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Old December 1st 03, 02:14 PM
Nick Le Lievre
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"markOpolis" wrote in message
...
I checked Windows XP Error Logs and I found the following error message:

Event ID = 108
Source = ati2mtag
Type = Error
Description = The driver ati2dvag for the display device \Device\Video0

got
stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates a problem with the

device
itself or with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly.
Please check with your hardware device vendor for any driver updates.

Any advice, idea, where does that infinite loop com from? Video card?

Video
driver? DDR?

Thanx in advance for your help...


Disable APIC mode in the BIOS if it is disabled suspect a ram stick here`s
my story which explains it;

Before infinite loop my setup was;

Athlon XP 1700 o/c XP 2000 @ 133mhz fsb
Crucial 256MB PC2100
MICRON 256MB PC2100
MSI Geforce 4 Ti4200 8X
ABIT AT7 MAX KT333

In the ever increasing desire to o/c further I decided to sell both the
PC2100 and buy a stick of 512MB PC2700 as I knew the system was not stable
running at 166mhz fsb (XP 2400 oc) and thought it becuase of the RAM not
being rated for 166fsb.

When I got the PC2700 I immediately started running it at 166mhz FSB but it
was still not stable I thought at the higher speeds my CPU wasn`t being
cooled enough (my cooler wasnt rated for XP 2400) and bought a Thermaltake
Heatsink/Fan to replace the cheap coolermaster I was running - I was pretty
sure this would give me the stability at 166fsb 2ghz while I was waiting for
it to arrive I decided to push up the fsb to see what the max fsb the PC2700
RAM would POST at - I got it up to 185fsb and it POSTED a couple of times
then it could no more - mysterious I thought.

So I gave up on the high fsb and went back to 133mhz fsb and XP 2000 but I
started getting spontaneous reboots did some reading on google and ended up
restoring my software build from backup the spontaneous reboots were gone no
permanent damage or so I thought.

The CPU Cooler arrived next day and I was still unable to get stability at
166fsb and now I started noticing the infinite loop error but as I`d not had
stability at 166fsb before I figured it was just the same stability problem
I`d always had only at 166fsb. However when I went back down to 133fsb and
XP 2000 the infinite loop persisted I started to get worried maybe it was
the CPU I went back down to default clock XP 1700 and still I had the
infinite loop problem.

Now my system was not stable at any CPU / FSB clock! Then I read about the
infinite loop problem on here and other places and thought what if I`d
damaged my PSU somehow during my attempts at high fsb overclock as I seemed
to recall getting more problems since then - spontaneous reboots which I got
rid off but then the infinite loop seemed to arrive back then.

I replaced the Q-TEC 550W with a brand new Q-TEC 400W as I knew I`d
originally had stability with the Q-TEC 550W in the system when it was new
so I still had faith in the brand and figured I had damaged it somehow. Well
the 400W made no difference and I still had the infinite loop.

So then I went on a long journey of discovery involving days/weeks of
testing with fresh builds and Prime 95 untill finally I swapped the memory
with a stick of PC2100 in my other PC and the infinite loop was gone. Then
it dawned on me that I had damaged the memory by running at 185mhz fsb not
the PSU.

I sent the PC2700 ram back for replacement and and am now running a stable
XP 2000 system - its still unstable at 166fsb but I don`t have the infinite
loop anymore. So for me it was faulty memory they`re are other types of
memory problems which are also becuase of faulty memory that I`ll agree but
the infinite loop it one of them IMO. These other memory problems are
similar in that they are both intermittent thats what makes them so
difficult to solve.

See my post on google groups http://tinyurl.com/w3t0

Therefore I believe if you have infinite loop its becuase either your memory
is faulty or misconfigured - my memory was faulty plain and simple the
recommended configuration for avoiding infinite loop is CPU @ 133fsb Memory
@ 133fsb and CPU @ 166fsb Memory @ 166fsb - I had the recommended
configuration and I had infinite loop - untill I got rid of the memory that
incidently wouldn`t even POST in my other board.

*UPDATE*

I mentioned in the above passage that I had no stability at 166fsb and that
the stability problems were not to do with the infinite loop - well tonight
I went back and tried 166fsb again and the error @ 166fsb is the infinite
loop - however my system is totally stable at 133fsb with no inifinite loop.
Way way back however I did have a stable XP 1700 @ XP 2400 at 166fsb on this
system then I decided to re-install and thats when all my stability problems
at 166fsb started.

Now the interesting part - when I re-installed the system when it was stable
166fsb I did so to restore a backup image of XP this backup image was
installed with the APIC mode enabled in the BIOS therefore I was unable to
set it to disable because XP would not load so I left it enabled - if you
see my post from nlel1975 of a few months back you can see the problems I
had with BIOS settings - I reckon a lot of these problems were becuase I had
APIC enabled.

I have tonight taken the plunge and re-installed XP with APIC disabled while
I have lost my 2 year old XP install my system is now stable again at 166fsb
no infinite loop!

So infinite loop is caused by;

APIC mode enabled at 166fsb
Bad/Faulty RAM at any fsb
CPU / Memory out of fsb sync

Check your system for stability with Prime 95
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm

This applies to this this issue;

Event ID 108

The driver nv4disp.dll for the display device \Device\Video0 got stuck in an
infinite loop. This usually indicates a problem with the device itself or
with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly. Please check
with your hardware device vendor for any driver updates.

Keywords: Monitor into standby