Solved BSOD since installing Battlefield 4/Origin (not always in-game!)

[Astvinr]

Greetings fellow inhabitants of the sevenforums!

Since installing BF4 and Origin I have been getting frequent BSOD. Initially I didn't get BSOD, only crashes of the game. After a few patches however the BSOD appeared, often it happens the first time I try to start the game and after that I have no issues with the game for some time, and then eventually it may also crash at the end or after playing for a long time. It has also crashed before I've even tried to start the game, but somehow it's always in conjunction with when I'm going to start the game, and the only thing I have just done at that point is joining a skype call. I don't quite know what to make of it.

I'll provide the minidump files shortly, but before that I'll list the things I've tried so far.

1. Reinstalled Origin and BF4.
2. Ruled out an overheating CPU. (It did however actually overheat twice, but it was only those two times and I have since fixed the issue.)
3. Ran a check on my RAM (and they are fine).
4. Updated my graphics drivers

I suspect it may still be a driver issue, as I recently noticed in one of my BSOD that is said something about an error in nvlddmkm.sys. I have also had some directx errors which did not cause BSOD, but it only happed a couple times while I was playing BF4. Something I read somewhere made me think perhaps it could have something to do with the register, but I can't remember and really don't know.

I was just about to try a program called Driver Fusion and see if I could sort it out, but I'm just too uncertain at this point and so I figured I should just make a post here first.

Here is my system information (for more info, check the dxdiag)

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130828-1532)
           Language: Swedish (Regional Setting: Swedish)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/04/12 09:34:39 Ver: 08.13
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
             Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 7884MB RAM
          Page File: 2893MB used, 12874MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode

I sincerely appreciate any help you can provide.
// Rickard

edit:
Oh, right. Following instructions is a good idea. I've now followed the BSOD Posting Instructions, and added the zip-file to this post.

 

[Golden]

Is the card being overclocked? If so, please reset back to factory defaults.

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

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff8800f3e5e31, fffff8800ae345b0, 0}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for [COLOR="Red"][B]nvlddmkm.sys[/B][/COLOR]
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+1b2e31 )

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

2: kd> lmvm nvlddmkm
start             end                 module name
fffff880`0f233000 fffff880`0fe7c000   nvlddmkm T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: nvlddmkm.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys
    Image name: nvlddmkm.sys
    Timestamp:        Fri[COLOR="red"][B] Dec 20 03:32:52 2013[/B][/COLOR] (52B326BC)
    CheckSum:         00C19112
    ImageSize:        00C49000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

WinDBG certainly identifies the video driver as an issue. Use this site to check for a newer driver:
NVIDIA Driver Downloads - Automatically Detect NVIDIA Products

If none exists, install the most stable driver as follows.

Uninstall the following Nvidia items in Control Panel > Programs and Features:

- 3D Vision Control Driver
- 3D Vision Driver
- Graphics Driver
- HD Audio Driver
- PhysX
- Nvidia Update

Now follow Drivers - Clean Left over Files after Uninstalling
Reboot. Go to Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers, Download 314.22 WHQL. While installing, Select Custom (Advanced) install. In the next page, follow this settings:

View attachment 302573

fffff880`0ae33038  fffff880`07dadc82Unable to load image \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\dump_asahci64.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for [B][COLOR="Red"]dump_asahci64.sys[/COLOR][/B]
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for dump_asahci64.sys
 dump_asahci64+0x5c82

Please check for updated drivers for Asmedia devices.

 

[Astvinr]

I did as you said (well, mostly), and so far I have not crashed. I've tried playing some BF4 and just done what I normally do. I'll wait a few days to confirm before marking as solved.

 

[Astvinr]

Okay, so it seems the BSOD are solved! The game (BF4) has crashed once since, giving me a DirectX error (and simultaneously crashing firefox), but nothing other than that.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Golden]