"Bad image" errors

[Whirldisplay]

I'm lately getting these errors when using programs that rely on video acceleration, like video players or editors. Nvapi.dll and nvcuda.dll are usually mentioned below:

After some quick and not extensive tests, it seems the problem is solved when installing the full Nvidia driver i.e. without using NVCleanstall. Any suggestion on which missing component might cause this? I'd hate to start trying them one by one... I usually only install the driver -obviously- and the HD audio. Nothing else. Telemetry disabled in the final step, nothing else disabled there. Issue occurs whether driver is Standard, DCH or Studio. Tried both 4xx and 5xx drivers.

Thanks

 

[W1zzard]

Very interesting .. first time I'm seeing this.

The error usually means the file is physically corrupted, or couldn't be read properly. Next time, send me a copy of the file to w1zzard@techpowerup.com

NVCleanstall doesn't change nvapi.dll in any way, it's also part of the "Display Driver" package, so no way to not install it.

Any chance your storage or memory is not 100% stable?

 

[Whirldisplay]

Any chance your storage or memory is not 100% stable?

They are probably ok, but who knows... Very old system with some server components (Intel Xeon CPU, ECC RAM).

Anyway, I tried again. Did not get an error this time yet (I tried reproducing but failed), but after doing hash comparisons I noticed some differences. I compared nvapi/nvapi64, nvcuda, nvcuvid DLLs in System32 and SysWOW64 folders.

I installed the 512.15 Studio/DCH driver. Full first, then removed it with DDU, and used NVCleanstall to re-install just the display driver and remove telemetry (not the hidden/experimental telemetry removal).

System32 files are the same, but in SysWOW64: nvapi.dll and nvcuda.dll have different hashes than their full Nvidia installer counterparts. Just sent them but the email server rejects the file. Get them here and I sent the password via email.

 

[W1zzard]

Interesting, the files in NVCleanstall/SysWOW64 are all corrupted. nvapi.dll has a little bit of the original data at the start and then all zeros, the other two files are just zeros

Can you try again if this happens every time?

 

[Whirldisplay]

Do you mean to try reinstalling the driver via NVCleanstall?

 

[W1zzard]

Do you mean to try reinstalling the driver via NVCleanstall?

correct, i wonder if it's one-off random (= hardware issue probably), or happens every time (= software issue, possibly nvcleanstall bug)

 

[Whirldisplay]

I'll try again by disabling any possible interference (A/V etc.) and post back. Probably irrelevant but due to system peculiarity, I uninstall the drivers via DDU (and restart, of course) in 'Standard' mode instead of Safe Mode (cannot access Safe Mode). I've confirmed all those DLLs are indeed removed by DDU.

 

[W1zzard]

I'll try again by disabling any possible interference

If possible rather don't change any variables and try to just reproduce, so we know it's not something you did in the meantime

 

[Whirldisplay]

I did not change anything. Only difference is that after using DDU, I installed with NVCleaninstall, skipping the "full" installation. I did not use my stored NVCleanstall driver files from the previous installation and let it do its thing from scratch i.e. use my local Nvidia full driver installer).

Results: System32 files are again same as the "original". I did reproduce the error (same as screenshot in 1st post). The strange thing here is that I do not see nvapi.dll in System32. It's not there. There's only nvapi64.dll.

SysWOW64: nvapi.dll is again different from the original. It also has a different hash from the one I sent you. Nvcuda.dll has the same hash as the one I sent you i.e. it's different from the original. Nvcuvid.dll is again same as the original.

One more thing: must be a month or two that the system restarts automatically -and rather abruptly- before the installation process is complete. This also occurs without using NVCleanstall, but it did not happen until recently. Does Nvidia do this now or is it just me?

After the restart, driver is already installed normally with no further prompts. I was watching the System32 folder during the NVCleanstall installation, and it seems the restart occurs right after (or during?) the creation of these .dll files.

NEW POST: I reinstalled the driver without NVC. Hashes are different from my original backup and issue IS occurring. So, NVCleanstall has most probably nothing to do with this. I simply replaced those two files with the ones from my backup, and issue does not occur. I'll reinstall with NVC again, check the files and replace if needed. It should be ok.

My take is that the problem is caused by the abrupt restart. Either there's a bug in the Nvidia installer triggered by the pre-2010 CPU (such compatibility problems are increasing lately, since delelopers are dropping support), or that there's an actual hardware problem/instability as you mentioned earlier.

 

[W1zzard]

or that there's an actual hardware problem/instability as you mentioned earlier.

Try running Memtest64, dial down the used memory a bit, so you can still use Windows while it's running

 

[Whirldisplay]

Thanks for the tip. No errors after 3 loops. Windows Memory Diagnostics also ok (default test).