NMI: Parity Check/ Memory Parity Error -- System crash

[akjs123]

I had this with some bad RAM. Getting the RAM replaced solved the problem immediately.

Can you tell me what kind of applications caused the error for you? Did you run the memory diagnostics and did it detect any error.

[WackyT]

I think I might have stumbled on the fix for my E1705. Since I installed the new Atheros drivers (Ver. 7.4.2.105 / Date: 4/1/2008) from Windows Update and Atheros Client Utility (Version 7.0.1.70 / Date: 4/7/2008) over a week ago I have not had one BSOD. I used to get one and sometimes two about every day, especially if I had the E1705 on all day.

The specs of my E1705 are:
* Intel T7200 2GHz Core2Duo Processor
* 2GB 667MHz DDR2 Memory
* Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
* Pioneer DVR-K06 Slot-loading DVD Recorder
* nVidia GeForce Go 7800 Graphics
* Gigabyte GN-WI01GT Wireless (Atheros AR5006EGS)
* Windows XP Pro SP2

Here's my thread on the new driver and ACU.
New Atheros Wireless Driver On Windows Update

[KSMB]

i also get this ****ing BSOD message BUT ONLY WHEN I PLAY BF2...... (it started some days ago)

what is Atheros drivers ???

[ninic]

hi
i do get this error quite frequently and i'm also able to produce it on purpose.
btw, i have a dell 9400 with 7900gs. it would be nice if someone could check out if he's able to get the BSOD on purpose. what i do is running ATITool (google for it) and then press the "show 3D View" button. Now let the gpu heat up to nearly 70 degrees(with the new 169.09 driver, with the older ones it was around 80 degrees) the hotter the better. Then press the "scan for artifacts" button. if the gpu was hot enough you will now see A LOT of yellow pixels wich should not be there and sometimes you will get the BSOD.
so for me its simply an overheating problem maybe because of a bad programmed fan control by dell(the gpu fan isn't even running on "high")
a thing i also remarked is that with the new driver(169.09 from laptopvideo2go.com) it's harder to get the BSOD, so maybe they did something... and with them you can overclock the card without bios mods.

greetings

[MemoryParityFixer]

I HAVE THE FIX! it's your network card!

Most likely everyone having problems is using the broadcom network device. If the device is disabled the memory parity error goes away! Disable the NIC in the BIOS, upgrade your BIOS, remove the broadcom software, enable the NIC and install the most up to date software from dell for the NIC!

[aludenis]

The above method did not work for me. However I did find my fix.
My FIX
History: After owning my E1705 (bought in the summer of 2006 equipped with a 7900gs) for about 7 months, I got my first parity error. At first I didn't mind too much because they happened intermittently(once or twice a month). However, the NMI errors became more and more frequent with artifacts showing up everywhere, even during the OS loading screens for both Vista and XP. I thought it may have been the temperature, so I went out and bought a laptop cooler and a can of compressed air. Both these methods did not work at all and I was left with a PC that began to increasingly frustrate me. I bought new ram, tried cleaning out the vents and fans, forcing fans to high speed but nothing worked. The below method worked for me and my video card has stopped artifacting for over a week now.

The method:
I ran an industrial blower at 3x the normal atm. pressure (you can try using a less powerful wet/dry vac, that may work too) through my vents and fans that blew out every bit of dust. Before doing this, I had the parity error every time I started any program or game that is at all graphically intensive. IT WAS NOT SO MUCH THE TEMP because the before and after temperatures are not that different. The memory and chipset temps were around the same range while the GPU and CPU temps decreased 10-20 degrees celcius. Before the GPU was around 70-80+ and the CPU was around 40-50 during heavy use. But these ranges are still comfortably safe from the research I've done. So hopefully those nasty artifacts and random BSOD crashes have stopped for a while. I was actually on the verge of buying a whole new video card but i'm glad I tried dusting out my computer.

I will keep people posted if my solution continues to work.

[Srober1977]

I'm using a Dell XPS and twice in the last 5 days I've the computer has crashed because of this Memory Parity problem. I can't afford to be without my laptop when it is being serviced by Dell. Any suggestions? The computer is only 10 months old.
Thanks

[Little_Ho]

Well i was just going thru some stuff and found this post here.

I have my XPS M1210 with a 7400 for about a Year and in the last few month i have that BSOD coming up sometimes more sometimes less.

I bought new ram 2GB did not help that Problem ( i used that Dell ram in my eeepc no problem at all...lol) I Upgraded to Atheros WIFI still the same. I installed Dell Garphic Driver and i used teh Official Nvidia Driver no fix on me.

But i did one thing that made it quit giving me BSOD...

I installed Ubuntu i never had any trouble with hanging up or anything else.

So after playing around with Ubuntu which i enjoyed i decid to go back to windows because of my WIFI crad was not Supported that well (range and Super G) anywho...i installed a fresh install from Windows XP and all the Updated Driver i can find i had no problems for about 2-3 Month but now i got it back...

Well i will keep my eye open for the nedded Support for my WIFI so long i will deal with the BSOD..

My 2cent

Little_Ho

[Scottish87]

For months now my laptop has been coming up with an NMI parity check / error in blue screen after about 5 minuates of playing games. I have looked through loads of posts about this specific problem and people seem to have different solutions, wich is probably because this error can be caused by different things.

Im almost 100% sure my problem is to do with heat in the laptop, more specificaly the graphics card, overheating. I recently contacted dell about this and i am now to recive a new graphics card (the 7950 gtx as apposed to the 7900 gtx). Anyway the reason i belive it to be heat related and not driver related is because i found a "temporery fix", in that my flate-mate has a large portable fan, the past few months i have been using this fan, pointing it at the back of the laptop and the nmi error blue screen rearly appears, however without this fan i can get this error within a minuate of playing.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and had there graphics card modle changed, not just replaced, if so what was the outcome, thanks for reading

[sjowitt]

Hey noticed this old post with the memroy parity errors. Happenign to me very often especially when playing COD4 in multiplayer. Never happens in single player or other games so far. I figure it must be the RAM on the video cared its referring to as the main RAM i changed with soem corsair a while back. It seems to be getting worse and more often now. I';ve read in a few spots it could be also temperature related so maybe try giving your video card adn system a clean out and we'll see what happens. Not too impressed as this is my third issue with this laptop and i still have 2 more years of warranty. Oh well, ,guess its time to send it off for new parts.