Frequent BSODs

Hello,

I have a 1 year old ASUS notebook. Soon after I got it I started experiencing BSODs occasionally. With time, they got more frequent and most likely I get a BSOD every time I start windows after a random, not-too-long period of time.
I ran the checkmem test to eliminate the possibility of a failed RAM.

This is my setup:

Windows Home Premium 64bits
ASUS UL30A1
Processor: Core 2 DUO SU7300
Wifi adapter: Atheros 9285
RAM: 4GB
HDD: 500 GB

As a side note, I installed Ubuntu on a second partition and it is much more stable but in rare occasions the notebook crashes and reboots suddenly.
Another piece of data: I got this notebook the day Windows 7 was officially launched, I don't know if that would not matter considering the updates.

I am attaching a few of the many dumps I have so far.

I will greatly appreciate any help on this. I love the notebook, it is fast, very slim, quiet, but it is pretty much useless while operating with Windows OS.

Thank you very much,

Clara

clarix said:

Hello,

I have a 1 year old ASUS notebook. Soon after I got it I started experiencing BSODs occasionally. With time, they got more frequent and most likely I get a BSOD every time I start windows after a random, not-too-long period of time.
I ran the checkmem test to eliminate the possibility of a failed RAM.

This is my setup:

Windows Home Premium 64bits
ASUS UL30A1
Processor: Core 2 DUO SU7300
Wifi adapter: Atheros 9285
RAM: 4GB
HDD: 500 GB

As a side note, I installed Ubuntu on a second partition and it is much more stable but in rare occasions the notebook crashes and reboots suddenly.
Another piece of data: I got this notebook the day Windows 7 was officially launched, I don't know if that would not matter considering the updates.

I am attaching a few of the many dumps I have so far.

I will greatly appreciate any help on this. I love the notebook, it is fast, very slim, quiet, but it is pretty much useless while operating with Windows OS.

Thank you very much,

Clara

These crashes were caused by 3 different things. several were blamed on a win 7 driver called cng.sys, but unless there is a virus infection or modded system probably not the real cause.

More likely is the second ASMMAP64.sys, It is an ATK Hotkey ATK0101 ACPI UTILITY Driver, which you may be able to find an update for on the Asus support page

I would

Update the driver, run a system file check, and memory test

1-drivers
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 manufacturer links are on this page: Drivers and Downloads

2-SFC
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

3-Memtest
Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.


Just remember, any time Memtest reports errors, it can be either bad RAM or a bad motherboard slot. Test the sticks individually, and if you find a good one, test it in all slots.



Ken

Code:

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.11.0001.404 X86
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\Users\K\Desktop\New folder\102410-22276-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*C:\Symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols;srv*e:\symbols
*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: 
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (2 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`02e4e000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`0308be50
Debug session time: Thu Oct 14 20:44:03.649 2010 (GMT-4)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:59:50.005
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
..............................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
.........
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck D1, {fffff8a00e881000, 2, 0, fffff8800148ca84}

Probably caused by : cng.sys ( cng!SHA256Transform+65 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

1: kd> !analyze -v\
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (d1)
An attempt was made to access a pageable (or completely invalid) address at an
interrupt request level (IRQL) that is too high.  This is usually
caused by drivers using improper addresses.
If kernel debugger is available get stack backtrace.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffff8a00e881000, memory referenced
Arg2: 0000000000000002, IRQL
Arg3: 0000000000000000, value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation
Arg4: fffff8800148ca84, address which referenced memory

Debugging Details:
------------------


READ_ADDRESS: GetPointerFromAddress: unable to read from fffff800030f60e0
 fffff8a00e881000 

CURRENT_IRQL:  2

FAULTING_IP: 
cng!SHA256Transform+65
fffff880`0148ca84 498b41e8        mov     rax,qword ptr [r9-18h]

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR:  0xD1

PROCESS_NAME:  System

TRAP_FRAME:  fffff88002fd2570 -- (.trap 0xfffff88002fd2570)
NOTE: The trap frame does not contain all registers.
Some register values may be zeroed or incorrect.
rax=00000000d0020000 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=fffff88002fd2960
rdx=000000200b8ae8c8 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffff8800148ca84 rsp=fffff88002fd2700 rbp=0000000000000340
 r8=fffff88002fd2740  r9=fffff8a00e881018 r10=0000000000000002
r11=00000000d23b241d r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000
r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000
iopl=0         nv up ei ng nz na po nc
cng!SHA256Transform+0x65:
fffff880`0148ca84 498b41e8        mov     rax,qword ptr [r9-18h] ds:07a9:fffff8a0`0e881000=????????????????
Resetting default scope

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from fffff80002ebdca9 to fffff80002ebe740

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff880`02fd2428 fffff800`02ebdca9 : 00000000`0000000a fffff8a0`0e881000 00000000`00000002 00000000`00000000 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`02fd2430 fffff800`02ebc920 : 00000000`5eb2cb54 00000000`0000d018 00000000`6238a800 00000000`73b12fa7 : nt!KiBugCheckDispatch+0x69
fffff880`02fd2570 fffff880`0148ca84 : 00000000`00000041 00000000`00000000 00000000`c0020000 00000000`1d001a00 : nt!KiPageFault+0x260
fffff880`02fd2700 fffff880`0148c8c6 : fffff880`02fd2960 fffff800`e00b13e0 00000000`d23b241d 00000000`345de719 : cng!SHA256Transform+0x65
fffff880`02fd27a0 fffff880`0148dac5 : 00000000`00020000 fffff880`02fd2804 fffff8a0`0e86e0a8 fffffa80`05099860 : cng!SHA256Update+0x10b
fffff880`02fd27e0 fffff880`0148d56d : fffffa80`046ee4b0 00000000`00000060 fffffa80`20206f49 fffff800`02ec92a1 : cng!GatherRandomKey+0x255
fffff880`02fd2ba0 fffff800`031bac5d : 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`0aee5c10 fffffa80`0aee5c10 fffffa80`03d03040 : cng!scavengingWorkItemRoutine+0x3d
fffff880`02fd2c40 fffff800`02ecb961 : fffff800`030635f8 fffff800`031bac20 fffffa80`03d03040 00000000`00000000 : nt!IopProcessWorkItem+0x3d
fffff880`02fd2c70 fffff800`03162c06 : 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`03d03040 00000000`00000080 fffffa80`03cee040 : nt!ExpWorkerThread+0x111
fffff880`02fd2d00 fffff800`02e9cc26 : fffff880`009ee180 fffffa80`03d03040 fffff880`009f8f40 00000000`00000000 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`02fd2d40 00000000`00000000 : fffff880`02fd3000 fffff880`02fcd000 fffff880`02fd29b0 00000000`00000000 : nt!KxStartSystemThread+0x16


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
cng!SHA256Transform+65
fffff880`0148ca84 498b41e8        mov     rax,qword ptr [r9-18h]

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  3

SYMBOL_NAME:  cng!SHA256Transform+65

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: cng

IMAGE_NAME:  cng.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  4a5bc814

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xD1_cng!SHA256Transform+65

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xD1_cng!SHA256Transform+65

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

Hello Ken, Karl,

Thanks very much for your input! I will follow the suggestions and get back to you.

Regards,

Clarix