Solved Random BSOD with atikmpag.sys

[Trondheim]

Hello everyone,
This is my first post here, and I hope I'm not making any mistakes. Also, I'm not native English, I don't know all the words you techies use, I hope you'll understand anyway.

The first crash I experienced was a few months ago, may 2014 to be precise. But until october 2014, I had never seen a BSOD. It appeared to be caused by atikmpag.sys, I'm sure you will know better than me what's the use of this driver.
The BSOD happened once, then twice, and I had no clue what was wrong about my machine. I did a little research and found out it could be something linked with the compatibility of the driver and my hardware. Like most HP owner, my laptop is built with dual graphic : AMD + Intel.
During my first year of use I updated the amd driver only, because intel did not provide updates for its driver. Now my laptop has a couple years of use behind him, mostly games, music production and internet use. I had to clean the dust from the cooling system a while ago. During the last 2 months (10/24/14 - 12/25/14), my laptop crashed 11 times, each of these crashed caused by my graphic hardware (or software i have no idea).

I updated both AMD and Intel drivers in october, using LeshCatLabs UnifL 14.4 drivers. It worked for a while, then the blue screens came back. Now I can't even launch my camera or any app that would need a higher level of resources to run properly.

Now I assume this is an endless issue, not caused by any software (by that i mean driver) but the hardware. I was told BSOD are the most difficult things to diagnose, because it can be caused by anything.

Anyway, the true question is : is there something I can do (except throwing this laptop away and buying a new one) to make it stop, and being able to use my laptop like I did before it started ?

Thank you for your help.
And merry christmas to you all.

TRONDHEIM

Attached :

• SF Diagnostic Tool - 25.12.14
• Speccy Test - 25.12.14 (french) - a lot of information here, most of it is useless.

 

[Golden]

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

[B][COLOR="red"]BugCheck 116[/COLOR][/B], {fffffa800ab352e0, fffff880078b3c30, ffffffffc0000001, 3}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmpag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmpag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmpag.sys ( atikmpag+bc30 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

[B][COLOR="Red"]Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000[/COLOR][/B]
Pilote	c:\windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys (8.14.1.6374, 624,00 Ko (638*976 octets), [B][COLOR="red"]30/10/2014[/COLOR][/B] 12:32)
	
[B][COLOR="red"]AMD Radeon HD 7600M Series[/COLOR][/B]
Pilote	c:\windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys (8.14.1.6374, 624,00 Ko (638*976 octets), [B][COLOR="red"]30/10/2014[/COLOR][/B] 12:32)

Unfortunately this is a common problem on systems that have 2 dual video cards - Windows has trouble switching between one card to another within a certain time frame, generating the 116 bugcheck. Solving them is not easy.

Try see if updated drivers are available for both cards listed, and see if the BSOD's stabilise.

General advice:
The following two programs are well-known for contributing to BSOD's. I recommend you to uninstall them both:

[B][COLOR="red"]Advanced SystemCare 7[/COLOR][/B]	"c:\program files (x86)\iobit\advanced systemcare 7\asctray.exe" /auto	Benjamin-HP\Benjamin	HKU\S-1-5-21-4113899958-1169966232-1489216104-1000\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
[B][COLOR="red"]DAEMON Tools Lite[/COLOR][/B]	"c:\program files (x86)\daemon tools lite\dtlite.exe" -autorun	Benjamin-HP\Benjamin	HKU\S-1-5-21-4113899958-1169966232-1489216104-1000\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

 

[Trondheim]

Thank you for the advice.
The thing is that there are no updates for both cards drivers. I can try to uninstall UnifL and go back to the drivers provided by HP, or keep UnifL. Now that you tell me, I remember the crashes starting after I installed Advanced SystemCare. I will let you know.

 

[Golden]

I can try to uninstall UnifL and go back to the drivers provided by HP

That may be a good idea....get back to a stable system first.

 

[Trondheim]

Update status :
I just ran a memtest86+ test, passed 100%, no error found.
Unfortunately, BSODs are now happening before the system starts. The only way I can use my laptop is safe mode. I was told by a friend to format my hard drive, but i'm not convinced it is the best way to solve the issue. I'm saving my personal data in case I'd actually need to do it.

 

[Trondheim]

Hello again,
this morning I uninstalled my drivers using DDU, and re-installed the drivers provided by hp. Should I run some tests to see whether it's working or not ?

edit : i got my answer. Just after doing a benchmark in Tomb Raider, I start Chrome, and the BSOD comes up. I have no idea what to do now, but I am quite mad about this.

 

[Golden]

Can you turn off one of the display adaptors and check the performance and stability?

 

[Trondheim]

Actually disabling the AMD card allows me to use my laptop without crash. Disabling one means disabling the other. The intel card malfunctions as the amd is off. Many features are linked to this device (Direct X, windows Aero, etc.)
It's not faster, not slower.
I can't pick PC Standby, it's either on or off. Other than that, I did not notice anything in particular. AMD warning pops-up twice a minute but it's blank, I can't read anything.

 

[Trondheim]

So I just restored my system like it's the first time I turn it on. Everything is ok for a few minutes, then BSOD > fault in non paged area.
Ok.
Restart.
Then I install and start Chrome. AMD Driver crashes several times, but the system managed to recover and did not crash with BSOD. Then I try something for fun. I go back to the logon screen without shutting down my session. When I go back into it, a beautiful BSOD comes up. This time it's the same as before : bugcheck 116 - video_tdr_error - all the stuff.

What should I do now ?

 

[Golden]

I'll ask someone more familar with 116's to see if they can advise.

 

[essenbe]

Hello, Trondheim I'll try to help you as much as I can. A TDR error (Time Delay and Response) is an error that occurs in a lot of Laptops with switchable Graphics. Your Laptop uses the Intel graphics on less demanding work and switches to the AMD graphics card on more Demanding work. Almost all OEMs (HP, Dell Compaq) adapt their switchable graphics to work differently so they have to edit the drivers to make it happen the way they set the Laptop up to work. The problem comes in when the laptop switches from one to the other. It does not do it fast enough, so Windows assumes that there has been a graphics failure and that is when you get a BSOD. That is what a TDR error is. We have worked numerous cases of this here and have found no solution for it, other than to disable the Dedicated Graphics Card (AMD in your case). That is the only way we have found to solve the problem. I have a laptop with Optimus technology, which is Nvidia;s implementation of what you have. I had to do the same thing. I only offer this as an explanation so you will understand what is happening.

If you will go into your BIOS and see if you can find a way to disable the switchable graphics, that is the best way to do it. Otherwise if you will go to device manager, find your AMD Card under display adapters, right click it and select disable. it should solve the problem. I realize this is not the best solution to solve this problem as far as you are concerned, but it is usually the only one that I have found that works. Please try that and get back with us to let us know whether it has worked for you.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, I don't mind at all.

 

[Trondheim]

Thank you for your help essenbe.

Actually I have already tried to disable the AMD graphics. The thing is that (as I wrote before) it disables many features I use very often, standby to name one of them.
However, are you saying I could disable the switchable graphics in the BIOS settings, and thanks to that being able to run with only one of the two cards?

If such alternative is possible, I guess I could use AMD graphics only. I'm not quite a expert in this matter, maybe you can answer me.

Thank you

 

[Trondheim]

But I am still wondering... I restored the laptop this morning to Factory settings. Howcome I can't even start windows now? Every time I try to do so, a BSOD comes up before the logon screen. In my sense, that's weird. And it reveals the uselessness of this procedure in such case.

 

[essenbe]

Unfortunately, I am not an expert either. I don't know if your bios has that option and I am not sure that is an option with AMD. If it were my Laptop, I would try it, but I suspect it would not work. But, please understand this first. Unless I am wrong, AMD graphics are set up to where all graphics run through the CPU which is where the on board graphics are. So, therefore, by turning off the on board graphics, you may be turning off all graphics. That being the case, I would be sure I knew how to reset CMOS, just in case.

 

[essenbe]

Your drivers are crashing before Windows starts. When Windows starts is when the drivers begin to load.

 

[Trondheim]

That being the case, I would be sure I knew how to reset CMOS, just in case.

Sorry about that but what's CMOS?

About what you said before, I noticed that when I disable the AMD graphics I disable all graphics because when I do, Intel graphics starts to malfunction.
I will check later in the morning if I can change the settings in the BIOS.

I did not know that the drivers were crashing before Windows starts. Thanks for that information. I will come back to you and give you the final feedback about this issue.

Thank you for your help, it was very appreciated.

 

[essenbe]

You're welcome, and please do come back. I would like to know.

 

[Trondheim]

Hello essenbe,

I tried dealing with hp support, but there is no way for Pavilion g6 (and maybe g7) owners to change the switchable graphics settings from dynamic to fixed. Because that would be the solution : the system would run with the AMD device as default device. I checked the BIOS a few minutes ago, and there is no such option.

I disabled the Intel graphics via device manager, and of course the AMD card was disabled in the same time. As a result, let's say I will not use my laptop for games or videos ever again.

Thank you a lot and I hope no one will have to face this issue !

 

[essenbe]

This is a constant issue with a great number of Laptops with switchable graphics, both AMD and Nvidia. Fortunately, sometimes Nvidia are a little easier to deal with. But, your solution is the only solution I know of.

The idea of switchable graphics is a good one. You do not have the drain on the battery when it is not needed, but when the dedicated card is needed you have it. The implementation is the problem. Almost all OEM Manufacturers do it differently, which means that the drivers have to be specially coded to work the way the OEMs implemented switchable graphics. I'm sorry I can't give you a better resolution for your problem, but rest assured it is a very common problem and this is the only resolution we have been able to find. It is not specifically an HP problem. All OEMs suffer the exact same problem you do.