Strange BSOD while playing Battlefield 3 Beta

Hello everybody!

Some time ago, I started a thread about how I was getting constant BSODs everyday. Well, turns out that the latest versions of AMD's Catalyst were the ones causing them; so I stayed with v8.4. I spent a whole week with no crashes until Thursday, when the Battlefield 3 beta came out. I decided to install the preview version of Catalyst 11.10, which were supposed to give a performance boost in the game's beta. That's when I got a BSOD... Actually, they were three. I got angry at my bad luck and decided to downgrade and stick to Catalyst 8.4.
I haven't got any BSODs so far, but, the actual matter of this thread is that my last BSOD was really strange. I know you guys are great helping people out, so I would be really grateful if someone could tell me what it was about. Hardware related? Drivers? The game itself?
By the way, here are my system specs:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
- Intel Core i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz
- 8GB of RAM Memory
- AMD Radeon HD 6970m 1GB


Thanks in advance.

PolloSpeedo said:

Hello everybody!

Some time ago, I started a thread about how I was getting constant BSODs everyday. Well, turns out that the latest versions of AMD's Catalyst were the ones causing them; so I stayed with v8.4. I spent a whole week with no crashes until Thursday, when the Battlefield 3 beta came out. I decided to install the preview version of Catalyst 11.10, which were supposed to give a performance boost in the game's beta. That's when I got a BSOD... Actually, they were three. I got angry at my bad luck and decided to downgrade and stick to Catalyst 8.4.
I haven't got any BSODs so far, but, the actual matter of this thread is that my last BSOD was really strange. I know you guys are great helping people out, so I would be really grateful if someone could tell me what it was about. Hardware related? Drivers? The game itself?
By the way, here are my system specs:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
- Intel Core i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz
- 8GB of RAM Memory
- AMD Radeon HD 6970m 1GB


Thanks in advance.

These were caused by a memory exception. Please run these two tests to verify your memory and find which driver is causing the problem.


1-Memtest.

*Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

*Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Just remember, any time Memtest reports errors, it can be either bad RAM or a bad motherboard slot.

Test the sticks individually, and if you find a good one, test it in all slots.

RAM - Test with Memtest86+



2-Driver verifier

I'd suggest that you first backup your data and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

In Windows 7 you can make a Startup Repair disk by going to Start....All Programs...Maintenance...Create a System Repair Disc - with Windows Vista you'll have to use your installation disk or the "Repair your computer" option at the top of the Safe Mode menu .

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable

PolloSpeedo said:

Hello everybody!

Some time ago, I started a thread about how I was getting constant BSODs everyday. Well, turns out that the latest versions of AMD's Catalyst were the ones causing them; so I stayed with v8.4. I spent a whole week with no crashes until Thursday, when the Battlefield 3 beta came out. I decided to install the preview version of Catalyst 11.10, which were supposed to give a performance boost in the game's beta. That's when I got a BSOD... Actually, they were three. I got angry at my bad luck and decided to downgrade and stick to Catalyst 8.4.
I haven't got any BSODs so far, but, the actual matter of this thread is that my last BSOD was really strange. I know you guys are great helping people out, so I would be really grateful if someone could tell me what it was about. Hardware related? Drivers? The game itself?
By the way, here are my system specs:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
- Intel Core i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz
- 8GB of RAM Memory
- AMD Radeon HD 6970m 1GB


Thanks in advance.

I have the same issue my friend, please tell me where i can download the Catalyst 8.4 drivers so i can see if they work for me too. I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and an ATI 5750. Thanks in advance.

grpm said:

PolloSpeedo said:

Hello everybody!

Some time ago, I started a thread about how I was getting constant BSODs everyday. Well, turns out that the latest versions of AMD's Catalyst were the ones causing them; so I stayed with v8.4. I spent a whole week with no crashes until Thursday, when the Battlefield 3 beta came out. I decided to install the preview version of Catalyst 11.10, which were supposed to give a performance boost in the game's beta. That's when I got a BSOD... Actually, they were three. I got angry at my bad luck and decided to downgrade and stick to Catalyst 8.4.
I haven't got any BSODs so far, but, the actual matter of this thread is that my last BSOD was really strange. I know you guys are great helping people out, so I would be really grateful if someone could tell me what it was about. Hardware related? Drivers? The game itself?
By the way, here are my system specs:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
- Intel Core i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz
- 8GB of RAM Memory
- AMD Radeon HD 6970m 1GB


Thanks in advance.

I have the same issue my friend, please tell me where i can download the Catalyst 8.4 drivers so i can see if they work for me too. I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and an ATI 5750. Thanks in advance.

I downloaded them from the official AMD drivers page, mate! Thing is, my video card came embedded in my PC (It's the 6970M model), and v8.4 is, in fact, the latest version of it. Actual AMD drivers don't work for my card unless they are modded to work with them...
Here you go, Catalyst 8.4: ATI Catalyst
Does this happen to you only when playing BF3? Because that's the issue for me; no other game gives me BSODs A shame, really, since BF is my favourite video game saga. An user from the UK's EA forums nicknamed Dragodoro has reported that the Beta may be stressing the CPU too much, and thus causing the BSODs. He suggested that ampering up the CPU's voltage in the BIOS by a little bit may solve the problem, although I can't do it since I'm running on a iMac (and W7 through Apple Boot Camp), which have no BIOS!
I really hope this is a Beta-related issue, and not related with the final game...
Hope this helps!

Hey Zigzag! Thanks for the reply! And sorry for not answering; I was messing around with the drivers to see if they are actually involved in this matter.
Well, what happened is that I really want to make sure that it's a memory issue before running memtest (Pure laziness, I know ), so I would like to add another BSOD that I got today... If you don't mind, could you please take a look at it? I'd really appreciate it

I am not a consriracy theorist, see I don't even know how to spell it. However each and every time I got the blue screen it was while I was doing something that might be viewed as not allowed ingame. Such as sitting in a building letting my team spawn on me. Going behind the enemy base outside and sniping. Wierd things like that. It may be a bug where the admin kicks you and it freaks your drivers out so you crash. Not sure but it is very pecular.

LOL I hear you, today I went on an absolute rampage on BF3 and got a BSOD... I raged and decided to send my PC for repair. Thing is, PC technicians, at least here in my city (I'm from Chile), are not very good; most of the times you inform them about the problem and they just google for a solution. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but you'd expect more...
I really hope this BSOD crap ends once and for all!