Hi, various different bugchecks here.. but there's mention of 116: VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE.

The basic definition of a 0x116 bugcheck is:

There may be a bug in the video driver or video hardware.​

So, let me now explain what VIDEO_TDR_ERROR means. First off, TDR is an acronym for Timeout Detection and Recovery. Timeout Detection and Recovery was introduced in Vista and carried over to Windows 7. Rather than putting exactly what Timeout Detection and Recovery does exactly, I'll just directly quote the MSDN article!

Timeout detection:​

The GPU scheduler, which is part of the DirectX graphics kernel subsystem (Dxgkrnl.sys), detects that the GPU is taking more than the permitted amount of time to execute a particular task. The GPU scheduler then tries to preempt this particular task. The preempt operation has a "wait" timeout, which is the actual TDR timeout. This step is thus the timeout detection phase of the process. The default timeout period in Windows Vista and later operating systems is 2 seconds. If the GPU cannot complete or preempt the current task within the TDR timeout period, the operating system diagnoses that the GPU is frozen.
To prevent timeout detection from occurring, hardware vendors should ensure that graphics operations (that is, DMA buffer completion) take no more than 2 seconds in end-user scenarios such as productivity and game play. ​

Preparation for recovery:​

The operating system's GPU scheduler calls the display miniport driver's DxgkDdiResetFromTimeout function to inform the driver that the operating system detected a timeout. The driver must then reinitialize itself and reset the GPU. In addition, the driver must stop accessing memory and should not access hardware. The operating system and the driver collect hardware and other state information that could be useful for post-mortem diagnosis. ​

Desktop recovery:​

The operating system resets the appropriate state of the graphics stack. The video memory manager, which is also part of Dxgkrnl.sys, purges all allocations from video memory. The display miniport driver resets the GPU hardware state. The graphics stack takes the final actions and restores the desktop to the responsive state. As previously mentioned, some legacy DirectX applications might render just black at the end of this recovery, which requires the end user to restart these applications. Well-written DirectX 9Ex and DirectX 10 and later applications that handle Device Remove technology continue to work correctly. An application must release and then recreate its Direct3D device and all of the device's objects. For more information about how DirectX applications recover, see the Windows SDK. ​

Article here. ​

With this being said, if Timeout Detection and Recovery fails to recover the display driver, it will then shoot the 0x116 bugcheck. There are many different things that can cause a 0x116, which I will explain below:

The following hardware issues can cause a TDR event:

1. Unstable overclock (CPU, GPU, etc). Revert all and any overclocks to stock settings.

2. Bad sector in memory resulting in corrupt data being communicated between the GPU and the system (video memory otherwise known as VRAM or physical memory otherwise known as RAM).

GPU testing: Furmark

RAM testing: Memtest86+

3. Corrupt hard drive or Windows install / OS install resulting in corruption to the registry or page file.

HDD diagnostics: Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure

To reset your page file, follow the instructions below:

a ) Go to Start...Run...and type in "sysdm.cpl" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

-Then click on the Advanced tab,
-then on the Performance Settings Button,
-then on the next Advanced tab,
-then on the Virtual Memory Change button.

b ) In this window, note down the current settings for your pagefile (so you can restore them later on).

-Then click on the "No paging file" radio button, and
- then on the "Set" button. Be sure, if you have multiple hard drives, that you ensure that the paging file is set to 0 on all of them.
-Click OK to exit the dialogs.

c ) Reboot (this will remove the pagefile from your system)

d ) Then go back in following the directions in step a ) and re-enter the settings that you wrote down in step

b ). Follow the steps all the way through (and including) the reboot.

e ) Once you've rebooted this second time, go back in and check to make sure that the settings are as they're supposed to be.

Run System File Checker:

SFC.EXE /SCANNOW

Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)

At the top of the search box, right click on the cmd.exe and select "Run as adminstrator"

In the black window that opens, type "SFC.EXE /SCANNOW" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

Let the program run and post back what it says when it's done.

- Overheating of the CPU or GPU and or other components can cause 0x116 bugchecks. Monitor your temperatures and ensure the system is cooled adequately.

- GPU failure. Whether it's heat, power issue (PSU issue), failing VRAM, etc.

The following software issues can cause a TDR event:

-Incompatible drivers of any sort (either GPU, sound, etc)

-Messy / corrupt registry

-Bad direct x files (uninstall, then reinstall DirectX)

-bad system files (System File Checker - was run above)

-Bad driver (some drivers will cause an event due to internal bugs, however these are not nearly as common as many think due to all of the previous things causing the same symptom) - (remove all 3rd party programs and check to be sure drivers aren't loading. Then install only the necessary 3rd party stuff, and ensure it's the latest version).

Regards,

Patrick

 

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for that but I haven't had a 116 error since updating my drivers so I don't think that's the problem. So I'm not really sure where to go from here. I've ran the scandisk/chckdisk stuff in the past and it was fine...

Orion

 

You mentioned you haven't had a 116 since you updated your drivers... have you tried rolling back to the version you were prior to updating?

Regards,

Patrick

 

No. I experienced the start-up repair problems (starting in about June) whereas the 116 errors had been happening for quite a while. I'm not sure what rolling back would do as it wouldn't change whether I have the start-up problems but it would also cause the 116s to come back.

 

I would strongly recommend going through the hardware diagnostics provided by Patrick. This may be a hardware related issue. You may also want to try installing your graphics drivers without the software.

Download the version of ATI drivers that you want to install, and then do the following steps.

• Start the installation program to install your drivers and ATI software. When you get to the option to Express/Custom install, cancel the installation. Your drivers should now exist in C:\AMD\Support\xx-x_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc where the x's replace your version number of the driver software.
  
• Uninstall all AMD software related to your graphics card by uninstalling AMD Catalyst Install Manager in Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Uninstall a program
  
• If AMD Catalyst Install Manager is not listed, use the following method to uninstall the graphics drivers:
  1. Click Start Menu
  2. Right Click My Computer/Computer
  3. Click Manage
  4. Click Device Manager from the list on the left
  5. Expand Display adapters
  6. Do the following for each adapter (in case you have multiple display cards)
     • Right click the adapter
     • Click Uninstall (do not click OK in the dialog box that pops up after hitting Uninstall)
     • Put a tick in Delete driver software for this device (if this option is available, otherwise just hit OK) and hit OK
  Alternatively:
  1. Login as an adminstrative user
  2. Click Start Menu
  3. Click Control Panel
  4. Click Hardware and Sound
  5. Click Device Manager (the last link under Devices and Printers)
  6. Expand Display adapters
  7. Do the following for each adapter (in case you have multiple display cards)
     • Right click the adapter
     • Click Uninstall (do not click OK in the dialog box that pops up after hitting Uninstall)
     • Put a tick in Delete driver software for this device (if this option is available, otherwise just hit OK) and hit OK
• Restart your computer.
  
• Re-install your drivers from the C:\AMD\Support\xx-x_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc folder. See You cannot install a device driver by using its installation program in Windows Vista and scroll down to

  To locate the .inf file and manually install the driver

  for steps to manually install the driver.

 

As for the version of the ATI drivers, should I uninstall the current (most-up-to-date) ones and then reinstall the same version in the manner described?

 

Yes, start with that, and if that does not resolve it, try a previous version of the drivers.

Keep in mind: the beeping likely indicates a hardware issue and not a software issue, so the drivers may not help.

 

Hmm. I'll give it a shot when I get home from work. Interestingly, it only 'beeps' when it recovers from freezing. If it crashes to black, there's no sound.

If it is a hardware issue, I'd imagine it'll be caught by the tests on the graphics card, no?

 

Possibly. Graphics card software diagnostics are not 100% foolproof. They do not always test the card in the same manner as user tasks do, but they try. Running them is still a very good idea to help narrow down the problem.

 

Ran Furmark for a bit and nothing happened. I would have let it run longer but my GPU was getting to a temperature (about 95degrees) that is far hotter than I've ever seen it run so I killed it to keep everything from overheating. The crash-to-black also happens at far lower temperatures.

Ran SFC and got an all clear message (detected no integrity errors).

I'll do the ATI driver uninstall/reinstall now; is it still worth doing the other hardware checks as the issue does really seem to be graphics related. I have this growing suspicion that it was the multiple conflicting versions of Flash that did this. Re: the issue of the messy registry / direct X files, how (if it's worth it) would one go about fixing those?

 

So that was all a bit of a trek but I've manually reinstalled the driver.

Upon uninstalling it, the screen flashed about half way through, then went black (whilst the computer was still running). After letting it sit for a while, I manually shut it down. Upon restart I booted into the computer normally (with a flicker in the loading screen). I tried uninstalling the AMD Catalyst thing and it finished fine (but had already removed parts of it). The driver version in the machine was a really old one, circa 2009. I follow the help database you linked and found two .inf files that looked basically identical. Tried the first one; nope. It triggered a 116 error (The first in a month!), upon restarting the computer had clearly disabled the driver, as the screen was that weirdly zoomed in / low resolution version. I tried it again clicking on the second inf file. That installed fine; restarted the computer and the driver version is appropriately updated.

I'm not sure what I should do/check from now but wait to see if the crash-to-black happens again.

 

Hopefully the problems were resolved with the driver re-install. If not, you may start looking into the DirectX issues.


DirectX can sometimes be re-installed with Download: DirectX Redist (June 2010) - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

If the registry is damaged and DirectX is damaged, you may need to repair install Windows or re-install Windows cleanly. DirectX is installed as part of Windows 7, so a repair install should fix it.

One option to repair the system is to do a repair installation of Windows 7 (I know that link is a little confusing as it says it applies to Vista, 7, and Server 2008 initially, and then it says only Server 2008, but the steps are the same for Windows 7). In order to do the repair installation, you will need the same version (or newer) of Windows 7. For instance, for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 installed, you will need a Windows 7 disc that has Service Pack 1 included. You can also uninstall Service Pack 1 and then use a regular Windows 7 disc to do the repair installation.

If you do not have access to a Windows 7 disc, you will need to obtain one from your computer manufacturer or from your local software store. If you bought your Windows 7 online from Microsoft or through Digital River, you may also obtain a digital copy of Windows 7 via download from those sites.

If the above does not resolve the problem, proceed through the steps for Installing and reinstalling Windows 7.​

 

So thus far I haven't had a crash-to-black yet; however, I just had the 'beep' thing happen. Whilst using Chrome, I opened a window, the computer froze for about 10 seconds then 'beeped' (once) then unfroze. I looked through the Event Viewer but it registers nothing having happened anywhere around that time. Are there some sorts of errors that wouldn't show up there? Any thoughts?

Orion

 

Try re-seating your display card. Physically remove the display card (there will be two clips on either end of it to release the card), and then place it back in the motherboard. Do the same with your RAM modules. Check for anything that might be obstructing the contacts on the card and/or modules: dust, wires, hair, etc.

The beep you hear is most likely associated with a RAM or graphics card problem. It could also be a PSU issue, but we should see if re-seating the RAM and graphics card helps first.

As you add and remove hardware, follow these steps for ESD safety:

1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
4. Make sure you are grounded by using proper grounding techniques, i.e. work on an anti-static workbench, anti-static desk, or an anti-static pad. Hold something metallic while touching it to the anti-static surface, or use an anti-static wristband to attach to the anti-static material while working. If you do not have an anti-static workbench, desk, or pad, you can use your computer tower/case by finding a metal hold in it, such as a drive bay.

Once these steps have been followed, it is safe to remove and replace components within your computer.