Slow shutdown after installing latest X-Fi and 7900 GTX drivers.

[Skybuck Flying]

Hello,

I was playing the closed and open beta of Company of Heroes Online and I
decided to install new drivers for the soundcard and videocard in my
computer to be fully up-to-date and maybe it would give some more
performance.

The drivers installed are:

1. SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0013.exe
2. 258.96_desktop_winxp_64bit_english_whql.exe

As expected it caused problems... it's rare not to get problems these days.

The symtomps are as follows:

1. Windows shutdown takes very long.
2. First the GUI does nothing except shutdown a few tray icons.
3. It stops with the connection icon which is still displayed and any other
icons after that.
4. After a minute or so it goes to the shutdown screen and shows something
like:
5. Closing connections.
6. Saving profile settings.

All of which take multiple minutes to complete.

Any other activity I have done is defrag both harddrives a little bit...
other problems with the operating system are a corrupted account/profile...
windows update needs another account but it never had the slow shutdown
problem. Even with high fragmentation (33% to 56%) it would still shutdown
fast.

Now there is no harddisk activity... and it just seems to twiddle it thumbs
and do nothing for a while.

I don't like it and I want it fixed.

I already tried:

1. Disabling the Nvidia tray icon in msconfig.
2. Disabling the nvidia display driver service.

None of which helped so far.

Perhaps I will need to deinstall one of the drivers and install an old one
to see if that helps.

Question is which driver would be responsible for slow shutdown... it's
difficult to diagnose...

Are there any windows xp tools/help options to see a shutdown log ?

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

The manual of the nvidia driver said to deinstall NTune... there is indeed
an older version of NTune on my harddrive.

At the time I tried to deinstall it... but no deinstall program available
?!?

Now I come across this message on a nvidia forum which mentions NTune in
connection with a slow shutdown:

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t28221.html

I also tested X-Fi drivers with 4 GB of RAM.

I think the youtube music video's sounded a bit noisy/crackling... just
slightly... so I switched back to MaxMem = 2GB option.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

I did a little bit of experimenting myself with accounts... I used a
different account to login/startup and shutdown and the same problem occurs.

So it's not related to windows account/profile problems.

It's quite an annoying problem which already has led to too many resets for
my taste...

I want the problem solved so now I am going to try and remove the nvida
display driver to see if that is indeed the cause of the shutdown problem.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

First however I am going to delete the ntune files to see what happens... if
they are in used I should get a lock/access violation...

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Also the ntune and nvidia drivers dissappoint me big time... I was hoping
that temperature information was available like in the very old drivers...

However I have found another tool which does show temperature... just one
tiny little sensor and reading but it's better than nothing the tool is
called
GPU-Z instead of CPU-Z

So now I am going to delete NTUNE and if nothing happens then I remove
NVIDIA display driver as well and simply boot in 640x480 and shutdown in it
to see what happens

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

NVidia Display Driver removed.

The problem remains.

I was kinda hoping that it was the display driver.

Other possible causes which are on my mind:

1. X-Fi Soundblaster Driver. (I am going to remove that next)
2. .NET Framework 4.0 which was installed by Company of Heroes Online.
3. Modifications to DirectX9 by Company of Heroes Online.

When 2 and 3 happened I kinda had a bad feeling about it... Same with 1 as
well.

Hopefully it's not 2 and 3... I am used to 1 being buggy but please not 2
and 3...
that's just to much shit.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Something interesting happened while trying to deinstall the x-fi audio
driver.

It said something like:

"Cannot stop the X-Fi..."

Then it tried to restart and hang again and I pressed the reset button...
for the 15 time
or so.. I have better things to do with my life than wait for a shitty
computer to shutdown...
like sleep.

If all went well which it didn't then now the computer should shut down
fast... but I doubt it..

Let's try anyway.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

I think I have identified the problem.

The problem is indeed with the X-Fi soundblaster driver which I kinda
expected it to be...

Others have warned for laggy sound issue's with that driver... but I have
not seen shutdown
problems being mentioned... well it's probably real... or it was a lucky
shutdown... but I don't
think so it was lightning fast shutdown with the x-fi audio driver.

So now I will go back to my previous X-Fi soundblaster driver which was
probably this version:

SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0008.exe

Or either an even older one:

SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_15_0006.exe

Me gonna try the 0008 one...

Good thing I kept these drivers... Since I just cleaned my system a
bit... I think I did
delete something related to drivers... but maybe not...

NVidia also constantly changes installation folders and doesn't have a
custom installation folder
neither does creative... well at least with nvidia I knew which was the
older driver cause the files
stay there or something... at least the unpacked files or something...

With creative I am not sure...

So a little bit more experimentation to come. I am probably close to a
solution.

At least I can probably use the newer display drivers

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Ok,

I think the problem is now solved... and I am pretty glad/happy that I
solved this problem... because it was starting to annoy the shit out of me !


NVidia driver back installed...

Older X-Fi driver installed...

It's kinda interesting how the older X-Fi driver did preserve my x-fi
equalizer profiles and how the newer driver seemed to delete it..

So the newer driver is bad in many ways !

Now I have to go find myself a good defragging program or simply use
windows's defrag... because this slow harddisk/file system is slowly also
getting on my tits... and it really needs a defrag... 33% to 56%
fragmented... yeah I would say it needs a defrag...

This will also make my system run faster and ofcourse load COH faster...
since especially COH was fragmented badly... 16.000 fragments just for the
data file hehe.

But but but but but I shouldn't be so hasty... and first do a check disk on
C: and D: because ofcourse I don't want no defragging to take place if the
file system was hit but the memory corruption I had a long time ago... or if
anything else happened to it... especially since all these resets...

So a check disk seems more than wise... and then I shall see if I can find a
nice optimization defragging utility... hopefully without nasty bugs...

And then I'll give my harddisk the long defrag treat... which will probably
take at least 24 hours maybe even up to a week...

I did delete some stuff... 50 GB on each drive... but window's defrag says
it's not really enough... but it could run... but it's kinda strange.. it
wants 15% free... that's a bit much Mr. Defrag !

Man I had to delete my Reptile video's and my Predator vs the iJustine
video's that kinda sucked but I had no choice... I had to give my harddisk
and mr defrag some space to eat and work with... and I rarely used that
stuff anymore and it's just bullshit... **** the bullshit... I need a fast
system !

And I also delete some old movies... like battlestar raptor and razor and
what not... and ofcourse theeeeee euhm gladiator thing... sparta or
something.. I still had those hehe... and some games install files like
quake4... and stuff like that... quake4 install files were fragmented too..

Let me check.. nonono don't worry the game is still on my drive... I don't
like Quake4... but I do like Quake3... but I feel Quake4 is mandatory in
case I ever want to install some new special mod that ever comes ya never
know ?! LOL what a bullshit reason perhaps ?!? Maybe not... time will
tell..

I have seen it happen with RTCW ET/True Combat Elite ! That was a pretty
cool/sweet mod... I wouldn't wanna miss out on something that cool

But I doubt the plastic like graphics engine of Quake4 will ever have such a
thing ! Hihi

By the way... I did see an interesting youtube video today it was called:
"MineCraft"...

It looked ****ing cool/awesome... the graphics like really old school...
which took my attention... like what is this shit.. I gotta check it out...

It was almost like quake pixelized big zoom pixels you know...

And it turns out it's some kind of mining game... where you can walk around
with an axe and cut yourself into the depths... like stones/boxes
representing
the earth...

I think the concept is pretty ****ing cool... especially if some quake sauce
is added to the mix...

I am not sure if it's a boring game just ment to construct mines... or if
your supposed to kill one and another... but that last would be preferred !


LOL.

None the less I gotta check it out and play it a bit I think... I wanna
place my own torches too ! HIHI =D

And play with the flooding water or flooding lava ?!?!? I am not sure what
that's about but sounds kinda exciting...

And my grand daddy was a miner... so gotta show him some respect and do it
myself too... virtually LOL.

So I don't get dirty ! Eat that grandpa ! LOL.

And now you can all go **** off in hell ! YEAH ! =D

Cause I gotta go now do some awesome stuff like usual !

Byebyebyebybybybbbbbbbye bye,
Skybuck.

P.S.: Company of Heroes Online is pretty sweet... but also highly
addictive... so watch yourself there people ! But I got it under
control... after
two weeks of non stop playing or so ! Man it ****ing wrecked my life for a
short period there ! Fricking unbelievable... but it was nice...

Like a big group orgy ! HAHAHAHAHA. Dirty ****er ! LOL.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Hmm, changing audio drivers for X-Fi like that is apperently not without
consequences.

During the installation of the older driver it askes if I wanted to
overwrite newer driver files and I said yes.

Now I boot twice and each time the following error message is displayed:

"
EAXModule: DLLML.exe Application Error

The exception unknown software exception (0xC0000005) occured in the
application at location 0x73ed2659.

Click on OK to terminate the program
"

I used to get this error message when I shutdown the system... but now it
pops up when I boot the system...

Weird...

Oh well later I will have to test the sound to see if it's still working or
not...

I don't think I got this message right after driver installation and boot so
it's kinda weird...

Maybe bad fluck of luck or so... or maybe it's because I changed settings in
x-fi console... hmm..

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Today while login-ing into windows the computer crashed with a blue screen
of death.

The problem was with the audio driver of x-fi.

The driver is:

SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0008.exe

I probably never really tested this driver, just downloaded it.

According to my log the driver my PC used to use was:

SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_15_0006.exe

Fortunately I still have it so I will downgrade further to see if it can fix
the following problem as well:

"Audio Driver Emulator: DLLML.exe - Application Error"

This could also explain the freeze in coh.

I also see mdm.exe running which is kinda weird... maybe because of
exceptions in the audio driver ?

Minidump for 0008 driver crash is here:

http://members.home.nl/hbthouppermans/MiniDump/Mini091810-01.dmp

Apperently there is also a big memory dump which shows this:


Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.11.0001.404 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP]
Kernel Summary Dump File: Only kernel address space is available

Symbol search path is:
SRV*c:\Tools\WinDbg\WebSymbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is:
Windows Server 2003 Kernel Version 3790 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free
x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 3790.srv03_sp2_gdr.100216-1301
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`01000000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`011d4140
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 23:44:32.953 2010 (GMT+2)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:04:13.890
Loading Kernel Symbols
................................................................
.................................................................
............................
Loading User Symbols
PEB is paged out (Peb.Ldr = 00000000`7efdf018). Type ".hh dbgerr001" for
details
Loading unloaded module list
......
*******************************************************************************
*
*
* Bugcheck Analysis
*
*
*
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffffadf8ebb5398, fffffadf8bce74c0, 0}

Page ad7ba not present in the dump file. Type ".hh dbgerr004" for details
Page ad96f not present in the dump file. Type ".hh dbgerr004" for details
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for
ctaud2k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for
ctprxy2k.sys
PEB is paged out (Peb.Ldr = 00000000`7efdf018). Type ".hh dbgerr001" for
details
PEB is paged out (Peb.Ldr = 00000000`7efdf018). Type ".hh dbgerr001" for
details
Probably caused by : ctaud2k.sys ( ctaud2k+e398 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

0: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*
*
* Bugcheck Analysis
*
*
*
*******************************************************************************

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (3b)
An exception happened while executing a system service routine.
Arguments:
Arg1: 00000000c0000005, Exception code that caused the bugcheck
Arg2: fffffadf8ebb5398, Address of the exception record for the exception
that caused the bugcheck
Arg3: fffffadf8bce74c0, Address of the context record for the exception that
caused the bugcheck
Arg4: 0000000000000000, zero.

Debugging Details:
------------------

Page ad7ba not present in the dump file. Type ".hh dbgerr004" for details
Page ad96f not present in the dump file. Type ".hh dbgerr004" for details
PEB is paged out (Peb.Ldr = 00000000`7efdf018). Type ".hh dbgerr001" for
details
PEB is paged out (Peb.Ldr = 00000000`7efdf018). Type ".hh dbgerr001" for
details

EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx"
referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

FAULTING_IP:
ctaud2k+e398
fffffadf`8ebb5398 488b02 mov rax,qword ptr [rdx]

CONTEXT: fffffadf8bce74c0 -- (.cxr 0xfffffadf8bce74c0)
rax=0000000000000001 rbx=fffffadf99d65c70 rcx=0000000000000001
rdx=00000018ffffffff rsi=fffffadf99d65d40 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffffadf8ebb5398 rsp=fffffadf8bce7cd0 rbp=fffffadf99b08f50
r8=fffffadf99b08f50 r9=fffffadf9c9d6cf0 r10=fffffadf99b08f50
r11=fffffadf8bce7d98 r12=0000000000000000 r13=fffffadf8bce7d98
r14=0000000000000001 r15=fffffadf99d65d88
iopl=0 nv up ei pl nz na po nc
cs=0010 ss=0018 ds=002b es=002b fs=0053 gs=002b
efl=00010206
ctaud2k+0xe398:
fffffadf`8ebb5398 488b02 mov rax,qword ptr [rdx]
ds:002b:00000018`ffffffff=????????????????
Resetting default scope

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x3B

PROCESS_NAME: DLLML.exe

CURRENT_IRQL: 0

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from fffffadf90b30785 to fffffadf8ebb5398

STACK_TEXT:
fffffadf`8bce7cd0 fffffadf`90b30785 : 00000000`20206f49 fffff800`0105039a
fffffadf`99b08f50 fffffadf`99d65c70 : ctaud2k+0xe398
fffffadf`8bce7d50 fffff800`0127f131 : 00000000`00000001 fffffadf`00000000
fffffadf`8bce8010 00000000`00000000 : ctprxy2k+0x5785
fffffadf`8bce7d90 fffff800`0127ec36 : 00000000`00000318 00000000`00000000
00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!IopXxxControlFile+0xa79
fffffadf`8bce7eb0 fffff800`0102e33d : fffffadf`99dc0870 fffffadf`99c1bbf0
fffffadf`8bce7f00 00000000`00000000 : nt!NtDeviceIoControlFile+0x56
fffffadf`8bce7f20 00000000`78b83e48 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000
00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x3
00000000`0016dd98 fffff800`01026640 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000
00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x78b83e48
fffffadf`8bce8320 00000000`00000000 : fffffadf`8bce8e00 00000000`00160014
00000000`7ffe0030 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiCallUserMode


FOLLOWUP_IP:
ctaud2k+e398
fffffadf`8ebb5398 488b02 mov rax,qword ptr [rdx]

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 0

SYMBOL_NAME: ctaud2k+e398

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: ctaud2k

IMAGE_NAME: ctaud2k.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 48eb8d46

STACK_COMMAND: .cxr 0xfffffadf8bce74c0 ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x3B_ctaud2k+e398

BUCKET_ID: X64_0x3B_ctaud2k+e398

Followup: MachineOwner
---------


The minidump itself shows this which seems slightly less detailed:


Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.11.0001.404 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini091810-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is:
SRV*c:\Tools\WinDbg\WebSymbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is:
Windows Server 2003 Kernel Version 3790 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free
x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 3790.srv03_sp2_gdr.100216-1301
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`01000000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`011d4140
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 23:44:32.953 2010 (GMT+2)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:04:13.890
Loading Kernel Symbols
................................................................
.................................................................
............................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
......
*******************************************************************************
*
*
* Bugcheck Analysis
*
*
*
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffffadf8ebb5398, fffffadf8bce74c0, 0}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ctaud2k.sys, Win32 error
0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ctaud2k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for
ctaud2k.sys
Probably caused by : ctaud2k.sys ( ctaud2k+e398 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

0: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*
*
* Bugcheck Analysis
*
*
*
*******************************************************************************

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (3b)
An exception happened while executing a system service routine.
Arguments:
Arg1: 00000000c0000005, Exception code that caused the bugcheck
Arg2: fffffadf8ebb5398, Address of the exception record for the exception
that caused the bugcheck
Arg3: fffffadf8bce74c0, Address of the context record for the exception that
caused the bugcheck
Arg4: 0000000000000000, zero.

Debugging Details:
------------------


EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx"
referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

FAULTING_IP:
ctaud2k+e398
fffffadf`8ebb5398 ?? ???

CONTEXT: fffffadf8bce74c0 -- (.cxr 0xfffffadf8bce74c0)
rax=0000000000000001 rbx=fffffadf99d65c70 rcx=0000000000000001
rdx=00000018ffffffff rsi=fffffadf99d65d40 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffffadf8ebb5398 rsp=fffffadf8bce7cd0 rbp=fffffadf99b08f50
r8=fffffadf99b08f50 r9=fffffadf9c9d6cf0 r10=fffffadf99b08f50
r11=fffffadf8bce7d98 r12=0000000000000000 r13=fffffadf8bce7d98
r14=0000000000000001 r15=fffffadf99d65d88
iopl=0 nv up ei pl nz na po nc
cs=0010 ss=0018 ds=002b es=002b fs=0053 gs=002b
efl=00010206
ctaud2k+0xe398:
fffffadf`8ebb5398 ?? ???
Resetting default scope

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x3B

PROCESS_NAME: DLLML.exe

CURRENT_IRQL: 0

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from 0000000000000000 to fffffadf8ebb5398

STACK_TEXT:
fffffadf`8bce7cd0 00000000`00000000 : fffff800`00000000 00000000`00000000
00000000`00000000 00000000`20206f49 : ctaud2k+0xe398


FOLLOWUP_IP:
ctaud2k+e398
fffffadf`8ebb5398 ?? ???

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 0

SYMBOL_NAME: ctaud2k+e398

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: ctaud2k

IMAGE_NAME: ctaud2k.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 48eb8d46

STACK_COMMAND: .cxr 0xfffffadf8bce74c0 ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x3B_ctaud2k+e398

BUCKET_ID: X64_0x3B_ctaud2k+e398

Followup: MachineOwner

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Hmmm... there is no de-install option for the audio driver from 0008...

I am going to try and simply overwrite the current driver with an install
from 0006.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Well that didn't work.

Creative Labs has now put me into the position that I have to remove
everything again, and reinstall everything again.

This time I am going to make a copy of the installation CD in case it ever
goes broken otherwise I would be screwed with the next driver
update and same bad stuff happens...

Also then I don't have to go fetch the CD anymore.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Hmm interesting,

The soundblaster came with 3 cd's:

1. Installation CD
2. Music Creation Application CD
3. Demo Disc

Gonna try and make a copy of all 3 and install from the iso

Then install 0006 then a little bit more of defrag and then my system should
be good again

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Ok,

It took like 3 reboots just to get all Creative Labs stuff off my drive...
could thing I defragged my drives lately

Now I can go install it again.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

I forgot to mention something, this time I will try to install via the
ISO's/Daemon Tools...

I am curious if it will work... I don't think so.. but maybe it will if the
daemon virtual cd rom driver gets started before the installing
programs reboot starts...

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Hmm interesting it has a checkbox if I want to install Doom 3 Update for
X-fi...

I think I already installed that... but gonna check it anyway to see what
happens...

So far it seems to be working... no copyright protection bullshit so far...

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Hmm there are still a lot of left over files after deinstalling
everything...

For now I am gonna leave it on the drive... hopefully it won't interfere
with the installation.

program files/creative yadayada...

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Yup Doom 3 patch 1.3 is already installed so setup program is gonna exit
now... hehe..

The rest for x-fi was installed so far... first CD/ISO ok so far...

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Maybe the entire remove was unnecessary but I don't think so...

The update 0006 said it would remove audio console ?!? Does that mean the
same thing as audio drivers ?

Perhaps or perhaps not.

In Add/Remove programs I did see an entry called "Creative Audio Console"...

Perhaps only that needed to be removed and reinstalled but I don't think
so...

The Audio Console is probably the visual interface for volume.

I am gonna restart one last time to see if the common error
message/exception crash is still present on boot which it always did.

The driver 0006 also said it found newer drivers on my drive ?!?

I hope it didn't install those

As long as my shutdown it super slow then I think it didn't use 0013 at
least...

Bye,
Skybuck.