Help please - Multiple BSOD W7 64

[hannibal]

Hiya-Thanks for looking over all of them. Brother - Not as far as I know? I have a Canon printer IP5200 and CanonLide60 Scanner, and that's about it....mysterious...!

I took out the 3rd module, so system is back to 4Gb, and this time it sort of froze. Before it was freezing with no HDD activity and no response from the keyboard or mouse. When I started up just now, straight after removing the new module, everything worked (HDD activity, keyboard, and the right click on the mouse). The only thing I could not do was move the arrow on the mouse. So I restarted by navigating through the ctrl-alt-del and tabbing to power off, which it did with no complaints. Could serial.sys be something to do with the crappy old mouse I have?

Thanks!

EDIT - This might help you on your quest to solve the P5QL memory settings difficulties:
In BIOS, under Advanced>Chipset>Northbridge Config settings>DRAM Timing Control I have set this to Manual and changed the first 4 entries to correspond to the 5-5-5-18 latency settings of the XMS2 module. That is:

CAS# LATENCY - 5 DRAM CLOCKS
DRAM RAS# TO CAS# DELAY - 5 DRAM CLOCKS
DRAM RAS# PRECHARGE - 5 DRAM CLOCKS
RAS ACTIVATE TO PRECHARGE - 18 DRAM CLOCKS

The RAS ACTIVATE TO PRECHARGE under AUTO was at 15, not the 18 stated on the module, so this was the only thing that was changed from the default value coming out of AUTO settings. So yes you were well informed and correct that AUTO does not necessarily correspond to what the module should run on.

Under AI Tweaker I set DRAM Frequency to DDR2 800MHz and the memory overvoltage to 1.85, since that is the lowest value and the only value I can see that would correspond to the Tested/SPD voltage of the module of 1.8V. That way less of the values are on AUTO.

Having just made these changes, guess what - no freeze after startup-hooray!!

 

[hannibal]

Had a look on the old Google and seems serial.sys is the thing that drives the unused serial port for old-style printers etc. I'll probably just disable it as completely useless to me anyway. But you are right, it is a Windows file possibly from back in day which Brother distributed.

Cheers!

 

[usasma]

That's great info about the P5 series of boards! This'll help others looking for help with memory issues on their P5 motherboards! Thanks!

Attached is a copy of the serial.sys from my Win7 64bit system (without SP1). Use at your own risk!

You can use the free program Autoruns ( Autoruns for Windows ) to stop serial.sys from loading. Check after rebooting to be sure Windows hasn't restarted it!

You can rename serial.sys to serial.BAK to prevent it from loading. Check after rebooting to be sure Windows hasn't restarted it!

You can use my uploaded copy of serial.sys to replace yours. Be aware that this may cause problems with your system (and you'd have to go in with a bootable disk to rename the files so that Windows can boot again). Also, scan EVERYTHING that you download from the web before opening it (to include this file) - as you don't know if it's safe or not!!!

You can disable the serial port in the BIOS - the serial.sys driver may still load tho', so check it after rebooting.

 

[hannibal]

Well you have helped me a lot so least I could do! Cheers!

Case closed Dr Watson, time for a cigar

 

[hannibal]

ARGGGGHHH-It's happening again!!!

Sorry but this is getting frustrating and starting to think this a hardware issue.

After taking the 3rd RAM module out, the freezing stopped. Then a few days ago it crashed with horizontal lines across the screen. Today it crashed twice, once with a BSOD (error code A) then less than 5 minutes after rebooting the screen went black with no HDD activity and when I pressed the restart button on the case, it had lost all my manual BIOS settings-weird.

Anyway I am going to take it back to the shop, but can only do this in about a month so in the meantime, is there anything else I can do? Drivers are all up to date, as is Windows as far as I can tell.

When you look at the perf monitor you will see I disabled the COM serial port and the floppy drive to see if that would help stabilise, but evidently not. Also it is saying that I have no antivirus when MSE is running?

Thank you,

 

[usasma]

Disabling the devices in Windows sometimes helps - but that doesn't prevent the devices from loading their drivers (and doesn't prevent the hardware from affecting things). It's best to disable these devices in the BIOS.

This one points to video issues - but a single error of this type doesn't necessarily mean anything. I'd suggest running Driver Verifier according to these directions:

Using Driver Verifier is an iffy proposition. Most times it'll crash and it'll tell you what the driver is. But sometimes it'll crash and won't tell you the driver. Other times it'll crash before you can log in to Windows. If you can't get to Safe Mode, then you'll have to resort to offline editing of the registry to disable Driver Verifier.

So, I'd suggest that you first backup your stuff and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
NOTE: You can use Low Resource Simulation if you'd like. From my limited experimentation it makes the BSOD's come faster.
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

Reboot into Windows (after the crash) and turn off Driver Verifier by going back in and selecting "Delete existing settings" on the first page, then locate and zip up the memory dump file and upload it with your next post.

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

If that doesn't work, post back and we'll have to see about fixing the registry entry off-line:

Delete these registry keys (works in XP, Vista, Win7):
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDrivers
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDriverLevel

More info on this at this link: Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users

OLDER DRIVERS PRESENT IN THE DUMP FILES
- Please update these drivers from the device manufacturer's website - or uninstall/remove them from your system. Reference links included below.
- DO NOT use Windows Update or the Update Drivers function of Device Manager.
- Please feel free to post back about any drivers that you are having difficulty locating.
- Windows Update exceptions may be noted below for Windows drivers:

[FONT=lucida console]
MpFilter.sys    Tue Sep 14 20:19:28 2010 (4C901110)
GEARAspiWDM.sys Mon May 18 08:17:04 2009 (4A1151C0)
MpNWMon.sys     Tue Sep 14 20:19:30 2010 (4C901112)
NisDrvWFP.sys   Tue Sep 14 20:20:25 2010 (4C901149)
[/FONT]

http://www.carrona.org/dvrref.html#MpFilter.sys
http://www.carrona.org/dvrref.html#GEARAspiWDM.sys
http://www.carrona.org/dvrref.html#ASACPI.syshttp://www.carrona.org/dvrref.html#MpNWMon.sys
http://www.carrona.org/dvrref.html#NisDrvWFP.sys

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

[FONT=lucida console]
Built by: 7601.17514.amd64fre.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850
Debug session time: Wed Mar 23 14:23:28.441 2011 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:06:47.846
Probably caused by : dxgkrnl.sys ( dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::WaitForEventsOrVerticalBlankEvent+cf )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xA_dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::WaitForEventsOrVerticalBlankEvent+cf
Bugcheck code 0000000A
Arguments 00000000`00060000 00000000`00000002 00000000`00000001 fffff800`0289be3a
BiosVersion = 0405   
BiosReleaseDate = 05/22/2009
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU    Q9550  @ 2.83GHz"
MaxSpeed:     2830
CurrentSpeed: 2842
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
[/FONT]

Finally, and as a last resort, I'd suggest updating the BIOS. Version 0507 states "Enhance the compatibility with certain memory" - and later versions may even do more. Flashing the BIOS is easy to mess up, so do it carefully and triple check everything before doing it!

 

[hannibal]

Hey there-thanks for getting back to me on this!

As to your pointers
-The COM port was the only thing disabled in BIOS, but I'll disable the non-existent floppy drive too.
-All drivers up to date-3 are windows and the other one (Gearetc) you said was the latest in a post last week.
-As to BIOS update I am a bit confused as the P5QL/EPU (sorry just realised I had not put the EPU bit into my specs) as the second latest is 0405 that I'm using. The latest is just "Update ExpressGate to v1.4.9.5" which I always have disabled anyway.

I'll run driver verifier and see what happens....

Cheers!

EDIT-Just checked the temps and sounding a bit noisy after turning on diververifier and temps are very high-attached image. Is this normal?

 

[hannibal]

Sorry-I've turned off driververifier until I know whether the temps should be this high as do not fancy frying the CPU!

I could boil water with it! Cheers,

 

[usasma]

Good choice - those temps are way out of range! Your first steps are to fix the cooling solution on your CPU - so it doesn't overheat on you when you're not watching it. Check to ensure that the cooler is clear of dust/dirt, that the fan is working, and that there's adequate (but not excessive) thermal paste between the CPU and cooler.

Driver Verifier should stress the system, but not as much as (for example) Prime95. The system should be self-regulating and should cool itself down when reaching CPU temps around 60+ºC Once you've got the cooling solution fixed, then try Driver Verifier again.

Also, you can run Driver Verifier using fewer tests (my recommended settings are a bit aggressive). Try using the IRQL test(s) alone at first - as this is the cause of the BSOD above. Then try the other tests individually to see which one's cause the stress on the system.

Good luck!

Windows Updates can affect drivers - as can any changes to system files. Just because the drivers are dated as the latest doesn't mean that they are OK. They may be corrupted, they may conflict with Windows (or other) files, etc, etc, etc. For right now, just leave them as they are - but keep them in mind if we can't fix this otherwise.

As for the BIOS - I looked up the P5QL, not the P5QL/EPU But, the cautions still remain - don't do it except as a last resort! Also, there's no telling what other stuff that they put into the update - so you may find that it fixes your issues anyway (I've seen this happen before with other users).

 

[hannibal]

Thanks for confirming what I thought. I cleaned a load of caked on dust from the grill under the fan a couple of weeks ago, but am not really confident to take the whole cooling unit off for fear of breaking something-there is a cable that is quite taut that runs under the cooling unit that I'm quite wary of messing with

I think I'll just be gentle with it for a few weeks until I can get it back to the people who built it and get them to sort it out as it did strike me as being a bit high; probably get them to put in a proper cooler as opposed to the stock intel one! I do remember Prime95 causing the CPU to hit the 100C mark too, so it's possible the system is overheating and complaining. I'll hold off from putting the 0408 BIOS update until after the pc builders have had a look.

I will however try just the IRQL test and see if that brings up anything...will keep you posted.

Cheers!

 

[hannibal]

Well the computer has officially given up now-3 BSODs in 5 minutes yesterday and will not load windows or even the repair files, so it's back to the builders with it to fix up the hardware.

Cheers for all your help and hopefully that'll sort it.