Solved BSOD (BC Code 124) (Very detailed)

[daviduarte]

Hello there,

I have been having BSODs on a very frequent rate. At first I thought I could solve it by myself, searching in google for people with similar problems, but despite all the effort I couldn't track down the problem. So I am here to kindly ask for your help.

I had Windows Vista installed on my computer for like two years, and at some point, it started to give BSODs everyday. I thought it was some conflict with all the junk the computer accumulated in these two years, so I decided it was time to move on to Windows 7 and give the system a fresh start.

Just after the installing Windows 7, on the first system boot, it crashed. Before I could install any drivers at all. Obviously I thought it was driver related, since no drivers were installed. But the problem persisted, even after installing the newest drivers from the manufacturer.

I searched google for people with BSODs with BC Code 124, and learned that it is probably a hardware related problem, so I started testing the system in search for the hardware faulty. After some tests on my own, I constated the system hard drive was having a very unstable performance compared to the other drivers, so I decided to reinstall the system on another hard drive (One which was very stable on tests) and see if that could fix the problem.

It didn't, the system continued to crash in the same way, and the new hard drive had the very same unstable peformance like the old one (Which gave a estable performance). I thought the tests weren't accurate because the hard drive with the system installed had to withstand heavy load by the SO, which caused what I thougth to be an unstable performance.

Since then, I've done the following:

1) Ran memtest86 three times. No problems found.
2) Stressed the system with Everest to look for overheating problems. All temperatures were OK.
3) Removed all hardware from the mainboard and did a proper cleaning in each of them. No success.
4) Started the system with just the system hard drive and the sound board removed. No success.
5) Started the system in safe mode. Success, no BSOD whatsoever. I ran the system for a day, not sure if it was just luck. (Will try this again just to be sure)
6) Installed another SO (Ubuntu) on other HD. Success, no crashs on Linux, I've been running it for like a week.
7) Changed all SATA cables for fresh new ones. No success.

Important notes about the BSOD: It is completely random. There isn't anything I can do in the system to make this BSOD happen. I can be browsing the web, playing a game, programming, looking at pictures or movies, it will crash. Sometimes the system runs for like three hours with no BSOD and sometimes it BSODs three times in half an hour. There was a day the system BSOD and when the computer finished restarting, that Windows finished loading, it gave a BSOD again, before I could even give the computer any command. The BSODs occur at a rate, I'd say, of about one every two hours.

The BSOD is always the same, Windows says an unrecoverable hardware error caused the system to crash, and that the BC Code is 0x00000124, either caused by hal.dll or ntoskrnl.exe.

There is a detailed report at the end of the post, I've followed all BSOD Posting Instructions of the forum. My system specs are the following:

SO - Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU Type - DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, 3000 MHz
Motherboard Name - MSI P7N2 Diamond (MS-7523)
Motherboard Chipset - nVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI
System Memory - 4096 MB (DDR3-1333 DDR3 SDRAM)
DIMM1: OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P16002G
DIMM2: OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P16002G
BIOS Type - AMI (09/05/08)
Video Adapter - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 (1024 MB)
Audio Adapter - Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme HD Audio Controller
Disk Drive - SAMSUNG HD250HJ SCSI Disk Device (250 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Power Supply - SevenTeam V-Force 850W

The system was bought on the early of 2008, so it has about two years and half of use.

Thank you very much for your help.

Kind regards,

Davi Duarte

 

[zigzag3143]

Hello there,

I have been having BSODs on a very frequent rate. At first I thought I could solve it by myself, searching in google for people with similar problems, but despite all the effort I couldn't track down the problem. So I am here to kindly ask for your help.

I had Windows Vista installed on my computer for like two years, and at some point, it started to give BSODs everyday. I thought it was some conflict with all the junk the computer accumulated in these two years, so I decided it was time to move on to Windows 7 and give the system a fresh start.

Just after the installing Windows 7, on the first system boot, it crashed. Before I could install any drivers at all. Obviously I thought it was driver related, since no drivers were installed. But the problem persisted, even after installing the newest drivers from the manufacturer.

I searched google for people with BSODs with BC Code 124, and learned that it is probably a hardware related problem, so I started testing the system in search for the hardware faulty. After some tests on my own, I constated the system hard drive was having a very unstable performance compared to the other drivers, so I decided to reinstall the system on another hard drive (One which was very stable on tests) and see if that could fix the problem.

It didn't, the system continued to crash in the same way, and the new hard drive had the very same unstable peformance like the old one (Which gave a estable performance). I thought the tests weren't accurate because the hard drive with the system installed had to withstand heavy load by the SO, which caused what I thougth to be an unstable performance.

Since then, I've done the following:

1) Ran memtest86 three times. No problems found.
2) Stressed the system with Everest to look for overheating problems. All temperatures were OK.
3) Removed all hardware from the mainboard and did a proper cleaning in each of them. No success.
4) Started the system with just the system hard drive and the sound board removed. No success.
5) Started the system in safe mode. Success, no BSOD whatsoever. I ran the system for a day, not sure if it was just luck. (Will try this again just to be sure)
6) Installed another SO (Ubuntu) on other HD. Success, no crashs on Linux, I've been running it for like a week.
7) Changed all SATA cables for fresh new ones. No success.

Important notes about the BSOD: It is completely random. There isn't anything I can do in the system to make this BSOD happen. I can be browsing the web, playing a game, programming, looking at pictures or movies, it will crash. Sometimes the system runs for like three hours with no BSOD and sometimes it BSODs three times in half an hour. There was a day the system BSOD and when the computer finished restarting, that Windows finished loading, it gave a BSOD again, before I could even give the computer any command. The BSODs occur at a rate, I'd say, of about one every two hours.

The BSOD is always the same, Windows says an unrecoverable hardware error caused the system to crash, and that the BC Code is 0x00000124, either caused by hal.dll or ntoskrnl.exe.

There is a detailed report at the end of the post, I've followed all BSOD Posting Instructions of the forum. My system specs are the following:

SO - Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU Type - DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, 3000 MHz
Motherboard Name - MSI P7N2 Diamond (MS-7523)
Motherboard Chipset - nVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI
System Memory - 4096 MB (DDR3-1333 DDR3 SDRAM)
DIMM1: OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P16002G
DIMM2: OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P16002G
BIOS Type - AMI (09/05/08)
Video Adapter - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 (1024 MB)
Audio Adapter - Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme HD Audio Controller
Disk Drive - SAMSUNG HD250HJ SCSI Disk Device (250 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Power Supply - SevenTeam V-Force 850W

The system was bought on the early of 2008, so it has about two years and half of use.

Thank you very much for your help.

Kind regards,

Davi Duarte

Hi Davi and welcome

well before we start striping the hardware, what av and firewall are you using?

Here is some reading about 124 bugchecks

Your .dmp file shows a stop error of 0x124 which is a general hardware error .. A "stop 0x124" is fundamentally different to many other types of bluescreens because it stems from a hardware complaint. Stop 0x124 minidumps contain very little practical information, and it is therefore necessary to approach the problem as a case of hardware in an unknown state of distress. You can read more on this error and what to try here... Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html

Thanks


Ken

 

[daviduarte]

Hi Davi and welcome

well before we start striping the hardware, what av and firewall are you using?

Here is some reading about 124 bugchecks

Your .dmp file shows a stop error of 0x124 which is a general hardware error .. A "stop 0x124" is fundamentally different to many other types of bluescreens because it stems from a hardware complaint. Stop 0x124 minidumps contain very little practical information, and it is therefore necessary to approach the problem as a case of hardware in an unknown state of distress. You can read more on this error and what to try here... Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html

Thanks


Ken

Hello Ken,

I am not using any AV. The firewall is the Windows default.

I've seen that thread before, I've followed every single step, except for updating the BIOS (Which I will be looking foward in doing).

Thank you very much.

Regards,

Davi Duarte

 

[Jonathan_King]

Try some hardware tests.

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

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-cpu-stress-test-prime95.html

Be sure to report what Speedfan says.

Be sure to update your sound drivers:

t3.sys       Tue Jun 19 01:42:29 2007

What is your motherboard? I cannot locate any info on your system. Your nVidia chipset drivers should be updated.

 

[CarlTR6]

Davi, how did your memory test out? Your graphics card? Your CPU? What peripherals do you have connected to your computer?

Jonathan posted while I was typing. We are thinking along the same lines.

 

[daviduarte]

Try some hardware tests.

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

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-cpu-stress-test-prime95.html

Be sure to report what Speedfan says.

Be sure to update your sound drivers:

t3.sys       Tue Jun 19 01:42:29 2007

What is your motherboard? I cannot locate any info on your system. Your nVidia chipset drivers should be updated.

I ran memtest86 once, but I've let it pass just three times. I will leave the system overnight with memtest86 and post results tomorrow.

I downloaded Prime95, I will start that program tomorrow after memset86 is done.

This is my motherboard: MSI Global – Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

All drivers were updated like three weeks ago (when I installed the system) from the drivers on the "Driver" part of the motherboard link above. I installed the nVIDIA nforce drivers for the chipset, the audioboard driver, and nVIDIA drivers for the GPU. Curiously, three weeks ago they had nforce drivers for Win7, now they don't.
That's strange.

Davi, how did your memory test out? Your graphics card? Your CPU? What peripherals do you have connected to your computer?

Jonathan posted while I was typing. We are thinking along the same lines.

I used memtest86 and it passed for three tests. I used Everest to benchmark the computer in a whole and HD Tune to benchmark the hard drivers. I have an regular monitor connected on DVI, an Razer Mamba mouse connected on USB, and Razer Lycosa Keyboard connected on 2 USB, a network cable connected to my router and my headphones connected to the audioboard.


Thank you guys.

Regards,

Davi Duarte

 

[CarlTR6]

Thank you for the information, Davi. We will wait for the results of your tests before making further recommendations. I was just trying to a feel for your system for future suggestions.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Here are the nForce drivers you should install: NVIDIA DRIVERS 15.53 WHQL

 

[cluberti]

Hey Davi, I looked at the dumps (well, most of them), and they're all BUS L0 timeout errors. The fact it worked in safe mode could be any number of reasons, most likely the fact you aren't using any of the CPU's sleep states or processor virtualization capabilities.

It looks like you have a Core2Duo E8200 on an MSI P7N2 Diamond board, running BIOS 1.1:

1: kd> !sysinfo cpuinfo
[CPU Information]
~MHz = REG_DWORD 3000
Component Information = REG_BINARY 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
Configuration Data = REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
Identifier = REG_SZ Intel64 Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 10
ProcessorNameString = REG_SZ Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     E8400  @ 3.00GHz
Update Signature = REG_BINARY 0,0,0,0,7,a,0,0
Update Status = REG_DWORD 6
VendorIdentifier = REG_SZ GenuineIntel
MSR8B = REG_QWORD a0700000000

1: kd> !sysinfo machineid
Machine ID Information [From Smbios 2.5, DMIVersion 0, Size=1878]
BiosMajorRelease = 8
BiosMinorRelease = 15
BiosVendor = American Megatrends Inc.
BiosVersion = V1.1
BiosReleaseDate = 09/05/2008
SystemManufacturer = MICRO-STAR INTERNATONAL CO.,LTD
SystemProductName = MS-7523
SystemFamily = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
SystemVersion = 1.0
SystemSKU = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
BaseBoardManufacturer = MICRO-STAR INTERNATONAL CO.,LTD
BaseBoardProduct = MS-7523
BaseBoardVersion = 1.0

Since your BIOS does not have the ability to disable the C1, C2, and C3 sleep cycle states of the CPU, you really can't test without testing another CPU. Given the error code of a BUS timeout request error is so processor-specific, you really don't have many areas where this could be -you either have a BIOS microcode issue or the CPU really does have some bad silicon that safe mode doesn't stress (again, some of them being CPU sleep states).

 

[daviduarte]

Thank you for the information, Davi. We will wait for the results of your tests before making further recommendations. I was just trying to a feel for your system for future suggestions.

Here are the nForce drivers you should install: NVIDIA DRIVERS 15.53 WHQL

I've let the computer running memtest86 for 7 hours, it passed the test 8 times.

Today i tried running the Prime95, the system crashed after running it for two hours. I don't think the crash was caused by Prime95, since it's common for the system to crash every two hours. I observed all temperatures before it crashed, the processor was at 56º (Celsius) and the Mobo was at 26º. Other thing I observed was that the Core Voltage was 1.08 (default is from 1.1 to 1.25) and the +12V was at the absurd of 0.62V (The BIOS shows it correctly at roughly 12V), which I think was just an Everest bad measurement.

I've also installed the newest nFORCE drivers with the link you provided me, and they are working now.

Since I don't think the system could stand the 12 hours recommended to run the Prime95 without the regular BSOD, can I run it on Safe Mode or on Linux?

Thank you Jon and Carl!

Hey Davi, I looked at the dumps (well, most of them), and they're all BUS L0 timeout errors. The fact it worked in safe mode could be any number of reasons, most likely the fact you aren't using any of the CPU's sleep states or processor virtualization capabilities.

It looks like you have a Core2Duo E8200 on an MSI P7N2 Diamond board, running BIOS 1.1:

1: kd> !sysinfo cpuinfo
[CPU Information]
~MHz = REG_DWORD 3000
Component Information = REG_BINARY 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
Configuration Data = REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
Identifier = REG_SZ Intel64 Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 10
ProcessorNameString = REG_SZ Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     E8400  @ 3.00GHz
Update Signature = REG_BINARY 0,0,0,0,7,a,0,0
Update Status = REG_DWORD 6
VendorIdentifier = REG_SZ GenuineIntel
MSR8B = REG_QWORD a0700000000

1: kd> !sysinfo machineid
Machine ID Information [From Smbios 2.5, DMIVersion 0, Size=1878]
BiosMajorRelease = 8
BiosMinorRelease = 15
BiosVendor = American Megatrends Inc.
BiosVersion = V1.1
BiosReleaseDate = 09/05/2008
SystemManufacturer = MICRO-STAR INTERNATONAL CO.,LTD
SystemProductName = MS-7523
SystemFamily = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
SystemVersion = 1.0
SystemSKU = To Be Filled By O.E.M.
BaseBoardManufacturer = MICRO-STAR INTERNATONAL CO.,LTD
BaseBoardProduct = MS-7523
BaseBoardVersion = 1.0

Since your BIOS does not have the ability to disable the C1, C2, and C3 sleep cycle states of the CPU, you really can't test without testing another CPU. Given the error code of a BUS timeout request error is so processor-specific, you really don't have many areas where this could be -you either have a BIOS microcode issue or the CPU really does have some bad silicon that safe mode doesn't stress (again, some of them being CPU sleep states).

Thank you very much for the technical info cluberti! Since the problem is probably an hardware issue related to the processor, I will try to lend some other processor and run the system on it. Not sure yet where to lend one from, but I will certainly find one soon.


I think I will leave the system running Prime95 on Safe Mode tonight. If you guys have something for me to try out, I will be here to do it.

Thank you very much for your support!

Regards,

Davi Duarte

 

[CarlTR6]

Thank you fro the update, Davi; let us know the results of Prime.

 

[daviduarte]

Hello there,

I did the tests with Prime95 on Safe Mode. I guess it was just luck, the system crashed as usual. After that I started the sytem on Safe Mode again, but this time, I did not run Prime95, just let the system on idle, and it did not crash for more than 14 hours. If this follows, looks like Prime95 made the system crash. I will try the very same thing today, let Prime95 run on Safe Mode and see if crashs and then let it run with no Prime95.

I will post new results tomorrow.

I am working on getting another processor for testing, hope to get it soon.

Thank you guys,

Regards,

Davi Duarte

 

[CarlTR6]

Davi, thanks for the update. Please keep us posted.

 

[daviduarte]

Hello there,

I did the samething as yesterday, started the system in Safe Mode and started Prime95, it crashed. Started the system in Safe Mode and just let on idle, it did not crash. I think this narrows even more the most plausible hypothesis that the processor is damaged. As soon as I get another processor I will update with what happened.

Thank you!

Regards,

Davi Duarte

 

[Jonathan_King]

That sounds like a good plan, good troubleshooting.

Good luck!

 

[daviduarte]

Hello there,

Sorry for not posting in quite a long time, I did not forget about the thread, it was just that I haven't had any news regarding the problem since I couldn't find enough replacement parts to do all testing.

Well, talking the problem with a friend, he asked me about the problem being hard disk. I said i tried two hard disks and the problem still happened. He asked then how could i be sure both hard disks weren't having the same issue. I said it was unlikely, but I would follow his lead and try a third hard disk.

Bingo! It was, indeed, that both hard disks have the same issue. This is probably because the both HDs were exactly the same model, and the same problem happened to both.

But, this did not solve the BSOD problem completely. At the very last times using the system in the faulty HD, I had about 1 BSOD every hour. Now it's like 1 BSOD every 100 hours (It was three BSODs in like 10 days of intense usage). But BSODs at this rate wouldn't compromise my usage, and I will be upgrading the system when Intel solves p67 issue, and hopes that solves these remaining BSODs.

I'd like to thank you very much for all the feedback you gave me. It was much appreciated. If I have any news regarding these new non frequent BSODs, I will keep you updated.

Thanks a lot again you guys!

Regards,

Davi Duarte

 

[Jonathan_King]

Well good work Davi, thanks for reporting back!

Feel free to post back in this thread if you want; the mods will remove the Solved tag if so.