Win7 x64 BSOD SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION win32k.sys

[kevindd992002]

I have a Clevo W860CU Laptop with these specs:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX285M Vidcard
i7 920XM OEM CPU
4GB Kingston HyperX Memory 1333 MHz
500GB Hitachi 7200RPM HDD
LG Hitachi GBW-T10N Blu-Ray Combo Drive
Intel 6300AGN WiF Mini PCI-E WiFi Card
Realtek 1Gbps LAN Ethernet Mini PCI-E Card
Sentelic Touchpad

Is Windows 7 . . .
- x86 (32-bit) or x64 ? x64
- the original installed OS on the system? Yes
- an OEM or full retail version? OEM
- OEM = came pre-installed on system
- Full Retail = you purchased it from retailer

- What is the age of system (hardware)? The hardware is around 1 month old and I just reinstalled Win7 3 days ago with the latest drivers but I sticked with Nvidia version 186.81 drivers since I know they are so much stable.
- What is the age of OS installation (have you re-installed the OS?) 3 days

I was just surfing the net, watching YouTube, chatting in Skype and Yahoo Messenger, Outlook 2010 is opened, when suddenly I got a BSOD with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION as the error and win32k.sys as the culprit.

Based on my minidump file, what could be the possible cause of this?

TIA.

 

[Jonathan_King]

I wonder if your nVidia drivers caused it. Install the latest ones here: Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

To be honest, I wouldn't stress about it too much, if it's only a single BSOD. We may never know if it worked or not, or go for a week or 2 without a crash.

...Summary of the Dumps:

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Tue Aug 24 10:34:38.530 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 15:01:25.607
BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff96000104377, fffff88007bb2070, 0}
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!HmgLockEx+a3 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  dwm.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
[/font]

 

[cluberti]

Actually, this looks 100% like a Windows 7 bug I hit with an nvidia card during the SP1 beta, and it's been fixed in builds since late April. It's not a driver issue, if that's the case, it's a win32k bug in win32k!GreSfmCloseCompositorRef where a pointer it has is NULL if I am remembering correctly - installing a May build of SP1 fixed it on both machines with the issue, so given this stack is exactly like both of mine, and it's not an SP1 (beta) build of win32k, I'd say wait for SP1 and it'll be fixed, or backup your system and install the beta to see if it works for you as well (this was indeed a bug).

 

[kevindd992002]

I wonder if your nVidia drivers caused it. Install the latest ones here: Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

To be honest, I wouldn't stress about it too much, if it's only a single BSOD. We may never know if it worked or not, or go for a week or 2 without a crash.

...Summary of the Dumps:

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Tue Aug 24 10:34:38.530 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 15:01:25.607
BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff96000104377, fffff88007bb2070, 0}
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!HmgLockEx+a3 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  dwm.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
[/font]

Hmmm. The only reason I did not install the latest 258.96 driver is because it caused the computer to freeze sometimes when playing youtube videos an it was common to many people.

But I did try installing it anyway to see if all goes well. So this is not a hardware issue I presume?

Do you guys need the memory.dmp file?

Actually, this looks 100% like a Windows 7 bug I hit with an nvidia card during the SP1 beta, and it's been fixed in builds since late April. It's not a driver issue, if that's the case, it's a win32k bug in win32k!GreSfmCloseCompositorRef where a pointer it has is NULL if I am remembering correctly - installing a May build of SP1 fixed it on both machines with the issue, so given this stack is exactly like both of mine, and it's not an SP1 (beta) build of win32k, I'd say wait for SP1 and it'll be fixed, or backup your system and install the beta to see if it works for you as well (this was indeed a bug).

So this is an issue for everyone?

 

[Jonathan_King]

I wonder if your nVidia drivers caused it. Install the latest ones here: Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

To be honest, I wouldn't stress about it too much, if it's only a single BSOD. We may never know if it worked or not, or go for a week or 2 without a crash.

...Summary of the Dumps:

[FONT=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Tue Aug 24 10:34:38.530 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 15:01:25.607
BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff96000104377, fffff88007bb2070, 0}
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!HmgLockEx+a3 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  dwm.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
[/FONT]

Hmmm. The only reason I did not install the latest 258.96 driver is because it caused the computer to freeze sometimes when playing youtube videos an it was common to many people.

But I did try installing it anyway to see if all goes well. So this is not a hardware issue I presume?

Do you guys need the memory.dmp file?

Actually, this looks 100% like a Windows 7 bug I hit with an nvidia card during the SP1 beta, and it's been fixed in builds since late April. It's not a driver issue, if that's the case, it's a win32k bug in win32k!GreSfmCloseCompositorRef where a pointer it has is NULL if I am remembering correctly - installing a May build of SP1 fixed it on both machines with the issue, so given this stack is exactly like both of mine, and it's not an SP1 (beta) build of win32k, I'd say wait for SP1 and it'll be fixed, or backup your system and install the beta to see if it works for you as well (this was indeed a bug).

So this is an issue for everyone?

It would be the first time I have seen such a bug, if it exists.

 

[kevindd992002]

I wonder if your nVidia drivers caused it. Install the latest ones here: Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

To be honest, I wouldn't stress about it too much, if it's only a single BSOD. We may never know if it worked or not, or go for a week or 2 without a crash.

...Summary of the Dumps:

[FONT=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Tue Aug 24 10:34:38.530 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 15:01:25.607
BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff96000104377, fffff88007bb2070, 0}
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!HmgLockEx+a3 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  dwm.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
[/FONT]

Hmmm. The only reason I did not install the latest 258.96 driver is because it caused the computer to freeze sometimes when playing youtube videos an it was common to many people.

But I did try installing it anyway to see if all goes well. So this is not a hardware issue I presume?

Do you guys need the memory.dmp file?

Actually, this looks 100% like a Windows 7 bug I hit with an nvidia card during the SP1 beta, and it's been fixed in builds since late April. It's not a driver issue, if that's the case, it's a win32k bug in win32k!GreSfmCloseCompositorRef where a pointer it has is NULL if I am remembering correctly - installing a May build of SP1 fixed it on both machines with the issue, so given this stack is exactly like both of mine, and it's not an SP1 (beta) build of win32k, I'd say wait for SP1 and it'll be fixed, or backup your system and install the beta to see if it works for you as well (this was indeed a bug).

So this is an issue for everyone?

It would be the first time I have seen such a bug, if it exists.

Could dwm.exe even be the culprit for this?

 

[zigzag3143]

Hmmm. The only reason I did not install the latest 258.96 driver is because it caused the computer to freeze sometimes when playing youtube videos an it was common to many people.

But I did try installing it anyway to see if all goes well. So this is not a hardware issue I presume?

Do you guys need the memory.dmp file?



So this is an issue for everyone?

It would be the first time I have seen such a bug, if it exists.

Could dwm.exe even be the culprit for this?

Probably not. I did notice that there is a memory exception in the first bug parameter. I would there for recommend you running memtest

Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Let us know the results

Ken

 

[CarlTR6]

Possible, but doubtful. That is the Desktop Window Manager, a Microsoft file. More than likely, something else cause it to fail.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Possible, but doubtful. That is the Desktop Window Manager, a Microsoft file. More than likely, something else cause it to fail.

Specifically GPU/Drivers.

 

[kevindd992002]

It would be the first time I have seen such a bug, if it exists.

Could dwm.exe even be the culprit for this?

Probably not. I did notice that there is a memory exception in the first bug parameter. I would there for recommend you running memtest

Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Let us know the results

Ken

From the first day I got this computer, I already ran both Memtest86 and Memtest86+ each with 24 hrs duration and they are completely error-free. So I think there is nothing wrong with my RAM. What could cause that memory exception?

 

[zigzag3143]

Could dwm.exe even be the culprit for this?

Probably not. I did notice that there is a memory exception in the first bug parameter. I would there for recommend you running memtest

Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Let us know the results

Ken

From the first day I got this computer, I already ran both Memtest86 and Memtest86+ each with 24 hrs duration and they are completely error-free. So I think there is nothing wrong with my RAM. What could cause that memory exception?

Memory exceptions can be caused by drivers, sloppy code, etc. If you havent try running a system file check first
Run a system file check to verify and repair your system files.
To do this type cmd in search, then right click to run as administrator, then
SFC /SCANNOW

Let us know the results from the report at the end.

Then try using 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"
- 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).

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.

 

[kevindd992002]

Ok, I'll try that though it seems to be a long process. I'll report back as soon as I have the necessary results.

Thanks.

 

[cluberti]

No offense to anyone, but this is a bug in win32k.sys that's existed since at least 2009. I wish you luck in updating your video drivers (they do play into this, so you may avoid it with a different version), but I can tell you I've hit this one myself - exact same callstack and offsets, and MS fixed it in SP1. Just sayin' .

 

[kevindd992002]

No offense to anyone, but this is a bug in win32k.sys that's existed since at least 2009. I wish you luck in updating your video drivers (they do play into this, so you may avoid it with a different version), but I can tell you I've hit this one myself - exact same callstack and offsets, and MS fixed it in SP1. Just sayin' .

SP1 of what OS? AFAIK, there is still no SP FOR win7 right?

 

[zigzag3143]

No offense to anyone, but this is a bug in win32k.sys that's existed since at least 2009. I wish you luck in updating your video drivers (they do play into this, so you may avoid it with a different version), but I can tell you I've hit this one myself - exact same callstack and offsets, and MS fixed it in SP1. Just sayin' .

SP1 of what OS? AFAIK, there is still no SP FOR win7 right?

Not a legit one.

 

[cluberti]

Not a legit one.

Win7/2008R2 SP1 is in beta, and builds have been available for certain people and customers for some time (near to the end of last year). It's been a public beta for a little over a month now as well. It's legit.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ff183870.aspx

 

[kevindd992002]

When is the target release date?

 

[cluberti]

Right now it seems like they're discussing Q1 2011, but we all know that's not a hard date until Microsoft puts the code into escrow. Until then, "when it's ready" is probably the best answer.

 

[kevindd992002]

Ok. So currently, there is no fix around this "bug"?

Why don't some people experience this? I mean what causes this bug?

Also, is there an advantage if I analyze the whole 512MB Memory.dmp with Windows Debugger? Or would I be presented with the same info as the minidump?

 

[cluberti]

It's a few things - one, the video driver's use of win32k.sys, two, timing issues, and three, it's an uncommon bug to begin with. Apparently running with a standard VGA driver can work around the issue, but I sincerely doubt you'd be happy running at 800x600 with the classic interface and no video acceleration .