any other program. “Startup Delayer” will notify you about these programs the next time you start your computer. You will have to make a decision about these programs in terms of letting them run or figuring out how to stop them. You may also find some undesirably programs that have managed to get into your start-up process. You will have to figure out what to do with these programs on a case by case basis as that is beyond the scope if this discussion.

“Startup Delayer” is available at Startup Delayer Homepage at r2 Studios. I have used this software for several years and find it useful and stable. I'm sure you can find other software to control your startup process or can even dig in manually and change the process.

COMMON BIOS SETTINGS: nVidia suggests the following BIOS settings:
Assign IRQ to VGA Enabled
VGA palette snooping Disabled
PCI Latency Timer 128
Video BIOS Shadowing Disabled
Video RAM Shadowing Disabled
USWC Options Disabled
PnP O/S Installed Enabled
Video BIOS Cacheable Disabled
Video RAM Cacheable Disabled
AGP Graphics Aperture 64MB (or half of your total system memory)

Note that not all computers will not have all of these setting in their BIOS. Mine had 5 of those listed. Go through your BIOS settings and adjust those that you have. Don't worry about the others.

How to adjust your BIOS should be described in your computer or motherboard documentation or seek the help of your local geek.

Consider upgrading the BIOS (my suggestion). I did this on my motherboard before changing the settings. However, upgrading the BIOS is a process that can kill your computer (i.e. - it won't boot anymore) so make sure you know EXACTLY what you are doing before you attempt it. You should obtain any BIOS upgrade through your computer or motherboard manufacturer as they are the only one's who can determine the exact BIOS that will work for your computer.

UPGRADE THE MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET DRIVERS: nVidia suggests that one of the most important steps is to upgrade the chipset drivers for your computer/motherboard. Although I would suggest you go to your computer/motherboard manufacturer to get your chipset information, you should go to the CHIPSET manufacturer to get the latest updates. That is because the computer/motherboard manufacturer's will quit posting updates to the software when the specific hardware is no longer supported by them but the chipset manufacturer will update the drivers long after that. For instance on my board, the most recent drivers available from the manufacturer were dated 2004. The chipset manufacturer however had drivers that were posted only 6 weeks ago. As an added bonus, this also updated my SATA drivers giving me noticeable improvement in disk performance.

Because of the rapidly changing technology, it is common that the initial drives are not really using all the hardware features effectively until the hardware itself is considered older technology. Therefore, you may be surprised at the performance increases just from this relatively simple update.

Here is the nVidia list of common chip set manufacturers:
Ali
AMD
Intel
nVidia
SiS
Via

UPGRADE THE DISPLAY DRIVERS: Make sure you have the latest manufacturer's drivers for your video card. Typically you should get these from the chipset manufacturer, such as Nvidia. If you used the display drivers that came with your card (from the install CD), you can be sure that the drivers are out of date. The discussion above about hardware and drivers applies here too.

There are a couple other things that Nvidia suggests which are really tests not updates. I would suggest you complete these tests after performing the above updates.

TEST THE CPU: The CPU is the heart of the computer, if there are problems there, they will show up somewhere. Video games in general stress the CPU because they push the processor to its limits on a regular basis. Unfortunately, games do not report back the results of their CPU stress test other than with crashes. Thus you need a program to isolate in on the CPU and report when (and possibley how) it crashes. The one suggested by nvidia is at Prime95. This is actually a program designed to test if a number is a mersenne prime number (the website explains what that is if you are interested). However, because it runs the CPU at virtually 100% continually, it is also a good stress test. In the options menu of Prime95 there is an option for “Torture Test”. This menu contains the various options for testing your CPU. To adequately test your CPU, you need to run this test continually for an extended period of time. The website recommends no less than 24 hours.

If you are going to run this test, be sure you have a program that can report CPU temperature and modulate the process if it is going to cause your processor to overheat. Running at 100% continually could burn out a CPU if it has other problems or if the heat sink or fan is bad (one of the things the test could disclose).

This test should isolate CPU problems from other problems. There is really no adequate test of the CPU that can be made without running it for extended periods of time. Other possible test systems are also outlined on the mersenne site.

TEST THE SYSTEM MEMORY: Defective memory could also be an issue. Nvidia recommends the program Memtest86. Again, to really check memory takes a long time, plan on running this test at least overnight if you run it.

TEST THE VIDEO CARD: No test is recommended by nvidia for this. I am still looking for a good on that isolates in on just the video card. Any suggestions on that would be appreciated.

Having completed all the above steps, I can report that my PC tests healthy but more important, no more random freezes in SL.

There have been MANY bad 6000 series Nvidia Cards it would be very likely that this happened to you aswell.


I love Nvidia BUT 6000 Series 256mb Cards are GARBAGE

Call Nvidia and return your card

A friend had the same problem with his 6800gt it was garbage after the first 3 days we would get random artifacts of his screen (from the card) and then the card would overheat and lock up his PC.

Call Nvidia, they can help you find a better card and please dont get a 6000 series card in the future FYI you arent the only one ;]