Windows 7 BSOD Win7- I've tried so much.

[Jluras]

Once again! another 3b BSOD.

 

[Jluras]

Not sure if anyone will even see this thread but I'll take a shot and post up another minidump as I'm still having problems that can hopefully be fixed. Thanks all around for everything so far! It's a 7f

 

[TorrentG]

This driver is still on the system...

 RTCore64 RTCore64.sys Wed May 25 02:39:12 2005

I would uninstall any of the overclocking utilities because whatever version it is, is too old.

Then go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers and delete the above driver if it is still there. Reboot.


Make sure there is no overclocking anywhere in the system (cpu/ram/gpu/gddr).

There is a new video card driver to install:

Drivers & Support | GAME.AMD.COM

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Install the latest Mass Effect 2 patch:

http://social.bioware.com/page/me2-patches

One of the many things it fixes is bsods:

"Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes crash during the Jarrahe mission when using Windows 7 (64-bit)."

 

[Jluras]

Done and done! Hopefully most of my problems are over.

 

[TorrentG]

Yes, it looks good for you based on the above and the video error you kept on getting.

As always, please post a new dump if needed and best of luck. Let us know also if it continues to be well.

 

[Jluras]

Alas, there is but another minidump! When will the treachery end?

 

[zvit]

I'm getting into BSOD issues, just enjoy it. TorrentG, I read your "welcome back" post on how you used to solve these about a year ago and I guess then you said "I'LL BE BACK!" and you came back

So I'll always appreciate your comments on debugging.

1. I looked at the debug file and it seems that he did what you told him. Both the ATI driver and the MassEffect2 driver seem to be up-to-date (2010)
2. The PROCESS_NAME: MassEffect2.ex I would suspect, is showing that Masseffect is the culprit.
3. MODULE_NAME: atikmdag, IMAGE_NAME: atikmdag.sys I suspect means that it is still an ATI driver issues, most likely clashing with the game.
4. Arg1: 0000000000000008, EXCEPTION_DOUBLE_FAULT, means that it is a hardware problem.

I don't know where to debug to see if overclocking is active somewhere on the machine. Can you see that in a debug file?
If Mr. Driver is the bad guy and his drivers are up to date and he says he disabled all overclocking, I'd really like to learn from you and see how you continue to analyze this.
Could it be a RAM hardware problem? Could it be his monitor driver?

Maybe he should completely uninstall his ATI drivers, restart and then install them again.

Maybe ask him about the sticky stuff dripping from his computer.... or is that only from scan lines on a monitor...

 

[cybercore]

Dump file: 071810-43711-01.dmp
File: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmdag.sys

This was likely caused by the following module: atikmdag.sys
Bugcheck code: 0x7F (0x8, 0x80050031, 0x6F8, 0xFFFFF8800471DE1E)
Error: UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP


product: ATI Radeon Family
company: ATI Technologies Inc.
description: ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver


Try reinstalling the same driver or get the latest version. Uninstall, reboot, apply driver sweeper to completely rid of old video driver files. Then install Catalyst components and reboot after each.

AMD Game Forums - ATIKMDAG.sys problems and TDR FAQ

 

[Jluras]

Try reinstalling the same driver or get the latest version. Uninstall, reboot, apply driver sweeper to completely rid of old video driver files. Then install Catalyst components and reboot after each.

AMD Game Forums - ATIKMDAG.sys problems and TDR FAQ

I'll run driver sweeper for the 3rd time and reinstall the drivers. The forum listed states so many issues that can cause the same problems I'm running into. Since my MB isn't able to be overclocked I can't manually set power usage settings or anything like that in my BIOS to help regulate my video card or RAM which might have helped out (this was stated earlier as a potential problem as well). Would selling my card and picking up an Nvidia or something else remedy all my problems?

 

[cybercore]

Does it happen with Mass Effect only, or other games as well?

If you have tried everything suggested in this thread, then it really could be one of those issues listed in the amd link. The link mentions that new drivers can trigger TDR, so since what system changes and how long have you had BSOD's? Earlier Catalyst versions e.g. 10.3 have been reported to work better.

You mention service packs in your system, I take it windows updates, not SP 1 beta really?

~~~~~~

I understand you're tired of all those reinstallations in vain, but I would run these two (will take time) :

cmd > chkdsk /f
cmd > sfc /scannow

 

[Jluras]

It happens randomly playing any games or surfing the net (Almost always playing games though). The earliest driver version I had installed on was 10.5 I believe since this is a fairly new rig. Upgrading to 10.6 hasn't helped at all. Also all I have are the updates; the service pack beta is not installed. I'll be running those cmd actions now.

 

[Jluras]

I ran both cmd actions and I got "Windows source protection did not find integrity violations" for the sfc, and nothing flagged for the chkdsk scan. 0 bad files or anything. Should I try installing version 10.3 catalyst for my video drivers?

 

[cybercore]

Ok, post back your results (including new BSOD's if you get them).

If your motherboard were old enough, I'd recommend updating bios. But your rig is all modern.

It happens randomly playing any games or surfing the net (Almost always playing games though).

Fair chance then it is the ati driver issue. Catalyst 10.3 is recommended by many ATI users including me.

Bug Check 0x7F: UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP

Bug check 0x7F typically occurs after you install a faulty or mismatched hardware (especially memory) or if installed hardware fails.

A double fault can occur when the kernel stack overflows. This overflow occurs if multiple drivers are attached to the same stack. For example, if two file system filter drivers are attached to the same stack and then the file system recurses back in, the stack overflows.

TorrentG has already identified one very likely cause, I take it you've got rid of that:

This driver is still on the system...

RTCore64 RTCore64.sys Wed May 25 02:39:12 2005

I would uninstall any of the overclocking utilities because whatever version it is, is too old.

I would recommend the same. Have a question how did you get that file on a new rig?

Troubleshooting:

Troubleshooting: If you recently added hardware to the computer, remove it to see if the error recurs. If existing hardware has failed, remove or replace the faulty component. Run hardware diagnostics that the system manufacturer supplies to determine which hardware component failed.

The memory scanner is especially important. Faulty or mismatched memory can cause this bug check. For more information about these procedures, see the owner's manual for your computer. Check that all adapter cards in the computer are properly seated. Use an ink eraser or an electrical contact treatment, available at electronics supply stores, to ensure adapter card contacts are clean.

If the error appears on a newly installed system, check the availability of updates for the BIOS, the SCSI controller, or network cards. These kind of updates are typically available on the Web site or BBS of the hardware manufacturer.

Confirm that all hard disk drives, hard disk controllers, and SCSI adapters are listed in the Microsoft Windows Marketplace Tested Products List.

If the error occurred after the installation of a new or updated device driver, you should remove or replace the driver. If, under this circumstance, the error occurs during the startup sequence and the system partition is formatted with NTFS, you might be able to use Safe Mode to rename or delete the faulty driver. If the driver is used as part of the system startup process in Safe Mode, you have to start the computer by using the Recovery Console in order to access the file.

Also restart your computer, and then press F8 at the character-based menu that displays the operating system choices. At the Advanced Options menu, select the Last Known Good Configuration option. This option is most effective when you add only one driver or service at a time.

Overclocking (setting the CPU to run at speeds above the rated specification) can cause this error. If you have overclocked the computer that is experiencing the error, return the CPU to the default clock speed setting.

Check the System Log in Event Viewer for additional error messages that might help identify the device or driver that is causing the error. You can also disable memory caching of the BIOS to try to resolve the problem.

If you encountered this error while upgrading to a new version of the Windows operating system, the error might be caused by a device driver, a system service, a virus scanner, or a backup tool that is incompatible with the new version. If possible, remove all third-party device drivers and system services and disable any virus scanners before you upgrade. Contact the software manufacturer to obtain updates of these tools. Also make sure that you have installed the latest Windows Service Pack.

Finally, if all the above steps do not resolve the error, take the system motherboard to a repair facility for diagnostic testing. A crack, a scratched trace, or a defective component on the motherboard can also cause this error.

 

[cybercore]

I ran both cmd actions and I got "Windows source protection did not find integrity violations" for the sfc, and nothing flagged for the chkdsk scan. 0 bad files or anything. Should I try installing version 10.3 catalyst for my video drivers?

Ok, your system is fine as well as your hard disk. Thank you for updating the thread.

 

[cybercore]

It's just occured to me that ATI 5850 needs a brand PSU rated at 550W or higher for your system. Could this be the cause?

 

[Jluras]

I have a Corsair TX 750w PSU. I installed the 10.3 drivers and made sure to run driver sweeper to clean everything out. When I ran it I noticed some Nvidia drivers on my computer and I'm not sure why they would be there as the ATI card is the only one I've had in this rig. I'm going to play some games real quick to see if I get any BSOD's for minidumps (hopefully everything will be fine though, I'll keep this thread updated!).

 

[TorrentG]

If it hasn't been tried yet (and of course, if bsod continue) - then use Driver Sweeper in safe mode as it may make some positive difference.

To answer the questions about why this could possibly be happening:

1) I really don't think it's an actual fault in the driver itself. Nobody else is really showing errors like this and it's my personal belief that ATI as well as NVIDIA have really been on top of their game lately with respect to bsod. These drivers, while gamers here and there may still complain of minor issues, are top notch with respect to system stability. There is no wide-spread report of bsod problems where these drivers are at fault.

2) Heat and/or overclocking - Will make the video driver crash like no tomorrow. Since it's been said that there is no overclocking, we can probably forget about heat too. But probably is not definitely. There are tons of different system cases with different airflow. If these crashes continue, I would open the case and blow a large room fan on the motherboard/video card to 100% eliminate heat as a possibility of failure. It's only a test and I'm not saying that this is how your rig should be all the time (lol).

3) No, there is no way to state absolutely that there is overclocking in any form (cpu/ram/gpu/gddr) is going on, on the machine based on analyzing crash dumps. Also, there is no way to see which patches are applied for any particular game, as games do not have drivers. To see a list of drivers on the system, the command "ln v m" can be used. There are other flags to use to...it's just the way I do it.

4) A poorly built, weak or faulty psu will definitely cause issues with the video card. I can be very hopeful in this case however that the psu is not an issue. Corsair is as good as a name brand that you can get.

5) It can only help things to make sure DirectX is the latest. Here's a link to that:

DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) download from Guru3D.com


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There are a few gpu memory test softwares that could be found if you Google. It may be worth looking into trying one of these if all else fails.

 

[Jluras]

Ever since changing my video card driver to version 1.3 I haven't crashed yet. Even while playing intensive games such as Mass Effect 2 for upwards of 4 hours (it used to crash every 30 mins). I'll keep you posted but for now things seem alright.

 

[cybercore]

As for Catalyst 10.3, so far unofficially it's agreed to be the best driver for ATI 5000 series. However, I don't have enough evidence that higher Catalyst versions necessarily cause bsod's. Most likely the TDR was happenning due to those redundant ATI and NVIDIA files you had in your system.


If it doesn't crash anymore, just take your time to exploit your rig for a couple of days, then if no more bsod's please clarify for us and for all users with this problem:


You uninstalled the video driver and running driver sweeper got rid of tracks of NVIDIA, as well as of this old ATI component "RTCore64 RTCore64.sys Wed May 25 02:39:12 2005", correct?

If possible, I would ask if your Mass Effect and other games are licensed copies - because I know sometimes repacked games automatically install lots of stuff without permission, such as NVIDIA physx/ATI files even if there is no NVIDIA/ATI hardware. So, is this how you collected those "bad" files?

 

[Jluras]

I did purchase them legally through the steam sale and I just happened to BSOD again while watching some stuff on youtube Short lived happiness lol. This looks like it's for a different reason though.

BCCode: 1e
BCP1: FFFFFFFFC0000005
BCP2: FFFFF880080F5D20
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1