Blue Screen Death, IRQ_NOT_LESS_EQUAL, nv4_mini.sys (SOLVED)

[kstevege]

I have fairly decent system with latest drivers (3.0 cpu, 6800GT, 2 gig ram, dual channel, hyperthreading, etc.

My computer runs great during gameplay but crashes during transition from load screen to new map menu. This is a general problem I have with all my games. Games run great but I encounter problems when making transition from 3D to 2D game menus, or cutscenes when loading new levels.

I have virus scan disabled as well as unnecessary applications in background. I clean and defrag my system every week and employ the latest spyware utilities. I also have the latest drivers for my system.

Is it a virtual memory issue? My games, applications and operating system (XP) are on my main hard drive. I have my swap file on my second hard drive capped off at 300 MB. Even though I have 2 gigs of ram I realize that XP still utilizes swap file. Is my swap file too small?

I did run memtest for over 14 hours with no errors reported.

Last 2 Blue screens of death revealed the following:

(1) PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

(2) DRIVER_IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL nv4_mini.sys
date stamp 434b4d01

Wondering if I have an IRQ conflict with my video card. My system revealed the following:

IRQ 16 Nvidia 6800 gt
IRQ 16 Intel 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller 24D2
IRQ 16 Intel 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller 24D3

Also my Audigy Card shares IRQ 18 with Intel 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller 24D7

What are these controllers: 24D3, 24D2, 24D7

Can this be the problem? I am very frustrated that my $3000 computer can't play games for more than 45 minutes before crashing. This is why consoles are much better for gaming. Can't wait for Xbox 360. Only $400, very powerful, and no Bullsh^t!!

[7thSeal]

I think it may be that your swap file is to small. I would try at least 1500MB and see how it goes.

Its not uncommon for Intel USB Host Controller to share IRQ with the video card and its almost impossible to assign an IRQ just for the card when using Intel chipsets.

Allow a bigger swape file being that you have 2gb of ram and I bet this will solve your problem. You may even have to go higher than 1500MB but this is a good starting point.

[lahire149]

I Reccomed 1GB Page file, but 1.5GB is okay too.

Make sure that your drivers are up-to-date.
Not IRQ conflicts, including your audigy.
No DMA conflicts.
Run sigverif.exe to make sure that your drivers are WHQL (not sure if this one is as important though)

(I got this straight from my A+ Certification book, so it should help)

[kstevege]

Swap file of 1.5 gigs even though I have 2 gigs of physical ram?

That contradicts Mr. Gahzi's own advice in his Tweakguide (pg. 49 - Setting the pagefile)

However, I will try increasing my page file some more and see what happens.

I isolated the blue screen crash to times when my computer is finished with one level then loads another. Crash happens prior to loading new level. It is very weird because game runs fantastic during prior level and I never have a problem loading original level. Usually there is cutscene involved, like in FarCry. However, BFII has no cutscenes and system crashes when loading new map.

Totally stumped.!!

[bisby]

yeah, koroush's suggestions are for max speed/performance... however if you go too low you will start to get problems... so pushing it up a bit higher is usually safer (especially if you are using WinXP x64)

[7thSeal]

Originally Posted by kstevege

Swap file of 1.5 gigs even though I have 2 gigs of physical ram?





Totally stumped.!!

Just try increasing it 200mb at a time and if it finds a stable spot leave it there.

[7thSeal]

Im thinking that its crashing on games because some of the games are set to use only 64mb, 128 and so on of memory. Even though you have 2gb of memory the game may be using just a small portion of this. Then when it needs to load a new map it doesnt have enough page file and its causing the errors.

[Koroush Ghazi]

Originally Posted by 7thSeal

I think it may be that your swap file is to small. I would try at least 1500MB and see how it goes.

The swapfile setting he's got should be fine, but it can't hurt to increase it to 1GB or even more. I have 2GB of RAM, a 1GB swapfile (just to be safe), and no problems, so no need to go nuts with the swapfile. However I don't think this is the cause of the problem.

Its not uncommon for Intel USB Host Controller to share IRQ with the video card and its almost impossible to assign an IRQ just for the card when using Intel chipsets.

Yes, IRQ16 is commonly shared with the graphics card and USB host controller on Intel chipsets. The Audigy + USB Host controller sharing is not ideal, but also common. The numbers 24D3, 24D2, 24D7 are just labels for the various USB host controllers. There's not much you can do other than making sure no USB devices are connected to the shared host controllers (i.e. try to minimize how many USB devices you leave connected to your machine.)

To make sure the issue is not graphics card driver related, you need to do a full clean install of the latest Nvidia Forceware 81.85 official drivers. Clean install procedures are covered in the Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide page 4.

My suspicion is that the problem is RAM-related, and more specifically to the RAM settings in your BIOS. Make sure timings in the BIOS are set to 'By Spd', no overclocking of CPU or RAM, make sure the case is sufficiently cooled.

[lahire149]

Did you make any system changes or install any new software that my be confilcting with you computer?

*thinks about SECURom*

[Ron]

I am inclined to believe it might be a bios memory problem also. I had a very similar problem two days ago when I changed my memory to corsair that was rated at 1000 mhz @5-4-4-9 timings. While gaming after 30 mins or so the game would just crash to the desktop. I changed my timings to 5-5-5-12 and lowered to 950 mhz and had no problems since then.