ATI VPU error Tried EVERYWHERE and EVERYTHIN

Where to start,   well, i'm actually at work now, so i can't give you the exact specs of my PC but it basically goes like this

- 3.0 GHz Intel Processor
- 256 MB ATI x600 pro video card (PCI Express)
- Intel motherboard
- Soundblaster Live! 24-bit sound card
- 80 GB Hardrive
- 1 GB memory
- Windows XP home edition SP2 (it should be latest version)

  So here's the problem,  I've been researching it for some time and keep comming up with the same solutions but none of them work for me  so i would love some innovative input ,  thanks in advance!!

  Ok  so bassically i'll be sitting there,  not necessarily using a lot of anything,  maybe  Firefox, AIM, and itunes  with maybe Auto-CAD or something else,  but not even coming close to what my computer should be able to handle.  then sudenly everything locks up (even the mouse)  and after a second or two the screen goes blank.  THen everything comes back and looks fine,  but along with the error message,  which i can't duplicate exactly at the moment,  but goes something like  "VPU Recover:   VPU recover has reset your graphics accelorator as it was no longer taking commands."  Also note that at this point,  even the simplest window has a tail and every process lags the most i have ever seen.  
  
  So now that you know as much as i do about the problem,  here are some things that i've tried
- Updated Motherboard chipsets to latest models (also tried older ones)
- Updated Video drivers to latest versions  including latest version of catalyst
- aslo used ATI tool to completely remove all ati drivers and software, then started from origninal drivers from ATI CD,  then tried updateing to older ATI drivers
-  Thought it might be overheating,  so i  tried using the computer without the side pannel for a while,  which seemed to have no effect on the frequency that this occurs,   (which varries greatly from a few times a day to once a week or longer if i'm lucky)
- also turning VPU recover off =  not a good idea    
- I've also tried contacting ATI technologies,   however  that was probably dumber than turning off VPU rocover  haha  


 so things i'm thinking may have to do with compatibility issues between my intel motherboard and this particular model ATI card, (if you've every heard of such a thing)  also i'm not eliminating the possibility of overheating, however unlikely.     but really,  my ideas are running on empty,  so really any input would be greatly appreciated from anyone,  experienced or n00b.   Thanks a lot

      Charlie  

[Moderator]

Can you try a different video card as a test?

well,  not exactly,  the only other video cards i have access to are AGP and my motherboard doesn't support AGP,    however,  i have tried the integrated video on the motherboard, and that works flawlesly,  however i don't believe it has the power that i desire to use it all the time,  and another thing that i didn't mention above (because the error happens regardless)  is that i have a dual monitor setup,  which i would like to keep and my motherboard integrated video does not support.

P.S.  Thanks for responding so quickly  

[Moderator]

Heat, bad power supply and RAM are the most frequesnt causes of lockups.

Posted by: GX1_Man       Posted on: Today at 16:27:18
Heat, bad power supply and RAM are the most frequesnt causes of lockups.

Ok,  Well, i have a kick *censored* PSU and the case is Huge and well ventalated.  and as it just happened to me again,  i checked the heat by placing my hand all around the case,  and it was roughly room temperature,  very little if any heat,   and the fan on the video card itself works fine,   so according to you,  ram would be the next bet,  how do i check to see if it's bad,  and for the record, it's less than a year old,  so what could cause it to go bad??      I appreciate your input!!

[Moderator]

A kick *censored* power supply? Have you checked the current on the 12v rail/ WHat make and wattage? A cheap, no-name 600w is frequently a poorer solution than a quality name brand 350w. You do indeed get what you pay for.

Ventilation and temps? Do you have an objective way to measure temps, either in the BIOS, or with a utility like Everest Home? http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

What if you remove the side of the case and blow a fan directly in there?  Does that make any difference in lockups with intense applications? feeling the case does not really monitor air flow.

Free test for your RAM at www.memtest86.com

Test each stick at a time, then all together. Run the test for an hour or so with each configuration.

Has it always been this way or did it just start happening? Do you haave the latest drivers for your video card/ Is this related somehow? Do you have another video card you could test with?

Let us know what you find.  

[Moderator]

You could try re-seating the video card too.

Ok,  so i'm not to familiar with PSU's  but i know i have an ULTRA X-finity,  which is priced around $90  (i don't know if that's what i payed, i just found that on their website)  or so.  Is that a decent brand/price?  I have seen PSU's for like $30 and up to like $170,  so i assumed that mine was atleast decent.  however it is 600W which seems to fit your "If it sounds too good to be true. . ." outlook on things.  so i don't know,  what do you think? (and i apologize for saying kickass, wihout specifiying and not knowing what i was talking about,  that was very naive of me)

Has it always been this way or did it just start happening? Do you haave the latest drivers for your video card/ Is this related somehow? Do you have another video card you could test with?

yes it has always done this, but it started very sparsely and has increased over time to quite frequently,  it seems as i messed with different video drivers the problem seemed to spread out more,  but never fully went away,  and always after a short time,  it would become frequent again.  so lately i have been sticking with the latest drivers and chipsets.    and  no  i don't have another video card to test as i stated before, only the integrated video in my motherboard.

Posted by: Fed       Posted on: Today at 21:14:49
You could try re-seating the video card too.

well first,  i assume by "re-seating" you mean resetting.   and second,  do you mean ressetting to the default clock speeds (which i don't know how to do FYI)?   (and as far as i can tell that implies overclocking,  which i don't believe i am doing, but at this point, i suppose anything is possible)

[Moderator]

No, I meant re-seating, opening up the computer, removing the card & putting it back securely.
It is just to ensure the card is fitted properly and it gives the contacts a scrape/clean as well.

[Moderator]

Have a read of this.
http://www.foxpop.com/imre/2005/vpurecover/vpurecover.html
I don't have the time to go through it but it may help you.

[Moderator]

Great link, Fed!  

Posted by: Fed       Posted on: Yesterday at 23:16:39
No, I meant re-seating, opening up the computer, removing the card & putting it back securely.
It is just to ensure the card is fitted properly and it gives the contacts a scrape/clean as well.

oh,  whoops   gotcha.   but at any rate, yes,  i have removed the video card and then re-placed it securely

   *  latest motherboard BIOS
    * latest motherboard chipset drivers
    * latest Windows updates and SP2 installed
    * latest game patches/upgrades applied
    * vga drivers from the CD that came with the card

That's from the link you gave me,   which is very good as GX1_Man stated.

However as I stated before,  I have tried a lot of things,  (including "Googleing" the error message for the last year now, which is why i'm here now)  and i have been to this exact page before,  and done everything on this list, among other things,  which is why i'm trying to focus on the idea's stated earlier including PSU,  Heat, and Memmory issues,   I unfortunately have not been able to run the diagnostics on my memory or check my bios for temperatures (and/or get Everest Home edition) yet   but will tonight

Since no one said anything about my PSU,  i'm going to bump that down the list of possibilities for now,  until i am able to run that diagnostic and check the heat.

And THANK YOU for all the hard work and help you guys are giving me  

Well,  as far as i can tell,  the problem is solved,   although more likely i just delayed this recurring error, as usual,  and you'll hear from me again.    so for anyone experienceing similar problems,   i followed the steps here  http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?p=916684#post916684.

see,  i had been uninstalling drivers and than installing the new ones,  however,  this person gives a great and extremely specific (maybe even overboard) method of updateing drivers,   which may have been the problem  (i can only hope).   i had never even thought of being this thorough with something as simple and routine as driver updates.    

(i did end up getting everest and it is amazing,  but my video card shows no signs of heat problems)  
 
 SO i just want to give a special thanks to everyone who helped. . .    and if i ever win the lottery,  you can all expect a healthy donation!!  haha,   take it easy!!  

[Moderator]

- Updated Video drivers to latest versions  including latest version of catalyst
- aslo used ATI tool to completely remove all ati drivers and software, then started from origninal drivers from ATI CD,  then tried updateing to older ATI drivers

You'd think the above would have been good enough, they're only drivers. LOL

to my hearts discontent,  I must continue this thread.       It seems my joy was in fact premature, and the problem is not solved.   So just one more time lets go over what i've tried,

- Updating BIOS
- Updating Chipset
- Updating ATI Drivers,  And completely  Removing the old ones 100%
- Checking for Overheating via Everest Home
- Running Memtest with each stick individually then together
- Just for the *censored* of it,  i tried my video card with a DVI monitor rather than my VGA
- also anything that i have mentioned in this thread

So something unusaul that i just noticed,   I can play games with no problem what-so-ever,   and high demand games at that!  Like Battlefield 2  and Star Wars: Empire at War  at Medium to High video settings.  These games run quite well with no problem,  

so why does my Video Card insist on getting this VPU error  only when i run Simple programs like itunes and Firefox??       it makes no sense,   any thing else you guys can come up with would be more than appreiciated!!!  

[Moderator]

Have you sent an error report to ATI?

Ticket Summary
Ticket #:        737-968361
Status:        Resolved [FALSE]
Date Created:        2/5/2006 3:29 PM EDT
Date Updated:        2/19/2006 3:42 PM EDT

So yes,  i did Contact ATI technologies  Twice.   however,  upon reviewing their  "answer"  i noticed something in the link they gave me,  that i had previously overlooked,  because they start the page with stuff about updating drivers and chipsets,  so i assumed it went on about that and didn't pay much attention since that didn't hellp my problem.,   but recently i discovered that it mentions changing settings in the BIOS    here is the link for their help page

http://www.ati.com/online/customercare/solutions/oslockups.html

now i've looked at the BIOS options they recommend,  however the options in my BIOS are all completely different (which is not surprising, but i just don't know what TO change in my BIOS),  and i didn't change much.   I have an Intel® Desktop Board D915GAV,    
  i can give you my exact BIOS options later today,  but if you could look at that Page above  and let me know what you think,  that would be great!!

Thanks

[Moderator]

I can play games with no problem what-so-ever,   and high demand games at that!  Like Battlefield 2  and Star Wars: Empire at War  at Medium to High video settings.  These games run quite well with no problem,

so why does my Video Card insist on getting this VPU error  only when i run Simple programs like itunes and Firefox??

So what happens when you are not connected to the internet, does it lockup then?
Is the computer virus & malware free?  Guaranteed???

Put your bios back to the default or failsafe default for now, trying to tweak it will be a big headache.
We should rule out all other possibilities first.

As far as the Virus things go,  i suppose it is entirely possible,  because i only run  Ad-Aware SE and AVG  and Symantec .......  and as far as not connected to the internet, i can't say i have ever tried that,  or atleast,  i can't remember if it affected it or not.


i found this on the spyware virus portion of the forum  so i will try these,  unless anyone has an objection  :  

Next, run Ad-Aware. What's Ad-Aware? Please read this thoroughly: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial48.html
 
Then run SpyBot. What's SpyBot? Please read this thoroughly: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial43.html Note: I've had to run SpyBot several times in a row to completely remove some of the more stubborn varieties of malware. Also, remember to immunize your computer. Read the article and you'll understand.
 
Now run HijackThis. What's Hijack this? Please read this thoroughly: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial42.html Note: It is possible to do significant damage to your computer with HiJack This! Because of this, when you create a log file (Read the article and you will understand what a log file is) post it as an attachment to this message board. We'll help you through it. Also, the above article is rather lengthy. You really don't need to read it all, just the first five "chapters".
 
Next run Panda Software's free online virus scan: http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescanpro/ Note: The link for the free scan is rather hard to see. Its in the upper right corner just underneath the red rectangle that says "Buy ActiveScan Pro". The link says "Free Online Virus Scan". Click the word "Online". It *REQUIRES* Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher to run. It supposedly removes any viruses it finds, but you need to upgrade to the Pro version to remove spyware/adware. Don't worry, Ad-Aware, SpyBot, and HiJack This do just fine (and their free!!).

I will get back to you guys with the HijackThis log, after i have completed these steps.   however i will be out for a few days   :-/

I ran Ad-Aware, and Spybot,  (there was like 8 things on spybot that my other two missed,  not surprising)   i also ran hijackthis  and the log is attached below,  let me know how it looks. .  

  thanks again everybody  

I know you are all sick of this thread,  believe me,  there is nothing i want more than to leave you guys alone,   but  the fact is ,  my VPU error is still occuring,  although it has slowed down since the virus and malware scans with spybot and ad-aware,   but i still need a kind volunteer to read and interprate the hijackthis log attached above,   and maybe to come up with another solution,   thank you.   [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Moderator]

We thrive on threads, I've just been snowed under with other commitments for the last few days.

Run the Panda online scan.
I find it interesting that your card is fine with demanding games but has a problem with lesser programs and (we think) internet related.
Can you give it a good workout while disconnected from the net?
I should get to your Hijackthis log today.

[Moderator]

Decide which antivirus you wish to use and disable the other one from within the program.
Reboot and test for video warning.

Re-run Hijackthis and mark the following for removal.
O2 - BHO: Viewpoint Toolbar BHO - {A7327C09-B521-4EDB-8509-7D2660C9EC98} - C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Toolbar\ViewBarBHO.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Alcmtr] ALCMTR.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AOL Toolbar Search - c:\program files\aol\aol toolbar 2.0\resources\en-US\local\search.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Viewpoint Search - res://C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Toolbar\ViewBar.dll/CXTSEARCH.HTML
Reboot and test for video warning.

Using msconfig>startup, disable diskeeper and memturbo.
Reboot and test for video warning.

Like everyone you have a lot of 'extra' stuff running on your computer but it's really a matter for you to decide if you need or want it.

How did you go while disconnected from the internet?

Ok here is the log  from Panda online Scan   i'm a little embarassed actually           haha

[Moderator]

They're only cookies, ccleaner gets rid of them quickly.
Any results on my previous post?

Ok,  so far. . .  I have not gotten around to running Hijackthis yet  because as you put it,  i'm am "snowed under"  with work and Calc. II at summer school,   but i will get to that tonight.       I have however,  run my computer not connected to the internet,  and disabled symantec,  (one of the two anti-virus programs i have),   I ran my computer,  but i felt i was not adequite in recreating the environment that the VPU error occurs.  Like it usually happens when i'm surfing the web as fast as the cable connection will let me.  like i'm clicking links before the page is even loaded,  while listening to itunes and what not.  i tried to do as much as i could,  but i don't think i was able to mimic the same activity as when i'm connected.

 also, i was under time constraints,  so i would have liked to tried longer  

 I will report back later tonight, with having run hijackthis,   and removing a few things from startup,  then testing thouroughly for the VPU recover error,    

thanks a lot for everything!

[Moderator]

Stick to just one antivirus program, running two together has been known to cause problems.

An update on my situation:    It seems things have changed,  over the weekend,  I gave my computer quite a workout, after i had completed all of the recomendations made by the preceding posts,   and the followin things happened.

At first,  all was well,  no VPU error,  i was able to surf the web as fast as ever,  scroll through my 4500 songs in itunes and skip around and everything like normal.  then,  after i had left my computer alone for a while, and it had gone into "standby"   i moved the mouse,  and it woke up,  and then when my screen came back,  i proceeded to access my firefox,  and then it locked up again,   the screen went blank,  but this time did not return with the VPU recover  error message,  instead it just stayed black,  with the monitor reporting that it had no signal.   I restarted and it ran fine till sunday.


Then  last night,  i was on my computer with a friend playing around with FL studio and then we ventured into auto-CAD to compare some projects we had done,  and upon viewing the 3D picture (which does take a bit of graphics power)  the screen froze,  then something new happened,  the blue screen of death.  with the stop error as follows:  
 
Stop 0x000000EA or THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER - A device driver problem is causing the system to pause indefinitely. Typically, this problem is caused by a display driver waiting for the video hardware to enter an idle state. This might indicate a hardware problem with the video adapter or a faulty video driver.

along with the message that my Driver was caugh in an infinite loop.  

upon restarting,   as windows XP loaded,  without touching anything,  i made it to the regualar screen,  and as my startup programs launched,   it happened again,  the same blue screen of death,  same error message,   and i had not touched ANYTHING.   upon restarting one last time,  it worked fine,  and the rest of the night went on without incident.

(NOTE:  when my computer is "awakened"  from standby.  it seems like things are overly active.  ex.   the fans all spin much faster,  and my activity light is on solid,  not just the normal flickering,  and the entire process lasts longer than what would be expected,  for about 30 seconds after my screen returns,  and if i touch anything during this time,  the VPU error is much more likely to occur.)

 it was a long weekend  :-/

[Moderator]

From the mothership....
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=293078&sd=RMVP

The bottom line....
Drivers.
Video card.
Hardware Acceleration.
Disable Write Combining. (Whatever the *censored* that is)
Symantec PCAnywhere has also been known to cause problems.

Firstly,   i can't thank you enough for all your hard work and research that you put into my problem.    so thank you.


but secondly,    does any one else think it's complete and total *censored* that in order to allow my video card to work properly i have to

lose some display functionality and performance

  *censored*   :exclamation   ATI   YOU CAN ALL SUCK MY LEFT NUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!   :exclamation

[Moderator]

Has lowering the Hardware Acceleration resolved anything for you?
A future release of video drivers may well fix your problem.

No,   it has not,   although i no longer recieve the STOP error,   now it's just  that the screen goes blank,  and doesn't come back.    this time i was running FL Studio,      :-?

So now i'm completely out of idea's,   am i stuck dealing with this, until ATI comes out with a driver that fixes this problem for me?

I'm really in a bind here, i want to avoid buying a new video card,  but i really need my computer to work.  this error is as bad as ever,  but now instead of giving the VPU Recover error message, it still just goes blank and i must restart.   It happens with virtually any activity,   i havn't really tried any games,  since i've been on this forum.

also,  what do you all think about this  

Hi, I also had this problem, and it drove me CRAZY!!!
but, I found the solution after ravaging random forums for 2 days. I believe the problem was that ATI graphic cards think that they are overheating, and the VPU recovery kicks in for no reason, and then shuts down the computer because it doesn't want to damage the card.

there was a patch/file released that fixed this problem, all you have to do is download it and d-click the file so it goes into your registry. since I have done that my comp. has been goin strong for 3 days, instead of 1-2 hours like before.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_2367,00.html

Anything would be great               [smiley=cry.gif]


P.S.  would it be worth using ATI's Trade Up Program to purchase a Radeon X1600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 for $199   or  something entirely different

P.P.S.   *censored*?¿   http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=525075

Ok,  so two more specific questions.    

1. It seems i have .NET framework 1.1 and 2.0 installed at the same time in add/remove programs,   i should probable remove the 1.1 right?

2. part of symantec antivirus,  the one of the two antivirus programs i chose to loose,  is still on my computer,  the Live Update,   when i go to uninstal,  it says that one or more programs are still using this,  and that i should remove those first,   how do i find what those other two are?

thanks a lot everybody

[Moderator]

*censored*?  Did anyone read this link? It's 'us' on a different forum!!!!
Compare the link below with the posts in this thread!
Is there such a thing as 'FORUM PIRACY' :-?
Edit: Now it makes sense, it's a curry muncher site.  

http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=525075

Thanks for pointing it out Doomsayer.

Your other link seemed to be only for AMD.
I'm not sure about .NET framework, perhaps someone else can advise you on that.
The only Norton advice I can offer is to completely remove Norton & get alternative protection.

[Moderator]

A couple of click around that site is showing me they are pirating Computer Hope's forums.
Admin where are you???
You're being ripped off by curry munchers!

Ok,  so   i am still looking for answers on the previous question about .NET Framework,      but now,   based on anyones knowledge of computers,   if i buy a new ATI video card,   what are the  chances that this error will continue with my current setup,          all i want is a "good"  "bad"   or "i have no idea"     just a rough idea is all i want, not an exact percentage or anything.

  please help!!!

gratefully,
   Doomsayer

[Moderator]

After your terrible experience so far I'd change to nvidia.
Perhaps you should try contacting ATI again, even refer them to this thread?
Put up the details on your mobo.

so now,  on the topic of nvidia,   do any of their cards offer the ability for a dual monitor display,  because i have become quite partial to it, and i know that most ati cards are able to split the power between the DVI and VGA ports at the same time,   but i heard that Geforce cards are not all as versitile in the wonderful world of multiple monitors.

is there any truth to that?  or did i hear wrong.  

thanks  

*censored*?  Did anyone read this link? It's 'us' on a different forum!!!!
Compare the link below with the posts in this thread!
Is there such a thing as 'FORUM PIRACY' :-?
Edit: Now it makes sense, it's a curry muncher site.  

http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=525075

Thanks for pointing it out Doomsayer.

Your other link seemed to be only for AMD.
I'm not sure about .NET framework, perhaps someone else can advise you on that.
The only Norton advice I can offer is to completely remove Norton & get alternative protection.

lmfao, im gonna use dictionary.com's translator, and find a language that i can say tech arena f'ing sucks for my name, and sign up there ... oh, btw, it looks like they turned that garfeild guy into a cannible, look at "newtech's" picture... i think  there just posting this so that site doesnt go under...

EDIT: either we are tripping into another reality here, or somthing is totally off here, there threads which are supposedly copies of ours, are older than ours, so how can we prove they are copying us? btw, my name there is verzögertes Bumsen