New Rig, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL ntoskrnl.exe

Bigokto · 17 Oct 2011

Hello,

I've poked around the forums a few times, but never registered until now. I built a new rig about 2 weeks ago, and am getting intermittent BSOD's. Sometimes it will happen immediately on startup, other times it will run fine for a couple days. Obviously this makes reproducing the BSOD's very difficult. Blue Screen View revealed the BSOD is from ntoskrnl.exe IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. My hardware is posted below:

- Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W
-ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
-CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
-OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Solid State Drive (SSD)
-MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
-Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card
-Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

I have updated all drivers to most recent stable release, and even tried reinstalling Windows. I would very much appreciate some help troubleshooting this, as it has put quite a damper on the excitement of building a new computer

I have attached the latest dump file (others are gone from reinstalling) and my system health report (no problems). Even though I lost the mini dump files when I reinstalled, they were all from the same ntoskrnl.exe IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL according to Blue Screen View.

Thanks again for the help.

panais · 17 Oct 2011

Hi Bigokto

If your overclocking stop.

Update your Creative Audio software\driver.

Creative Worldwide Support

Run RAM - Test with Memtest86+
Leave to run overnight if needed.

Finish with these steps and post back with any results.

Bigokto · 17 Oct 2011

I have received the same BSOD during both overclocking and normal configurations. I have also tried disabling on board features of my mobo that I'm not using (Bluetooth, Marvell, etc.) According to Creative Updater I have most recent drivers. I have since taken my sound card out, uninstalled all related drivers and software and am waiting to see if it continues to happen. Problem is the BSODs are highly variable in frequency.

Just thought of one possible symptom that may help. A couple days ago I came home from work and the computer had gone to BSOD and was stuck on it (didn't reboot automatically). After turning the computer off and rebooting, the rig did not recognize the SSD windows is installed to and it prompted me for a boot device. After several reboots the SSD was recognized again and Windows booted no problem. No mini-dump file was created and this has not happened since.

Bigokto · 17 Oct 2011

I plan on running Memtest86 tonight, but I don't expect to find much. Windows' memory check said no issues, and I am using (supposedly) decent ram. My previous experience with bad ram leads me to believe the BSOD's would be far more frequent than they are now if it was a memory issue.

panais · 17 Oct 2011

Just a tip:

You use ahci or ide?

You would want to set your BIOS to use AHCI mode before you install the SSD and Windows 7 on it. AHCI will give you better performance and more features.

AHCI vs IDE

AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista

Bigokto · 17 Oct 2011

I want to say AHCI since I enabled it on mobo prior to installing Windows, but I could be wrong. Your instructions detail how to turn it on, but how do I confirm if its already functioning if its turned on in bios?

yowanvista · 17 Oct 2011

Bigokto said:

I want to say AHCI since I enabled it on mobo prior to installing Windows, but I could be wrong. Your instructions detail how to turn it on, but how do I confirm if its already functioning if its turned on in bios?

It is located in your BIOS under "Sata Configuration', AHCI is recommended for best performance with an SSD

Bigokto · 17 Oct 2011

AHCI is enabled.

Ran Memtest86 for 6 hours last night, no memory errors were found. Any other ideas?

Arthur Hucksake · 18 Oct 2011

There has been an issue reported regarding SSDs with sandforce controllers, the most common occurance is when the PC is entering or leaving sleep mode.

Only real solution is to disable sleep mode in power settings to see if it makes any difference.

The tell tale sign is that afterwards the drive vanishes and you have to re-enable it.

Result Updated Information on OCZ 120GB Vertex 3 BSOD/Freezes Post 2.06FW update

Bigokto · 23 Oct 2011

UPDATE: I ran Memtest86 for 11 hours this time, and 1 error was revealed. Is this enough to be causing regular BSOD's? Also, I have since received another BSOD after removing my sound card and while not overclocking. Appears to be the same IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL ntoskrnl.exe. The DMP file is attached below.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.