Solved Random reboots, once a day or two.

[nopk]

Hello..

Helping my mom out with her system. It has begun randomly rebooting itself while she's working on it. No warning boxes or anything pop up, just -flash- and you're at the BIOS splash screen and restarting.

Ive gone through and ensured her video drivers are up-to-date, that she's malware free and the like.. but the problem persists.

Any suggestions are very much appreciated..

SF tool results attached.

Thank you,

nopk

 

[Arc]

Hi nopk. You are having all stop 0x124 BSODs, which is supposed to be hardware error.

It appears that the computer is somehow old. Is the computer hot? Report us the heat of the computer after a couple of hours of your normal usage. Upload a screenshot of the summery tab of Speccy.

Check if the Power Supply Unit (PSU) supplying adequate power to the computer or not.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
Also let us know the wattage of the PSU.

You have one BIOS Update to apply. Get Version 2302 dated 2011.03.18 from http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4A785TM/#support_Download_30.

Test your RAM modules for possible errors.
How to Test and Diagnose RAM Issues with Memtest86+
Run memtest for at least 8 passes, preferably overnight.

Stress test the Graphics Card using Furmark.
Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

Stress test the CPU.
Hardware - Stress Test With Prime95

Let us know the results.

 

[nopk]

Thanks for your reply.. The computer isnt old.. only about 2 years. I will go through all you've asked when I visit her again tomorrow. I did actually update her bios when troubleshooting the other day.. Im surprised its still out of date.

More info when I return, thanks again.

nopk

 

[nopk]

So some more information.. and some more confusion..

The power supply calculator suggests I require a 200W supply (this is a seriously simple machine, no PCI cards at all, 4 gb mem, 1 7200 spin drive and integrated video) .. and Ive a 500W.

The BIOS update you suggest was already installed on the machine..

Ive been unable to run the stress tests as of yet due to the evolving problem..

The unit now BSODs with a x124 within 10-15 seconds of loading the desktop when booted in regular mode.

In safe mode, it will run for a couple hours, no problems (at which point I shut the machine down, so it might run forever in safe mode).

While in safe mode, I used MSCONFIG to disable all non-microsoft services and all startup items, as well as deleting the ATI display drivers I put on the other day..

Now when booting in normal mode I can get ~2-3 minutes of use out of it before the BSOD occurs again...

Im going to run memtest now, as at least it doesnt require a boot into windows..

Any other suggestions?

thanks,

nopk

 

[nopk]

Oh, and after a couple hours in safe mode, I quickly rebooted and checked temperatures in the bios and the CPU was at 34c and the mobo around 44c ..

 

[Arc]

A stop 0x124 should be a hardware related BSOD, and a hardware related BSOD should behave in the same way irrespective of the mode of usage. So, let us search one more thing. Is it any device driver that is causing the issue there?

Enable Driver Verifier to monitor the drivers.
Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable
Run Driver Verifier for 24 hours or the occurrence of the next crash, whichever is earlier.

   Information

Why Driver Verifier:
It puts a stress on the drivers, ans so it makes the unstable drivers crash. Hopefully the driver that crashes is recorded in the memory dump.

How Can we know that DV is enabled:
It will make the system bit of slow, laggy.

   Warning

Before enabling DV, make it sure that you have earlier System restore points made in your computer. You can check it easily by using CCleaner looking at Tools > System Restore.

If there is no points, make a System Restore Point manually before enabling DV.

   Tip

• If you fail to get on the Desktop because of DV, Boot into Advanced Boot Options > Safe mode. Disable DV there. Now boot normally again, and try following the instruction of enabling DV again.
• If you cannot boot in Safe mode too, do a System Restore to a point you made earlier.

Let us know the results, with the subsequent crash dumps, if any. Post it following the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions.

 

[nopk]

As I only have 2 minutes of runtime in normal mode before the BSOD, and some of that time is spent with the machine still getting itself settled so I can run things.. I suspect Im not going to be able to create a System Restore Point .. is this step simply for data protection or does Driver Verifier require it? Ive imaged the drive earlier today, so Im not concerned about the data.

Currently on Pass 3 of memtest, so it'll be a while before I can proceed.

thank you for your help..

 

[nopk]

So I wasnt able to create a restore point, the system would BSOD before it would complete. As Id already imaged the drive, I went for it anyways and started Driver Verifier.

As normal now, the system BSOD'd within a minute or two.

Ive attached the one DMP file that would have verifier running.

The system continues to be stable in Safe mode. MEMTEST completed 9 passes with no errors.

thanks,

nopk

 

[Arc]

No Driver is causing the BSODs.

Now follow post #2 and let us know the test results. And is the computer hot? Report us the heat of the computer after a couple of hours of your normal usage. Upload a screenshot of the summery tab of Speccy.

One more thing ..... from the next time, dont upload a stray dump. Post it following the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions only.

 

[nopk]

Arc,

Sorry to post the stray dump, but it is not possible to do anything else. I mentioned in a post above that I only get 2 minutes before each BSOD. This does not allow me enough time to run the SF tool to collect the data.. or Furmark or Prime95 or Speccy..

I tried to run Speccy and Furmark in Safe Mode and they dont work.. I will try the SF tool in safe mode next time.

Currently trying to run Prime95 in Safe mode.. but temperature monitors will not work in Safe Mode (Speedfan, CoreTemp) so we'll see how this goes..

Nopk

 

[Arc]

Nopk, I have asked help from some hardware experts. I will be here to analyze the crash dumps if needed. Hopefully we all together will be able to solve your issue.

More help is on the way ... it will appear very shortly.

 

[Pauly]

Check for bios update

Reset bios in case it has ever been over clocked

I dont see any but remove all motherboard software utilities if there are any installed

As a precaution you may try establishing a clean boot to see if it helps (as safe mode does better than normal boot may be software related)
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

 

[nopk]

BIOS is up to date (BIOS screen reports ver 2302, 2/28/11). BIOS has been reset to defaults. No motherboard utilities installed.

I just ran Prime95 for 2 hours *in safe mode* and had no errors, quickly rebooted and checked temperature in BIOS (probably 15 seconds after stopping Prime95) and CPU was at 47C.

Did a clean boot as instructed, BSOD'd within 30 seconds of loading desktop.

Ran SF tool *in safe mode*, attached.

thanks for your help,

nopk

 

[nopk]

Ive a few spare hard drives kicking around.. So while I waited, I thought I'd throw a fresh OS install onto a new drive..

Made it about 5 minutes into the Win7 install before it 124 BSOD'd.

Fair bet its not a software problem now.. though seems odd to me it'll run in safe mode a-ok.

 

[Pauly]

Although generically an 0x124 error is supposed to be indicative of a hardware error the fact you can prime in safe mode is a bit weird

So i had a good go through your dumps and all the 0x124 errors break down to one of these specific error codes
DCACHEL1_EVICT_ERR (Proc 1 Bank 0)
DCACHEL1_SNOOP_ERR (Proc 1 Bank 0)
DCACHEL1_DRD_ERR (Proc 1 Bank 0)
DCACHEL1_DWR_ERR (Proc 1 Bank 0)

and as you can see they are all cpu level 1 cache read or write errors which given the number of dumps all pointing to the same thing would be a sign of a cpu fault but thats just my interpretation of it please dont rush out and buy a new cpu, i will ask some others to stop by and get their opinion/s

 

[nopk]

Good enough, I suppose Im on the hunt for a CPU to slap into this Mobo..

thanks for your help.. will mark as solved when I put one in an confirm its fixed..

nopk

 

[Pauly]

i have just requested fresh eyes from other bsod team members so be sure to pop back before you part with any cash !

to any BSOD team, i cant run any !sysinfo commands on the dumps please can someone run cpuspeed/smbios and post back the results, just wanna check OC etc

 

[nopk]

Alright, I'll hold off before hitting buy.. going to take a minute to sort through the compatibility list and whats still available for sale anyways

nopk

 

[essenbe]

As far as CPU compatability, go to your motherboards download page for that particular motherboard. They will have a QVL list for ram and CPUs. It will list all CPU's compatible with your motherboard. I scaned the thread quickly, you did sat you set the bios to optimized defaults, I believe. If not, do that, set your ram to the manufacturers frequency, timings and voltage, set your sata controller to what it is right now and set the boot prder, save and exit. Please download and install CPUz, post screenshots (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html) of the CPU tab, mainboard tab, memory tab and SPD tab. zin the SPD tab, if it shows blank, in the upper left corner ther will be a dropdown list of the dimm slots. Choose the next dimm slot. Also, tell us the make and model of the PSU as well as what CPU cooler you have. Also, when you installed the graphics driver did you uninstall the old drivers first?

 

[nopk]

Thanks to all the new folks coming in to help, quick note: System will *NOT* function for longer than 30-60 seconds in normal mode, simply BSODs. So any utilities that do NOT run properly in Safe Mode are a huge PITA here.

CPU-Z also does not run in safe mode, after many, many attempts I managed to get one screen with snipping tool and said screw it, so dug out the camera

Reset BIOS to defaults again, set clock and voltage to ram specs, left all timings to auto, as when I chose to set timing I ended up with a list of about 10 acronyms that I had no idea what was what. BIOS said it would set everything to SPD settings in the RAM..

http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/kvr1333d3n9_2g.pdf is the datasheet, if needed.