Problem with ATI Radeon X600 Series Display Driver

[Satfanni]

Hi Folks,

I need your expert advice.

I have just purchased a new Advent T9401 high spec PC.

Processor: Pentium 4 (3.6 GHz)
Memory: 1024 Mb
ATI Radeon X600XT 256Mb PCI Express
500Gb SATA HDD

Everything works fine with the exception of when I play the latest 3D games. The PC then decides to reboot in the middle of the game.

The windows error message has identified the problem as being with the Radeon display driver.

I have insured that I have the latest drivers installed for this and for Direct X. I have used the Direct X Diagnostic tool to identify that DirectDraw Acceleration, Direct3D Acceleration and AGP Texture Acceleration are all enabled.

The windows error message I get is;

"STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER (Q293078).

The error message received following system enforced reboot is;

"Computer restarted after an unexpected shutdown. The driver for the display device was unable to complete a drawing operation. Please check with the device manufacturer for a driver update. The display driver for Radeon X600 series seems to be responsible for the system instability".

I checked with the ATI website and installed the latest driver but the problem still persists.

I have also installed all the latest windows updates (high priority and optional) with the exception of SP2. I am reluctant to download and install SP2 as I have had bad experience with this on my other pc.

This is very frustrating for me as the PC (just out of the box) was purchased with the intention of playing these types of games.

Has anybody any idea of how I might cure this problem. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards.

Satfanni.

[s7p9a2m4]

Reinstall the driver. If no joy. Have the card replaced. After all it is brand new.

[Play_The_0dds]

i tried to look up the specs for your machine, i get the info you described, but would be very helpful to know the name and model# of the motherboard, or atleast what chipset it has. your problem could be a bios glitch and there may be a fix, if we know which board to look up.

[Satfanni]

Originally posted by Play_The_0dds
your problem could be a bios glitch and there may be a fix, if we know which board to look up.

Thanks for the quick reply.

How can I tell the make and number of the motherboard? Do I have to open up the PC?

I had a look in the Device Manager and looked up properties under motherboard resources but could not see the make or number listed. Also checked the Advent manual but also not listed. Please forgive me for being stupid but I'm no expert with computers although I'm willing to learn.

Best Regards.

Satfanni.

[Play_The_0dds]

i was hoping you might have got a drivers cd, or manual with it that showed the mobo info, being it is a semi-custom pc. there are several programs that find some info,....but i dont always trust them. i have seen them give the wrong id many times.if you do not want to open the case does the site/shop you bought yours from have a tech support/ service dept that you can contact?

[Satfanni]

I have finally discovered the name and model of my motherboard.

It is a Tri Gem PTGD1-LA.

Again any help here is greatly appreciated.

Best Regards.

Satfanni.

[Play_The_0dds]

i tried to find your board, it is supposed to be a asus, did not find any support from them, HP seems to use the same model board in their machines but i am pretty sure the bios for a pavilion would not work on your machine. i did see that it is supposed to have the intel 915 chipset, have you tried a chipset update, or the intel application accelerator?

[Satfanni]

Originally posted by Play_The_0dds
have you tried a chipset update, or the intel application accelerator?

No joy I'm afraid. I downloaded and installed the version of intel application accelerator compatible with the intel (R) 915G/P express chipset family. As directed on the intel website, i installed the intel(R) chipset software installation utility prior to running the application accelerator. PC is still rebooting in the middle of certain games particularly the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 game. Other 3D games such as world championship snooker 2004 and Links 2003 seem to play ok.

I have also tried uninstalling and reinstalling the ATI graphics driver with no success.

I notice from the ATI website that they are aware of this particular problem and are presumably working on a fix in the shape of an updated driver. It seems therefore that I'm stuck with this situation until a further release from ATI.

It just seems a shame that having spent so much money on a hi spec PC (£1200.00 for Advent base unit alone) that it will not play all of the games that it was purchased for. I have seen these games running successfully with no problems whatsoever on other much cheaper PC's with supposedly inferior graphics cards.

Makes you wonder (Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm).

You don't it seems always get what you pay for in this world.

Regards.

Satfanni.

[Play_The_0dds]

the next time it reboots, go into the bios and see what the cpu and system temps are, it may be a heat issue. when i was looking up your info i seen that the model you posted looked like a mid tower, and did not see what fans may be in it. it could be you need to add some cooling.

[solabar]

Having the same issue. But the bizarre thing here is that I am running exactly the same machine spec fine.

We bought 2 PC's and one of them has the rebooting issue with the same message and the other doesn't, time for a replace? Or did another solution show up?

[Play_The_0dds]

sometimes people start sending private messages instead of posting in the open forums.....dont remeber if this was the case with this thread, but have the MS KB link with the fix .....
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q293078

[Satfanni]

Play_The_Odds

I tried the MS recommended fix for this problem a long time ago.

1) Latest driver installed (no good).
2) Video card tested by engineer and apparently OK.
3) Workarounds are not the solution.

Solabar

It is disturbing to hear that you are having exactly the same problem with same model and specs.

Just to give you guys an update on the situation. A recent e-mail response from PC Servicecall advised me to disable the option to reboot when windows thinks there might be a problem with my PC. This was done by unchecking the appropriate box in the system icon in the control panel. I was advised that this might solve my problem. Having done this, I decided to try the Tiger Woods game again. Problems big time!!!!!!!!!

1) Game would not load or respond.
2) Control/Alt/Delete keys had no effect.
3) Desktop icons suddenly disappeared.
4) PC would not respond.
5) Switched off and on PC.
6) Windows would not load.
7) Got the dreaded blue screen with error message.
8) System recovery disk would not run.

Left my PC back to Dixons. Engineer replaced the motherboard and tested the graphics card. Was to call back to replace the hard drive. I was not happy and after some heated debate with the staff at Dixons they agreed to replace this suspect PC with a new Advent T9401. This is arriving at the store tommorrow and being installed at my home on Friday evening. To say that I am rapidly losing faith with the Advent brand is somewhat an understatement. This will be my fifth new Advent machine (other 4 were faulty) and I am not therefore building my hopes up. Here is a summary of the catalogue of disasters that I have had with this brand of PC;

1) Advent T9400 (Bios would not engage would not boot up). This model was discontinued. Had to wait nearly 2 months on the Advent T9401 replacement.

2) Finally got the T9401 replacement. This had faulty USB connectors at the front of the base unit.

3) Second T9401 replacement had trouble starting. Had to be coaxed to boot up the first time. A different user name was already on screen on this initial start up. Was this machine used before? It was supposed to be a new replacement. The PC failed to start up following reboot action.

4) Third T9401 replacement had the problems already documented in this thread.

I am totally fed up with this situation and have little confidence that this 5th replacement will work ok. I accept that modern PC's will always have minor problems during their working life and that these should normally be resolved without too much difficulty. The problems I have been having are not minor however.

Perhaps I have just been extremely unlucky. I am well and truely fed up with this situation and if this next PC does'nt work then I feel that I have no option but to ask for my money back. This will be a shame as the specs of the Advent T9401 were exactly what I was looking for and I can't see any other models that come close to matching these.

Anyway enough of my moaning. A quick thankyou to everyone in this forum who tried to help me. Solabar - I hope you have more luck than me and get the problem sorted. Let me know how you get on.

I will keep you posted on developments on my fifth Advent.

Best Regards.

Satfanni.

[Satfanni]

Fifth new Advent installed and up and running.

Early days I know but everything seems to be running smoothly.

Played the Tiger Woods game non stop for about an hour and no problems.

Fingers crossed (here's hoping)

[solabar]

Hmm... I am still having the same problem.

I am not on my 3rd PC and 5th Gfx card....... Its now been taken to the PC servicecall product guys to look at...

Mainly cause the local PC world has run out of replacement PC's for me to excahnge with and expected me to pay the difference on a replacement PC with a lower spec.... Grrr!

[Satfanni]

solabar,

Sorry to hear you are still having problems. I too have not had the problem entirely resolved. The PC is now running very smoothly (except for the Tiger Woods game) which is crashing again. I took the issue up with EA Games support and they advise me that this problem is a known ATI issue. So I am nearly back to square one. I have finally given up trying to play this game and have fully uninstalled it from my PC.

Anyway good luck and I hope you eventually get it sorted.