Nvidia display drivers causing a crash. (totally stumped)

guyslade1991 · 15 Nov 2016 at 22:53

First off this is my first post on the OCuk forums with this account, I lost my old one some 4 years ago after making an arse of myself by trying to get a gtx 580 cooler on a gtx 480 with a file. But if any of my post does not conform to the location or any specific rules I just want to say sorry now, I also do realise it is a bit cheaky to be crying for help on my first post but after pestering the OCUK staff all last week with tons of webnotes i am honestly somewhat embarrassed considering I was totally wrong in the end.
This is going to be rather long winded, and for that I apologise now. Also a heads up I tried reddit for help too, but I ended up with an inbox of messages telling me they didn't know and only one fellow who tried to help, who I saw tried his best but, no cheese for Gromit.

Tldr: Display drivers crashing my system (I think).

Approx 9 days ago I downloaded and updated my system with the new Nvidia update for my GTX 1080 (375.70), after installing said update a few hours later my computer began to crash to a solid colour sometimes pink, black, white, even a nice shade of cream.

I researched the issue by googling the problem for a few hours and decided the driver was messed up so I uninstalled it in safe mode and downloaded and installed my previous driver, which had no effect at all, so I decided it must be my GPU instead so I took it out of my computer and put in this old Titan Z (which I had been using as a paper weight since I had bought the 1080 two months prior), the Titan Z worked fine, no more crashes no more freezing.

So I sent my 1080 away to be replaced as my system was fine with the Titan Z, fast forward time to yesterday, I received a new 1080 as ocuk did find booting problems, the only issue is my problem has just changed slightly, rather than being fixed.

Now when I log in the screen freezes or goes black/white then after a two or three seconds sometimes it will shutdown, but most the time it doesn't and I need to hold down the power button, either way nothing happens.

The issue has now further changed to the point my OS is becoming unstable everytime I try and log in it wants me to run the windows standard system repair, but then never finds a problem, though that appears to have stopped now. Also it has now become unable to recognise my Titan Z which was running fine. Also my Razer Siren is no longer recognised by my system, and it took everything I had in me just to get my audio working again, which was basically just me uninstalling and reinstalling the same driver so in hindsight not that hard.

So what I have tried is:

1). Using a the sweeper to totally remove all Nvidia products from my computer (in safe mode) and block the auto download from downloading on start up. (without any display driver the computer doesn't crash or freeze or anything in normal mode just like safe mode)

2). I have also knocked off any and all non-essential start up programs and services to just Microsoft and Nvida (when relevant, as I have to uninstall the driver again so I can use any part of the computer).

3). I have defaulted the Bios and checked for updates which led me to flashing the bios.

4). I used MemTest86 to check the CPU and Memory, which was fine at the time.

5). I used the same sweeper to clean and then install all the drivers ever made for the 1080, one at a time, removing the previous one as I go (all in safe mode again).

6). I tried downloading the drivers through the Geforce experience and from Nvidia's own site.

7). I got out a temperature probe to test the various parts in the computer for over heating, in case MSI Afterburner was giving me false readings, it was not. (I was getting desperate here)

8). I tried using unbuntu to see if the system would crash here, other than the mouse not being visible it did not crash.

9). The wires have been checked and the RAM reseated, which all checked out.

10). I haven't downloaded any windows updates since july. (Basically once I figured out how to block the windows 10 upgrade messages).

11). I had to run a startup repair for the first time ever aswell, which is strange and im not sure if relevant but considering the timing of it decided to mention it.

My system spec's are as follows:

CPU: i7 5820k

RAM: 16gb DDR4 Team Group Elite2400MHZ

Motherboard: ASUS X99-S

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1080 Xtreme WaterForce / Titan Z (now doesn't work with either)

PSU: Super Flower 1000W 80+ Gold Rated PSU

OS: Win7 Ult.

(None Overclocked)

So that is my issue, I hope someone can help me as frankly I am at the end of my rope, I am at the stage where I am considering getting replacement parts but I have no idea what exactly the problem is and don't want to get a new piece if its not the broken bit.

chickadee · 16 Nov 2016 at 07:37

Have you tried downloading an up to date Windows 10 install from Microsoft and doing a fresh install? (if you said that then sorry but im in a rush and thats a lot of text!)

I know that the Windows upgrades aren't exactly perfect and they can cause some problems down the line.

AdamScott85 · 16 Nov 2016 at 08:54

As above ^^ bang a fresh install of Windows on. a lot of problems are caused by crappy Windows Updates which I turn off, could be a number of things causing it but a fresh install will very likely sort it. I haven't used Windows Updates in 5 years, they cause more issues than they fix.

jpaul · 16 Nov 2016 at 09:53

as they said - but was there nothing in event logs ? (that might show if it crashing during shut-down resulting in repair on re-start)

guyslade1991 · 16 Nov 2016 at 12:54

I have tried using the widows repair the standard one and the one where you stick the usb in and sort of super impose it over the top. Neither of which worked, and at the time I hadn't downloaded any updates in many months, but have since updated my OS and it didn't make a noticible difference.
As far as event logs go when ever i try and access them i get the error message "Event Log Service is unavailable. Verify the service is running", which is should have been.
The only thing that I have seen which made a difference was when I took my GPU out of the main slot and put it in the one below it. The computer worked fine after that, more or less, until I went to sleep and came back and now everything is in Grayscale, which isn't being caused by the Nvida settings as i already tried that, and the Grayscale extends from the very first thing I see, which is the "Press f2 or del to enter bios" screen to well everything else.
Below is what i see now.

chickadee · 17 Nov 2016 at 07:16

Well if you are seeing a problem prior to Windows loading then it will have to be a hardware fault, your graphics card might be on the way out.

Try something to stress your GPU like Furmark and see if your card runs ok at 100% load.

Also doing a repair and upgrade isn't the same as a fresh install of windows. Go to Microsofts site and get the latest W10 install and pop it onto a USB key and do a fresh install to 100% rule out any windows problems. This will wipe everything from your machine so remember and backup everything. I would do this anyway even if your problem is hardware related, upgrading windows really is hit or miss and nearly always causes some problems down the line.

Oh and I cant see anything wrong with that screenshot.

guyslade1991 · 17 Nov 2016 at 10:41

I know it is different, a fresh install I mean, I the reason I didn't do that was because to do the repair which I spoke of before I booted my system from the memory stick not my SSD and it was still black and white, so when you say it is a hardware issue I would agree. Also lol i didn't realise the screenshot was normal I took a picture with my phone to show what it is like then.

chickadee · 18 Nov 2016 at 06:51

Have you tried a different graphics card or monitor/cable? They seem to be the most obvious culprits.

guyslade1991 · 18 Nov 2016 at 08:31

chickadee said:
Have you tried a different graphics card or monitor/cable? They seem to be the most obvious culprits.

I thought the same thing, so the very first thing I did when it went was try my Titan Z which worked fine, then send my 1080 to ocuk but eventually both of those stopped working too, I have also since replaced my cable to my monitor. The monitor itself is fine as the menu options, which are for the monitor only are still in colour, it is only the computer related bits which are throwing up the retro look.
Since my last post I have ordered replacement parts which should be here today which I intend to install one at a time in order to see what the problem is (assuming I bought the right stuff lol). If my problem is solved by these new pieces I shall post here.

chickadee · 18 Nov 2016 at 12:08

I have seen a monitor have problems but the menus work fine, it might be worth connecting your pc to a tv or your monitor to another pc to make 100% sure, would be annoying to buy other parts if its your monitor.

Bantu · 18 Nov 2016 at 13:07

It may be that the port on the monitor is kaputt...

guyslade1991 · 18 Nov 2016 at 16:46

Ok my new parts from OCUK came today, and I have since replaced half my system, but I tested it each step of the way to figure out which piece was broken, in my case as soon as i replaced the motherboard everything began working again, everything is in colour and nothing is crashing. That said though my old motherboard worked fine for about half a day whenever i cracked it open and reshuffled around the parts, If anything changes I will post here again, but hopefully that has solved it.