Yet Another BSOD Thread

What can I say? BSODs happen seemingly at random, sometimes using photoshop, sometimes using SNES emulator, sometimes with only a single youtube window open... And so far never with Hitman running (the only "gamer" game I have to test with).

Ran whocrashed and it was not only inconclusive, it guessed that 2 crashes were not hardware and one was.

Just the process of opening a .dmp file is, for the first time in my life, making me consider getting an apple; and if you knew me, that statement would blow you away. please dont let me go down that road, any and all help is most appreciated.

i am attaching the dump files...

Thuggish said:

What can I say? BSODs happen seemingly at random, sometimes using photoshop, sometimes using SNES emulator, sometimes with only a single youtube window open... And so far never with Hitman running (the only "gamer" game I have to test with).

Ran whocrashed and it was not only inconclusive, it guessed that 2 crashes were not hardware and one was.

Just the process of opening a .dmp file is, for the first time in my life, making me consider getting an apple; and if you knew me, that statement would blow you away. please dont let me go down that road, any and all help is most appreciated.

i am attaching the dump files...

One was caused by hardware. One by a an as yet un-named driver. These need updating

Code:

emupia2k.sys    4/9/2007 8:08:10 AM        fffff880`05f42000    fffff880`05f94000    0x00052000    0x461a3aba                        
ctsfm2k.sys    4/9/2007 8:08:11 AM        fffff880`05f94000    fffff880`05fde000    0x0004a000    0x461a3abb                        
ctoss2k.sys    4/9/2007 8:08:14 AM        fffff880`05265000    fffff880`052a0000    0x0003b000    0x461a3abe                        
ha10kx2k.sys    4/9/2007 8:08:15 AM        fffff880`06804000    fffff880`069bd000    0x001b9000    0x461a3abf                        
hap16v2k.sys    4/9/2007 8:08:17 AM        fffff880`05f00000    fffff880`05f42000    0x00042000    0x461a3ac1                        
ctaud2k.sys    4/9/2007 8:08:29 AM        fffff880`052d1000    fffff880`053a2000    0x000d1000    0x461a3acd                        
ctprxy2k.sys    4/9/2007 8:08:30 AM        fffff880`052a0000    fffff880`052a8000    0x00008000    0x461a3ace                        
COMMONFX.DLL    4/9/2007 8:08:38 AM        fffff880`069bd000    fffff880`069e8000    0x0002b000    0x461a3ad6                        
CTAUDFX.DLL    4/9/2007 8:08:39 AM        fffff880`06cdf000    fffff880`06d8e000    0x000af000    0x461a3ad7                        
CTSBLFX.DLL    4/9/2007 8:08:42 AM        fffff880`06c00000    fffff880`06cab000    0x000ab000    0x461a3ada

How To Find Drivers:

- search Google for the name of the driver
- compare the Google results with what's installed on your system to figure out which device/program it belongs to
- visit the web site of the manufacturer of the hardware/program to get the latest drivers (DON'T use Windows Update or the Update driver function of Device Manager).
- if there are difficulties in locating them, post back with questions and someone will try and help you locate the appropriate program.

- - The most common drivers are listed on this page: Driver Reference Driver Reference
- - Driver manufacturer links are on this page: Drivers and Downloads


I would run driver verifier to find out which driver it is.

I'd suggest that you first backup your stuff 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.

Is there any way to determine which piece of hardware failed other than pulling things out one by one?

Thuggish said:

Is there any way to determine which piece of hardware failed other than pulling things out one by one?

I would start with the drivers first as they are easier. The drivers may also be throwing the hardware off as they are the means by which the harware talks to the outside world.

Heres another thing I forgot- When all this started happening, the windows sounds changed, and I know I didn't do it. (Was those guitar ones, now it's horns.)

Any Idea why that would happen?

Are you sure the drivers are easier??? I google the #@$#@ out of these things and all I EVER get is a bunch of crap programs like driver doctor or whatever. I swear the drivers in question don't actually exist, they're just bait on google to get me to buy something I don't need. Where do I find these drivers?

Thuggish said:

Are you sure the drivers are easier??? I google the #@$#@ out of these things and all I EVER get is a bunch of crap programs like driver doctor or whatever. I swear the drivers in question don't actually exist, they're just bait on google to get me to buy something I don't need. Where do I find these drivers?

from the manufacturer's site on each of your hardware.

Three things-

First of all, thanks for the help thus far, I'm pretty sure this audio card is what's screwing up. I went to Creative's website (see "second of all") and got a new driver install... and it can't even install them without crashing.

Second of all, Creative sucks, I highly recommend buying anything of theirs ever or even taking one for free. So far as I can tell, every failed driver listed above was from them, and getting them off of their site is a bigger hassle than using iTunes for the first time.

Third, can someone please explain to me how to read the .dmp file, and even how to analyze it if it's not one of those impossible things to do, so that I can pretend that I'm self sufficient next time?

Thuggish said:

Three things-

First of all, thanks for the help thus far, I'm pretty sure this audio card is what's screwing up. I went to Creative's website (see "second of all") and got a new driver install... and it can't even install them without crashing. May need to be installed in "compatibility mode"

Second of all, Creative sucks, I highly recommend buying anything of theirs ever or even taking one for free. So far as I can tell, every failed driver listed above was from them, and getting them off of their site is a bigger hassle than using iTunes for the first time. Their driver support leaves me cold as well

Third, can someone please explain to me how to read the .dmp file, and even how to analyze it if it's not one of those impossible things to do, so that I can pretend that I'm self sufficient next time?

There is an app called blue screen view that is easy to use but not always accurate.

Okay then. Now that i have removed the stupid audio card and uninstalled everything to do with it, my computer is slower than the one i threw out when I built this one. That may be an exaggeration, but not much of one. What's going on now?

I should add that the widget has the processor constantly at 20%, even when I'm doing nothing with nothing open. I haven't changed anything else...

As a concrete example, a task in Photoshop (my favorite way to test a computer's speed) that used to take 26 seconds now takes 43 seconds. And everything else takes about twice as long as well.