Home Premium x64 BSODs of various types

-Windows 7 Home Premium x64
-Original OS
-Retail version
-Built the system myself, so the parts are of various ages. The oldest component is an Audigy soundcard, while the last system refresh was done earlier this year
-OS has been reinstalled 2-3 times. The current install was done in September, IIRC

This has been happening for a few months now. I ran a Minecraft server for 12 hours a day for 3 weeks without any system crashes. Once I shut the server down for good, I began experiencing BSODs. I tried reverting to a pre-Minecraft system image to no avail. I've run diagnostics on the hard drive and RAM, but no problems have been reported. Crashes are sporadic, with most occurring a few minutes after booting into Windows. Opening Chrome and playing a Youtube video immediately after boot almost guarantees a BSOD. Cold booting gives me me disc read errors, requring around 5-6 restarts before the OS is able to load.

As it stands, I've experienced 3 types of BSODs:

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
DRIVER_RELQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

Thanks in advance.

OatmealMu said:

-Windows 7 Home Premium x64
-Original OS
-Retail version
-Built the system myself, so the parts are of various ages. The oldest component is an Audigy soundcard, while the last system refresh was done earlier this year
-OS has been reinstalled 2-3 times. The current install was done in September, IIRC

This has been happening for a few months now. I ran a Minecraft server for 12 hours a day for 3 weeks without any system crashes. Once I shut the server down for good, I began experiencing BSODs. I tried reverting to a pre-Minecraft system image to no avail. I've run diagnostics on the hard drive and RAM, but no problems have been reported. Crashes are sporadic, with most occurring a few minutes after booting into Windows. Opening Chrome and playing a Youtube video immediately after boot almost guarantees a BSOD. Cold booting gives me me disc read errors, requring around 5-6 restarts before the OS is able to load.

As it stands, I've experienced 3 types of BSODs:

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
DRIVER_RELQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

Thanks in advance.

Obviously there is either a driver problem or software. You have 5 different types of crashes usually indicating hardware. Are you overclocking? running a raid?

For the driver you should run driver verifier.

Beyond that, please run Verifier with these settings:

Using Driver Verifier is an iffy proposition. Most times it'll crash and it'll tell you what the driver is. But sometimes it'll crash and won't tell you the driver. Other times it'll crash before you can log in to Windows. If you can't get to Safe Mode, then you'll have to resort to offline editing of the registry to disable Driver Verifier.

So, 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).

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"
NOTE: You can use Low Resource Simulation if you'd like. From my limited experimentation it makes the BSOD's come faster.
- 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).

Reboot into Windows (after the crash) and turn off Driver Verifier by going back in and selecting "Delete existing settings" on the first page, then locate and zip up the memory dump file and upload it with your next post.

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.

If that doesn't work, post back and we'll have to see about fixing the registry entry off-line:

Code:

Delete these registry keys (works in XP, Vista, Win7):
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDrivers
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDriverLevel

Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users


For the old drivers you should update them.

Code:

wacommousefilter.sys        fffff880`065dd000    0x00008000    2/16/2007 13:12:17            0x45d5f401    fffff880`065d5000                
windrvr6.sys        fffff880`050c6000    0x0004c000    6/16/2007 22:56:18            0x4674b0e2    fffff880`0507a000                
Rt64win7.sys        fffff880`05108000    0x00032000    2/26/2009 04:04:13            0x49a65b0d    fffff880`050d6000                
AtiPcie.sys        fffff880`015f9000    0x00008000    5/5/2009 10:00:22            0x4a005486    fffff880`015f1000

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


ken J

Obviously there is either a driver problem or software. You have 5 different types of crashes usually indicating hardware. Are you overclocking? running a raid?

After rebuilding my system, I attempted to overlock the memory. The motherboard I'm using underclocks the RAM, despite supporting PC3 12800. As per instructions from the manufacturer, I changed the timings and achieved the rated speeds. Unfortunately, system instability forced me to underclock the memory. Outside of that, no other components are overclocked, nor have they ever been.

In regards to Driver Verifier...

It took less than 36 hours for the system to crash. I couldn't even get past the Windows splash screen. I attempted to boot into the OS about 5 times before resorting to safe mode. One BSOD in particular stood out to me -- it mentioned "usbfilter.sys". This was my first time seeing anything like this.

I've attached the dump file.

In regards to updating drivers...

I was able to update the Realtek network drivers. I'm using the latest Wacom drivers, so I seem to be stuck with wacommousefilter.sys as is. Searching for "windrvr6.sys" led me to Jungo, whose website led me to their dev kit -- a lot of good that'll do me. Any ideas for that one? I'm in the middle of updating the ATI Northbridge drivers as we speak.

I'm posting from my PS3 right now, so the situation's obviously worsened.

As it stands, I'm looking at the System Recovery Options screen where the Windows 7 partition has switched to the E drive (it was C before) and is 0 MB in size. While trying to narrow down any hardware issues, I decided to remove the Audigy card and attempt to use onboard sound. After the old drivers were cleaned from the system, I downloaded the latest Realtek drivers. InstallShield, however, refused to work. The progess bar would reach the end, and the installer would stop. EVERY version of Realtek's installer would do this -- the version that came with my mobo's CD, which I had used months earlier, wouldn't even work. Windows, of course, had already downloaded some generic drivers, which didn't work either. So, with the generic drivers not working and me being unable to install Realteks' drivers, I decided to do a repair install.

While doing the repair install, Windows blue screened. I tried again, and the system blue screened...

OatmealMu said:

I'm posting from my PS3 right now, so the situation's obviously worsened.

As it stands, I'm looking at the System Recovery Options screen where the Windows 7 partition has switched to the E drive (it was C before) and is 0 MB in size. While trying to narrow down any hardware issues, I decided to remove the Audigy card and attempt to use onboard sound. After the old drivers were cleaned from the system, I downloaded the latest Realtek drivers. InstallShield, however, refused to work. The progess bar would reach the end, and the installer would stop. EVERY version of Realtek's installer would do this -- the version that came with my mobo's CD, which I had used months earlier, wouldn't even work. Windows, of course, had already downloaded some generic drivers, which didn't work either. So, with the generic drivers not working and me being unable to install Realteks' drivers, I decided to do a repair install.

While doing the repair install, Windows blue screened. I tried again, and the system blue screened...

You may end up doing a clean install. I know it is a PITA but...

Awful PS3 browser...

You mentioned possible hardware problems in the first reply, and I think you're right. I had scanned both the HDD and RAM in the past, and both came up negative. I'm also running into issues where it takes a few attempts for the computer to start -- the fans speed up, then slow down... speed up, slow down... until the system finally boots. Before upgrading my system for Windows 7, I had had similar issues with XP. In the end, I replaced the mobo, cpu, and ram and upgraded to W7. It fixed the problem, but I never did figure out WHAT had went wrong.

I know hardware issues are difficult to narrow down, but what part is most likely the culprit? After blue screening during the repair, and getting a 0xc000000f error, I'm thinking HDD or RAM.

OatmealMu said:

Awful PS3 browser...

You mentioned possible hardware problems in the first reply, and I think you're right. I had scanned both the HDD and RAM in the past, and both came up negative. I'm also running into issues where it takes a few attempts for the computer to start -- the fans speed up, then slow down... speed up, slow down... until the system finally boots. Before upgrading my system for Windows 7, I had had similar issues with XP. In the end, I replaced the mobo, cpu, and ram and upgraded to W7. It fixed the problem, but I never did figure out WHAT had went wrong.

I know hardware issues are difficult to narrow down, but what part is most likely the culprit? After blue screening during the repair, and getting a 0xc000000f error, I'm thinking HDD or RAM.

MS says
Status: 0xc000000f

Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible. I would say that is HD. GO to mfr get their diagnostic tool and run it



Ken J

Update time.

I've been running a fresh Windows 7 install on my new hard drive for a couple of days now. The good news is that I can boot into the OS. The bad news is that I'm still getting BSODs -- new ones I've never seen before even!

Once again, I've opened up the case and look around. This time I turned my attention to the RAM. First, I used W7's built-in memory diagnostics tool which found a hardware error. Then, I downloaded memtest to do more comprehensive tests. Again, I found more errors. Some time later, I discovered that slot 3 on my motherboard was giving me issues. The RAM tested fine on every other slot. So, I moved the memory to slots 1 and 2, hoping for the best.

To test things out, I opened Chrome and a game. Minutes later, I got another blue screen. This latest error was cause by tcpip.sys. I've attached the latest memory dumps below.

*I should note that all previous errors in the dump were before I switched memory slots. Also, the only drivers I've updated are for the videocard and USB 3.0 support.

Another update.

Before going to bed, I re-attempted to clock the memory to it's rated 800Mhz speed. Normal system operations were okay. Then, I tried a Prime95 stress test, and the system lasted all of 10 seconds before blue screening. Suffice to say, even on different memory slots, this RAM isn't doing what it's supposed to.

Over night, I ran some more tests with memtest. I woke up to many passes with no errors in sight. Of course, I'm still getting blue screens, but they're more generic this time around (read: ntoskrnl.exe errors). I downloaded a program that lets me view the age of drivers and updated any old ones that caught my eye. But still, I'm getting blue screens.

Another look inside my system reminded me of something. Some months ago, my system stopped booting. I flipped the switch and NOTHING. I eventually came across the idea of unplugging my cases' front USB ports from the motherboard. It worked. To be safe, I also upgraded the mobos' bios -- not that I was able to plug in the front ports after that, as they still stopped me from booting.

Something else of note: While booting into W7 yesterday, I received a strange crash screen. My monitor froze while displaying a distorted cavalcade of colors. I've experienced strange colors with a bad videocard, but this arrangement was unique to me. I've linked to an image of what I saw below.

http://imgur.com/8zYI1.jpg

So... Right now I'm thinking it's the motherboard. Hard drive problems should be out of the equation now. The memory works okay (albeit underclocked) while inserted into specific slots. I'm unsure about my videocard, but any stress tests that I've done never caused the card to go above 50C and no artifacts were present. And what of the CPU? The Prime95 test I did stressed the RAM, and the system lasted mere seconds. There's also the front panel issues. If the USB ports prevent the system from even booting, what else might be broken? I have heard of issues regarding front panels and BSODs.

Thoughts? The memory is going to be RMAed, and I've submitted a ticket to Gigabyte for the motherboard.

The latest minidump is attached below...

Just installed a new set of memory sticks. About 30 minutes after boot I got an "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" error. So... I've replaced the hard drive AND the memory. Now what do I do? Do I replace the CPU? The motherboard?

Oh, and I've found something new. On the taskbar, to the right of the volume icon, is a blank space. There should be an icon there, but it's gone. I'm not sure what's going on there either.

Thanks.