HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause

Acreo Aeneas · 08-09-2008, 08:18 PM

About the time I reported having issues with my G7, I also started experiencing random and not very frequent BSODs, especially after a restart.

At first, I thought perhaps it might have been due to older version of nV driver I had installed for my 8800GT.

After upgrading to the latest 175.19 driver 2 weeks back, I am starting to see these BSODs on startup as well as restarts.

Just today, I had experienced two lockups. Both times required me to push the reset button on the front of my case.

I also just ran 3 passes of Memtest86+ v.1.60 on my RAM after making sure my timings and voltage were correctly set. No errors were reported or found. I ran all 10 tests.

During the BSODs, I noticed two things:

IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS
Minidump to hard disk

After doing a Google search to make sure I remember what this IRQL error was about, I'm at a loss as to how to resolve this problem.

Link 1
Link 2

According to those, it's usually caused by incorrect or corrupt drivers, BIOS, memory, and/or memory controller.

The only two solutions I see is a Windows Repair and a complete reinstall (painful).

My system specs are listed in my signature.

What else can I do?

**Trooper** · 08-09-2008, 08:23 PM

can you roll back that video driver to a previous one. Better yet uninstall it. and clear it completely out then reinstall the previous one.

Acreo Aeneas · 08-10-2008, 12:08 AM

I've already tried that. I still got the BSODs and such. I did that last week and a day later, it froze on the Windows welcome screen. I then uninstalled the old one and reinstalled the new one.

I did speak to Bamboo and he told me that something like 70% of those with nVidia cards still get BSODs and freezing problems. He also had a BSOD about an hour before I posted this thread.

Part of me says it's the nV drivers and the other part says something else is causing this (but don't know what).

**Trooper** · 08-10-2008, 12:35 AM

ive never had an issue with Nv drivers. Have you tried teh omega drivers? they might fix your problem.

Buckets · 08-10-2008, 01:24 AM

This:

Quote:

IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS

suggests a driver problem. It it most likely an Nvidia driver problem.

**Vulcan** · 08-10-2008, 11:05 AM

there should have been a file name with that BSOD IRQ error. If you get it, it makes this much easier.

This typically means that hardware can't find a valid IRQ. You might have to many devices being used on the motherboard and it runs into irq assignment problems. This is common with deluxe motherboards that have a slew of devices built in to the motherboard.

My best suggestion is to disable some mobo devices in the bios like firewire, audio, wifi etc and then see how it runs. If you can get a dxdiag or report of the file causing the error that would help.

Acreo Aeneas · 08-10-2008, 01:15 PM

I have the minidump files, but can't make much sense of them. I also don't know which program to use to read minidumps, as Notepad and Wordpad both display garble when I open the minidump with either of those text editors.

**Dick Blonov** · 08-10-2008, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

I have the minidump files, but can't make much sense of them.

Unless you have lots of debugging tools installed, and write code for a living, not much you can do with these. Does your event log have entries related to the BSODs ?

DB

Acreo Aeneas · 08-10-2008, 04:14 PM

Not sure. Since you mention debugging tools, reminds me to install my programming tools.

One of them should open the file fine.

Acreo Aeneas · 08-11-2008, 04:31 PM

Well, it seems the nVidia display drivers are to blame.

I got another BSOD trying to restart the machine. It seems I can no longer restart the machine (through START > Restart) because of the poorly written/buggy nV drivers.

Here is the BSOD screenshot (taken with a camera):

After a quick Google search, I found another person who had trouble a year ago with his nV drivers and it caused this same BSOD error.

Edit:

I just submitted a report to nVidia through their Quality Assurance page. Hopefully they'll fix it before the next darn version of Windows releases.

For once, I'm starting to regret purchasing my 8800 GT.

**Dick Blonov** · 08-11-2008, 07:00 PM

From msdn: This error has been linked to excessive paged pool usage and may occur due to user-mode graphics drivers crossing over and passing bad data to the kernel code

DB

**jb4** · 08-11-2008, 07:25 PM

If you use Windows debugging tools and have the crash .dmp files to open, the commands ".ecxr" and "!analyze -v" are pretty helpful to spit out something that makes sense down to a specific file.

gator skywalker · 08-12-2008, 12:33 AM

What version of windows are you running? What service pack are you running? If it is SP3, did you do a clean install or an upgrade?

I have seen a few people having issues when they upgrade to SP3 rather than doing a clean install.

**Dick Blonov** · 08-12-2008, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gator skywalker

What version of windows are you running? What service pack are you running? If it is SP3, did you do a clean install or an upgrade?

I have seen a few people having issues when they upgrade to SP3 rather than doing a clean install.

Check his siggy: Vista home premium x64

DB

Acreo Aeneas · 08-12-2008, 01:58 AM

Yeah, that's the general impression I got from Google searches: nVidia drivers are accessing stuff "out of bounds".

If the drivers don't get better in the next few months, I'm going to try and get a HD4850 instead.

08-09-2008, 08:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
Acreo Aeneas Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: DePaul University (Chicago) Age: 22 Posts: 4,673	HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause About the time I reported having issues with my G7, I also started experiencing random and not very frequent BSODs, especially after a restart. At first, I thought perhaps it might have been due to older version of nV driver I had installed for my 8800GT. After upgrading to the latest 175.19 driver 2 weeks back, I am starting to see these BSODs on startup as well as restarts. Just today, I had experienced two lockups. Both times required me to push the reset button on the front of my case. I also just ran 3 passes of Memtest86+ v.1.60 on my RAM after making sure my timings and voltage were correctly set. No errors were reported or found. I ran all 10 tests. During the BSODs, I noticed two things: IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS Minidump to hard disk After doing a Google search to make sure I remember what this IRQL error was about, I'm at a loss as to how to resolve this problem. Link 1 Link 2 According to those, it's usually caused by incorrect or corrupt drivers, BIOS, memory, and/or memory controller. The only two solutions I see is a Windows Repair and a complete reinstall (painful). My system specs are listed in my signature. What else can I do? __________________ Current Obsessions: Netbooks and other low-cost, small, and portable PCs. RSS Feeds: Bamboo

08-09-2008, 08:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
Trooper Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In my wifes house......if she says i can Age: 25 Posts: 8,877	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause can you roll back that video driver to a previous one. Better yet uninstall it. and clear it completely out then reinstall the previous one.

08-10-2008, 12:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
Acreo Aeneas Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: DePaul University (Chicago) Age: 22 Posts: 4,673	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause I've already tried that. I still got the BSODs and such. I did that last week and a day later, it froze on the Windows welcome screen. I then uninstalled the old one and reinstalled the new one. I did speak to Bamboo and he told me that something like 70% of those with nVidia cards still get BSODs and freezing problems. He also had a BSOD about an hour before I posted this thread. Part of me says it's the nV drivers and the other part says something else is causing this (but don't know what). __________________ Current Obsessions: Netbooks and other low-cost, small, and portable PCs. RSS Feeds: Bamboo

08-10-2008, 12:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
Trooper Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In my wifes house......if she says i can Age: 25 Posts: 8,877	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause ive never had an issue with Nv drivers. Have you tried teh omega drivers? they might fix your problem.

08-10-2008, 11:05 AM	#6 (permalink)
Vulcan Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Montreal Age: 30 Posts: 7,574	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause there should have been a file name with that BSOD IRQ error. If you get it, it makes this much easier. This typically means that hardware can't find a valid IRQ. You might have to many devices being used on the motherboard and it runs into irq assignment problems. This is common with deluxe motherboards that have a slew of devices built in to the motherboard. My best suggestion is to disable some mobo devices in the bios like firewire, audio, wifi etc and then see how it runs. If you can get a dxdiag or report of the file causing the error that would help. __________________ TG Primer - CSS SOP's - INS SOP's

08-10-2008, 01:15 PM	#7 (permalink)
Acreo Aeneas Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: DePaul University (Chicago) Age: 22 Posts: 4,673	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause I have the minidump files, but can't make much sense of them. I also don't know which program to use to read minidumps, as Notepad and Wordpad both display garble when I open the minidump with either of those text editors. __________________ Current Obsessions: Netbooks and other low-cost, small, and portable PCs. RSS Feeds: Bamboo

08-10-2008, 04:14 PM	#9 (permalink)
Acreo Aeneas Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: DePaul University (Chicago) Age: 22 Posts: 4,673	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause Not sure. Since you mention debugging tools, reminds me to install my programming tools. One of them should open the file fine. __________________ Current Obsessions: Netbooks and other low-cost, small, and portable PCs. RSS Feeds: Bamboo

08-11-2008, 04:31 PM	#10 (permalink)
Acreo Aeneas Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: DePaul University (Chicago) Age: 22 Posts: 4,673	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause Well, it seems the nVidia display drivers are to blame. I got another BSOD trying to restart the machine. It seems I can no longer restart the machine (through START > Restart) because of the poorly written/buggy nV drivers. Here is the BSOD screenshot (taken with a camera): After a quick Google search, I found another person who had trouble a year ago with his nV drivers and it caused this same BSOD error. Edit: I just submitted a report to nVidia through their Quality Assurance page. Hopefully they'll fix it before the next darn version of Windows releases. For once, I'm starting to regret purchasing my 8800 GT. __________________ Current Obsessions: Netbooks and other low-cost, small, and portable PCs. RSS Feeds: Bamboo

08-11-2008, 07:00 PM	#11 (permalink)
Dick Blonov Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: In a Vortex! Age: 51 Posts: 3,398	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause From msdn: This error has been linked to excessive paged pool usage and may occur due to user-mode graphics drivers crossing over and passing bad data to the kernel code DB __________________ \|TG-6th\|Blonov «Any situation that involves the line "I was ran over by a dumptruck..." can't be good.» eGoatBoy BattleField2 SOPs \| Teamspeak \| Server Rules and SOPs \| The 6th Devil's Brigade

08-11-2008, 07:25 PM	#12 (permalink)
jb4 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: AZ-In the cool A/C Age: 44 Posts: 1,314	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause If you use Windows debugging tools and have the crash .dmp files to open, the commands ".ecxr" and "!analyze -v" are pretty helpful to spit out something that makes sense down to a specific file. __________________ POE2 2.5 Overview \| TG BF2 Quick Start Guide \| No sauce? Try Vanilla!

08-12-2008, 12:33 AM	#13 (permalink)
gator skywalker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: The Gator Nation Posts: 188	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause What version of windows are you running? What service pack are you running? If it is SP3, did you do a clean install or an upgrade? I have seen a few people having issues when they upgrade to SP3 rather than doing a clean install.

08-12-2008, 01:58 AM	#15 (permalink)
Acreo Aeneas Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: DePaul University (Chicago) Age: 22 Posts: 4,673	Re: HELP: BSODs and Lockups, Unable to Determine Cause Yeah, that's the general impression I got from Google searches: nVidia drivers are accessing stuff "out of bounds". If the drivers don't get better in the next few months, I'm going to try and get a HD4850 instead. __________________ Current Obsessions: Netbooks and other low-cost, small, and portable PCs. RSS Feeds: Bamboo

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