Odd BSOD after freezes

[Isilwen Nightfa]

Hi there, it's my first post here.

I'll try to be brief, but my problem requires a bit of explanation so please bear with me.

I bought this rig i'm using in January 2010. Everything went well until August, when it started freezing during gaming sessions (the first time happened with Starcraft 2, who apparently has been responsible for frying some graphic cards). What happened was an initial heavy stuttering, then a complete freeze of the system with repeating sounds, requiring a manual shutdown. Since then, this problem happens at random. Some days just happens 1 or 2 times during gameplay, other days i can't even log in in Windows.

I noticed that sometimes a TDR happens, where my NVIDIA drivers recover themselves and the PC "unfreezes" by itself after a brief black screen. However this is usually followed by another freeze, this time without a recovery. Sometimes a BSOD appears, talking about memory dump and stuff like that.

I'm quite a newbie but i tried whatever i could find useful:

- Opened the case and cleaned everything
- Clear re-install of the newest graphic drivers
- Full anti virus and anti malware scan
- Downclocked and monitored the temperatures of components
- Inverted the position of the 2 banks of RAM
- Looked for this problem in the Internet, finding many possible solutions but nothing works.

I can't figure out what the problem is. Many says that the graphic card just broke down, others say that the PSU isn't powerful enough, and so on. I dunno if this may be even a Windows problem, that's why i'm posting here.

I attach the required files hoping that some of you experts can tell me what's happening.

Thanks a lot, guys.

- Windows 7 x64
- Full Retail Version
- System Age: about 9 months
- OS Age: about 9 months

P.S. Yes i noticed i have an "Unidentified device" connected to one of the USB ports. Problem is, i only have mouse and keyboard connected to USB ports, and they work.
It's worth to note though that this "error" started appearing only a few days ago, when the BSOD problem was already there.

 

[usasma]

Just a guess, but try Uninstalling the Unknown Device (right click on it and select "Uninstall")
Then reboot to see if it's reinstalled.

I'm wondering if the Unknown Device is your DLink DWL-G122 wireless USB adapter. Try removing that device to see if the Unknown Device goes away. If so, please only install Win7 drivers with these devices - they don't work well (IME) with any other driver in Win7. If you can't locate Win7 drivers, I'd suggest installing a wireless card inside the computer case - as they're more powerful, reliable, and compatible - and they don't have the sort of issues that the USB adapters have.

Do you have any other USB devices that may be inactive at this time?

Uninstall Daemon Tools as it's known (in some cases) to cause BSOD's. Check to ensure that the SPTD.sys driver is removed

Stop the Btmchk program from loading at startup - it appears related to AdobeReader, but it starts from a questionable location (using rundll32.exe to launch it out of your Temp files). This could be a symptom of a virus infection, so I'd conduct several scans on your system to rule this out.

Uninstall RivaTuner and nTune for now. If you want to, you can reinstall them when we're done. I seem to remember that one of these has issues with Win7 - so it may be wise to research them a bit more before installing them. Your copy of the Riva Tuner driver dates from 2007 - so I'd immediately suspect that. Your nTune driver may be from 2007 also (the nvoclk64.sys driver dates from 2007).

If overclocking, please return the system to default settings and don't overclock until we're finished troubleshooting. The troubleshooting is designed for normally operating systems - so overclocking can skew the results and prevent us from figuring this out. Once we've achieved a stable system without overclocking, then we can set the overclock and troubleshoot any issues with it.

There are 8 memory dumps, with 6 different BSOD errors that blame at least 6 different causes - this most likely points to a hardware problem. The overclock can also cause this, as can compatibility issues (such as the issues I recalled w/Riva Tuner or nTune).

4 of the errors point at video components - so that's the most likely problem now. See this troubleshooting guide for the STOP 0x116 errors: http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lo...op-0x116-video_tdr_error-troubleshooting.html

As this is probably a hardware issue, and there's other components mentioned in the error messages, please run these free hardware diagnostics:

H/W Diagnostics:
Please start by running these bootable hardware diagnostics:
Memory Diagnostics (read the details at the link)
HD Diagnostic (read the details at the link)

Also, please run one of these free, independent online malware scans to ensure that your current protection hasn't been compromised: Malware (read the details at the link)

You can also try these free stress tests to see if there are video or other system stress issues:

FurMark download site: FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability 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"
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

Prime95 download site: Free Software - GIMPS
Prime95 Setup:
- extract the contents of the zip file to a location of your choice
- double click on the executable file
- select "Just stress testing"
- select the "Blend" test. If you've already run MemTest overnight you may want to run the "Small FFTs" test instead. (run all 3 if you find a problem and note how long it takes to error out with each)
- "Number of torture test threads to run" should equal the number of CPU's times 2 (if you're using hyperthreading).
The easiest way to figure this out is to go to Task Manager...Performance tab - and see the number of boxes under CPU Usage History
Then run the test for 6 to 24 hours - or until you get errors (whichever comes first).
This won't necessarily crash the system - but check the output in the test window for errors.
The Test selection box and the stress.txt file describes what components that the program stresses.

Two other video stress tests (may be more stressful than FurMark):
Video Memory stress Test - http://nvworld.ru/utilities/vmt/
Artifact Locator - http://nvworld.ru/utilities/alocator/
Sorry, but I don't read the language that this website is made in.

Finally, your PxHlpa64.sys driver is dated from Wed Oct 18 13:34:14 2006. Here's some info on it: Driver Reference If you're unable to locate the program that it belongs to, just rename the driver to PxHlpa64.BAK and see what CD/DVD program it breaks.

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Wed Sep  8 06:03:00.258 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:18:01.710
BugCheck 24, {1904fb, fffff88009772c48, fffff880097724b0, fffff880012d4a91}
Probably caused by : Ntfs.sys ( Ntfs!NtfsFindPrefix+121 )
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchProtocol
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x24
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sun Sep  5 16:15:57.375 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:14:31.828
BugCheck 116, {fffffa8004a964e0, fffff8800ffa8cf8, 0, 2}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+119cf8 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x116
PROCESS_NAME:  System
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sun Sep  5 12:45:57.096 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:18.548
BugCheck 1A, {5100, fffff6fc80615240, 2d, d390000101523863}
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!AllocateObject+dd )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x1a_5100
PROCESS_NAME:  winlogon.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep  4 19:17:43.559 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 2:18:31.620
BugCheck D1, {3a00c11704b4, 2, 8, 3a00c11704b4}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KiPageFault+260 )
PROCESS_NAME:  lsm.exe
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xD1
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16539.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100226-1909
Debug session time: Mon Aug  2 20:51:17.644 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:01:42.705
BugCheck 3B, {c0000096, fffff880068b1ab7, fffff88008605e60, 0}
Probably caused by : nvoclk64.sys ( nvoclk64+1ab7 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  NVMonitor.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16539.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100226-1909
Debug session time: Mon Aug  2 20:48:53.513 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:21:17.575
BugCheck 3B, {c0000096, fffff880065ecab7, fffff880075b9e60, 0}
Probably caused by : nvoclk64.sys ( nvoclk64+1ab7 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  NVMonitor.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16539.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100226-1909
Debug session time: Mon Aug  2 19:41:39.886 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 6:45:14.338
BugCheck 116, {fffffa800594f4e0, fffff8800ff7ca20, 0, 2}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+112a20 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x116
PROCESS_NAME:  System
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16539.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100226-1909
Debug session time: Sat Jul 17 13:35:40.838 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:18.290
BugCheck 1000007E, {ffffffffc000001d, fffff88005cb0d23, fffff8800357df18, fffff8800357d780}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for anodlwfx.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for anodlwfx.sys
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys
Probably caused by : memory_corruption
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x7E
PROCESS_NAME:  System[/font]

 

[Isilwen Nightfa]

Thanks a lot for your reply, usasma. You're being really helpful

- About the "Unknown Device". As said in my first post, this "error" started appearing only few days ago (and interestingly, not everytime i boot the pc) and at the moment i am not using any USB device other than keyboard and mouse.
I indeed have that Wireless Adapter installed, but i've not been using that since last week (i'm using an ethernet cable to connect to the internet). It's true that these problems started when i WAS still using that device, but i've been using that adapter since january and never had any problems until last month. As you suggested tho, i plan to buy a wireless card shortly.

- I've never overclocked anything.

- I unchecked that Btmchk, as you suggested. I would like to say tho that i ran full system scans with different software (Avira, Spybot, Malwarebytes' Anti Malware), and they indeed found traces of malware but they were just a couple of trojans.

- About Riva Tuner and nTune i downloaded and installed them only -after- i started having problems, because i thought that they might be useful to monitor temperatures of components (i thought it was an overheating problem, at first). This means that i downloaded recently the latest versions of these applications. It's odd that they date back to 2007.

- As you suggested, i immediately thought of an hardware problem. I ran the program called Burn In Test (PassMark BurnInTest software - PC Reliability and Load Testing). I tested everything and NOTHING gave me errors, apart from the 3D stress test which sometimes causes the freeze (and occasionally, the BSOD).
This of course leads me towards the graphic card. But what i find odd (probably due to my inexperience and ignorance) is the fact that the card runs great, when it does not freeze. I know this sounds dumb, what i mean is that i'm not sure if the problem is the graphic card itself. It may be something else that's interfering with it, causing an "hardware problem". But i'm probably talking nonsense.
I will try those others tools and let you know.

- About TDR, i can assure you that it's not overheating. The GPU is running at stock speeds and the first thing i did when i started having problems was forcing the GPU fan to run always at 100% speed. Checking the temperature, it seems it never goes over 55 °C.

- About that PxHlpha64.sys. Looking at the site you provided me, it's odd because the only program related to my DVD player is CDBurnerXP, which is not indicated in the list of the software using that .sys.
At any rate, i should mention that yesterday i decided to try unplugging the only device i could afford to unplug from the PSU: the DVD player. I did so just to check if maybe the PSU wasn't providing enough power to the system. I know the DVD player requires a very small quantity of power but it was worth a try. It may be mere coincidende, but between yesterday and today the freeze only happened ONE single time and NOT while playing games (which is quite an improvement from the last few days). Since the problem is still here i doubt that unplugging the DVD player solved something, but i thought that i should mention this fact to you. Anyway, i renamed that driver to PzHlpa64.bak.

Once again, thanks a lot for your help.

 

[usasma]

Please uninstall the software for the USB wireless device. It possible that some of it's components are still loading even though you're not using it.

Trojans can hide on you when you're trying to remove them. Continue to scan for infections - try some of these free, online scanners: Malware Keep scanning until a few come up completely clean.

The PxHlpha64.sys driver list is a list I have posted. But, I didn't spend a whole bunch of time on it - so it's possible that there are programs missing from the list. I'd suspect that the CDBurnerXP program could be using it - but the only way for me to tell is to install it on a system that doesn't have PxHlpha64.sys already present on it. There is no PxHlpha64.sys in the portable version of CDBurnerXP

When you rule out all the stuff in the TDR troubleshooting post, all that's left is trying another video card. I'd suggest purchasing one that you can return, just in case there's some other problem that we haven't forseen (such as a bad PCIe slot that the video card is plugged into).

 

[Isilwen Nightfa]

I just had another freeze (that makes 2, today). "Unfortunately" i did not get a BSOD, so i can't tell what happened.

Tomorrow i will scan again for viruses and try to rule out every possible TDR cause listed in your thread. It's getting a bit late, here.

And again, thanks.

 

[Isilwen Nightfa]

Ok, i just ran FurMark and after 1 minute of testing i got a freeze followed by a TDR. The temperature was at 70 °C, when it happened.

UPDATE

I ran it again, and this time it went smoothly for 7 minutes. The temperature was stable at 80-81 °C. After 7 minutes i stopped the test, and came here to post. However, the pc froze WHILE i was posting right here. Everything died except the mouse pointer. I waited for a TDR but it did not happen, so i had to manual reboot.

Also, i scanned for malware with the applications you provided but found nothing.

 

[usasma]

Have you tried pointing a house fan at the card to see if that helps (or delays) the onset of the freezing?
I don't entirely trust your video card temp sensor. IME video cards normally work at a much higher temperature so there's reason to suspect that the sensor is wrong.

Regardless, if the card isn't working right (and the Furmark test proves that), then there's reason to question the video card and try a replacement.

 

[Isilwen Nightfa]

No i have not tried to point a house fan at the card, i will try today.
But isn't it odd that the first time i tried, it froze after 1 minute while the second time it froze AFTER the test ended (and thus, when the temperature was lower than it was during the test)? I mean, both times i experienced a freeze when the temperature was not at its max, regardless of the accuracy of the sensor.

 

[usasma]

I have seen cards that work normally with the default Windows drivers - yet will fail when using the manufacturer's (nVidia or ATI) drivers. Why is that so?

Also, I have seen an nVidia card overheat when the sensor indicated no problems. That, IMO, is a function of the driver and the sensor's abilities. I found that out accidentally when I was messing around inside the case and burnt my hand on the video card - even though the sensor said it wasn't overheating.

In short, I believe that video cards are sufficiently complex that different components can fail for different reasons (or at different temps) within the same card. I don't know anything about the inter-relationships between the different components within the card, so I don't know why it will fail in one instance but not in another.

 

[Isilwen Nightfa]

I tried pointing a fan at the card but nothing changed. I experienced a freeze after about an hour of playing.

Well, it seems that everything indicates a problem with the card itself. I came here in order to rule out problems related to Windows 7, and it seems the OS has no noticeable problems (even though all those BSODs with seemingly different causes are a bit odd, i must say).

All that is left for me to do is to try the video card on another computer. I will do it and let you know.

In the meantime, thanks again for your help.

 

[usasma]

Glad that I could help!
Good luck!