Video Hardware Error

[MovieT]

I have been having trouble with my system that is reported as a Video Hardware Error.  The odd thing is that I only have this problem when watching 1080 blue ray encodes.  Now you can understand that I don't want to give up with the high quality encodes. I am a bit confused with what I have found as I research this problem.  I thought I would ask here since I only have this problem so far when I am watching high quality anime so I wondered if others have encountered this.  Some of my research suggests that my hardware may be faulty but I only have problems during video playback.  I have had this problem with MPC HC, Zoomplayer and Microsoft Media Player using the CCCP video decoder, the MPC video decoder and the Microsoft video decoder so the problem seems to be at another level.  Some system particulars:
Dell XPS 16 Laptop
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
Intel Core I7 q720 CPU
Windows 7 OS

Any ideas how to attack this problem would be greatly appreciated.

[Lupin]

And the error is?

[MovieT]

Lupin, thanks for pointing out my obvious omission.  I was coming back to clarify (it is a bit late here).  In the middle of video playback the system stops playback and becomes nearly unresponsive.  The system is still running but windows are messed up and even the mouse cursor responds only intermitently.  I am forced to do a power button shut down because not much else will work.

[Lupin]

It looks like something in your laptop is overheating.

[vuzedome]

Ahh... laptops... there's your problem, better bring it in for a checkup soon, don't wan your northbridge or gpu melting down on you, replacements for those parts are usually covered with a full mobo swap which is rather pricey.

[namaiki]

What in particular do you mean by 'CCCP video decoder'?

Try install CCCP and use the included Media Player Classic Homecinema. (Start-> Combined Community Codec Pack-> Media Player Classic)

Make sure to do a 'reset all settings' first (Start-> Combined Community Codec Pack-> Settings-> Next-> Reset-> apply-> yes-> next-> apply)


Also, check and report temperatures from within HWMonitor (google it) when playing videos and make sure that the system is set to balanced, not necessarily power save, but definitely not High Performance.





mmm but yeah.. hard lock-up is never a good sign.

[MovieT]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Namaiki by CCCP video decoder I mean the ffdshow Video Decoder (which shows as ffdshow MPEG4 Video Decoder/libavcodec when I display filters when playing one of the files that has crashed my system using Zoomplayer).  I have the ffdshow Video Decoder blocked in MPC-HC as described in the thread "How to get your (supporting) video card to decode h264 using DXVA" so the MPC Video Decoder was active when using MPC-HC.

Some readings from HWMonitor after a 1080 file has been playing for a while:

Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware monitor   ACPI
   Temperature 0   27°C (80°F) [0xBB8] (TZ00)
   Temperature 1   68°C (154°F) [0xD54] (TZ01)

Hardware monitor   Intel Core i7
   Power 0      55.04 W (Processor)
   Temperature 0   65°C (149°F) [0x23] (Core #0)
   Temperature 1   65°C (149°F) [0x23] (Core #1)
   Temperature 2   67°C (152°F) [0x21] (Core #2)
   Temperature 3   69°C (156°F) [0x1F] (Core #3)

Hardware monitor   ST9500420ASG
   Temperature 0   38°C (100°F) [0x26] (Assembly)
   Temperature 2   38°C (100°F) [0x26] (Air Flow)

Hardware monitor   Battery 1
   Voltage 0   11.96 Volts [0x2EBC] (Current Voltage)
   Capacity 0   7650 mWh [0x1DE2] (Designed Capacity)
   Capacity 1   7394 mWh [0x1CE2] (Full Charge Capacity)
   Capacity 2   5440 mWh [0x1540] (Current Capacity)
   Level 0      3 pc [0x60] (Wear Level)
   Level 1      74 pc [0x49] (Charge Level)

How hot is too hot?  I have no idea what the desired range is on my system?

[Lupin]

That processor is running hot. I suggest you follow Vuzedome's advice and have that laptop checked. I think that processor's fan is broken.

[namaiki]

You've got an i7. Don't bother with DXVA.

Does it still freeze if you are using just the ffdshow video filter to play?

[MovieT]

Namaiki, yes it will eventually freeze using ffdshow.  I even tried Windows Media Player with its DVD-DTV Codec, or whatever it is called, and caused the same error.  Incidentally, the files I have been having trouble with have not been calling on DXVA.  The latest is the 1080 version of Utawarerumono by Thora which does not use DXVA and another was a Coal Girl's release of Tatuyama: Kiss On my Deity which was 1080 but did not use DXVA.

Again, thanks to all who provided feedback.  I stopped banging my head on the wall trying to fix a software or driver problem because you people made me think I might have a genuine hardware problem.  I called Dell technical support and after I described the history of my problem and what I had already tried, they decided to replace the whole motherboard with attached video card without even trying anything else.  I hope that fixes the problem.

[vuzedome]

Sweet support and warranty.

[Sosseres]

That processor is running hot. I suggest you follow Vuzedome's advice and have that laptop checked. I think that processor's fan is broken.

The i7 I have also ran that hot on a stock cooler on my stationary computer. At least under load.