Hi,
I am new to this forum and wondered if you guys could lend me a hand.
I posted a message in another forum at another site and I am now
posting it here, looking desparately for help or guidance.
Please see what follows....
Posted below is my original post, made some days back on another forum
with the symptoms and my system specs (easy to find all the info this
way). The followup to the original post is that I was sent a new 5900
FX card and once installed I am now getting an error called
BAD_Pool_Caller on start up. It reads STOP 0x000000C2(0X00000041,
0X852FE000, 0X000052FE, 0X0003FF2F). This error appears to be
associated with the end result which is WIN XP instability at desktop,
frequent reboots, and cycles of 5-6 reboots just to get to desktop. If
the PC does get to desktop, it usually winds up being fixed at 600X800
resolution in 4 bit color, with no option to adjust and the videocard
tab gone - no 5900 FX options. Alienware is clueless. They have had me
reinstall this system 2 times and have had me start/stop this computer
with components (RAM, Soundcard, etc.) in and out with no joy. They
have just sent me 2 sticks of replacement RAM, and if this does not
work, they want to have me ship the back so they can test/repair it
(who knows how long that will take?). CAN anyone of you make some
sense of this situation and tell me what the problem might be and if
the RAM could be the problem?
Thanks
Russ
Original Post below
Need some advice about a problem that I have with my video card.
Recently I started having trouble with my post (you know the part on
boot up with the black screen, white letters)at startup. This happens
when the PC is cold and is started up, whe this is done it displays
vertical columns across the screen with the letters "a" and "~". If
allowed to complete the boot, the WIN XP desktop will have blue
vertical lines with dashes in them across the screen and the screen
will blink on and off. A restart from here will cause a lockup on
black screen and accessing a program will cause a crash of the
program. If you do manage to restart WIN XP the desktop will either
look and run normal, or, it will come up in 640X480 in basic RGB and
the video card will not be recognized.
Before I give my system specs, I should state that this is an
Alienware Area 51 built last July. I have used both 45.23s and
completely removed them when I got CTDs. With the 44.03s, I have had
better success and it was with these that I noticed with games such as
BF 1942 and IL-2 (graphics card intensive) that the temperatures were
reaching upto 120C (using the Temp monitor)and also the card would
interupt the program in progress to notify me that it was not getting
enough power and would shut down features to avoid damaging my
equipment. Since the temp cutoff was 140C, I suspect it may have hit
that. When I looked inside the PC I noted that Alienware has placed a
ribbon cable leading to the soundcard inside the cooling fan to the
videocard - it was not able to run and probably never had. Removing
the cable allows it to run cool (in safe range 40-60 C). Crashes as
described above still happen. All power cables from the power supply
to video card have been checked and are connected. Card is seated
fine.
Is the card to blame for all of this? And what is the possibility that
the motherboard is damaged due to high heat? Suggestions? Alienware is
replacing the videocard.
System Specs.
Intel P4 3.00 GHz, 512 K L2 Cache 800 Mhz FSB
Intel D875PBZ Motherboard (bios updated regularly)
2X512 MB DDR PC 3200 RAM
Seagate Barracuda 120 GB 8 MB Cache HD
Nvidia GF Ultra 5900 256 MB (44.03 Drivers)
Creative SB Audigy 2, 6.1
Plextor Plexwriter Premium 52X
16X DVD
Win XP Home (fully updated with critical updates)
420 watt power supply
US Robotics V.92 56k PCI Modem (yes in the sticks here)
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