Solved Sudden, Unexplained BSOD with No Text

[Wixi]

Hi, I hope someone can help.

I posted a similar query in January as this was when I first encountered the issue.
At the time I thought the problem was connected to my Xbox controller as the BSOD occurred
after I plugged it into the USB port. However, this time the BSOD occurred while I was reading an online article at telegraph.co.uk. My laptop's screen suddenly went black while I was halfway through the article. It then displayed what looked like a BSOD, only there was no text, just lots of constantly changing, multi-coloured rows of pixels. After a few seconds I heard a couple of very faint pops or clicks, and the laptop rebooted itself along with a screen saying Windows hadn't shut down properly. I made a note of the errors Windows displayed afterwards in case they're useful:

Problem Event Name: Blue Screen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 2057

BCCode: a
BCP1: 0000000000000000
BCP2: 0000000000000002
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: FFFFF8000367C732

Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:

C:\Windows\Minidump\030516-28735-01.dmp
C:\Users\Chrissie\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-76502-0.sysdata.xml

I've run a full scan with McAfee which found nothing. I ran a scan with MBAM which found a generic PUP,
which it quarantined. I don't think the PUP caused this as I ran a scan the first time this happened and MBAM found nothing that time. Apart from these odd occurrences, everything else seems to be working normally. My laptop is a Dell Studio 17 running Windows 7 64bit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Hello Wixi mate.

Just as I suspected, the BSOD was probably caused by : dxgmms1.sys which is driver for DirectX, so please without further ado please head on over here to AMD's support download page:

Legacy

Before installing the new drivers I would recommend making a clean uninstallment of the current drivers using for example Revo Uninstaller, reboot and have on the desktop the new drivers for you to install!

Cheers, Boris

 

[Wixi]

Hi BorisTheAnimal,

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to ask a couple of questions before attempting the driver installation:

1: Do I need to install chipset drivers as well?
2: Would the free version of Revo Uninstaller be enough to remove the drivers?

Thanks.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Hi BorisTheAnimal,

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to ask a couple of questions before attempting the driver installation:

1: Do I need to install chipset drivers as well?
2: Would the free version of Revo Uninstaller be enough to remove the drivers?

Thanks.

1. No need.
2. Yes free version is good enough.

 

[Wixi]

Thanks Boris,

Hope these aren't silly questions but I'm having trouble locating the driver that needs uninstalling using Revo Uninstaller. According to the AMD page and Device Manager, my current driver is called ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 but I can't work out how to access this using Revo.

This might be another silly question, but if the driver that caused the BSOD was for DirectX, why is it necessary to update this particular driver?

Thanks for your help.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Hello Wixi.

I wouldn't say there are silly questions but rather silly answers.

Well from my understanding you'll need to uninstall the AMD catalyst software and that should remove the driver for the graphics card as well.

Here is a small information box I found on a tech site:

DirectX and Open GL

DirectX and Open GL are application programming interfaces, or APIs. An API helps hardware and software communicate more efficiently by providing instructions for complex tasks, like 3-D rendering. Developers optimize graphics-intensive games for specific APIs. This is why the newest games often require updated versions of DirectX or Open GL to work correctly.
APIs are different from drivers, which are programs that allow hardware to communicate with a computer's operating system. But as with updated APIs, updated device drivers can help programs run correctly.*

Cheers, Boris

 

[Wixi]

Thanks Boris.

The AMD site automatically downloaded the driver file to somewhere in C:\Users but I can't locate it, which is annoying as I wanted to move it to the Desktop.

I found something in Revo called ATI Catalyst Control Center - is this the software that needs uninstalling?

Sorry for so many extra questions. The default location for the new driver installation is C:\AMD\AMD-Catalyst-15.7.1-Without-DOTNet45-Win7-64bit - is this okay?

Thanks.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Thanks Boris.

The AMD site automatically downloaded the driver file to somewhere in C:\Users but I can't locate it, which is annoying as I wanted to move it to the Desktop.

I found something in Revo called ATI Catalyst Control Center - is this the software that needs uninstalling?

Sorry for so many extra questions. The default location for the new driver installation is C:\AMD\AMD-Catalyst-15.7.1-Without-DOTNet45-Win7-64bit - is this okay?

Thanks.

Hi Wixi.

I presume you have set up your browser to put all downloaded files into "C:\Users\YourName\Downloads".

Yes, that is the one.

Yes that is also okay.

No problem Wixi am happy to help!

Cheers, Boris

 

[Wixi]

Thanks again, Boris,

I checked the downloads folder several times and it wasn't there, which was weird since that's where all my downloads usually go. Finally found the driver file, it was in Local/Temp for some reason. :s

If I uninstall the ATI software, will a newer version be installed with the new driver?

Thanks.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

No most probably the current driver is faulty or broken and that's why you are facing problems.

Though only time will tell, keep me posted!

Cheers, Boris

 

[Wixi]

Thanks Boris,

One more question, why is it necessary to use a program like Revo to uninstall the old driver, instead of just uninstalling through the Control Panel?

Thanks.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Thanks Boris,

One more question, why is it necessary to use a program like Revo to uninstall the old driver, instead of just uninstalling through the Control Panel?

Thanks.

Yeah no problem, it is nice helping people, would be nice if this was a paid job

Ah that is because it will clean out like those kinds of files that the Control Panel wouldn't normally touch.

Like registry files, the old and current driver files, and I think it also cleans up from the AppData folder.

 

[Wixi]

Hi Boris,

I've just discovered Revo has four uninstall settings to choose from - built-in, safe, moderate and advanced. Moderate is the default option, so should I go with this one?

Thanks.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Hi Wixi.

Yes please do the moderate!

I would be quite surprised if something that was recommended wouldn't be useful

Cheers, Boris

 

[Wixi]

Hi Boris,

Sorry for not getting back earlier. I've been having a terrible time getting the driver problem sorted.
Everything was fine until I tried to install the new driver. About half way through the installation procedure, the screen kept going black. At first I thought this was part of the installation process, but then I got another scrambled looking BSOD with no text, followed by a message informing me Windows hadn't shut down properly. It took longer than usual to boot, and when it did the graphics were very basic and low-resolution: it looked like it was running in Safe Mode, only it wasn't. I eventually decided to try System Restore as things were running much slower than usual. Thankfully System Restore worked and I'm now back to the point I was at after uninstalling the ATI software.

I found a few error logs, I don't know if any are helpful:


20:17 The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was:
0x00000116 (0xfffffa80027914e0, 0xfffff8800640ccac,
0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000002). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP.
Report Id: 031616-157436-01.


20:18 Source
Windows

Summary
Video hardware error

Date
‎16/‎03/‎2016 20:18

Status
Not reported

Description
A problem with your video hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 2057

Files that help describe the problem
WD-20160316-2013.dmp
sysdata.xml
WERInternalMetadata.xml

Extra information about the problem
BCCode: 117
BCP1: FFFFFA80027914E0
BCP2: FFFFF8800640CCAC
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1


Source
Windows

Summary
Shut down unexpectedly

Date
‎16/‎03/‎2016 20:18

Status
Not reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 2057

Extra information about the problem
BCCode: 116
BCP1: FFFFFA80027914E0
BCP2: FFFFF8800640CCAC
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000002
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1


I'd be really grateful for any advice you could give, because I have no idea what to try. Thanks.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Bug Check 0x116: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR

This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.

I would suggest you try different graphics card drivers. Though I'm a bit unsure which drivers you currently have installed.

Also I would recommend at this stage that you also run these just to rule out any other problems:

sfc scannow

RAM test memtest86+

Cheers, Boris

 

[Wixi]

Hi Boris,

Sorry for the late reply. I haven't had time, and am not sure when I'll have time, to do the memtest.
I managed to do a sfc scan and a chkdsk just in case, but neither scan found any errors.

Where would I check to find out what my existing drivers are?

Thanks.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Hi Wixi.

Alright take all the time you need!

Well if you could run the DM-log collector, it would be top!

Cheers, Boris

 

[Wixi]

Hi Boris,

I can run the log collector again if you want, I'm just a bit confused as to why I need to as I ran it an attached a log when I first started the post.

 

[BorisTheAnimal]

Hello Wixi,

I think we can agree on that it has happened a lot since the first log in the beginning.

And also the tool makes it easy for me to check driver dates and versions!

Cheers, Boris