VPU Recover error after changing Radeon video cards..
Hi,
I'm currently building a new system for a customer. After sucessfully installing Windows XP Home, all software and drivers etc, I changed the video card from a Radeon 9250 (i think) to a Radeon 9550GE.
Thats when things started to go wrong..
After installing the appropriate vid card drivers off the manufacturers cd, the screen would suddenly go blank. The system seemed to be still running, ie. dvd drive lights, hdd and power lights, fans were all on and running. This would happen at random times, for example during boot up or after a few minutes idling on the desktop. There were no 3D applications or any other resource hungry programs running.
Then on one occasion i got the following error message after the screen flicked off and back on..
"VPU Recover has reset your graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to graphics driver commands"
Although the system didn't seem to be frozen, I still couldn't open any programs or do anything whatsoever.
Now I've ran BurnInTest twice, on both occasions the video card worked fine and passed all the tests. Not once did it stop working. This, coupled with the fact that the video card is brand new, and also physhically feels cool (ie. no overheating), I really don't think its a hardware issue. There must be some kind of software problem that has only surfaced after switching the card.
I wish I could give more in depth details about the spec of the system, but unfortunately I'm not at work atm.
Heres a brief list of the top of my head..
Win Xp Home
P4 3.2Ghz
Some kind of Gigabyte GT mobo
2 x 512mb DDR400 Ram
80Gb Sata Drive
Radeon 9550GE
Some kind of TV Tuner card
300W ATX Auriga PSU
I apologise if it seems like I've jumped straight on here without doing extensive testing first, but time is a luxury i don't have.
The customer has had major issues with their previous computer and I can't afford to send this one out with problems.
The next step I'm going to do when I get back into work is update the BIOS, motherboard and graphics card drivers.
But in the meantime, it would be great if someone can post up their issues with the VPU Recover error or offer any tips to troubleshoot this problem.
Thanks in advance
I'm currently building a new system for a customer. After sucessfully installing Windows XP Home, all software and drivers etc, I changed the video card from a Radeon 9250 (i think) to a Radeon 9550GE.
Thats when things started to go wrong..
After installing the appropriate vid card drivers off the manufacturers cd, the screen would suddenly go blank. The system seemed to be still running, ie. dvd drive lights, hdd and power lights, fans were all on and running. This would happen at random times, for example during boot up or after a few minutes idling on the desktop. There were no 3D applications or any other resource hungry programs running.
Then on one occasion i got the following error message after the screen flicked off and back on..
"VPU Recover has reset your graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to graphics driver commands"
Although the system didn't seem to be frozen, I still couldn't open any programs or do anything whatsoever.
Now I've ran BurnInTest twice, on both occasions the video card worked fine and passed all the tests. Not once did it stop working. This, coupled with the fact that the video card is brand new, and also physhically feels cool (ie. no overheating), I really don't think its a hardware issue. There must be some kind of software problem that has only surfaced after switching the card.
I wish I could give more in depth details about the spec of the system, but unfortunately I'm not at work atm.
Heres a brief list of the top of my head..
Win Xp Home
P4 3.2Ghz
Some kind of Gigabyte GT mobo
2 x 512mb DDR400 Ram
80Gb Sata Drive
Radeon 9550GE
Some kind of TV Tuner card
300W ATX Auriga PSU
I apologise if it seems like I've jumped straight on here without doing extensive testing first, but time is a luxury i don't have.
The customer has had major issues with their previous computer and I can't afford to send this one out with problems.
The next step I'm going to do when I get back into work is update the BIOS, motherboard and graphics card drivers.
But in the meantime, it would be great if someone can post up their issues with the VPU Recover error or offer any tips to troubleshoot this problem.
Thanks in advance
Callandor
If the only change you made was the video card, since they are both part of the Radeon family, the Catalyst video driver should work. Sometimes, one version works well for one card but not for another, so I would suggest installing the latest version from ATI's website. If that doesn't work, step back a version and see if that makes a difference.
Are you using the latest catalyst drivers? If so run the Catalyst Control Center select VPU recover (should be in the left pane on or near the bottom of the option list) uncheck enable VPU recover, apply changes and restart computer.
The other option is to use older drivers (v3.9 perhaps)
Hope this helps
-Jack
The other option is to use older drivers (v3.9 perhaps)
Hope this helps
-Jack
I had excactly the same problem and it turned out to be the motherboard that was faulty, not saying it is in your case, but one video card worked fine on it and another one didnt. both ATI cards too, x300se and x600xt
I would suspect that a 300 watt power supply is inadequate for this system, the added power consumption of the more power hungry 9550 is enough to realize the deficit. Use a good quality power supply of 400 watts or more depending on other add ons.
http://www.sharkcageonline.com/power.asp
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
http://takaman.jp/D/?english
Hope this helps...my little Duron 45 watt cpu system would choke on 300 watts...
T
http://www.sharkcageonline.com/power.asp
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
http://takaman.jp/D/?english
Hope this helps...my little Duron 45 watt cpu system would choke on 300 watts...
T
ASKER
I think it may have been a compatibility issue between the Gigabyte motherboard and the new ATI graphics card.
I've just put in a NVidia based 9250, and just running it on the Windows standard drivers.
Hopefully that fixes the issue, will post back once the machine goes out....fingers crossed :)
I've just put in a NVidia based 9250, and just running it on the Windows standard drivers.
Hopefully that fixes the issue, will post back once the machine goes out....fingers crossed :)
ASKER
By the way, that leads me to another question,
Are passive (ie no fan) graphics cards supposed to operate at a higher temperature than active (ie. fan) graphics cards?
The reason I ask is because I've put an active card into the machine and it feels cool to the touch,
putting 2 different passive cards into the same machine and they both start burning after touching for a few seconds.
Would this shorten the life of the cards or are they designed to operate at high temperatures?
Are passive (ie no fan) graphics cards supposed to operate at a higher temperature than active (ie. fan) graphics cards?
The reason I ask is because I've put an active card into the machine and it feels cool to the touch,
putting 2 different passive cards into the same machine and they both start burning after touching for a few seconds.
Would this shorten the life of the cards or are they designed to operate at high temperatures?
They are designed to operate at higher temperatures. They usually have fewer heat-producing transistors, so passive cooling is sufficient and sometimes you want a quieter video card.
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>> Are passive (ie no fan) graphics cards supposed to operate at a higher temperature than active (ie. fan) graphics cards?
Don't trust the cooling solution that ships with your card. You should test your card, see how hot it can get, and see if there are any graphic defects that appear at those temperatures. There are many tools for testing, personally I like ATI TOOLS. You can stress test your card with it, and even overclock it if you want.
I still remember the ATI x1800, x1900, x1950 series. They would get hot past the boiling point with the default fan/cooler (and the noise was almost as bad as a vacuum cleaner)... And that only after a hour of playing games like crysis. Graphic artifacts would appear, and you could permanently damage your card if you kept using it at those temperatures.
A passively cooled card does not mean a noisy card. If you pick the right fans, you can get maximum air flow with minimal (silent) noise levels.
Don't trust the cooling solution that ships with your card. You should test your card, see how hot it can get, and see if there are any graphic defects that appear at those temperatures. There are many tools for testing, personally I like ATI TOOLS. You can stress test your card with it, and even overclock it if you want.
I still remember the ATI x1800, x1900, x1950 series. They would get hot past the boiling point with the default fan/cooler (and the noise was almost as bad as a vacuum cleaner)... And that only after a hour of playing games like crysis. Graphic artifacts would appear, and you could permanently damage your card if you kept using it at those temperatures.
A passively cooled card does not mean a noisy card. If you pick the right fans, you can get maximum air flow with minimal (silent) noise levels.
In the last paragraph, I meant "an active cooled card" and not a "passive card".
The problem with the ATI X1800, X1900 and X1950 series was that the fan was set to a default speed of 5% of maximum, which was insufficient to keep anything cool. Using ATI Tool to reset it to a 20% minimum usually fixed the problem.
Not true according to my experience. Your card must have been damaged.
I had an x1900. The fan speed was variable, it got faster as the temperature went up. At max speed (which you attein only after 10 minutes of playing crysis), the noise was so bad it covered music and effects from the game. It is no exaggeration when I compared it to a vacuum cleaner.
Even at max speed, the card still went past boiling point temperature. It ran at 50 degrees when Idle and went up to 110 degrees after a couple of hours playing games. (It largely depended on the game, the worst case was Crysis which made the card overheat in 30 minutes.)
It was so annoying I had to change the cooling solution the first week I got the card. I bought a Thermalright S03 heatsink and a Japanese slipstream kaze 120mm silent fan, and my problems went away. It ran at 39 degrees idle and never ever went past 75 degrees.
I had an x1900. The fan speed was variable, it got faster as the temperature went up. At max speed (which you attein only after 10 minutes of playing crysis), the noise was so bad it covered music and effects from the game. It is no exaggeration when I compared it to a vacuum cleaner.
Even at max speed, the card still went past boiling point temperature. It ran at 50 degrees when Idle and went up to 110 degrees after a couple of hours playing games. (It largely depended on the game, the worst case was Crysis which made the card overheat in 30 minutes.)
It was so annoying I had to change the cooling solution the first week I got the card. I bought a Thermalright S03 heatsink and a Japanese slipstream kaze 120mm silent fan, and my problems went away. It ran at 39 degrees idle and never ever went past 75 degrees.
Not likely damaged - I found the problem reported on a number of forums and that's how I solved it, because I couldn't understand why it was happening. It was more of a design flaw of the original fan on the default settings, and changing the fan would also solve the problem.