MAMEWorld Forums - Hardware - Re: MAME 0.142 Bluescreening

> Having a real problem with MAME at the moment, it seems every time I boot up the main
> version I get an insant computer crash complete with blue screen o death. Also tried
> using the UI version and while it boots up, on loading any game, it immedietly
> crashes again.
>
> Using XP, Service pack 3
> AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual
> Core Processor 4000+
> 2.11 GHz, 1.93GB of RAM
> Graphics card: NVIDA GeForce 6100 nForce 405
>
> 12.4Gig left on the Hard drive also.
>
> Any clue what/if im doing anything wrong?

A BSOD typically means you have flaky drivers, bad hardware, or possibly bad RAM. From the pattern you're seeing, my guess would be your video card. I have a GeForce 6200 in my MAME box and it's an ornery beast. You can try swapping the drivers out. I'd definitely try the latest, but if that doesn't help, I'd give older drivers a try as well. I've found that my card is the least unhappy with drivers of the Release 197 family.

If messing with the drivers doesn't help, try swapping the card out for another one if you can. I'd also fire up MemTest86+ to check your RAM. If you have multiple sticks of RAM that can operate in single channel mode, you could also try pulling one and then the other and see if the BSOD goes away.