BSODS

[superbarnie]

A few weeks ago, I've been having BSOD's constantly, usually when I was playing Starcraft 2. I reinstalled drivers and defragged, but it didn't help. I had no choice but to reformat my hard drive and do a clean install.

After the clean install, I've had a lot less BSOD's, but it still happens more often than it should. I thought it was my cheap G.SKill 16GB ram that I bought for $50, but Memtest86 found no errors.

I'm pretty puzzled, here are the minidumps from the last few crashes:

This one was from 4/20/2013.

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 3D, {fffff880055fa0f0, 0, 0, fffff880052bf5f0}

Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KiInterruptDispatch+16c )

Followup: MachineOwner

This one's from 4/25/13

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*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck BE, {72efd07e, de00003b8e84025, fffff88009df3940, a}

Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+4333b )

Followup: MachineOwner
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This one's from 4/27/2013

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 1E, {0, 0, 0, 0}

Probably caused by : mouhid.sys ( mouhid!MouHid_StartRead+60 )

Followup: MachineOwner
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This one's from 5/12/13.

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 1E, {ffffffffc0000005, fffff80002ceea03, 0, 50}

Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!StartDeviceRead+1df )

Followup: MachineOwner
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I'd appreciate any help I can get.

Edit: Additional Information

This computer is a laptop. Lenovo Y570, i7-2670QM, GT555M.

It didn't have the problem when I just bought it about a year ago, but it started having lots of BSODS about 2 months ago. Everything was stock except for 16GB G.Skill (2x8GB) ram that I bought on Black Friday.

[stilly]

When I start seeing random errors I tend to think hardware.
Software is pretty much the same, you keep seeing nvidia.sys or display.sys and it is your drivers for your graphics card.

BUT How long have you run memtest for?
Also, try running it with only half your ram or take out all but one stick. I say this because just recently my friends system started BSODing on him left and right so I troubleshot down to the mobo and swapped out a different mobo and then it worked okay. Well, turns out the errors started happening again so I got it down to a RAM issue, then with the older mobo back in I found that with a different memory configuration the problem went away. Turns out that the final prognosis was that a memory slot on the MOBO went bad. He was allowed to run bank 0 with a single Dimm and bank 1 with both Dimms. ANY attempt to put the ram into both slots on bank 0 resulted in instability and crashing. Perhaps you just have a memory slot that went bad. BTW, I have been working on these things for quite some time and this was the FIRST time that I saw this type of issue pop up. Clearly it is not THAT common but it happens. AND, memtest will report that your ram is good all the way through. Out of curiosity do you have any LG optical drives? I have stopped using them due to incompatibility with other items from time to time. Yeah I know, crazy.

If this only happened while playing starcraft then I would point the finger at graphic card or graphic card drivers. But if it is just all over the place then check your RAM configuration.

Here is an easy way, run a stick in a slot until BSOD. shutdown and move it to a different slot, then run it again until BSOD, then do this until it happens in all slots, then change out the piece and see what happens with a different piece.

BTW, How old is this system and what are some of the other specs on it? PSU? how big and how old? Mobo how old? HD, how old and what brand and model? Please do not say WD Green 2 years...

[bigmike82]

Ram is a really common cause.

I've also had massive issues with the hd while using the asus hardware raid controller on my motherboard.

Did you run analyze -v? It should give you more details.

[Ryououki]

How many complete cycles did you allow memtest86 to run? I'd run 3 full cycles to be sure the RAM is ok.

If the RAM is ok, my first guess would be your video card is overheating, since you stated it happens mostly during Starcraft 2 gaming. Do you have any GPU temp monitoring tools installed?

My second guess would be CPU overheating. Are you running Intel or AMD? Do you have a CPU temp monitoring tool installed?

[the86d]

Does your board support Parity/ECC RAM?

Do ou get any warnings when installing drivers stating that they are not for your version of Windows?

[bigbearbear]

Try running the game in Windowed (Fullscreen) mode, basically a Windowed mode but without borders.

Also try reducing the graphic details.

I suspect either your graphics card is overheating or it is trying to do something it cannot handle well.

[cid`]

crack your case open, put a box fan onto it and play, just systematically eliminate as anything it could be..

[superbarnie]

When I start seeing random errors I tend to think hardware.
Software is pretty much the same, you keep seeing nvidia.sys or display.sys and it is your drivers for your graphics card.

BUT How long have you run memtest for?
Also, try running it with only half your ram or take out all but one stick. I say this because just recently my friends system started BSODing on him left and right so I troubleshot down to the mobo and swapped out a different mobo and then it worked okay. Well, turns out the errors started happening again so I got it down to a RAM issue, then with the older mobo back in I found that with a different memory configuration the problem went away. Turns out that the final prognosis was that a memory slot on the MOBO went bad. He was allowed to run bank 0 with a single Dimm and bank 1 with both Dimms. ANY attempt to put the ram into both slots on bank 0 resulted in instability and crashing. Perhaps you just have a memory slot that went bad. BTW, I have been working on these things for quite some time and this was the FIRST time that I saw this type of issue pop up. Clearly it is not THAT common but it happens. AND, memtest will report that your ram is good all the way through. Out of curiosity do you have any LG optical drives? I have stopped using them due to incompatibility with other items from time to time. Yeah I know, crazy.

If this only happened while playing starcraft then I would point the finger at graphic card or graphic card drivers. But if it is just all over the place then check your RAM configuration.

Here is an easy way, run a stick in a slot until BSOD. shutdown and move it to a different slot, then run it again until BSOD, then do this until it happens in all slots, then change out the piece and see what happens with a different piece.

BTW, How old is this system and what are some of the other specs on it? PSU? how big and how old? Mobo how old? HD, how old and what brand and model? Please do not say WD Green 2 years...

I only let Memtest do one pass. I'll do it overnight tonight. No, I don't have an LG HDD, it is a "WDC WD5000BPKT-24PK4T0 ATA Device" according to device manager.

It has only happened while playing SC2 before but today I just got a BSOD while watching a movie. But SC2 was running in the background.

Today's BSOD's Bugcheck Analysis

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*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck D1, {100008, 2, 1, fffff88004b248ff}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+2848ff )

Followup: MachineOwner
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Seems like each crash is caused by a different thing. There's doesn't seem to be a consistent crash reason.

This computer is a laptop. Lenovo Y570, i7-2670QM, GT555M.

It didn't have the problem when I just bought it about a year ago, but it started having lots of BSODS about 2 months ago. Everything was stock except for the 16GB ram that I bought on Black Friday. And everything was running fine before, so I assumed it was the ram.

Ram is a really common cause.

I've also had massive issues with the hd while using the asus hardware raid controller on my motherboard.

Did you run analyze -v? It should give you more details.

I did run analyze-v, but I don't know how to decipher all those those informations.

How many complete cycles did you allow memtest86 to run? I'd run 3 full cycles to be sure the RAM is ok.

If the RAM is ok, my first guess would be your video card is overheating, since you stated it happens mostly during Starcraft 2 gaming. Do you have any GPU temp monitoring tools installed?

My second guess would be CPU overheating. Are you running Intel or AMD? Do you have a CPU temp monitoring tool installed?

I'll try running Memtest again, and it let it do longer. I'm fairly sure it is not overheating, because I can feel that it is warm, but not very hot (exhaust vents on the sides are not even very warm usually). I've other laptops get much hotter with no ill effects. But I'll try installing temperature monitoring tools anyways.

Does your board support Parity/ECC RAM?

Do ou get any warnings when installing drivers stating that they are not for your version of Windows?

No, it does not support ECC. No, I did not get any warnings. I'm fairly sure I installed the correct drivers, because they were from the manufacturer's website. Except, for the Nvidia drivers, which I got from Nvidia's website.

Try running the game in Windowed (Fullscreen) mode, basically a Windowed mode but without borders.

Also try reducing the graphic details.

I suspect either your graphics card is overheating or it is trying to do something it cannot handle well.

I'm actually already playing in Windowed (Fullscreen). Make Alt-tabbing ingame much easier. I'm also running on lowest settings.

crack your case open, put a box fan onto it and play, just systematically eliminate as anything it could be..

It's a laptop, so can't really do that for most parts. But I'll try switching the ram with some spare RAM I have laying around and see if crashes persist.

[stilly]

As I just learned, if you touch your HSF on your video card be careful. I gave myself a 2nd degree burn touching my Radeon x2670 because the fan seized up and the HSF got REALLY hot and BSODed me and kicked me out of Diablo 2 and even while just surfing it kicked me out.

[stilly]

LAPTOP?

Try this, look for a new driver version 301.42 if you have an nvidia card in that thing.

Also, look at the bottom of it and see if you have any dust buildup.

SOME laptops have their intake on the bottom and they suck up dust and there is a tiny screen filter that fills up and then prevents air from getting in and circulating. It needs to be blasted out from the exhaust side with compressed air or a compressor.

It could still be the ram but I am betting you got a jacked dust bunny in there and it is causing a blockage. This is what sucks about laptops, you can not change out anything really except ram and the HD. Laptops are not meant to be taken apart, that is why you have to remove 20 screws to take things out and then when it all goes back together again you have three left over and you do not know where it goes. The best thing to do AFTER YOUR OVERNIGHT RAM TEST is to prolly take it apart and blow out all of the dust if you have any. Do you live in the desert or in a town or neighborhood where there is more loose dirt than grass? That could cause excessive dust buildup with fine particles. It could also be that the thermal grease they used on your heatpipe has dried up cause it was cheap and reseating it with a quality thermal grease might be the answer. Of course you see what that means, if you do not know how to do it then you have to give it to someone that can and that could cost you $$ AND possibly still not solve your problem.

You have a WD black hd it looks like. The HD could be messing up and on its way to check out but I doubt it. Yeah it is WD, but their blacks are usually decent. (yes someone take that out of context...)

Well, let that ram test run and if you find ANY red lines on it then that means that your ram IS bad. then you just gotta determine which stick it is.

GL man.

[ShadowX]

I had a crap load of random BSOD one time on my PC and it was also caused by the RAM. I took the RAM out, cleaned the contacts and inserted back in. I have not had a single BSOD since. I tried everything up to that point. It gave me errors relating to my video card and sound card. I even replaced both and had no effect. It must have been a loose RAM slot that I accidentally bumped during cleaning. Years ago, I had similar issue but the problem was because I was mixing different RAMs. When I switch over to the same RAM, the problems went away. It may have been a timing issue or incompatibility between the two different RAM types.

Its a cheap and fast fix you can try. You can use a pencil eraser to clean the contacts or use DeToxIt cleaner if you have some available. If it doesn't work, you should also take out any cards that can be removed (ie: wifi, etc), clean the contacts and re-seat it. Your problem sounds like a classic hardware problem. Worse case, it may be a bad motherboard.

[the86d]

Not overclocking or anything?

[superbarnie]

My overnight Memtest had successfully completed 3 passes and detected no errors.

Okay, I'll try cleaning the dust. However, a few weeks ago, I had already tried reseating the RAM, and while doing that I didn't not notice any abnormal amounts of dust inside the computer.

My Nvidia driver version is 314.22 .

No, I'm not overclocking.

I would replace the thermal paste, but I don't have any good thermal paste at the moment.

[superbarnie]

My overnight Memtest had successfully completed 3 passes and detected no errors.

Okay, I'll try cleaning the dust. However, a few weeks ago, I had already tried reseating the RAM, and while doing that I didn't not notice any abnormal amounts of dust inside the computer.

My Nvidia driver version is 314.22 .

No, I'm not overclocking.

I would replace the thermal paste, but I don't have any good thermal paste at the moment.

[stilly]

Well, then your ram is prolly okay. IT is funny that many of these tests do not really tell you bad or good. But if memtest finds something then it IS bad, but if it does not find something, that does not mean that it is good, it just means that it has not found the bad yet. LoL.

Did you upgrade drivers anytime recently? Maybe you should try bumping back to 301.42 and see if that makes any difference.

Here is another thing, since we are really doing a process of elimination, then look for a program called everest or aida32 or SPEEDFAN and install one of them and see what it reports for your temp. It might be that we are barking up the wrong tree and you may have a genuinely defective system, but we just gotta sort things out and eliminate when we can. Can you blow air in through the exhaust?