Hello,

I have tracked this error down to the need to reboot before playing a game.  If my computer enters into S3 sleep, and I wake it up, it works fine until I play a game.  Then every time, the game will freeze with this error message recorded in Event Viewer.  I have found that if I reboot before playing, the game will never freeze.  The logical conclusion is that the second card in my SLI rig is not coming out of S3 sleep properly.  Does anyone know how I can troubleshoot this problem ?

ASUS P5N-E SLI
2 x EVGA 8800 GTS 320 MBs
4 GB PC6400 RAM
620W Enermax PSU
XP SP3

I had been running one 8800 for about 2 years with no crash issues in both Vista and XP (system is dual-boot although I only play games on XP).  Ever since I added the second 8800, I have noticed this problem.  But after testing it for more than a month, I simply never get the error if I reboot just before playing.  I am almost certain it has to do with S3 standby.  I have my system set to enter standby after 20 mins of inactivity.  It always recovers smoothly, and I can go on and do anything I normally would.  But if I launch a game, the behaviour is universal.  I have tried Pacific Assault, Max Payne 2, Command and Conquer 3, and various others.  When set in SLI mode via the Nvidia Control panel, the game will always hang with that error in the Event Viewer.  If I reboot before, it never happens.

Any ideas how I can get to the bottom of this?  It would be nice not to have to constantly reboot every time I feel like playing.

Thanks,
BM.

OK, tks.  I will give that a try.  I can see that the latest BIOS is dated Nov 30, 2009 (1406) whereas the one I am using is much older, dated Dec 26, 2007 (0803).  That is certainly worth a shot.  I just lent out my USB drive, as soon as I get it back I'll update the BIOS.  I don't think I'll try with my A: drive, I may as well completely remove it from the system since I haven't used it to fire up a floppy since my last BIOS update.

BM.

coolyou

I would also try a later version of driver.

Thanks, that is the first thing I tried.  Am currently running 197.13.  Since new drivers seem to come out about every week, after I update the BIOS I'll also apply the latest 197.45 Nvidia driver version.

BM.

Hi Nick1551,

Good call, man!  That appears to have done it.  Haven't seen a single CMDre error since the mobo BIOS upgrade to 1406.  Will keep testing, but it appears to have been solved.

BM.