Thanks for the feedback.
To manually delete/rename a driver:
1. Navigate to C:\windows\system32\drivers
2. Locate: atksgt.sys
3. Rename to: atksgt.sys.old
4. Reboot your computer.
If there are no issues, then navigate back to driver folder
Right click atksgt.sys.old and delete
Reboot.
Cheers
Dave
Alright, here's a report. I'll be including a few questions with some parts.
I have followed your instructions for my Graphic Drivers. I ran it in normal Safe Mode first, until I realized I had to install Driver Sweeper next, as it was indeed necessary as you had guessed. So I rebooted into Safe Mode with Network and had it installed. The process went pretty much flawless, but the driver you linked wasn't the correct one. I, however, did find the right one for my graphic driver of the date you described.
Questions:
- I only did this for the Display Driver. I didn't do this for Physx and the Chipset. I presume that was the idea? Or should I have done it for Physx too? (I generally leave it disabled in any game that offers the option)
- I never really understood what Physx is for. Could you tell me in a nutshell what it's for?
- What's a proper procedure or time to update my Graphic Drivers in the future?
Especially since the latest one is said to be optimised for Bioshock: Infinite. A game I plan to buy in the future, as my installed programs list may have hinted at me being an avid Gamer.
atksgt.sys Has been succesfully renamed, and after two reboots (not including the reboots into Safe mode), I've received no troubles so far. I'll be deleting it after I have typed this.
I've uninstalled everything with Python in it's name. I'm not a Python coder and am no longer using any programs requiring it. WinRing0x64.sys has been confirmed to be no longer in the drivers folder.
The webpage you linked for Dell... Well, that's another story.
When I told it to Analyze my system, I had it install the program it sent me, and the result was one BIOS update and three Graphic Driver updates, two of which aren't even mine, and a Beta driver for a Notebook.
I've simply copypasted the updates below for everyone's convenience.
I ignored the Graphic Drivers and the Beta driver, and just downloaded the BIOS update.Code:Alienware M15x System BIOS, A09 (BIOS) Optional 1/19/2011 A09 Previous Versions Description M15x System BIOS nVidia GTX 460M, v.259.64, A01 (Driver) Recommended 11/16/2010 259.64, A01 Previous Versions Description GTX 460M nVidia GeForce GT 240M, v.257.38, A01 (Driver) Recommended 8/25/2010 257.38, A01 Previous Versions Description GeForce GT 240M nVidia GeForce GTX 260M (65W), v.257.38, A01 (Driver) Recommended 8/25/2010 257.38, A01 Previous Versions Description GeForce GTX 260M (65W) nVidia Notebook BETA Driver (NV), v.285.62, P08 (Driver) Optional 10/31/2011 285.62, P08 Previous Versions Description Notebook BETA Driver (NV)
However, once unpacked, all four of the .exe files (and even the .bat files) are saying I need the 64 bit version. It's a bit odd that the detector didn't suggest the 64 bit version for it. I can't however seem to locate the 64 bit one.
- What would be the suggested course of action?
Hi,
Sorry about the link and late reply, can you just confirm that you do have this version 306.23
driver installed, which IS for your graphics card :)?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-306.23-whql-driver.html
In reply to your questions:
1. I only did this for the Display Driver.
This is correct
2. Please see this article for Nividia PhysX:
3. The reason I asked you to install version 306.23 of the Nividia driver
was because this is a known "stable" version and I am trying to determine
if your Nividia issues are driver or hardware related, but usually updating
is best done through Nivida.com.
4. For your BIOS update, this is the correct link, did you have problems
downloading/running it? You can just download the .exe file to your desktop and run it:
WarningPlease follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully when updating the BIOS, as incorrectly updated, may render your computer unusable!!
Have you experienced any other crashes since removing drivers and installing the stable Nividia driver?
cheers
Dave
Yes, I have 306.23 installed. So far it's been running somewhat fine. Yesterday, after hours and hours of playing Planetside 2 (a game I suppose is pretty demanding both graphically and network-wise) my laptop locked up. But seeing how long it had been running (after a 7GB update, no less) and the power supply getting a little hot, I assumed (for once) that it was probably to be expected.
It didn't bring up a BSOD, either, which encourages my theory for me.
My Graphics Card didn't seem to overheat either, as touching the top right corner of my laptop would give this away (a fact I've learned before I realized that laptops need to be cleaned of dust frequently, years ago). I can't speak for the CPU's temperature, but my fans have generally been working properly.
What would be the best way to determine what future updates for my graphic card are considered 'stable'? I hope to at least hold on to this laptop, for gaming purposes, for at least one more year and a maximum of three. I suppose, during that time period, a stable update will be in order?
(as described in the posts that apparently disappeared a few days ago) The .exe (for the BIOS update) unpacks a folder that holds four .exe files of it's own and two .bat files. Running these files has brought confusing errors, including the claim that I should get the 64bit version of the package. The problem with that, however, is that that is the only .exe given to me to download.
Vistaking suggested I burned the .iso to a CD. However, my CD drive refuses to work most of the time.
(An issue I ignored since I've never had any need for it anyway)
Vistaking suggested I used a USB-stick instead, a process he carefully explained and I followed meticulously, that worked up until that I had to boot from it. When I did, it told me to "remove the disk or media" and then press any key (translating freely from Dutch). Pressing a key repeats it, unplugging the USB and pressing a key however, yields the following, literally:
No other peripherals were plugged in. Not even a network cable.Code:Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.3.35 Copyright (C) 1997-2009, Intel Corporation PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable PXE-MQF: Exiting Intel Boot Agent. Operating System not found
(I took a screenshot of this and am typing it out, fyi)
Pressing the power button and using F8 (again, just to be sure) to boot from Hard Drive again showed no troubles, as expected. This was a few days ago, I've been happily gaming since.
I am currently at my work so I am reciting most of this from my memory, so I will edit the BIOS section above to clarify more specifically when I get home, unless someone has replied already.
Hi,
Thanks for the feedback.
To be honest I would leave the BIOS update for now, if your system is running stable
and no more BSOD's are occurring then I would apply the adage "If it aint broke, dont fix it"
(I only suggested it as a matter of course) :) but as your system seems more stable then
it is best leave the BIOS update, for now.
Very good question! And Im not sure of the answer....yet :) this thread may helpWhat would be the best way to determine what future updates for my graphic card are considered 'stable'? I hope to at least hold on to this laptop, for gaming purposes, for at least one more year and a maximum of three. I suppose, during that time period, a stable update will be in order?
in determining which drivers are the latest and if stable or not:
If you do update the drivers, then I would advise to first:
Then, if the updated driver causes issues, either
or restore back to the restore point that you created if rolling back fails.
Also maybe a Laptop cooling pad maybe the answer to help keep things cooler
Monitor the situation and post back if a few days to see if your issue is resolved.
cheers
Dave
Oh yes, I've looked into a cooling pad. For some reason, it's USB plug fits in the E-Sata and even properly works. However, due to a slight accident, the thin metal surrounding of the E-sata is a little dented. It still fits, but I'm going to hold off trying until my laptop is stable (a call I will make in a week or so) and then plug it in. The reason I use the E-sata is because the M15X only comes with two USB ports. (a terrible oversight I still regret)
When I consider my laptop stable again, and I'll be needing that cooling for the coming summer, I'll plug it in again.
If I get a BSOD quick enough, I can then assume the E-Sata is more damaged than I had estimated and I'll probably have to either send it in for repairs or...just not use it. I'll cross that bridge when it appears.
That aside, I always keep tabs on my temperatures. I used to have two seperate programs monitoring the CPU and graphics card, but now I'm using Speedfan instead, since there are Speedfan plugins written for Rainmeter. (it's an interactive UI thing for your background)
If I have no other outstanding or concerning issues in the next seven days or so, I'll come back and press that Mark as Solved button. Well, technically, it should be about...three to five more days now.
Thank you all for your help!
Playing Planetside 2 in the late afternoon yesterday yielded another freeze. Or so I thought, as pressing the power button once didn't shut it down immediatly. Something I normally expect when the system has gotten completely stuck. However, I opted to simply shut down the system anyway and look up the problem.
It appears this is an issue unique to Planetside 2, as many (!) others seem to have the issue as well. With varying Graphic Cards.
After that, I decided to get a power nap and let Steam download two games for a total of 15GB. When that was done, I decided to let MSE run a full virus scan. When I woke up, it appeared I had gotten a bluescreen. I let it complete it's dump, and decided I'd upload it here once I've gotten enough sleep.
It probably wouldn't be prudent to simply blame MSE of the Bluescreen. While I wouldn't deduct it as a culprit, I don't think it's likely. Regardless, the dump should be below and we can perhaps find out a possible culprit. (Bluescreenview only highlights the kernel, so that's not of much help)
Hi RJtheShadow,
Just popping in quickly whilst Dave is offline. Your minidump report is below:
Code:Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.2.8400.0 AMD64 Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Loading Dump File [C:\Users\Tom\AppData\Local\Temp\Temp2_051513-71510-01.zip\051513-71510-01.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 Executable search path is: Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (8 procs) Free x64 Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal Built by: 7601.18113.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.130318-1533 Machine Name: Kernel base = 0xfffff800`03a67000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`03caa670 Debug session time: Tue May 14 22:46:56.515 2013 (UTC + 1:00) System Uptime: 0 days 6:25:36.591 Loading Kernel Symbols ............................................................... ................................................................ ............................................. Loading User Symbols Loading unloaded module list .... ******************************************************************************* * * * Bugcheck Analysis * * * ******************************************************************************* Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information. BugCheck 50, {ffffd400b64999ef, 0, fffff88001b64d81, 7} Could not read faulting driver name *** WARNING: Unable to verify checksum for win32k.sys Probably caused by : memory_corruption Followup: memory_corruption --------- 4: kd> !analyze -v ******************************************************************************* * * * Bugcheck Analysis * * * ******************************************************************************* PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (50) Invalid system memory was referenced. This cannot be protected by try-except, it must be protected by a Probe. Typically the address is just plain bad or it is pointing at freed memory. Arguments: Arg1: ffffd400b64999ef, memory referenced. Arg2: 0000000000000000, value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation. Arg3: fffff88001b64d81, If non-zero, the instruction address which referenced the bad memory address. Arg4: 0000000000000007, (reserved) Debugging Details: ------------------ Could not read faulting driver name READ_ADDRESS: GetPointerFromAddress: unable to read from fffff80003d14100 GetUlongFromAddress: unable to read from fffff80003d141c0 ffffd400b64999ef Nonpaged pool FAULTING_IP: rdyboost!SmdProcessReadWrite+949 fffff880`01b64d81 4c8bacc870010000 mov r13,qword ptr [rax+rcx*8+170h] MM_INTERNAL_CODE: 7 CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1 DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: CODE_CORRUPTION BUGCHECK_STR: 0x50 PROCESS_NAME: System CURRENT_IRQL: 0 TRAP_FRAME: fffff8800b82ebb0 -- (.trap 0xfffff8800b82ebb0) NOTE: The trap frame does not contain all registers. Some register values may be zeroed or incorrect. rax=000000003fffffff rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=fffffa800ec93310 rdx=0000000000000048 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000 rip=fffff88001b64d81 rsp=fffff8800b82ed40 rbp=0000000000000001 r8=0000000000000000 r9=0000000000000000 r10=0000006327da3000 r11=fffffa800ec932d8 r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000 r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000 iopl=0 nv up ei pl nz na po nc rdyboost!SmdProcessReadWrite+0x949: fffff880`01b64d81 4c8bacc870010000 mov r13,qword ptr [rax+rcx*8+170h] ds:ffffd400`b64999ef=???????????????? Resetting default scope LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from fffff80003b5952b to fffff80003adcc00 STACK_TEXT: fffff880`0b82ea48 fffff800`03b5952b : 00000000`00000050 ffffd400`b64999ef 00000000`00000000 fffff880`0b82ebb0 : nt!KeBugCheckEx fffff880`0b82ea50 fffff800`03adad2e : 00000000`00000000 ffffd400`b64999ef fffffa80`0d769000 00000000`000a0065 : nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+0x43781 fffff880`0b82ebb0 fffff880`01b64d81 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000001 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000021 : nt!KiPageFault+0x16e fffff880`0b82ed40 fffff880`01b64405 : fffffa80`07bf3d90 fffffa80`0ec93010 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : rdyboost!SmdProcessReadWrite+0x949 fffff880`0b82eeb0 fffff880`01af6108 : fffffa80`0ec93010 fffff880`0373eff0 fffffa80`0ec93368 00000000`00000000 : rdyboost!SmdDispatchReadWrite+0xd9 fffff880`0b82eee0 fffff880`0164703a : fffff880`0373eff0 fffffa80`06c28b50 fffff880`0373ef18 00000000`00000000 : volsnap!VolsnapWriteFilter+0xf8 fffff880`0b82ef30 fffff800`03ad46f7 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : Ntfs!NtfsStorageDriverCallout+0x16 fffff880`0b82ef60 fffff800`03ad46b8 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KySwitchKernelStackCallout+0x27 fffff880`0373ede0 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSwitchKernelStackContinue STACK_COMMAND: kb CHKIMG_EXTENSION: !chkimg -lo 50 -db !rdyboost 8 errors : !rdyboost (fffff88001b64d84-fffff88001b64dbc) fffff88001b64d80 00 4c 8b ac *c8 70 01 00 00 4c 8b b4 *36 98 00 00 .L...p...L..6... fffff88001b64d90 00 41 b8 02 *ec 00 00 48 83 3d a9 c3 *13 00 ff 74 .A.....H.=.....t fffff88001b64da0 1a 4c 3b fe *0c 15 45 84 45 20 75 0f *ab c9 ff 15 .L;...E.E u..... fffff88001b64db0 4c 72 01 00 *31 89 05 35 c4 01 00 41 *20 01 00 00 Lr..1..5...A ... MODULE_NAME: memory_corruption IMAGE_NAME: memory_corruption FOLLOWUP_NAME: memory_corruption DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 0 MEMORY_CORRUPTOR: STRIDE FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_MEMORY_CORRUPTION_STRIDE BUCKET_ID: X64_MEMORY_CORRUPTION_STRIDE Followup: memory_corruption ---------
My minidump analysis skills are nothing compared to Dave's, or any others in the team for that matter, but I'm fairly confident that Ready Boost is the cause of this latest crash. Windbg lists the cause as memory_corruption, and the stack has a few calls to rdyboost.sys which, unsurprisingly, is the Ready Boost driver. The reason BlueScreenView is incorrectly listing the Windows Kernel as the cause is probably because it was the last driver found in the stack before the time of the crash.
Try unplugging any ready boost drives you have and let us know how you get on :)
Tom
Interesting...
See, I don't actually have any Ready Boost devices. I've never felt the desire to speed up my system a little bit by using a USB-stick or my External Hard Drive. The fact that I get a Bluescreen from this cause is most curious, and I can't think of many culprits.
- When Vistaking talked me through the process of updating my BIOS through an .iso on my USB stick (whereof the posts seem to have been removed), there was a process involved in CMD. Including reformatting it.
- I often use an External Hard Drive for storage of files I wish to hold on to. (including Steam backups)
The past three days, I have been using the disconnecting procedure in Windows to disconnect it. Whereas in the past, I simply pulled it out. (I always manually checked anyway whether anything was running). This drive should not have ReadyBoost enabled, but I am going to double check in a moment. It would be quite curious if it was.
(the reason I frequently unplug the device is because I use the same USB port for my Wireless Receiver for my 360 controller)
Besides the above two, I have no idea what ReadyBoost devices I have running. By my memory, none. Because, as said, I've never had a desire to use that feature.
Funnily enough, when the BSOD occured, a driver that sounded like ReadyBoost was indeed blamed. However, since I was still sleepdrunk, I just had faith in the fact that the memorydump would point out the driver properly once I was up again to post the dump. Funny how things work out.
I'll take a glance at any recent memory devices I've used.
EDIT: The External Drive surely isn't used for it. The Readyboost tab says it can't use it.
Last edited by RJtheShadow; 15 May 2013 at 09:06. Reason: pointing out the reason I frequently unplug the External Hard Drive
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