Windows 7 Random Freezes Requiring Hard Reboot (no minidump files)

[Arc]

 

[sosowie]

But the diagnostic tool says "crash dump file copied successfully"....

I've readjusted it to write a Minidump file now instead of a Complete Dump file. Hopefully that solves the issue...

Edit: I just induced a manual crash via WhoCrashed, and a dump file was successfully written. I will wait until another crash occurs, and attach the relevant files.

 

[sosowie]

Hmm... computer crashed again, but curiously, no dump file written...
Dang it.
I never get a BSOD btw. My computer just freezes up in whatever frame I'm looking at. Can't move cursor. Can only manually reboot. Maybe I'll wait longer next time before manually rebooting...

 

[Arc]

Please complete the "troubleshooting steps" for one more time?

The link to the troubleshooting steps is provided by gregrocker earlier.

 

[sosowie]

OK!

 

[Arc]

Let us go for some stress tests, one by one. First, let us check for the drivers. Enable Driver Verifier to monitor the drivers.
Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable
Run Driver Verifier for 24 hours or the occurrence of the next crash, whichever is earlier.

   Information

Why Driver Verifier:
It puts a stress on the drivers, ans so it makes the unstable drivers crash. Hopefully the driver that crashes is recorded in the memory dump.

How Can we know that DV is enabled:
It will make the system bit of slow, laggy.

   Warning

Before enabling DV, make it sure that you have earlier System restore points made in your computer. You can check it easily by using CCleaner looking at Tools > System Restore.

If there is no points, make a System Restore Point manually before enabling DV.

   Tip

• If you fail to get on the Desktop because of DV, Boot into Advanced Boot Options > Safe mode. Disable DV there. Now boot normally again, and try following the instruction of enabling DV again.
• If you cannot boot in Safe mode too, do a System Restore to a point you made earlier.

Let us know the results, with the subsequent crash dumps, if any.

 

[sosowie]

Alright!
Running verifier now

 

[sosowie]

PS: should I disable auto-restart? My computer crashed again before running verifier. It restarted on its own (I wasn't there to hard reboot), and no dump file was recorded. The only dump file I was able to produce thus far was from the forced crash using WhoCrashed.

 

[Arc]

We want to see what Driver Verifier yields. If it yields nothing, we would change our stress strategy .... but DV is the first option.

Enable or disable auto restart ... that is not a big deal. If it crashes with DV enabled, and still it does not record a crash dump, we will consider that the software environment is not causing the issue and will try to search the culprit in the hardware environment.

 

[sosowie]

Finally, a dump file!!! This feels like a win for us:

 

[Arc]

It is caused by athdfu.sys; Qualcomm Atheros Valkyrie USB BootROM (c:\windows\system32\drivers\athdfu.sys)

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck D5, {fffff9801de86ff0, 0, fffff88005845e46, 0}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for [URL="http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=AthDfu.sys"]AthDfu.sys[/URL]
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for [URL="http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=AthDfu.sys"]AthDfu.sys[/URL]

Could not read faulting driver name
Probably caused by : [URL="http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=AthDfu.sys"]AthDfu.sys[/URL] ( AthDfu+1e46 )

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

And the driver is very old.

fffff880`05844000 fffff880`05855000   AthDfu   T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: AthDfu.sys
    Image path: AthDfu.sys
[COLOR=Red]    Image name: AthDfu.sys
    Timestamp:        Mon Mar 22 12:13:38 2010[/COLOR] (4BA7119A)
    CheckSum:         0001D7CA
    ImageSize:        00011000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

In my best guess, it comes from here:


Enter into BIOS. Disable any Boot From LAN/Network option if available. Also disable Bluetooth.

Then wait for Greg to suggest further on this issue.

 

[sosowie]

And again, thank you for your looking into this.

Your suggestions sound very promising, but being the computer illiterate I am, I am having trouble figuring out what options to change in my Bios Boot screen. The mode under "Option ROM Messages" is currently at "Force Bios"; the only other option is "Keep Current". I assume this is what I should change?

And how do I check if a boot from LAN/Network is active to disable it? How do I disable Bluetooth?

I see another header in this menu called "PCI ROM Priority," and it's currently set to "Legacy ROM." The other option here is "EFI Compatible ROM." Should I be tweaking this as well?

My apologies for my elementary questions.

 

[Arc]

I have requested my friend Britton30 to suggest/guide you. Whereas it is hardware, he had a deep insight.

 

[Britton30]

Will be with you shortly, I'm trying to get a copy of the board's manual.

And again, thank you for your looking into this.

Your suggestions sound very promising, but being the computer illiterate I am, I am having trouble figuring out what options to change in my Bios Boot screen. The mode under "Option ROM Messages" is currently at "Force Bios"; the only other option is "Keep Current". I assume this is what I should change?
Force BIOS is OK to leave as is.

And how do I check if a boot from LAN/Network is active to disable it? I had a look at the manual and it didn't mention this, however they don't always show all option. Go to you BOOT tab and all of the sub=menus, it should be there.
How do I disable Bluetooth? As above, it wasn't listed but should be found in the Onboard Devies section, l;ikely buried in another sub-menu.

I see another header in this menu called "PCI ROM Priority," and it's currently set to "Legacy ROM." The other option here is "EFI Compatible ROM." Should I be tweaking this as well? Leave set on Legacy ROM, EFI would be for a different type of install or Windows 8.

My apologies for my elementary questions. Not a problem we all were new at some point.

 

[sosowie]

Hello Britton,

I see options under "Advanced" tab, "USB Configuration" for the following:
- Legacy USB Support (currently set to "Enabled." Other options include "Disabled" and "Auto")
- Legacy USB3.0 Support (same as above)
- EHCI Hand-off (Disabled)

Is this what I should be tweaking?

There is another page under Advanced, entitled "Onboard Devices Configuration," and I see the following:
- Reneasas USB 3.0 Controller (Enabled. Other choice is to Disable)
- Bluetooch Controller (same as above)
- Realtek LAN Controller (same as above)

Please kindly advise what actions I should take here. I could not find references to the USB/LAN/Bluetooth from the Boot tab.

Many thanks.

 

[Britton30]

Leave all the USB settings as is.

The Blue Tooth controller is where to disable that. You can change it to Disabled if you don't use it. Check Control Panel/Programs and Features for a Blue Tooth device and uninstall the driver as well.

 

[Arc]

Big thanks to Gary

sosowie, I wouls also suggest you to uninstall anything associated with Qualcomm Atheros Valkyrie USB BootROM. The location of the driver is c:\windows\system32\drivers\athdfu.sys. Also, search in Device manager. If any Qualcomm Atheros entry is there, disable it.

 

[sosowie]

Thank you both for these suggestions.

Arc, I've followed your advice and deleted athdfu.sys, and disabled it under device manager. I am also given the option to "uninstall" the driver via device manager. Is it prudent to do so?

 

[Arc]

Thank you both for these suggestions.

Arc, I've followed your advice and deleted athdfu.sys, and disabled it under device manager. I am also given the option to "uninstall" the driver via device manager. Is it prudent to do so?

Do it. Hopefully the uninstallation will solve this particular issue.

Then it is to observe how the computer is running. If it is running well, all are good. Otherwise, we have to decide that some other problematic elements are still remaining.

So now take a time to observe, and let us know how the computer is running

 

[sosowie]

Unfortunately my computer just froze up again; same symptoms: screen freezes in frame, keyboard/mouse unresponsive, requiring hard reboot. And as with before, no minidump file is written.

I'll run verifier again in the meantime, unless you advise otherwise.

Dang it.