Frequent BSoD for ntoskrnl.exe, dxgmms1.sys when watching yt, twitch

[enzym]

I've been suffering BSoDs relatively frequently for a while now, in my perception mostly when watching streamed flash video such as from YouTube or Twitch.tv.
Multiple system wipes/fresh installations have not resolved the issue.
RAM replacement seemed to allow me to catch a break at first, but BSoDs returned after few days of calm and I suffered 3 of them during the last 2 days. Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics and MemTest (ran multiple copies simultaneously for 8 hours) returned no errors.

According to the dump files, BSoDs were caused by a combination of ntoskrnl.exe and dxgmms1.sys.
Again, in my imagination most of them they seem to coincide with streaming flash video via Twitch.tv, which I watch using multiple instances of Google Chrome and Firefox. Although that might be completely unrelated.

As a layman, I'm puzzled, and thus turn to you for your insight and help.

 

[Dsprague]

Please start by removing the following programs from your computer:

Start Menu\Programs\DAEMON Tools Lite

Once Daemon tools is gone please download and run this tool:

DuplexSecure - Downloads

When the tool runs if the uninstall button is grayed out your done and can close the window. If it is not please click it and allow the tool to do its job. DO NOT click the install button it will install a driver known to cause BSODs.

Also uninstall this program it is likely doing more harm than good:

Start Menu\Programs\TuneUp Utilities 2013

Next please update the following drivers thaey are potentialy problimatic:

fffff880`0c9fc9c8  fffff880`07308dbf*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmdag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
 atikmdag+0x7ddbf

Driver Reference Table - atikmdag.sys

update it from here:http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx

fffff880`02f1a598  fffff880`041a0010Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\Rt64win7.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for Rt64win7.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for Rt64win7.sys
 Rt64win7+0x3010

Driver Reference Table - Rt64win7.sys

Please update this driver from here: Realtek

 

[enzym]

I will remove these programs and read and follow the instructions of your post in the meanwhile, though it should be noted that both Daemon Tools and TuneUp Utilities have only been installed recently. TuneUp has been installed no more than 2 hours ago, in fact, to see if it can identify possible conflicts within my system.

 

[Dsprague]

Tune up utilities, like many other "tune up" software it does things that windows 7 already has built in tools for, or does automatically rendering it utterly useless, further more it also does thing like and I shudder when I say this "cleans the registry" now this is literally the worst possible thing you can do with a program, the program knows less about your registry than you do. In the end it will end up deleting something it shouldn't and then the only option is a re-install of windows. if you want to figure out what conflicts there may begoing on in the system follow this tutorial:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

 

[enzym]

DAEMON Tools Lite and TuneUp Utilities 2013 have been removed.
The uninstall button for DuplexSecure is greyed out, and ATI and Realtek drivers have been updated.

Thank you for helping to identify these problems (however you found the Realtek one). Hopefully this will lead to fewer BSoDs. If it doesn't, I will report back.

 

[Dsprague]

Glad I could be of help.

 

[enzym]

I got a Blue Screen again today, and BlueScreenView highlights dxgmms1.sys and ntoskrnl.exe again, like it did before. It occured while watching Twitch.tv streams and no programs besides Google Chrome and Firefox were running.

New SF log is attached.

 

[Dsprague]

Ok a couple of things to try:

Fist run the system file checker to help clear up any file system corruption

SFC.EXE /SCANNOW
Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)
At the top of the search box, right click on the cmd.exe and select "Run as adminstrator"
In the black window that opens, type "SFC.EXE /SCANNOW" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

when the program finishes running if it says anything other than no integrity violations found run it twice more.

then from the same command prompt run the following command:

chkdsk /f /r

and last try updating your BIOS it is very old

BIOS Release Date             [COLOR="Red"]08/05/2009[/COLOR]

The BIOS updates should be available from the Motherborad manufacturer on their website.

 

[enzym]

SFC.EXE /SCANNOW (no integrity violations found) and Chkdsk returned no errors. BIOS has been updated.

Even so, another Blue Screen occurred, again dxgmmms1.sys, again while watching a stream.
WhoCrashed says "This appears to be a typical software driver bug and not likely caused by a hardware problem. [...] Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time."

So far I've wiped the machine and reinstalled Windows, replaced the RAM,
ran multiple instances of MemTest simultaneously for 8 hours as well as Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics, SFC.EXE /SCANNOW and Chkdsk without them returning errors.
Graphics (amd.com via amddriverdownloader.exe) and
sound driver (realtek.com via ALL_INST_1.12.0022_DASH_20110922_B1) and
BIOS (gigabyte.de via F8/Update AM3 CPU AGESA 3.7.1.0) have been updated. There's a F9b BIOS version from 2012/08/14, but it says "Beta BIOS", so I didn't touch it.
I also disabled all non-Microsoft services in msconfig to see if one of might be the cause.

 

[Dsprague]

Odd tthe dump files are still pointing to your Graphics card drivers as the issue, but they are up to date, for testing sake, and to hopefully rule out hardware problems plese do the following:

Run furmark to stress test the Video card, and check for over heating:
FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net

FurMark Setup:
- If you have more than one GPU, select Multi-GPU during setup
- In the Run mode box, select "Stability Test" and "Log GPU Temperature" (BurnIn test in newer versions).
Click "Go" to start the test
- Run the test until the GPU temperature maxes out - or until you start having problems (whichever comes first).
- Click "Quit" to exit

please rport your tempeartures prior to starting the test, and when the heat maxes out (if the stress test doesnt cause a crash)
Then run this program to test the dedicated memory on the video card:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/video_memory_stress_test.html

This test is very straight forward, no need to change any settings when it runs just let it do its thing for 8-9 passes. Report any errors that occur during the test or if it causes a crash.

 

[enzym]

I actually bought an MSI Radeon HD 6950 Twin Frozr II (a year ago?) because the two crossfire Radeon HD 5770s I had before were too loud, even with upgraded fans (and crossfire sucks and gave me problems with dual monitors).

Ran the Burn-in test at the max resolution for my screens, which is 1680x1050 as well as 8xMSAA. Temperature started at 59°C, maxed out at 80°C, then steady at 79°C at 3840-3850 fan RPM after 15 minutes.

Using the other program to test dedicated memory now.
It tells me to go to the readme to disable memory limitation, since the card has 2048MB.
Running the test without changing anything, just accepting the dialogues that come up and it seems to take a long time for just one pass. It's at 40/254 after 21 minutes so far, no errors.

 

[Dsprague]

I look forward to your results.

 

[enzym]

Pass count: 1
Test time: 1:11:18
Errors found: 0

Running it a few additional times now.

 

[Dsprague]

It may take more than one pass to detect errors.

 

[enzym]

I ran it for 8 additional passes.
Pass count: 8
Test time: 09:34:16
Errors found: 0

I apologize for wasting time by spreading the results out over 3 posts instead out collecting the information first and posting only afterwards.

Also, to make sure that I'm not misrepresenting it, here's the Chkdsk event log from 6.5.2013. It said 62 non used index entries for $SII for file 0x9 (index $SDH) have been tidied up, 0 KB in erroneous sectors, and "no problems were detected".

 

[Dsprague]

Ok all looks good there, lets try resetting your pagefile:

Use this technique to "reset" your pagefile:
a ) Go to Start...Run...and type in "sysdm.cpl" (without the quotes) and press Enter.
-Then click on the Advanced tab,
-then on the Performance Settings Button,
-then on the next Advanced tab,
-then on the Virtual Memory Change button.
b ) In this window, note down the current settings for your pagefile (so you can restore them later on).
-Then click on the "No paging file" radio button, and
- then on the "Set" button. Be sure, if you have multiple hard drives, that you ensure that the paging file is set to 0 on all of them.
-Click OK to exit the dialogs.
c ) Reboot (this will remove the pagefile from your system)
d ) Then go back in following the directions in step a ) and re-enter the settings that you wrote down in step b ). Follow the steps all the way through (and including) the reboot.
e ) Once you've rebooted this second time, go back in and check to make sure that the settings are as they're supposed to be.

 

[enzym]

One partition and one hard drive had no page file.
The system partition was set to "size is managed by the system" (recommended: 24571 MB, allocated: 16381 MB).
I checked the "no page file" line, clicked set, rebooted the system and saw the allocated number go to 0.
I then reinstated the previously recorded settings and rebooted the system again.
The instructions spoke of setting the size of the file to 0 for all hard drives. Is setting them to "no page file" (results in page file size 0) sufficient, or should I have used the "custom size" line? That was a bit confusing.

 

[Dsprague]

If the hard drive didn't have a page file to begin with I wouldn't worry about it, now test and see if you receive a bluescreen.

 

[enzym]

I have two hard drives: an internal and an external one. The internal one has two partitions: one for the system and one for everything else. Only the system partition had a page file. What I meant was that I "set" the size to 0 by checking "no page file", which isn't really setting the file size as much as it is disabling it or having it vanish, I think? Either way the displayed size ended up being 0 after a reboot and went back to 16381 MB after reinstating the settings of step b).

It may take a while for a BSoD to occur (or hopefully not appear at all). Best I can do is open a few live streams and wait - on it right now.

Thanks for sticking with me.

 

[Dsprague]

I am always glad to help, and as long as the page file is deleted, as it should be (upon the first reboot), then rebuilt (on the second reboot) the outcome is the same, and the only partition/drive that should have a page file is a system drive. If you have not seen another BSOD with in a week please mark the thread as solve.