Suspect faulty BIOS and First-Boot BSODs

Hendies · 03 Jun 2012

My computer's performance has gradually began to lag behind over the years, even though it should still work as expected. A quad core processor and 4 gig of ram would surely be enough, but performances in games that I've had no problem with before (when my computer was brand new) have dropped.

At the moment, the only physical effects of the computer's wear + tear have been the booting process. It will always churn out a BSOD on it's first boot, and will always work perfectly after a hard reboot following the BSOD. I've had threads on here before diagnose my computer with RAM problems but I've done some researching about my boot problem.

I found various forums that have members who have the same problems as me, and they've had their computers diagnosed with a faulty BIOS. Moreover, any BIOS update that I've tried to perform over the years has always crashed my computer before even starting. That led me to earlier today, when trying to update my BIOS from Intel's ISO update methods the computer crashes before the update can even get underway. Surely this has damaged it? And surely this will have caused problems with my computer's ability to perform in other areas?

The BIOS itself hasn't been able to update since it was built back in 2008-09. But i'm reluctant to have to take my computer in to get fixed because i'll probably end up having to buy a whole brand new one

The first-boot BSODs are attached below

Another thing is my event viewer log. It always churns out some errors of bad blocks on hard drives etc. If somebody could have a look at them i'll be really grateful :)

Important note: My computer is generally working fine other than at the first boot and the occasional BSOD now and again. But i'm wary these BSODs will begin to stack up if I don't get my computer looked at by someone who knows what they're doing

Windows 7 . . .
- x64
- the original installed OS on the system - no
- an OEM or full retail version? - Full Retail
- 3-4 year old hardware
- Upgraded the OS from 32bit to 64bit about 1-2 years ago

Edit: Driver Verifier on a second run found Daemon Tools to be a culprit of a buggy driver

- Computer has been scanned with Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG, Superantispyware and malwarebytes and cleaned, yet the BSODs still occur

Hendies · 03 Jun 2012

Bump.

usasma · 04 Jun 2012

First off, there just isn't much you can do in the way of repairing a BIOS. There are a few companies that will sell you a new CMOS chip for some motherboards - and may even offer to install it. The best place for BIOS support is the forums/support areas of the companies that make BIOS's. In short, if the BIOS is damaged it's easiest to replace the motherboard (IMO).

If the event viewer is spitting out bad block errors (you seem to be getting 15 - 30 of them a day) and you've been experiencing a slowdown in the computer's performance - you should run a hard drive diagnostic test. I have a suggested procedure (free) here: Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure

Daemon Tools (and Alcohol % software) are known to cause BSOD's on some Win7 systems (mostly due to the sptd.sys driver, although I have seen dtsoftbus01.sys blamed on several occasions).
Please uninstall the program, then use the following free tool to ensure that the troublesome sptd.sys driver is removed from your system (pick the 32 or 64 bit system depending on your system's configuration): DuplexSecure - FAQ

Some free alternatives (I don't use them, so I can't comment on them)
KernSafe iSCSI initiator, Virtual CD/DVD-RW Emulator, Virtual Encryption Disk and Virtual CD/DVD-ROM Emulator All-in-One free software.
MagicISO - Convert BIN to ISO, Create, Edit, Burn, Extract ISO file, ISO/BIN converter/extractor/editor

Your OSA I/O Port Driver from Avocent/OSA Technologies (likely a component of your Intel Desktop Utilityies) is dated from 2007. Please uninstall this from your system. If you need it's functionality, download a fresh copy of the latest Win7 compatible version.

Update your Adobe products as you Adobe File System Filter driver (adfs.sys) dates from 2008.

Occasionally people have mentioned issues with TuneUpUtilities - but I haven't seen any real evidence of problems with it on your system. Please keep it in mind if we don't find any other causes.

There's only 2 memory dumps, so it's difficult to see if there's a pattern in the memory dumps. I suspect hardware issues and suggest that you run all the free diagnostics from this page: Hardware Diagnostics

The following info is just FYI, I've already addressed the issues that I saw in the above paragraphs

- Further info on BSOD error messages available at: http://www.carrona.org/bsodindx.html
- Info on how to troubleshoot BSOD's (DRAFT): http://www.carrona.org/userbsod.html
- How I do it: http://www.carrona.org/howidoit.html

3RD PARTY DRIVERS PRESENT IN THE DUMP FILES

Code:


mv61xx.sys                  Tue Oct 26 05:25:11 2010 (4CC69E77)
mv61xxmm.sys                Tue Oct 26 05:25:00 2010 (4CC69E6C)
amdxata.sys                 Fri Mar 19 12:18:18 2010 (4BA3A3CA)
MpFilter.sys                Fri Mar 09 06:05:26 2012 (4F59E3F6)
PxHlpa64.sys                Mon Oct 17 10:29:34 2011 (4E9C3BCE)
dtsoftbus01.sys             Fri Jan 13 08:45:46 2012 (4F10358A)
tap0901t.sys                Wed Sep 16 02:02:43 2009 (4AB07F83)
HECIx64.sys                 Fri Sep 18 18:32:16 2009 (4AB40A70)
e1e6232e.sys                Fri Oct 14 14:23:36 2011 (4E987E28)
hamachi.sys                 Thu Feb 19 05:36:41 2009 (499D3639)
GEARAspiWDM.sys             Mon May 18 08:17:04 2009 (4A1151C0)
RTKVHD64.sys                Tue Mar 27 05:01:50 2012 (4F7181FE)
nvlddmkm.sys                Tue May 15 03:35:36 2012 (4FB20748)
nvBridge.kmd                Fri May 20 23:58:23 2011 (4DD7385F)
avgfwd6a.sys                Sun May 22 18:33:25 2011 (4DD98F35)
PxHlpa64.sys                Mon Dec 10 18:49:01 2007 (475DD06D)
avgrkx64.sys                Mon Jan 30 22:11:41 2012 (4F275BED)
avgidsha.sys                Wed Apr 18 22:19:15 2012 (4F8F7623)
avgmfx64.sys                Fri Dec 23 07:08:12 2011 (4EF46F2C)
avgldx64.sys                Tue Feb 21 22:57:53 2012 (4F4467C1)
avgtdia.sys                 Sun Mar 18 23:53:32 2012 (4F66ADBC)
adfs.SYS                    Thu Jun 26 16:52:37 2008 (48640195)
avgidsfiltera.sys           Fri Dec 23 07:05:40 2011 (4EF46E94)
osaio.sys                   Wed Feb 14 04:20:09 2007 (45D2D449)
avgidsdrivera.sys           Fri Dec 23 07:05:21 2011 (4EF46E81)
TuneUpUtilitiesDriver64.sys Thu Sep 17 07:54:52 2009 (4AB2238C)

Code:


Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\060312-53882-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504
Debug session time: Sun Jun  3 11:44:41.362 2012 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:38.188
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!CMFReadCompressedSegment+2c8 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
PROCESS_NAME:  System
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x7E
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x7E_BAD_IP_nt!CMFReadCompressedSegment+2c8
Bugcheck code 1000007E
Arguments ffffffff`c0000005 00000000`00000018 fffff880`059e2688 fffff880`059e1ee0
BiosVersion = DPP3510J.86A.0497.2008.1007.1913
BiosReleaseDate = 10/07/2008
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU    Q9650  @ 3.00GHz"
MaxSpeed:     3000
CurrentSpeed: 2999
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\FUBAR\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\053012-38750-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.17803.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.120330-1504
Debug session time: Wed May 30 18:00:47.933 2012 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 1:33:49.385
Probably caused by : dxgkrnl.sys ( dxgkrnl!DXGCONTEXT::ResizeUserModeBuffers+f5 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x50
PROCESS_NAME:  Fable3.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x50_dxgkrnl!DXGCONTEXT::ResizeUserModeBuffers+f5
Bugcheck code 00000050
Arguments fffff100`19b3eca0 00000000`00000001 fffff800`031d89b0 00000000`00000007
BiosVersion = DPP3510J.86A.0497.2008.1007.1913
BiosReleaseDate = 10/07/2008
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU    Q9650  @ 3.00GHz"
MaxSpeed:     3000
CurrentSpeed: 2999
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``

Hendies · 04 Jun 2012

I'll run the samsung hard disk diagnostic throughout today on the long test.

Daemon tools has been uninstalled along with the sptd driver and my computer didn't crash on it's first boot for once, so that's a start I guess.
I've removed Intel Desktop Utilities aswell as I wasn't really using it anyway.

With the Adobe products, I only have the new CS6 collection which was only just released last month. I did have CS4 installed previously though so maybe that's where the old driver version came from. I've updated each product to each respective patch available now though

I did have a lot of dumps from BSODs but I ran ccleaner and the windows file cleaner earlier this month which wiped them all. They were taking up a lot of disk space :)

I'll get back to you with the results from the ESTools diagnostics

Hendies · 04 Jun 2012

After leaving the diagnostic on for 4 hours whilst I was out, the test churned out quite a number of errors, all being LBA then followed by a number.

At the end the test revealed;

'This drive has some defects'

Service Code => AJ36 : Bad Sector

Apart from the in depth scan, all other tests passed fine.

It's important to note that I did a memtest months ago which gave me a bunch of errors aswell. Should I re-run the memtest diagnostic aswell?

usasma · 04 Jun 2012

If you had memory errors and you now have hard drive errors - I have to suspect something like a voltage surge/lightning strike.

Run this memory test also: Memory Diagnostics

If both the hard drive and the memory are damaged, you have to wonder if the CPU and the motherboard are also damaged. There's no real accurate test for motherboards, but you can test the CPU using the free stress tests here: Additional Hardware Diagnostics

The full list of all tests that I suggest is here: Hardware Diagnostics

Good luck!

Hendies · 04 Jun 2012

Been running memtest for the entire evening. It got 4 passes done within 4 and a half hours and it picked up no errors. A bit confused but i have no idea. My house has some dodgy electric circuits which sometimes cause trips in the circuit. My computer is wired to a belkin power pack now though. I had a problem with my older computer that it frazzled in some kind of surge or overheated to the point the board began to melt. I ended up having to replace everything.

It can't be overheating as when i had the intel utilities installed the temperature remained inside the safety threshold. I've even had it's side panel taken off just incase it gets too hot

I'll run the checks you've given me but is there a chance it could be down to the electrics in my house?

usasma · 04 Jun 2012

It's not likely to be faulty power - but anything is possible.
The only way to test faulty power in your house is to try it in another house! :0)

Hendies · 05 Jun 2012

After closer inspection the Belkin 'SurgeMaster' should stop power cuts and failures from reaching my computer. The only wire not connected to it from my computer is the display as it can't reach far enough

My processor passed the CPU stress tests without any problems. So that just leaves the Hard Disk and BIOS as the problems

I know there were errors before with my RAM though, that's the bit that confuses me the most. I'll try testing each stick of RAM individually and seeing if it turns out with errors

Hendies · 06 Jun 2012

My RAM checks just finished on my two sticks. I have two slots on my motherboard, so I tested them both together twice, on the second time switching them around in the slots. Then I tested each stick individually, whilst leaving the other slot empty. I did this twice for every stick of RAM so the slots were tested aswell.

I ran each test for 4 passes and in the end I received no errors at all.
I've contacted an Intel technician and he said to try a BIOS recovery update

With the Hard Drive do I need to replace it?

Edit: Intel have ended support for my motherboard but I performed a recovery update and it didn't work. Yet my system still runs fine. Problem is the display doesn't work when the BIOS Jumper is taken out, and that's needed as part of the recovery method. So I can't see what happens on the screen. My computer runs for 5 mins then shuts down - like the Intel guide said it should, but the BIOS version isn't updated