BSOD x1E error. WLAN probable cause.

Hi,

I have been seeing too much blue in the last 2 days. I think I have zeroed in on the problem. But am not able to fix it.
I have divided my post into the following parts:
1) First Occurance
2) Pattern observations
3) dmp files
4) Steps taken
5) Current Status
6) Laptop info

1) First Occurance:
I shut down my laptop at night 2. Started it next morning at around 8. Started seeing the blues since then.
- I did not download anything new.
- System update did not run when I shut down the system. So new updates were not installed
- When I shut down, I had a bunch of unclosed chrome tabs and some Folders open. Autodesk Maya 2012 was the last program running. I closed this prior to shutting down.
- I had not shut down the laptop in some 36 hours.

2) Pattern observations:
-BSOD happened each time even before I could log on, in the Windows welcome screen
-No BSOD in SAFE Mode.
-BSOD during logon for SAFE mode with networking.
-Did not try safe mode with command prompt.
-I turned WIFI master switch OFF and booted the laptop in normal mode. Perfect.
-Connected to internet via ethernet and browsed for quite some time. Perfect.
-Switched on the WIFI again and unplugged the ethernet cable. Instant BSOD.

3) dmp files:
- attached to the post are the dmp files (Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2, perfMon, a XML page generated by Speccy that gives you more information about the laptop. I used 7Z to compress them.)

4) Steps Taken:
- Checked on Lenovo website for latest drivers for WLAN. 2 options. Intel WiMAX 6250 AGN for Windows 7 and ThinkPad 1x1 11b/g/n Wireless LAN PCI Express Half Mini Card Adapter for Windows 7.
Thinkpad WLAN.
- Downloaded the latest version from Lenovo website for model number w520-4270
- uninstalled the existing driver for WLAN. restarted and turned the master WIFI on. No BSOD.
- Installed the new driver. Tried to connect to home network. BSOD.

- updated BIOS to latest version. Rebooted with master WIFI On. BSOD.
- Ran a system update. Antivrus check using McAffee and spybot. Clean, nothing detected.
-Ran a check for bad sectors. nothing.
- Ran a memtest86 test for 8 passes. Nothing.
- booted UBUNTU from a live CD. Internet seemed to work fine although did not test this for too long.

5) Current Status:
The problem seems to be with WIFI on Win7. I dont think its a hardware problem as when the driver is not installed, it works fine even when the switch is ON. It seems to work in UBUNTU. My best guess is to backup everything I have and reinstall the OS. but, I am in the middle of a year long thesis project and would very much like to not disturb any settings in any of the softwares I work with.

6) Laptop Info:
The speccy report attached as XML file should cover most information. Bought the system just over a year ago. Have been using it pretty consistently. I have never formatted the disk. Never modified the system beyond the addition of 8GB Corsair RAM.

I hope you guys can help me out here.

Regards,
Vijay

Hi emaraszek,

Thanks for getting back so quick. Yes, by the master switch, I do mean the physical switch in the laptop.
It controls the bluetooth option too.
I looked up the bluetooth driver currently installed in device manager.
there are two of them. The associated Driver name for each is underlined
-Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) bthpan.sys
-Bluetooth Device (RFCOMM Protocol TDI) bthenum.sys and rfcomm.sys

I wanted to update these drivers and so googled for those driver names. I saw a few sites that asked users to not uninstal this driver as it is a digitally signed file from Microsoft Windows (Bthpan.sys driver | What is Bthpan.sys file?) (What is the bthenum.sys file?)

So, I downloaded the latest bluetooth drivers from Lenovo site and installed them.
(Bluetooth with Enhanced Data Rate Software Version 6.5.1.2700)
But upon a restart, I dont see the device manager listing this driver at all.
I might have to uninstall the existing driver for this new driver to take effect. Not sure.

So, before uninstalling, I wanted to make sure I would be able to find this driver again. What do you recommend I do?

WOHOO!!!

I am not sure if it was the chipset driver update or the bluetooth radio. either way, I have not had any more BSOD problems for a while. I have been running all applicaitons the same way as before.
Before I mark this post as done however, I would like to run the laptop for a day or two more and then decide if its all fixed.

Thanks a lot for your help. You have saved me a lot of trouble.

Vijay

Great! It's good to hear everything is working properly. Be sure to post back in a couple days so we know the issue is solved

Been running my system for 2 days pretty heavily. Tried to test every feature i could think of.
No crashes whatsoever.
Phew! Great relief.

Thanks for all the help. Appreciate it.

Vijay