Vista64 + 4GB RAM + External Display = BSOD

[jasonth]

I've been lurking for a while and saw a few other posts about Vista64 BSOD'ing on folks... but I think I may have a unique, reproduceable configuration.

I have a T400 with 4GB of factory installed RAM and an LED backlit display (with the dual video cards ATI and Intel), Vista64 OEM installed(with all the updates), and an advance dock with a Dell 17" DVI LCD attached.

It seems that my system will only experience driver crashes when docked and pushing the Dell display (as a secondary display). The situation starts with the displays going dark, then my desktop reappearing with a yellow ! alarm in the task tray saying the video system crashed and has recovered.

It will then continue to crash and recover until I hit the undock button or after a few crashes the display gets corrupted and the laptop BSODs.

I haven't run a memtest yet - but I think I will be, even though it seems that the only thing that I can get do to reproduce it is to have it docked AND connected to a DVI cabled monitor.

[WojtekJ]

BSOD doesn't always mean that there's problem with RAM memory.
I believe you don't have any problems with 4 GB of RAM, but the whole thing is connected just with external monitor.
Have you tried using other drivers, etc.?

[freakwave]

Hi Jason,

I can not find it right now on google, but I read somewhere that vista polls the ati driver from time to time to find out if it is alive. If the driver does not respond, it will result in a bluescreen. But there is a registry setting to turn of the driver polling. Just try to google it.

Regards,

Wolfgang

[jasonth]

Thanks Wolfgang, that actually led me to another site with some suggestions.

One suggestion was to remove the ATI Catalyst software, so I gave it a try. I'm nervous making a lot of software uninstall/installs knowing the dual video cards on the T400s is kind of a hardware and software hack for power savings - and I rather like it and wouldn't want to get rid of it.

I did do a memory test, just to scratch that off my list. It tested clean - phew.

But if its a choice between dual vid cards or getting rid of BSODs while at work - the choice is easy.

I'll post more details when I do some further testing - thanks again.

[jasonth]

Well folks, had I done just a few more google searches I may have stumbled upon this:

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/mess ... ing&page=1

According to the topic, Lenovo is aware of this issue and is working on a fix (as of 10/24/08)...

It seems specific to a T400 on a dock plugged into a DVI monitor (or at least using the ATI video card - DVI output isn't supported on the Intel GMA) - and waking up from sleep state.

For me, that's not hard to reproduce on a daily basis - I'll just need to adjust how I dock in the morning... I hate shutting down and booting up when I can just put it to deep sleep at night and wake it up when I get to work.

[jasonth]

Lenovo >just< posted an update: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-70417


138MB Large and notes a fix

Here's a link to the read me text file.


Version 8.52.4.5-081002a-070479C

(Fix) When the switchable graphics is set to Energy Saving GPU (integrated graphics) and if "Lid close Do Nothing" is selected in Power Options, the display doesn't switch to the external analog display after the lid is closed.
(Fix) The error message, Windows cannot find 'igfxtray.exe', appears on uninstallation.
Version 8.52.4.4-080919a-069896C

[Important] Installation support for ATI Mobility FireGL V5700 (added).
Notes:
To complete this, you will need the BIOS version 1.18 (6FET48WW) or later release.
Make sure that you have updated the display driver before BIOS update. Or you will be asked for an appropriate driver for a newly found hardware device and the display may be VGA (640x480) mode. In VGA mode, your icon arragement on the desktop will be messed up.
(Fix) The "ATI External Event Utility" is either not running or is constantly restarting.
(Fix) A scenario where the Intel tray icon is not present in the notification area after switching.
(Fix) The Alt-Ctrl-F12 hotkey to launch the Intel graphics properties page does not work sometimes.
(Fix) A scenario where the graphics switch failed after a hot undock.
(Fix) A scenario where the docked persistence of a VGA-attached monitor is not working.
(Fix) A scenario where the ThinkPad LCD is blank after hot undocking.
(Fix) Changed the Desktop->right-click->"Graphics Properties" menu item to be listed as "Cataylst(TM) Control Center". In Energy Savings mode, running Catalyst Control Center will report a message to the user stating that Catalyst Control Center is not valid for the Energy Savings GPU.