BSoD Gaming

[Dewson]

Last night my computer began crashing after I've had some games (team fortress 2 and company of heroes) running for 15-20 minutes. I believe that it's caused by my graphics card because when my computer freezes my monitor shows that no signal is present. When I press ctrl+alt+delete my computer reboots, and when windows loads an error screen pops up telling me there was a BSoD.

I've reinstalled the drivers for my Radeon HD 4850, but I ran into the problem again so maybe its something else that someone can hopefully help me with.

 

[usasma]

Most often errors that point at drivers are because of drivers - but that's not the only thing that it could be.
So, check the video card to ensure that the fan is running, that the cooler is clear of dust/hairballs, and that there is room for air to circulate freely. Check to ensure that the power plugs on the card have the plugs seated properly. Check to be sure that you're using the appropriate driver (64 bit) to match your OS (not your processor).

See if it gives a BSOD in Safe Mode with Networking (that'll rule out the video drivers).

It could also be other programs interfering - stop all video related programs to see if that stops the errors

Update these drivers or uninstall them while we're testing:
ALSysIO64.sys Sun Apr 15 11:56:31 2007 - Most likely a component of Core Temp
dadder.sys Thu Aug 02 05:33:03 2007 - Most likely for your Death Adder mouse

Download the latest ATI drivers (only the Display Drivers NOT the Catalyst Control Center) from the ATI website: Drivers & Support | GAME.AMD.COM
Uninstall all ATI stuff from Control Panel...Programs...Uninstall a program
Install the ATI driver
Wait and see if there are further BSOD's

If there are, zip them up and post them. Then run Driver Verifier according to these instructions:

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.

So, 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).

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.

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.
If that doesn't work, post back and we'll have to see about fixing the registry entry off-line.

More info on this at this link: Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users

 

[Dewson]

Thanks for the advice Usasma. I removed the drivers for my mouse and for core temp, and I am using 9-12_vista64_win7_64_dd.exe for my graphics drivers and that seemed to work for a little bit, but I got a couple more BSOD today in similar circumstances as before.

Also, my computer as frozen twice now when the only program running was Firefox. When it froze, my screen disconnected as before, but pressing ctrl+alt+delete didn't seem to do anything so I had to restart using the power button. In this case, I didn't get a dump file when it froze.

I think I may have to try reformatting my hard drive to see if that fixes the problem, otherwise I'm worried that my video card is damaged.

 

[Dewson]

I was able to get a crash with the driver verifier running. Hopefully this dump is more helpful than the previous ones.

 

[usasma]

While the first 2 blame your ATI video drivers, the Verifier Enabled Minidump blames mcdbus.sys - a component of the MagicISO program on your system.

Please uninstall MagicISO and see if that stops the BSOD's. If you choose to install it (after we're finished troubleshooting) please download a fresh copy from the MagicISO website.

Summary of the BSOD's:

Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Sat Jan  9 16:40:13.442 2010 (GMT-5)
System Uptime: 0 days 1:12:39.065
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
BugCheck 1000007E, {ffffffffc0000094, fffff8800402f695, fffff8800615ff38, fffff8800615f790}
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+36e695 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
PROCESS_NAME:  System
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Sat Jan  9 18:03:14.214 2010 (GMT-5)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:10:16.713
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
BugCheck 1000007E, {ffffffffc0000094, fffff88004035695, fffff880034f5fc8, fffff880034f5820}
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+36e695 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
PROCESS_NAME:  System
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Sat Jan  9 18:43:40.759 2010 (GMT-5)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:14:03.398
BugCheck C4, {81, fffffa80051a7540, 8a, 0}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for mcdbus.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for mcdbus.sys
Probably caused by : mcdbus.sys ( mcdbus+36823 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VERIFIER_ENABLED_VISTA_MINIDUMP
PROCESS_NAME:  System

 

[Dewson]

I uninstalled magiciso, as well as a few other programs. Then I rebooted with the driver verification turned back on and I got BSoD loading windows. After that BSoD I was able to get into windows to get the dump file, and my computer has been running ok since then (with the driver verification still for if I crash while in windows).

 

[usasma]

The dump file blames dadder.sys (dated Thu Aug 02 05:33:03 2007) - a component of the drivers for your Death Adder mouse.
Please download a fresh copy of the drivers from the Razer website.
Then uninstall the current drivers from Control Panel...Programs...Uninstall a program
Then install the freshly downloaded drivers.
TURN OFF DRIVER VERIFIER!!!
Monitor for further BSOD's

Driver Verifier must be turned off as can cause BSOD's in drivers that won't crash during normal operations.

Summary of the BSOD:

Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Sun Jan 10 10:33:43.493 2010 (GMT-5)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:15.132
BugCheck C9, {23e, fffff88004bbd4e0, fffff98002160ca0, 0}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for dadder.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for dadder.sys
Probably caused by : dadder.sys ( dadder+24e0 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VERIFIER_ENABLED_VISTA_MINIDUMP
PROCESS_NAME:  System

 

[Dewson]

Not sure why its showing dadder.sys still running, because I've had the mouse drivers uninstalled since you mentioned it before. I've attached a list of all the programs I have installed and its not on the list, maybe there are still components of the install that are still lingering somehow. I will try downloading the newest version of the driver.

 

[usasma]

You can stop the dadder.sys from running by:
- using this free program: Autoruns for Windows
- renaming dadder.sys to dadder.BAK

Another poster (in another topic) mentioned that there was a new version released recently - due to BSOD's that the old one caused. It may be worth looking into.

 

[Dewson]

Well I installed the new death adder drivers, but I still got another BSoD soon after. I think I will have to take it easy on my computer for a week or so until I can get a chance to reformat and start fresh.

 

[usasma]

The dump file points to atikmdag.sys - a component of your ATI video drivers.
Now, this isn't necessarily the actual cause - but it's a place to start from.
For more info on the STOP 0x7E error, see here: BSOD Index

Please follow these steps:
- Download the latest ATI video driver from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. DO NOT download the Catalyst Control Center - just the Display Driver that's a bit further down the page.
- Uninstall all the ATI stuff from your system through Control Panel...Programs...Uninstall a program
- Install the freshly downloaded driver
- Monitor for further BSOD's.

Here's a summary of the BSOD:

Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Sun Jan 10 20:23:16.827 2010 (GMT-5)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:21:20.450
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
BugCheck 1000007E, {ffffffffc0000094, fffff88003fd0695, fffff880036b7fc8, fffff880036b7820}
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+36e695 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
PROCESS_NAME:  System