Screensaver eating CPU

[cantoris]

I have a Dell GX280 PC where if a screensaver launches (made with v5.25 Pro), the CPU use goes up to 100%. The screensaver only comprises a single JPG at present (don't ask!)
The PC is running XP SP3 x86 and has an Intel 915G chipset which uses the driver ialmrnt5.

I used userdump.exe to grab a dump from the screensaver file and the stack shows:
0012f85c 77f2f128 77f2f113 09400006 09400005 ntdll!KiFastSystemCallRet
0012f874 7376660c 0012f988 0012fc20 0012fbf8 gdi32!NtGdiDdBlt+0xc
0012fbb4 004c7046 0015f950 0012fc10 0016ba98 ddraw!DD_Surface_Blt+0x24e5
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
0012fd80 00486920 0059c33c 00bec4ec 00434e28 ScreenSaver+0xc7046
0012fd98 0059bfe5 0059c33c 00bec4ec 0012fe00 ScreenSaver+0x86920
0012fdec 0059bba3 00434e3a 0012fe24 00434d20 ScreenSaver+0x19bfe5
0012fe1c 00422632 00000113 00000001 00000000 ScreenSaver+0x19bba3
0012fe34 7e418734 000103c6 00000113 00000001 ScreenSaver+0x22632
0012fe60 7e418816 003d0bdf 000103c6 00000113 user32!InternalCallWinProc+0x28
0012fec8 7e4189cd 00000000 003d0bdf 000103c6 user32!UserCallWinProcCheckWow+0x150
0012ff28 7e4196c7 0012ff58 00000001 0012ffa4 user32!DispatchMessageWorker+0x306
0012ff38 0046f348 0012ff58 0012ff00 02b1d680 user32!DispatchMessageA+0xf
0012ffa4 0059de4b 7ffda000 00000000 0012ffe0 ScreenSaver+0x6f348
0012ffc0 7c817077 02b1d680 7c90d96e 7ffda000 ScreenSaver+0x19de4b
0012fff0 00000000 0062c910 00000000 78746341 kernel32!BaseProcessStart+0x23

I don't know if that provides a clue as to what's going on.
I put on the newest graphics driver that Dell provides which made no difference and ensured DirectX was up-to-date. I tried the reference driver from Intel's site but it refused to install.

Has anyone seen this before? I will be looking out for it on other PCs of the same model to see if others are affected.

[Karlis]

Does this happen on all computers or only on this Dell?

[cantoris]

I saw another PC doing the same yesterday and it was also a Dell GX280. I've had a couple more unconfirmed reports too regarding GX280s.

Thanks.

[Karlis]

Any ideas how GX280 might be special or different?

[cantoris]

I've just seen another GX280 doing this.

Intel 915G chipset.
This one also had an added in Radeon X300 card.
SoundMax Integrated Digital Audio.

Software-wise, these 280s are not significantly different to our GX620s, GX270s, GX260s, GX240s and HP machines.

[cantoris]

I've just watched an HP machine do the same thing. HP dc5750 with onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 1150. Dual screen in this instance.
Unlike the Dell GX280s, this HP machine uses an AMD CPU and chipset. Windows XP SP3 Pro x86.

The CPU was maxed out to 100% when the [static image] screensaver was active. Showing Kernel Times in Task Manager plots a fairly steady line around half way up the graph.

Have you had any other reports like this? Thanks.

[Aivars]

Which Screensaver Factory version are you using to create the screensaver?

[cantoris]

It's version 5.2.5.45 Pro that we're using. Thanks.

[Aivars]

Could you try version 6 and see if this problem has been fixed?