BSOD on my Sony VAIO.

writhziden · 04 Dec 2011

The specs for my user are for my HP desktop, so here are my Sony VAIO specs:

System Manufacturer/Model Number
Sony VAIO VPCCW17FX (~2 years old)
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 64 Bit (~1 month since clean install, 1 week since repair install)
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T6600 @ 2.20GHz
Motherboard
Unknown? (American Megatrends Inc. R0210Y5 10/28/2009)
Memory
4.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce G210M
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio/NVIDIA High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
SONY
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
Toshiba 5055GSX 500 GB (455 GB {System} 10.42 GB {Recovery} 100 MB {System Reserved})
PSU
Unknown
Case
Laptop
Cooling
Laptop Fan
Keyboard
VAIO Laptop Keyboard
Mouse
HP USB Mouse/Synaptics PS/2 Port Touchpad (Disabled)
Internet Speed
Download: 19.15 Mbps Upload: 1.67 Mbps
Other Info
Network Adapter Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter

The BSOD attached is due to my computer entering hibernate mode from sleep mode.

I have updated SFEP.sys, it is now 6/11/2009, but it fails with driver verifier running. I was unable to get a crash report as the report hung when it said it was writing the report (the hard drive stopped spinning). I have uninstalled the offending SFEP.sys and am running verifier again. Let people know when I get another BSOD.

writhziden · 04 Dec 2011

So uninstalling that driver is a bad idea. Caused my system to do very strange things. I had messages saying hardware was turned off, my battery was not connected properly, etc. Guess I am stuck with a Vista based driver running many of my peripherals... Any further suggestions would be much appreciated.

writhziden · 04 Dec 2011

Alright, so far no BSOD, and my computer has gone from sleep mode to hibernate mode twice. I think the problem is likely resolved. It was probably due to the very old SFEP.sys driver.

writhziden · 04 Dec 2011

So I ran verifier with just SFEP.sys and was able to get three more blue screens. The new dmp files are attached (I am not attaching the remaining files, such as the perfmon /report as that information has not changed since last time). The odd thing is, SFEP.sys is showing up in my debugger as still being August 2007, whereas in System32/drivers, the date is given as 6/11/2009 (see screenshot)

I have spoken with Sony, and they give me the link to the same driver I already have and tell me that is the updated version. Even if the driver is from June, 2009, it had to have been tested with the beta/release candidate version of Windows 7, and therefore was never tested with the actual released version. What do others think of this?

writhziden · 04 Dec 2011

After much discussion with Sony, they finally agreed that they should let their technicians know to create a driver update for the driver. I told them I would also do a factory recovery to make sure it is indeed the driver and not software I have installed since I bought the computer. I will keep people updated if interested, and also if it ever is solved. :)

writhziden · 04 Dec 2011

And it crashes right out of the box, basically. I ran Verifier after using factory recovery, and I still get a BSOD due to SFEP.sys with no additional software or Windows Updates installed.

Edit: I have added attachments with the BSOD minidmp files and System Diagnostics Report.

writhziden · 05 Dec 2011

I found an updated version of SFEP.sys from a newer laptop. No more BSODs using Driver Verifier. :) If only Sony had thought of that...

Edit: For anyone else having a similar issue, make sure you create a restore point before installing a driver for a different computer in case it does not work. I have restore points and backup system images to restore from in case something goes wrong. Otherwise, I would not have taken such a drastic step.