Windows 7 Hang

[AngryJedi]

k so the computer just froze again...BIOS update didn't help either

 

[H2SO4]

k so the computer just froze again...BIOS update didn't help either

I think it's time to steel yourself for that long and arduous telephone call to Asus tech support.

 

[AngryJedi]

Hi H2SO4,
Is there a way I can force the ntfswaitsync? I want to try to make the computer hang in safe mode because It hasn't at all yet :S
I've called ASUS and they don't quite understand the situation and they will call me back tomorrow lol

 

[H2SO4]

Hi H2SO4,
Is there a way I can force the ntfswaitsync? I want to try to make the computer hang in safe mode because It hasn't at all yet :S
I've called ASUS and they don't quite understand the situation and they will call me back tomorrow lol

Short answer: no.

In fact, the NtfsWaitSync is itself a function of the way the file system periodically commits "transaction" data. It happens all the time. When your disk/controller becomes briefly unresponsive, the NtfsWaitSync is what pauses the rest of the OS, but it too is just a victim.

I'd suggest staying away from "Deep and Meaningful" discussions with the Asus tech support folk. If you tell them that the cleanly rebuilt machine (with absolutely NOTHING on it except the OS) periodically freezes for ~45sec, and they don't believe that it's hardware, get them to tell you how to rebuild the machine "so it doesn't happen", follow their instructions, test, and then tell them "it didn't work - now pretty please look at the hardware"

 

[AngryJedi]

haha good point,
the issue however is that I have (and told them) that Windows 7 is installed instead of Vista. This laptop came with Vista and doesn't have any Windows 7 drivers listed as it has gone obsolete. The recovery DVD that came with the laptop does not work anymore either because it does not support the new motherboard that I had been given when the laptop initially died . I've asked for a restore disc for the newer motherboard but they want me to purchase it. I'm gnna try and convince them to send it for free seeing as how the copy of Windows I paid for doesn't work anymore.
Another issue is that it has been over 2 years (ASUS's warranty is 2 years for laptops) since I've purchased this laptop. If it does require hardware servicing then I might be a goner
Hopefully they can send me a restore disc and I'll see if restoring to Vista again does the trick, unfortunately I don't have a retail copy of Vista anywhere to test with either.

 

[H2SO4]

haha good point,
the issue however is that I have (and told them) that Windows 7 is installed instead of Vista. This laptop came with Vista and doesn't have any Windows 7 drivers listed as it has gone obsolete. The recovery DVD that came with the laptop does not work anymore either because it does not support the new motherboard that I had been given when the laptop initially died . I've asked for a restore disc for the newer motherboard but they want me to purchase it. I'm gnna try and convince them to send it for free seeing as how the copy of Windows I paid for doesn't work anymore.
Another issue is that it has been over 2 years (ASUS's warranty is 2 years for laptops) since I've purchased this laptop. If it does require hardware servicing then I might be a goner
Hopefully they can send me a restore disc and I'll see if restoring to Vista again does the trick, unfortunately I don't have a retail copy of Vista anywhere to test with either.

It's painful just to read about your interaction with "support", and it reminds me just how inchoate and improvised many companies' policies for dealing with these matters really are.

They give you a new mobo because the old one died (while it was still under warranty?), and then they want you to pay for the privilege of them also supplying you with a recovery disk that works with the new motherboard they just sent you? That's just pure class.

I sincerely wish you the best possible outcome - Vista magically works where Win7 has failed, and then one day you reinstall Win7 only to find that it's all good

 

[AngryJedi]

It's painful just to read about your interaction with "support", and it reminds me just how inchoate and improvised many companies' policies for dealing with these matters really are.

They give you a new mobo because the old one died (while it was still under warranty?), and then they want you to pay for the privilege of them also supplying you with a recovery disk that works with the new motherboard they just sent you? That's just pure class.

I sincerely wish you the best possible outcome - Vista magically works where Win7 has failed, and then one day you reinstall Win7 only to find that it's all good

Haha that's assuming my laptop still works when Win8 comes out or even supports it for that matter lol, let's hope for the best and I'll keep you informed!
Thanks a lot once again for your help

 

[AngryJedi]

Hey guys,
Just a quick question. The hard drive and hard drive controller are all integrated into the hard drive itself right? So technically if I replace my hard drive, I should eliminate whether the hard drive AND the hard drive controller is the problem no?

Also, the "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort1" error that I get in my events log, how do I determine what piece of hardware is hooked into IdePort1 on my laptop?

 

[H2SO4]

Hey guys,
Just a quick question. The hard drive and hard drive controller are all integrated into the hard drive itself right? So technically if I replace my hard drive, I should eliminate whether the hard drive AND the hard drive controller is the problem no?

Unfortunately, it's not possible to give you a firm answer regarding that second question. The problem may be in the drive or that portion of the controller which is embedded in the motherboard circuitry.

In fact, what passes for an IDE "controller" is split between the motherboard and the device.

Also, the "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort1" error that I get in my events log, how do I determine what piece of hardware is hooked into IdePort1 on my laptop?

It's almost certainly the HDD. The sysinternals (sysinternals.com) WinObj utility allows you to peruse what's called the "object manager namespace". In there, you'll find a \Devices section, and a "\Global??". If you find the "symbolic link" for your C: drive in the Global?? section, you'll most likely see that it points to \Device\Ide\IdePort1.

 

[AngryJedi]

Hey I used WinObj.exe and from there it shows me that my C: drive is linked to \Device\HarddiskVolume2.
The \Device\Ide\IdePort1 is linked to Scsi1 :S
Any clue what might be happening here?

Heres a pic:

 

[H2SO4]

Hey I used WinObj.exe and from there it shows me that my C: drive is linked to \Device\HarddiskVolume2.
The \Device\Ide\IdePort1 is linked to Scsi1 :S
Any clue what might be happening here?

Heres a pic:

Whoops, I left out a layer

Short version: it's the disk controller, though that doesn't necessarily mean the motherboard is at fault and not the HDD.

Detail: The "human" definition of a "device" is somewhat different to the way the OS uses that word, at least at this level. To you and me, a "device" is something distinct, like a HDD for example. To the OS, a DEVICE_OBJECT is an instance of a kernel-mode struct used by drivers to keep track of various "devices" they manage, be they discrete hardware components or more esoteric constructs. The relationship between DEVICE_OBJECTs, their symlinks, and the drivers which handle them cannot be fully appreciated without a debugger. In the example below, I've followed the "SCSI2" symlink to show that it leads to the ATAPI controller driver, at least on the machine where the example was generated:

3: kd> !object \global??
Object: fffff8a000006270 Type: (fffffa8003968f30) Directory
ObjectHeader: fffff8a000006240 (new version)
HandleCount: 1 PointerCount: 242
Directory Object: fffff8a000004ca0 Name: GLOBAL??
Hash Address Type Name
---- ------- ---- ----
...
fffff8a0002972c0 SymbolicLink Scsi2:
...
3: kd> !object fffff8a0002972c0
Object: fffff8a0002972c0 Type: (fffffa8003968de0) SymbolicLink
ObjectHeader: fffff8a000297290 (new version)
HandleCount: 0 PointerCount: 1
Directory Object: fffff8a000006270 Name: Scsi2:
Target String is '\Device\Ide\IdePort1'

3: kd> !object \device\ide\ideport1
Object: fffffa8005318050 Type: (fffffa80039ddde0) Device
ObjectHeader: fffffa8005318020 (new version)
HandleCount: 0 PointerCount: 2
Directory Object: fffff8a000272eb0 Name: IdePort1

3: kd> !devobj fffffa8005318050
Device object (fffffa8005318050) is for:
IdePort1 \Driver\atapi DriverObject fffffa8004f0fe70
Current Irp 00000000 RefCount 0 Type 00000004 Flags 00000050
Dacl fffff9a1002f9901 DevExt fffffa80053181a0 DevObjExt fffffa800531abe8
...

 

[dmoseder]

I created a thread awhile ago about have windows 7 freezing problems. The explorer just kept freezing up on me and it was annoying, mostly when installing or copying somethng, sometimes just trying to do more than one thing. Unfortunately, I ever found a fix and went back to vista and never had a problem again.

 

[kornesque]

I'm having pretty much the same issue, although I haven't had the time to fault isolate yet. As my rig is totally different, is it safe to assume there may be a new process/driver/(insert fancy term here) that may be interacting with various hardware in a cruel and unusual way? When I get a chance, I'll try applying some of the above TS and see what I come up with.

H2SO4, thanks for letting us in your noggin! Very good info presented here.

 

[H2SO4]

I'm having pretty much the same issue, although I haven't had the time to fault isolate yet. As my rig is totally different, is it safe to assume there may be a new process/driver/(insert fancy term here) that may be interacting with various hardware in a cruel and unusual way? When I get a chance, I'll try applying some of the above TS and see what I come up with.

H2SO4, thanks for letting us in your noggin! Very good info presented here.

No problem. As a suggestion, don't assume that your symptom is caused by the same issues as the OP's, just because the hang looks the same.

All periodic hangs ultimately look identical from the user's point of view - the machine is chugging along, and then it's not, for a while, and then it comes back again. However, the range of possible causes is vast, and the OP has/had a very specific one which is statistically unlikely to be replicated in your case.

 

[kornesque]

No problem. As a suggestion, don't assume that your symptom is caused by the same issues as the OP's, just because the hang looks the same.

All periodic hangs ultimately look identical from the user's point of view - the machine is chugging along, and then it's not, for a while, and then it comes back again. However, the range of possible causes is vast, and the OP has/had a very specific one which is statistically unlikely to be replicated in your case.

Agreed, in fact I'm seeing this:

"The Computer Browser service depends on the Server service which failed to start because of the following error:
The dependency service or group failed to start."

in event viewer. There are roughly a couple dozen of these in a 13sec period. Further investigation continues.

 

[kornesque]

Hmmm...what's wrong with this picture? Clue: "System Interrupts" process is using pretty much all of the CPU.

 

[H2SO4]

Hmmm...what's wrong with this picture? Clue: "System Interrupts" process is using pretty much all of the CPU.

You may find some of this info useful:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-...shes-when-copying-external-hd.html#post280984

Either way, consider starting your own thread if you'd like assistance, so that your issue gets more attention.