BSOD while doing nothing and while browsing webcomic

[chuckcm]

The computer this is on, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit a custom build tower desktop. Antec 1200 case, motherboard Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 2.0), intel core i7 950 @3.07GHz 3.06GHz, 24 gig ram, nvidia GeForce gtx 560 Ti, 5 SATA II hard drives, and Microsoft Security Essentials for virus scanner.

A few days ago, my friend started having random BSODs, even while he was away from the computer. He remembered that he let Microsoft update his video drivers and it added the 3d stuff he doesn't need, so he downloaded the newest drivers, did custom install so he could tell it clean install and only the stuff he needs. No 3d. Still had BSODs. Before I was able to get a screenshot he decided to just go ahead and format and reinstall.

So after backing up what he needed to so, we put the Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit OEM disk in and did a clean install. He reinstalled the motherboard drivers and the rest of his programs and a few hours later, BSOD again. He even tried uninstalling the newest video drivers he had installed and installing a version that was 2 versions ago in the hopes that an older version might be more stable. It seemed to be the fix, but just for a couple hours. No viruses showed up in Microsoft Security Essentials or Vipre rescue disk in safe mode. This time I did get him to use his camera to take a screenshot:
http://www.chuckcm.com/bsod.jpg

Any idea what I can do to fix the problem?

::edit::
I don't know if this has anything to do with the BSODs, but I checked the event viewer this morning and found 3 of this error:

The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk5\DR8.
Also 3 of DR5, 3 of DR6, and 3 of DR7

Only for today from 7:15am to 10: 32am. I had checked the event viewer before formatting, and didn't see anything like this. Matt told me he gave the computer a very through dusting, so I shut down and opened the case. All looked fine, but I pressed in on all the sata and power cables to make sure they weren't loose because the drive bays slide out. Took the memory out and put it back in too. During the time of the errors, I didn't get any BSODs. Is it possible we didn't get all the motherboard drivers installed? We didn't have the Gigabyte dvd anymore, so we had to download them off the website. We didn't install all of them though because some were for raid and something else we don't use.

::edit 2::
Never mind about "the driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk5" errors. That was my usb flashdrive as I was moving files between his desktop and my laptop. I got to thinking that in disk managment, the hard drive numbering starts with 0, so it should not have a Harddisk5. I plugged my flashdrive in and yes, it is listed as drive 5.

 

[Arc]

Hi chuckcm. You are having BSODs those are CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT, BugCheck 101.

A BIOS bug may cause such a BSOD. Your BIOS is ....

• Bios Version = FD
• Bios Release Date = 11/17/2010

This particular version is removed from Gigabytes download listing. So there must be some reason behind it. Try to apply the BIOS Version F8A dared 2011/05/16, from GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1366 - GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 1.0).

If you use @BIOS, the BIOS update thing will go very smooth and automated. It is available in the same page, under utilities.

Let us know how it is going, after applying the new BIOS.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 101, {19, 0, fffff8800316a180, 7}

Probably caused by : Unknown_Image ( ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE )

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

0: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT (101)
An expected clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor in an
MP system within the allocated interval. This indicates that the specified
processor is hung and not processing interrupts.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000019, Clock interrupt time out interval in nominal clock ticks.
Arg2: 0000000000000000, 0.
Arg3: fffff8800316a180, The PRCB address of the hung processor.
Arg4: 0000000000000007, 0.

Debugging Details:
------------------


BUGCHECK_STR:  CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT_8_PROC

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  WIN7_DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  d

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff880`0350ed78 fffff800`02ed4a3a : 00000000`00000101 00000000`00000019 00000000`00000000 fffff880`0316a180 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`0350ed80 fffff800`02e876f7 : 00000000`00000000 fffff800`00000007 00000000`000186a0 fffff800`030e2964 : nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+0x4e3e
fffff880`0350ee10 fffff800`033f8895 : fffff800`0341e460 fffff880`0350efc0 fffff800`0341e460 fffff8a0`00000000 : nt!KeUpdateSystemTime+0x377
fffff880`0350ef10 fffff800`02e7a0d3 : fffff800`02ff8e80 00000000`00000001 fffff880`0350efb0 fffff880`00000000 : hal!HalpHpetClockInterrupt+0x8d
fffff880`0350ef40 fffff800`02e528e9 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 fffff8a0`000019e0 : nt!KiInterruptDispatchNoLock+0x163
fffff880`0350f0d0 fffff800`0313bbaf : 00000000`00000000 fffff880`0350f700 00000000`00000000 fffff880`0350f2a0 : nt!KeFlushProcessWriteBuffers+0x65
fffff880`0350f140 fffff800`0318a276 : fffff8a0`0a8990a8 00000000`0001ff58 fffff880`0350f2d0 00000000`00000000 : nt!ExpGetProcessInformation+0x7f
fffff880`0350f290 fffff800`0318accd : fffff8a0`0a8990a8 fffffa80`6365734b 00000000`00000000 fffff880`0350fc20 : nt!ExpQuerySystemInformation+0xfb4
fffff880`0350f640 fffff800`02e7ce13 : fffff880`0350f710 fffff800`02e7bdbd 00000000`00000001 fffff8a0`0a899000 : nt!NtQuerySystemInformation+0x4d
fffff880`0350f680 fffff800`02e793d0 : fffff880`014ba1dc 00300030`00620000 fffff880`0350f844 00000000`0000000c : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x13
fffff880`0350f818 fffff880`014ba1dc : 00300030`00620000 fffff880`0350f844 00000000`0000000c 00000000`00000002 : nt!KiServiceLinkage
fffff880`0350f820 fffff880`014ba73d : fffffa80`1367a060 fffff800`02e851e3 00000000`20206f49 fffff880`0350fce8 : cng!GatherRandomKey+0x22c
fffff880`0350fbe0 fffff800`03175b0d : 00000000`00000001 00000000`00000001 fffffa80`12e71600 fffffa80`136a96c0 : cng!scavengingWorkItemRoutine+0x3d
fffff880`0350fc80 fffff800`02e87261 : fffff800`03023200 fffff800`03175a01 fffffa80`136a9600 fffff880`00000000 : nt!IopProcessWorkItem+0x3d
fffff880`0350fcb0 fffff800`0311bbae : 00000000`00bb5e1c fffffa80`136a96c0 00000000`00000080 fffffa80`127fc450 : nt!ExpWorkerThread+0x111
fffff880`0350fd40 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

SYMBOL_NAME:  ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: Unknown_Module

IMAGE_NAME:  Unknown_Image

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  0

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT_8_PROC_ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE

BUCKET_ID:  X64_CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT_8_PROC_ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE

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

 

[chuckcm]

Thanks. I'll try that, but just to make sure. Even though the motherboard box says it's rev 2.0, I should get the newest rev 1.0 BIOS? The newest one listed on the rev 2.0 page is FH from 2012/01/06.
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1366 - GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 2.0)

::edit::

I ran the @BIOS program and it only gave me the choice of the rev 2.0 FH version, so I let it download and install that. All seems fine so far. I'll post back in a day or two if we don't get any BSODs. If we do, I'll post sooner.

Thanks again.

 

[Arc]

Good job. That is why I prefer @BIOS .... it does the accurate stuff!

Let us know how it is going.

I noticed the BIOS date is of 2010 .... so thought it might be Rev 1.0 .... so suggested that.

 

[chuckcm]

Well, it worked fine for about 7 hours then BSOD again. http://www.chuckcm.com/BSOD2.JPG
I ran the SF Diagnostic tool again and attached the zip to this message.

This time he actually was doing something when it crashed. The first time he was posting a message in a forum. The second time Poser was rendering something in the backround while he was on a twitter page. The second time it wasn't a BSOD though. Everything just froze and he had to do a hard shutdown.

 

[Arc]

BugCheck 101, {19, 0, fffff8800336a180, 7}

Probably caused by : Unknown_Image ( ANALYSIS_INCONCLUSIVE )

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

Go for some other hardware tests.

Test your RAM modules for possible errors.
How to Test and Diagnose RAM Issues with Memtest86+
Run memtest for at least 8 passes, preferably overnight.

Stress test the Graphics Card using Furmark.
Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

Stress test the CPU.
Hardware - Stress Test With Prime95

Check if the Power Supply Unit (PSU) supplying adequate power to the computer or not.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Let us know the results.

 

[chuckcm]

Well, the power supply calc said he needed min 600W and recommended 650W. He has a 650W, so that's good. I'm glad when he was figuring out which power supply to get two years ago, I was able to convince him to get more than he thought he needed.

Did fine with Furmark too. No distortions and temp stopped about 86 degrees.

Prime 95 no errors although the thermal status for cpu2 in RealTemp started saying HOT LOG from the start of the test. The temps were CPU_0 = 93, CPU_1 = 88, CPU_2 96, CPU_3 = 86. Although there was some movement of temp, it was usually just up or down 1 degree.

The memory test I've only had a chance to let it run for 5 hours before he needed his computer back. It did one and a half passes in that time with no errors. I'll try again when I can let it run longer.

He didn't remember what program it was, but he did try a benchmarking program on his own that was supposed to check all this too, but everything passed.

I bought spinrite 6 some time ago and still have the disk I burned it to. I'll try letting it check the hard drives.

 

[chuckcm]

I had Matt start the memory test before he went to sleep last night. Looks like it might be the problem.
http://www.chuckcm.com/mem_test_error.jpg
It's only been running 4 hours, but even on the first pass it said there were 2 errors
Tst: 6, Pass: 0, Failing Address:002efc4d9b4 -12028.8MB, Good: 98cfd45, bad: d8cf7d45, Err-Bits: 40000000, Count:1, CPU: 0

Looks like it's time to test each one, one by one till we figure out the bad one.

 

[Arc]

Yes, bad RAM.

Now follow the "Part 3: If You Have Errors:" of How to Test and Diagnose RAM Issues with Memtest86+

Errors/red lines means one or more RAM is faulty. But the fault may occur due to a faulty DIMM slot, too, which is a motherboard component. Using memtest86+, you can discriminate between a faulty RAM and a faulty motherboard.

How? Say you have two RAM sticks and two DIMM slots. You obtained errors at the test with all RAM sticks installed. Now, remove all the sticks but one. Test it in all the available slots, one by one. Continue the same procedure for all the available sticks.
How to make the inference that is it a RAM issue or it is a motherboard issue? Suppose you have got the result like that:

test|Slot1|Slot2
RAM1| Error | Error
RAM2|Good|Good

It is a RAM, a bad RAM.

But if you have got a result like that:

test|Slot1|Slot2
RAM1| Error |Good
RAM2| Error |Good

It is a motherboard issue. The particular slot is bad.

 

[chuckcm]

It may not be the RAM. I tested two of them one at a time in the first slot and they passed 7 tests with no errors. I put the next one in the first slot and Matt used it for a couple hours in Windows and it BSODed on him. So we figured we had at least one of the bad ones. But when we ran the memory test on it, he started it in time for it to run 9 tests before I got back. No errors. I'll keep on testing the rest of the memory and the other slots as well, but I'm thinking it might be something else. After finishing the RAM tests, I'll try spinrite for the hard drives.

Not sure how long Matt is gonna let me try and figure it out before giving up and getting a new computer. If he does get a new one though, I'm gonna try and still figure it out, because it'd be a nice upgrade for me.

 

[chuckcm]

Well, all the RAM and slots passed at least 7 passes of the memory test even though some errors showed up with all the RAM installed that first time. So I tried to do SpinRite 6, but after turning on s.m.a.r.t. for all the drives, it took over 30 minutes to get to the next menu. I went into BIOS and turned on smart, but spinrite still took over 30 minutes to give me a choice of hard drives and it crashed when I was scrolling down the list.

I ran HD Tune to read the s.m.a.r.t status. Three of the 5 hard drives had errors. Two were just warnings of relocated sector count, two on each. But the third failed. It was an airflow temp of 91 and said "Error! Threshold reached. Replacing the hard drive recommended." Thinking maybe I found the problem, I shrunk all the partitions enough that they'd all fit on the two good drives and used Acronis to move the partitions to the two drives that didn't list errors. Thenn I unplugged the ones with errors. Worked find for a hour or two, but then another BSOD.

At this point, we've already assembled a new faster computer for my friend, and I don't think I even want to try salvaging any parts from this one since there's no telling what is wrong.

Thanks for all the help, but I think it's time to just wipe all the drives and let it set in the garage until someone takes it in a garage sale.

 

[Britton30]

Have you tested all of the RAM with memtest. How did that go? It may be a bad setting in BIOS for the RAM too, try setting it for default RAM settings and try memtest, if you get any errors at all you may stop the est and go to the next stick/slot.

If memtest is reading right your CPU is cooking, it says 95C. This could cause the BSOD with too much heat. Is the cooler or fans clogged with dust or have quit working? when in Windows use Core Temp to monitor temps.
Core Temp
Be aware there are add-ons bundled with it, just Decline or uncheck them.