BSoDs & Driver Problems (Bootcamp)

[lupeteyssandier]

Hey there. First off I'm just going to warn that I have a feeling this is a probably complex issue. I'd really really really appreciate it if someone could help me fix it once and for all but I'm not really sure how much work will be required. I'm explaining the entire situation below. Please do not tell me that this is the wrong forum unless you're also giving me a better place to put this. I have tried a lot of places and I've gotten no solution.

So basically I have a late 2012 iMac. OS X works fine and never crashes but once I start using bootcamp stuff goes crazy. And I'm pretty sure it's not me making a configuration error because (I am not exaggerating at all with this statement) I have tried to set it up around fifteen times with various configurations (e.g. WXP/7/8/8.1, bootcamp/gparted formatted partition, using created partitions / deleting all partitions on the drive and creating a new one in the installer, ... x10). I am QUITE certain this is not a simple mistake on my part. The HDD variety will matter from the next p. I am using Windows 7 64-bit SP1 right now.

The Windows installation goes fine, as does installing bootcamp, as does installing updates. But every few hours to every 2 days or so it BSoDs, usually with KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR. This happens whether I have activated it or not. The worst part is that by the time I see it coming, I have no way of stopping it. Often first the application I'm using will stop working (e.g. chrome) and things slow down, and a few seconds after I use explorer.exe / eventually it will BSoD. I have no chance to save. I've attached a picture of one of the BSoDs (sorry the right is cut off, but that parameter varies anyway). It's not always KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR but it seems to usually be. The other one doesn't display a name and I haven't gotten a picture of it yet (again, once either happens again I will get a careful, full picture).

That's not all. My USB mouse keeps randomly disconnecting and reconnecting, though it seems to be mostly better. I've heard of this before and researched it as best I could but no solutions I could find worked (including, of course, setting the hubs to not turn off to save power). Never mind, a new mouse doesn't have that problem. Strangely the old one has no problems on my Windows laptop or in OS X. There are a few other "oddities" I could point out but for the most part other than those things it's normal.

More weird than the crashes are the crash logs, or, rather, the lack of crash logs. In Event Viewer all I see is:
The Windows Error Reporting Service service entered the running state.
The Windows Error Reporting Service service entered the stopped state.
The Software Protection service entered the stopped state.
... (a few mins later) ...
The operating system started at system time ‎2016‎-‎05‎-‎05T23:45:21.109999400Z.

I have never seen an error from the BSoDs, though admittedly I've only looked a couple times. I'm looking in Windows Logs\System, though I've also looked in all the others.

When it BSoDed I let it finish the recording process and reboot, though since it didn't let me choose an OS after a few mins I force restarted. I have it configured to create minidumps (config shown in screenshot. The only thing that's different now is that after the last BSoD I disabled the automatic reboot to give me more time to take a picture). I really doubt that this could be the cause but next time I'll let it fully reboot. The only problem is that when it does that it automatically boots into OSX, so I held alt to choose the partition and none showed up so I restarted.

That's all I can think of for now. I know this is probably a lot to diagnose (and probably a shot in the dark) but if you or anyone you know has had a similar problem, please please please post solutions. I'll wait like 30 minutes next time for it to restart and not hold alt after it starts to reboot just in case that might be interfering. BTW I'm using Bootcamp software 5.1.5621 (support.apple.com/en-us/HT205016). I tried the newer version but if I recall correctly I got an error about my machine not being supported, so I'm pretty confident I installed the right version.

Again, if this is the wrong place, please tell me where I have a decent shot at fixing this. It pains me very deeply to have a $1000 piece of metal that I can't use. I know I can virtualize but the performance is worsened and I'd like to do some things that just run unacceptably slow (e.g. games and some RE and dev software).

Thanks in advance
Lupe

 

[Arc]

The second parameter of a stop 0x7A is the error status. Yours is ....

View attachment 386283
​

0xC000009D reads as STATUS_DEVICE_NOT_CONNECTED and the explanation is ....

There is bad cabling, non-termination, or the controller is not able to obtain access to the hard disk.

Add one more thing, the possibility of a failing HDD.
I am not very aware of Mac hardware and BootCamp. If Mac OS and Windows is installed in the same HDD, and Mac OS works properly, then it nullifies the possibilities of bad cabling and failing disk.

But if Windows is installed in any other separate disk, then ....

• Check the cabling. Reseat the sata and power.
  
• Power Cycle he computer. Switch it off, unplug the cables, then press and hold the power on button of the computer for at least 30 seconds so that it drains all the power out of it.
• I am not sure which controller works for Mac,but try different controller modes like AHCI, IDE etc.
• Test the HDD with a good disk check tool. Seatools for DOS will be a good choice.

Let us know the results.

 

[lupeteyssandier]

Thank you very much for replying.

OS X and Windows are on the same HDD (see attachment) and neither formatting the entire hard drive while installing Windows nor letting Bootcamp create a partition stops the problem. I also ran a dskchk and no problems were detected; however, I will try the seagate tool.

I don't believe there's an easy way to look at the internals inside my machine but I don't think it's a hardware issue. My OS X occasionally crashes but it's at a negligible rate, much, much, much more rare than the BSoDs. Depending on how OS X would react to a moment of hard drive disconnection at this point I'm almost wondering if my Mac has had a hardware defect (even as "minor" as a loose cable) all along...

 

[lupeteyssandier]

Just an update. I ran the Short Generic SeaTools test and it said everything was fine. If the DOS version does anything special / different I can run it, too, though. I've also updated to Windows 10. The last few times I was on Windows 7 I got KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERRORs and it showed the driver, except it was different at different times: once partmgr.sys and once ataport.sys.

I upgraded a day or so ago and I just got a BSoD w UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION and, as usual, no logs. It stayed at 0% for well over an hour and a half. This is often how it progresses: first the foreground application will freeze, and I'll try to kill it but I cannot. Then other applications will stop working sorta (e.g. can't use menu, stuff like that). Then other applications will freeze after losing functionality sorta gradually (sadly, the ability to save things seems to be one of the first things to go). Then I'll realize that I can't use the taskbar or anything explorer.exe, except when I click the Windows icon it still flashes blue, just doesn't open the start menu. I can't click any program icons and I lost the ability to close programs a long time ago. Then, at last, explorer will freeze. One of the weirdest parts is that I can use my mouse for quite a bit longer than anything else.

The last BSoD it didn't crash for a long time (had to wait a good 15-20 mins for it to BSoD after I lost all system functionality) and, again, the BSoD stayed at 0% done infinitely, leaving no minidump and no event logs other than the ones about shutting down abruptly.

This feels absolutely ridiculous. It happens infrequently enough that it's hard to replicate (and the error varies slightly between runs. I got a different BSoD before I updated to 10 but I forget what it was, but no log no dump) but frequently enough that it makes me always paranoid about saving, until that backfired on me when it BSoDed while I was saving? a Visual Studio project which I hadn't backed up in awhile, leaving the source file a bunch of spaces.

Any and all help is appreciated. Are there any last resort tools I can use?

 

[Arc]

The DOS version of Seatools does a better testing. In the present situation it would be good that you run the Long Test using seatools for DOS.

 

[lupeteyssandier]

The DOS version of Seatools does a better testing. In the present situation it would be good that you run the Long Test using seatools for DOS.

Oof, sorry but I'm having a lot of trouble doing this.

iMacs have no disc drive so I have to use a USB. I used a USB to install Windows, yet the image burner isn't working. It says it worked and I see the files that were in the .img in the usb but I can't boot into it. Tried multiple times on different USBs. I can't find any iso-to-usb for non-Windows/Linux ISOs that work. Also, Bootcamp Windows has no BIOS so I can't change it to not use AHCI, which is the default.

Is there anything else I can try to do?

 

[Arc]

The BIOS that you need to access to change the storage controller mode is the computer's BIOS.

 

[lupeteyssandier]

Unless I'm being stupid, Macs don't have BIOS, and I don't think it's configurable from anywhere in OS X (please correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[Arc]

I dont know, I prefer to keep away from macs and brainless girls.

 

[derekimo]

Unless I'm being stupid, Macs don't have BIOS, and I don't think it's configurable from anywhere in OS X (please correct me if I'm wrong).

This any help?

How to Enter the BIOS on an Apple Mac
Unfortunately, Apple Mac computers do not have simple BIOS options. Alternately, they have a similar option called the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) or Open Firmware that provides access to different options.

The EFI’s button combination is “Cmd(Apple Symbol)+Opt+O+F.” It is done during the start up process. Once the process is complete, there are two chimes or beeps and the EFI greets the user.

The Open Firmware Prompt is simple and will display:

“ok”

And

“0>” (where the commands/scripts are put in)

Although the functionality of the EFI is different from the BIOS’s, it can still function with the Apple Mac’s advanced controls. Only advanced users should change anything through the EFI’s scripting capabilities.

How to Access BIOS