Solved BSODs after installing HD 6770

[flameboy54]

Hi All,

I’ve come across a series of BSODs since installing my new HD 6770. A bit of googling came up with results indicating a a history of BSODs with the card. Below are the specs of my computer.

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition
MB: ASUS M4A78-E DDR2 Motherboard
RAM: Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800
PS: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular Power Supply
CASE: Antec Three Hundred
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64

VIDEO: Gigabyte Radeon HD6770 775MHZ 1GB 4.0GHZ GDDR5

I’ve had the system for about 2.5-3 years now, running problem free with the on-board video card. I recently purchased the HD 6770 to play Diablo 3. I installed the card as one normally would and installed the drivers from the ATI site. I fired up Diablo 3 Beta and this is when the BSODs started to happen – 8 in the span of 2 days. All would occur in the middle of the game, completely random and not at any specific point at the game. I remember one happening when I was just idle in town.

I’m not all that familiar with troubleshooting BSODs but after some reading I tried the following:

- Update all drivers with Slimdrivers
- Set BIOS back to default settings
- Complete update to Windows 7 via Windows Update
- Removed and re-seated video card
- Installed AMD Catalyst 11.6b Hotfix (Resolves blue screen, screen flicker at idle and corrupt mouse pointer issues; AMD Catalyst)
- Replaced Logitech wireless mouse with MS wired mouse
- Ran Memtest86+ and passed


At one point, I managed to log in about 60 minutes before the system crashed. After replacing the mouse, I played about 45 minutes last night before calling it quits, crash-free. I come home today, and had another 2 BSODs not related to Diablo 3. I've attached a zip file of folder Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 minus the perfmon HTML since it was coming up with an error message ("The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."). I'll try to get that fixed and uploaded asap. In the meantime if you guys can take a peak at what I have so far, that'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for everyones help!

 

[zigzag3143]

Before we can even begin to investigate there is one issue that needs resolving. Yours is from 2005

Asacpi.sys

The pre 2009 version of this driver is a known BSOD cause.

Please visit this link: Asus tek computer inc. -support- drivers and download p7p55d le

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download P7P55D LE
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Motherboards- ASUS P5K-VM

Scroll down to the utilities category, then scroll down to the "atk0110 driver for windowsxp/vista/windows 7 32&64-bit" (it's about the 12th item down).

Download and install it.

Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers to check and make sure that the asacpi.sys file is date stamped from 2009 or 2010 (not before).

 

[flameboy54]

Thanks ZigZag. I went ahead to update the asacpi.sys yesterday with the time stamp "14/05/2009". Unfortunately, it seems to go deeper then that. I've attached an updated Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2.zip with 2 more minidump files. Thanks.

 

[zigzag3143]

Thanks ZigZag. I went ahead to update the asacpi.sys yesterday with the time stamp "14/05/2009". Unfortunately, it seems to go deeper then that. I've attached an updated Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2.zip with 2 more minidump files. Thanks.

I knew it would but we had to eliminate that first.



These crashes were caused by memory corruption probably a driver.
Please run these two tests to verify your memory and find which driver is causing the problem.

* If you are overclocking anything reset to default before running these tests.
In other words STOP!!!

* If you have a Raid update its Driver.



Memtest.

*Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

*Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5-7 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.

Any errors are indicative of a memory problem.

If a known good stick fails in a motherboard slot it is probably the slot.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html






Driver Verifer

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.

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).

In Windows 7 you can make a Startup Repair disk by going to Start....All Programs...Maintenance...Create a System Repair Disc - with Windows Vista you'll have to use your installation disk or the "Repair your computer" option at the top of the Safe Mode menu .

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.

If you are using win 8 add these
- Concurrency Stress Test
- DDI compliance checking

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.
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.

Thanks to JGriff2 & Usasma.

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

Driver Verifier

Using Driver Verifier (Windows Drivers)

 

[flameboy54]

Here's my results from the Memtest86+ (tested with 2 sticks of 2GB RAM):

RAM 1/slot 1: 6 passes, 0 errors
RAM 1/slot 2: 10 passes, 0 errors
RAM 2/slot 1: 17 passes, 10 errors
RAM 2/slot 2: 8 passes, 0 errors

Current configuration is RAM 2 in slot 1 and RAM 1 in slot 2.

I proceeded to run the Driver Verifier test and got 2 BSODs before disabling the test and one more after it was disabled. Attached is the updated Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2.zip with the latest 3 minidump files.

 

[zigzag3143]

Here's my results from the Memtest86+ (tested with 2 sticks of 2GB RAM):

RAM 1/slot 1: 6 passes, 0 errors
RAM 1/slot 2: 10 passes, 0 errors
RAM 2/slot 1: 17 passes, 10 errors
RAM 2/slot 2: 8 passes, 0 errors

Current configuration is RAM 2 in slot 1 and RAM 1 in slot 2.

I proceeded to run the Driver Verifier test and got 2 BSODs before disabling the test and one more after it was disabled. Attached is the updated Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2.zip with the latest 3 minidump files.

At least 2 of these were driver verified and Related to kernexplorer.sys ad-aware security program from Lavasoft. I would remove it to test.

 

[flameboy54]

Went ahead to remove Ad-Aware and the system ran fine for about 4 hours then had a BSOD.

 

[zigzag3143]

Went ahead to remove Ad-Aware and the system ran fine for about 4 hours then had a BSOD.

Back to memory corruption. Not driver verified.

There is one exceedingly old driver. It may be involved.

Related to ckldrv.sys CrypKey is a leading global provider of software copy protection and license management solutions. Yours is from 2007 and must be updated or removed.

 

[flameboy54]

Been trying my best to see which program utilizes CrypKey but no luck. Can't seem to find any info on updating either. Any pointers you can give me?

During this whole process, the system BSOD'd 3 times.

 

[zigzag3143]

Been trying my best to see which program utilizes CrypKey but no luck. Can't seem to find any info on updating either. Any pointers you can give me?

During this whole process, the system BSOD'd 3 times.

Cryptkey can simply be renamed to *.bak.

Might want to re-enable verifier.

 

[flameboy54]

Two crashes after verifier was enabled. Verifier still enabled.

 

[flameboy54]

Was problem free for a few days and just had a crash occur today, while it was idle, streaming online radio. Verifier is still enabled.

 

[flameboy54]

Not sure what happened to zigzag but still getting BSOD's. Attached is my latest 2 minidumps. Uninstalled DAEMON tools lite and the AMD catalyst control center but left all the other portions of the catalyst software suite. Driver verifer still enabled.

Any other guru willing to help anaylze?

Thanks

 

[zigzag3143]

Not sure what happened to zigzag but still getting BSOD's. Attached is my latest 2 minidumps. Uninstalled DAEMON tools lite and the AMD catalyst control center but left all the other portions of the catalyst software suite. Driver verifer still enabled.

Any other guru willing to help anaylze?

Thanks

Two of 4 were inconclusive. One was your directX and one was an OS file. If the ram is ok then it must be a driver. It may be timne to start thinking about a re-install (clean)

 

[flameboy54]

Thanks for the reply. In regards to the ram, my results from memtest showed that there were some errors:

RAM 1/slot 1: 6 passes, 0 errors
RAM 1/slot 2: 10 passes, 0 errors
RAM 2/slot 1: 17 passes, 10 errors
RAM 2/slot 2: 8 passes, 0 errors

Is it safe to say that despite the errors, the problem at hand is leaning more towards the OS instead of the ram?

I'm guessing a repair install (Repair Install - Windows 7 Forums) isn't suffice to fix the problem?

Just after I posted my last post I re-installed directX 11 and re-named sptd.sys to .bak just as a precautionary move. I'll see how that goes. I'll prep myself for a fresh install in the meantime.

Thanks for you help up to this point, it's much appreciated.

 

[zigzag3143]

10 errors in 17 passes is probably OK. You will never stress your computer that much

I am indeed leaning towards the OS or 3rd party drivers.

A repair install may fix it and might be worth the effort but were it mine I would do a clean install.

You may have fixed it with your changes so lets wait and see.

 

[flameboy54]

Was starting to backing up all my data for a new install and got bombarded with BSOD's. Figured it was no use posting the mini dump files and I just proceed to backup and do a fresh install. After the installation I moved on to the motherboard drivers (chipset, LAN and audio), BIOS update (2603) and the 6770 drivers (Catalyst Software Suite 12.4), all from the manufactures websites. Installed MSE, Updated Windows via Windows Update where 80 updates were installed. This morning, as I was opening IE, I got a BSOD. Not sure if you want to see the minidump files or if you want to let it accumulate before analyzing.

In the meantime I'll proceed with updating Windows til its completely updated.

 

[flameboy54]

Opted to post the minidump files anyways. Also ran whocrashed since I've never played with it before. Here's the report:

Crash Dump Analysis
</B>
Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial][FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.[/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]On Tue 08/05/2012 2:35:40 PM GMT your computer crashed[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\050812-29265-01.dmp[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]uptime: 00:08:00[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]This was probably caused by the following module: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]ntoskrnl.exe[/FONT] (nt+0x705C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x8, 0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x0)
Error: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA[/FONT]
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft® Windows® Operating System[/FONT]
company: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft Corporation[/FONT]
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.
[/FONT]

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]On Tue 08/05/2012 2:35:40 PM GMT your computer crashed[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]uptime: 00:08:00[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]This was probably caused by the following module: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]afd.sys[/FONT] (afd+0x2C1F2)
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x8, 0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x0)
Error: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA[/FONT]
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\afd.sys
product: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft® Windows® Operating System[/FONT]
company: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft Corporation[/FONT]
description: Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock
Bug check description: This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.
[/FONT]


[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Conclusion[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]</B>[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]2 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. [/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information. [/FONT]

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is actually responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further. [/FONT]

=============================================

EDIT: Just so happened after I posted this reply I got a BSOD. I've updated the attached zip with both the minidump files from this morning and a few minutes ago.

 

[zigzag3143]

Opted to post the minidump files anyways. Also ran whocrashed since I've never played with it before. Here's the report:

Crash Dump Analysis
</B>
Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial][FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.[/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]On Tue 08/05/2012 2:35:40 PM GMT your computer crashed[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\050812-29265-01.dmp[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]uptime: 00:08:00[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]This was probably caused by the following module: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]ntoskrnl.exe[/FONT] (nt+0x705C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x8, 0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x0)
Error: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA[/FONT]
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft® Windows® Operating System[/FONT]
company: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft Corporation[/FONT]
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.
[/FONT]

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]On Tue 08/05/2012 2:35:40 PM GMT your computer crashed[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]uptime: 00:08:00[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]This was probably caused by the following module: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]afd.sys[/FONT] (afd+0x2C1F2)
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x8, 0xFFFFF80000AAFB50, 0x0)
Error: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA[/FONT]
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\afd.sys
product: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft® Windows® Operating System[/FONT]
company: [FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Microsoft Corporation[/FONT]
description: Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock
Bug check description: This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.
[/FONT]


[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Conclusion[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]</B>[/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]2 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. [/FONT]
[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information. [/FONT]

[FONT=Segoe UI, Arial]Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is actually responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further. [/FONT]

=============================================

EDIT: Just so happened after I posted this reply I got a BSOD. I've updated the attached zip with both the minidump files from this morning and a few minutes ago.

Related to L1E62x64.sys Ethernet Controller(NDIS6.20) from Atheros Communications, Inc. Yours is from 2009. I would update it to the newest available.

I am a big fan of Nir Sofer's work, BUT blueScreenView more often than not, doesn't point out the correct causes. Similarly Who crashed is even worse.

I prefer to use WinDbg (the Windows Debugging Tools) to read the memory dumps. It is the Gold standard for those of us that do this and often will give us the answer by itself. (we don't need the full jcgriff2 report each time).

 

[flameboy54]

Thanks of for the tip.

I downloaded the latest L1E62x64.sys (29/3/2010) file from the Qualicomm website and updated the ethernet drivers via device manager but noticed the file in the system32/drivers folder was still dated 2009 so I manually copy and pasted it. Keep you posted on any BSOD's. Thanks again.