Need help with nv4_DISP infinite loop error

[Putts]

Mr. Darn: Thanks for your reply. I apologize but I didn’t see it till today. I thought I would get emails with every reply but that did not work. I have already purchased another graphics card but if the problem can be resolved with a re-downloaded driver I would be willing to try that. But I cannot find another driver to download. The Nvidia drivers download site uses terminology such that I can’t identify the driver for my computer. I also have a Dell Drivers and Utilities CD that came with the computer but I can’t identify the graphics driver on it. When I booted into safe mode & used Device Manager to update the driver, it asks me to insert any CD I have. I insert the Drivers and Utilities CD, but it comes back saying it hasn’t found an updated driver & asks if I want to use the existing driver. Before deleting the original driver (assuming I could download or find another driver) I would want to be able to back up the original but I don’t know where it is on my computer. If I search for “nv4_disp” I get 10 instances of the .dll file, 3 instances of the .INF file, 1 .cat file and 1 .dl_ file. I would appreciate any advice. Once again thanks for your reply.

[MrDarn]

Dell is funny like that. they like to provide their own drivers.

Im in the uk, so the following link may not work.
Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

if not, go to Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States] and enter your machine details. there is a video driver there for the NVS 280 video card.

[Putts]

Mr. Darn: Thanks for your reply. I successfully downloaded and installed the graphics driver (BTW both of those links worked for me). Now its just a matter of waiting to see if that fixed the problem. The problem was getting worse. Yesterday evening while using my computer it spontaneously went into the blue screen mode. That’s the 1st time that has happened. Usually it was only happening on boot-up. I really appreciate the help. I have my fingers crossed that it is fixed. Putts

[MrDarn]

Keep us informed

[Putts]

Mr. Darn: I wanted you to know that it has been about a week since I downloaded & installed the graphics driver and so far it has been working flawlessly!! I sure hoped its fixed. And I wanted to thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it!! Putts

[MrDarn]

You're welcome. Glad to be of assistance

[Putts]

Mr. Darn: I knew if I told you every thing was working fine that it would jinx me & sure enough after I told you everything was ok the problem re-appeared. I corrected the problem by reloading the Dell driver but that worked for 2 boots. On the 3rd it acted up. If I reload the driver once again it is good for a couple more boots. BTW I don’t let the boot process go all the way to the blue screen. When the computer is displaying a black screen with white lettering and just before it says “Windows is starting” it displays a splash screen that says “Windows XP” and displays the Microsoft flag. When the computer is going to act up that splash screen has vertical lines thru it so I shut down the computer at that point. I hope all of that makes sense. Anyway, I’d appreciate some additional sage advice. Do you think the graphics card could be bad? I have an inexpensive Sapphire Radeon HD5450 I can try. But the 1st steps after installing the card into the computer call for inserting the Windows CD and going to a \SETUP folder and clicking OK. I don’t have a Windows CD. Windows was pre-loaded on to the computer. I would appreciate any help you, or anyone can give me. Thank you.

[MrDarn]

could you let it go to the blue screen once and let us know if the message is any different?

Its great that you have a new card, but it seems like a pain to need the windows cd. i'm unsure why this would be.

let me review the thread to see if i've missed anything, and i'll be back. in the meantime, let me know what that bluescreen says.

[MrDarn]

We kinda bypassed this question:

....does your computer have a second "on board" port you can use? this may be covered over with a blue cap. remove your problem card and connect using this second vga port.....

Most desktops these days do have 'on board' graphics.

if you are unsure, remove the current card, then look on the rear of the machine. if there is a VGA port there, it "should" be the 'on-board' port.

connect your monitor to this port and see how you get on.

The picture below shows the standard position of an 'on-board' VGA port, and the probable location of your card, based on a generic expansion slot.

[Putts]

This morning I got the problem again (saw the vertical lines on the splash screen). I tried reloading the driver 3 times but it didn’t work. I saw your post on my other computer and let the faulty computer go to the blue screen. It has been awhile since I let it go to the blue screen so I can’t say its exactly the same. But it says the problem seems to be caused by nv4_disp and says the driver got stuck in an infinite loop error. If you wish I can write down every thing on the screen including the technical information (ie: things like 0x8A43A020, etc.)

The instructions for the new card tell you to remove the old card & install the new card. Then Driver Installation: Restart your computer and New Hardware will be detected. Follow the instructions below to install the driver. If the installation wizard does not appear, proceed directly to “Installing VGA Card Driver”.

1. Click Next
2. Click Finish
3. Insert your Windows CD
4. Click OK
5. Type the following: D:\SETUP (where “D” is your CD-ROM drive)
6. Click OK
7. Click Yes to restart your computer.

Installing the VGA Card Driver

1. Insert the VGA Card Installation CD……..

Then it goes on with instructions to install the Driver software.

It appears that the 7 steps above are to start an installation wizard but if it doesn’t start it is ok to proceed to: Installing the VGA Card Driver. So maybe I’ll be ok without the Windows CD.

Sorry this post is so long but I want to give you as much info as I can. Thanks again for your help.