irregular BSOD Bugcheck 124 (0x00000124) - hal.dll win7 64bit

hi all

I'm struggling with an irregular, intermittent bugcheck 124. I would be VERY appreciative of any help.

These are my full specs:

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1 - all current / appropriate patches
Intel Core i5 4670K @ 3.40 – Intel Turbo mode ON
Noctua NH-U12s
Gigabyte Z87-D3HP – BIOS F6
2 x 4GB Corsair Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (9-9-9-24) - "CML8GX3M2A1600C9"
1279MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (MSI)
1863GB Seagate ST2000DM001-1CH164 ATA Device (SATA) - firmware CC29
2794GB Seagate ST3000DM001-1CH166 ATA Device (SATA) - firmware CC29
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-224DB ATA Device
Realtek (onboard) High Definition Audio

EDIT: oops forgot these:

BeQuiet BN194 Straight Power E9 700W
Edimax N600 Dual Band Wireless Adapter PCIe (EW-7722PnD)
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-224DB ATA Device (optical drive)


Bluescreenviewer reports that likely fault points are ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll.

I've had 12 crashes of exactly the same nature, since Feb 2014. This PC build has been in operation for only a wee bit longer than that i.e. I've had the crashes since pretty much the beginning. I've had no other STOP errors.

I'm an ex IT engineer and am reasonably comfortable with dealing with problems. This time however I simply can't find a pattern of incidence.

I've had BSODs within 12 hours of each other, yet the last crash was over a month since the previous one.

The only crashes I've physically witnessed have been when I've been watching a streamed video in my browser (that's 3 out of the 12). I tried actually disabling hardware acceleration within Flash, in case it was my gfx card being awkward but have had a crash since doing this. Also, I've never had a crash while gaming.

On one or more occasions I've simply woken up to find the PC restarted at a bugcheck 124 in the event log - I'm pretty sure that the only thing that was running on the PC before I went to sleep was my BOINC client. I can't say for certain whether I'd suspended GPU crunching (I normally do this, so my gfx card fan doesn't disturb me).

IMO my system, CPU & GPU temps seem in order. My max temps in stress tests have been 71 (in prime95) and 73 (reported in the Intel CPU tester).

I'm using Open Hardware Monitor to keep an eye on temps.

Can't tell you offhand what my GPU hits but I think it's around 80 degrees when using MSI Kombustor.


Things I've tried to pinpoint the problem:


PRIME 95
I stress tested for maybe 3 hours each on “blend”, “In-place large FFTs” and “small FFTs”. No problems.

I used v27.9 build 1.

I have recently discovered that v28 has come out.

********************************
- I re-ran using v28.5 build 2 a couple of days ago.
- Setting was “custom” with all normal settings (8-4096K FFT) but using a total of 90% of my available memory (5.5GB).
- I ran for 5 hours with no problems.
- Maximum Core temp was 71 degrees.
- Only odd thing was that the fastest worker (core 1) was 8 minutes in front of slowest core (core 4)
********************************


DISK CHECKS
I've done full chkdsks on both my drives (the long check - verifying free used space). No problems there.


MEMORY CHECKS
I ran the native windows memory tester and also MemTest 86. No errors. However, I did not run test for very long (maybe an hour).

I re-ran using MemTest 86 5.1.0 last night. It ran for nearly 4 hours and made approx 7.5 passes (without error) before I exited. All tests run and I set all CPU cores to run in parallel.


INTEL CPU DIAGNOSTIC
I have run the intel processor diagnostic tool (I've been speaking with Intel support, in case it's the CPU).

I let the tool run for the default one pass (the burn-in option runs for 120mins). It passed, although I got a warning that my system was overclocked (which I knew). I have the default Intel turbo mode enabled.


DUST LEVELS
I've got dust filters that I clean every one to two weeks and I probably every month to 6 weeks have the case-side off and give the system a quick check / blow-out with compressed air. I always check the CPU cooler heatsink and fan. I also always give the graphics card a blow-out.


RESEATING
I've reseated, I'm pretty sure, the SATA cables. I've definitely fully removed my graphics card (and disconnected the power cables). I've reseated the RAM sticks too. I've sadly had crashes since.


DRIVERS
All drivers should be current – I have used drivers via Intel’s chipset device software / INF update utility. Other drivers have been sourced from e.g. Nvidia, Realtek, Intel or windows / Microsoft.

I've also used the native driver verifier. I ran it for 48 hours without seeming issue, as per this forum's recommendations (omitting the following: Low Resource Simulation, Force Pending I/O Requests & IRP Logging). I ran it on all non-microsoft drivers (including unknowns).


BIOS
I'm using the latest stable BIOS (F6). There's a beta 7c published but I don't like the idea of using a beta BIOS (unless instructed to and/or absolutely necessary).

Everything in the BIOS is pretty much set to auto, except the memory profile, which is set to XMP. I have had my crashes with both normal and XMP profile selected.

I had actually hoped that the XMP profile might slip a wee bit extra voltage through, just in case the RAM was hungry - I do know btw that there's a clear problem with gigabyte boards and using all 4 DIMMs. I've only got 2 sticks active.

I'm pretty sure I pulled the CMOS battery after flashing the last BIOS, so we should be working with 'clean' data.


EVENT LOG
I'm not an expert but I couldn't really see any pattern to any problems immediately prior to the crashes.


O/S FILES
I've, literally in the last few days, run SFC. No problems reported.


Things I've not tried:

• Running in safe-mode - I didn't feel it feasible to do this, since the crashes can be well over a month apart.
• RAM compatibility - at the suggestion of my parts reseller, I checked gigabyte for RAM compatibility on my mobo. My RAM is not listed but (A) the list is very out-of-date (June 2013) (B) the list openly acknowledges that there are only so much RAM that can be tested (which seems fair enough) (C) I've had a little experience with RAM failure and these crashes don't really match up with my previous experiences. It would be great if it was - common problem, as I understand it, and easily fixable.

************************************

EDIT:

Other problems with system

I've had some key LED failures on my Ducky keyboard.

I know it's perfectly possible for components to fail like this (bathtub effect) but for a premium product, I'm a little surprised. Not that Ducky would admit to the contrary but they claim it's extremely unusual for this to happen.

I had 1 key LED fail within 3 months, got a new keyboard from reseller, then have had another 2 failures on the new (identical) keyboard within 2.5 months, so RMA'd the keyboard to Ducky, got it repaired, only for another one to faile very recently.

I only mention this, just in the off-chance this is a pointer to the problem. For example, the only way I could think of the LEDs failing would be some kind of power surge but would more not go in this scenario? So could it be the PSU? Or maybe some bizarre fluctuation in mobo power distribution? Or perhaps just a single dodgy USB port? Or maybe a duff batch of LEDs?

Equally well, it could just be a crappy keyboard. Maybe it's just coincidence but you can't buy this keyboard any more (at least with the blue LEDs). Maybe this is just due to them not selling well, which I find strange though cos the LED colour looks a bit like colours under UV - sorta an intense mid blue colour (pretty cool I think lol).

************************************

I think that's about it for now.

I've used your dm log app but wasn't sure how to 'present' the output?

Thanks for anything you can do for me.



Regards,

Gary

This a very nice descriptive post, thank you. Its not often we see these!

However please can you post your DMP Files, as this will help us furthermore to sort our you problem.

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

Brilliant i will look into this for you.

Okay so we have a hardware error: 0x124

I was check your CPU and i noticed this:

Code:

3: kd> !cpuid
Unable to get information for processor 0
Unable to get information for processor 1
Unable to get information for processor 2
CP  F/M/S  Manufacturer     MHz
 3  6,60,3  GenuineIntel    3400

You mention you have Turbo mode active, which is fine and it shouldn't cause any damage otherwise Intel wouldn't place it there!

However it is strange that your DMP Files are only detecting one of your four cores.

We know that the temps are fine, so thats not an issue!

Can i recommend you disable Turbo mode, and we get another BSOD then we know that Turbo mode is not the cause here.

Im going to continue looking into your DMP Files further for you.

Yes normally, DMP are quite accurate.

When a BSOD happens, the information is written directly into a DMP. I would think its highly doubtful that your DMPS are incorrect, as its not that kind of STOP code.

Hopefully we shouldn't receive another BSOD but if we do then we know its not Turbo Boost causing the problem.