Solved BSoD While Scanning PS With Avast, Possibly Caused by Atikmdag.sys

[Dellius]

Today, as I was scanning my computer with Avast IS, like five minutes into the scan the screen flickered, some crazy colors appeared, followed by a BSoD, which disappeared fast. Then the system restarted itself and I received a "No boot device" error.

I waited a few minutes, I restarted again, and Windows froze. I restarted a third time and this time it started fine. I tried to examine the memory dump myself, but since I had no idea what I was doing, I am not sure I have actually done it properly.

WindBG suggested the culprit might be Atikmdag.sys so I repaired my video card driver using Uninstal a Program > Ati Install Manager > Repair.

I ran Avast IS again and no BSoD this time, but I am totally not sure whether this was the cause, what caused the other freezes, why, and what this memory dump really contained. I want to be sure I have taken care of the problem so it doesn't happen again.

Here is my Memory.DMP file.

Help me, please.

 

[Jonathan_King]

The dump clearly pointed to your ATI drivers as the cause; since you updated them, though, try to forget about it, unless it happens again.

It's fully possible the problem has nothing to do with those drivers, that's just where the system was when it crashed. Perhaps it was a coincidence that Avast was scanning at the time, or perhaps Avast changed something that caused the system to crash once.

Let's just wait to see what happens in the future. If you get any more BSODs, please upload a full jcgriff2 report for us, according to these directions: http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

...Summary of the dumps:

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Tue Dec 14 23:54:03.406 2010 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:33.468
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmpag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+38f201 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x3B_atikmdag+38f201
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
[/font]

 

[Dellius]

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x3B_atikmdag+38f201

My debugger didn't tell me this last one bit.

Here is a full jcgriff report together with a perfmon report.

Here is additional information about my system.

Is Windows 7 . . .
- x86 (32-bit) or x64 ? - x64
- the original installed OS on the system? - not really. My system is a custom build.
- an OEM or full retail version? - full version to the best of my knowledge.


- What is the age of system (hardware)? - a couple of years, except for the PSU and GPU. I upgraded my GPU a month ago and then I had to upgrade my PSU twice in order to power up properly the GPU.
- What is the age of OS installation (have you re-installed the OS?) - Old. Maybe over a year. I am a very careful user.

 

[Jonathan_King]

The minidumps, understandably, point to the same thing the full dump did: your ATI drivers. Try completely removing your current drivers, using Driver Sweeper. then download the latest version and install them: Graphics Drivers & Software

I cannot recall SPTD being the cause of dumps this specific before, but it's worth a shot I guess. SPTD has been causing BSODs for a while now, and updated versions are not being fixed. Daemon Tools and a couple other programs use SPTD, so remove them. Then remove SPTD with this tool: http://www.duplexsecure.com/download/SPTDinst-v174-x86.exe

Install this updated Intel Ethernet driver: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18713&ProdId=3003&lang=eng

Finally, test the hard drive, using SeaTools.

...Summary of the dumps:

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Tue Dec 14 23:54:03.406 2010 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:33.468
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+38f201 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x3B_atikmdag+38f201
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Thu Dec  9 02:16:49.921 2010 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:30.000
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+38f201 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x3B_atikmdag+38f201
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Dec  4 23:06:21.359 2010 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:31.437
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+38f201 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x3B_atikmdag+38f201
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Dec  4 22:56:35.375 2010 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:31.453
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+38f201 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x3B_atikmdag+38f201
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
[/font]

 

[Dellius]

I have already updated the network adapter drivers together with the chipset, sound, storage drivers and BIOS.

My video card drivers are also the latest ones from AMD, and yes I have previously tried different drivers which used to break the computer's sleep or caused other problems. I did remove them with Driver Sweeper every time, so I am sure my system is clean of any previous driver leftovers.

I ran a Long DST Test using SeaTools and my drive failed, but passed the SMART test.

Does that mean I need to replace the drive ?

What's the deal with SPTD ? Why did you decide it was involved ? I don't see it mentioned anywhere in what you have posted. Yes, I do have Alcohol installed, but it has been stable since day one. Maybe the instability for the past month has corrupted the Alcohol installation, so I will try to reinstall it.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Since the drive failed, it must be replaced. You are probably not in any immediate danger of data loss, but you never know. I recommend you replace the drive immediately; data loss is nothing to be played with. I suspect that is the cause of your BSODs.

SPTD is a strange driver. It runs in Kernel Mode, rather than User Mode; it has a lot of control over the system.

Check out these BSODs; every one was caused by SPTD:

[url=http://www.pchelpforum.com/blue-screen-errors/96878-i-had-blue-screen-death.html#post556713]Solved: I had a BSOD - PC Help Forum[/url]
[url=http://www.techsupportforum.com/microsoft-support/windows-vista-windows-7-support/492805-bsod-system_service_exception.html#post2780847]Bsod: System_service_exception - Tech Support Forum[/url]
[url=http://www.techsupportforum.com/microsoft-support/windows-vista-windows-7-support/483942-asus-g51jx-a1-bsod-bccode-c5.html#post2729767]Asus G51jx-A1 BSOD bccode c5 - Tech Support Forum[/url]
[url=http://www.techsupportforum.com/microsoft-support/windows-vista-windows-7-support/484445-solved-yet-another-bsod-help-me-thread.html#post2731897][SOLVED] Yet Another BSOD help me thread... - Tech Support Forum[/url]
[url=http://www.techsupportforum.com/microsoft-support/windows-vista-windows-7-support/520985-random-bsods.html#post2939077][SOLVED] Random BSODs - Tech Support Forum[/url]
[url=http://www.techsupportforum.com/microsoft-support/windows-vista-windows-7-support/524987-solved-bsod-different-reasons-irq_not_less_or_equal-rtcore32-atacpi-etc.html#post2965402]BSOD - different reasons (IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, RTCore32, atacpi, etc) - Tech Support Forum[/url]
[url=http://www.techsupportforum.com/microsoft-support/windows-vista-windows-7-support/525684-win-7-bsod-daily-randomly.html#post2968897]Win 7 BSOD, Daily + Randomly - Tech Support Forum[/url]
[url=http://www.vistax64.com/crashes-debugging/286175-crashing-after-couple-minutes-internet-connection.html#post1306524]crashing after a couple minutes of internet connection - Vista Forums[/url]

You can see SPTD is rarely blamed by the dumps. We find out that it is the cause, by removing it and watching the results.

If the new hard drive does not solve the issue, remove SPTD.

Now Daemon Tools and Alcohol are the programs that use SPTD. Usually, these programs give no signs of trouble. It is SPTD, not Alcohol, that causes these crashes. Even when Daemon Tools or Alcohol is not running, SPTD is.

So, if you don't want to remove SPTD just now, replace the hard drive. That needs to be done anyway, so it won't hurt to wait and see what happens before removing SPTD.

 

[Dellius]

I tried to uninstall Alcohol from Add/Remove Programs, but I can't see it listed there, which means it has definitely taken some damage during the instability period. Luckily, I have it's installer handy, so I will run it and use it to remove it completely, and then I will remove the SPTD driver, too.

Here is another thing that came up.

I scanned the HDD with HDD Regenerator to repair the damaged sectors which caused the Long DST to fail and now it successfully passed it, but the short DST test failed with reason "Electrical Element Failed".

How serious is this and should I replace the drive ? How long do you think it can hold like that ? I can get a HDD ASAP, but it will cost me almost double the price than if I choose to wait for like 2 weeks.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Wait the two weeks; save the money.

Data is nothing to be toyed with, though. The drive could possible fail next time you fire up your computer, or it could hold out for another three months. If you have important data on it, you don't want to take the chance.

So, backup anything you don't want to lose. If you don't have another hard drive, that's fine. You can create a Skydrive account for free, and get 25GB of storage space online. If 25GB is not enough, just use another email address and create a second account!

Windows Live SkyDrive - Online document storage and file sharing

That way, if the drive does fail before you get the new one, you won't be left without your data.

 

[Dellius]

What an irony. My drive failed on the 23rd when no one was around to help me.

I took it for repairs and they said it was fine, and it has passed all tests without a problem, but when I took it back home it failed the Short DST test time and time again.

I don't know what to do at this point.

 

[Jonathan_King]

RMA the drive: Warranty and Returns Assistance | Seagate

 

[Dellius]

Drive has been replaced and all is well now.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Glad to hear that, thanks for the report!

Let us know if you need anything else...