Windows 7 ntoskrnl.exe bsod

[killersheep]

Hi guys,
I just built my computer about a month ago and I've been getting these BSOD that always have to do with the ntoskrnl.exe when I'm gaming. I tried to search around for a solution and I think I narrowed it down to either a Ram or graphic card problem. Can anyone take a look at my minidump and help me to pinpoint the exact cause so I can know which hardware to replace? thanks =)


specs:
OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
CPU AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1055T Processor, 2800 Mhz
Motherboard MSI 790x-g45
Memory Patriot DDR3 8GB PC1333MHz PSD38G133k
Graphics Card Radeon HD 5850

 

[TorrentG]

Hi. Welcome to the forum.

1) Update the very old Atheros lan driver:

L1C62x64 L1C62x64.sys Wed Apr 01 01:09:17 2009

Link Removed

2) Update the video card driver:

atikmpag atikmpag.sys Tue Sep 28 21:14:49 2010

Link Removed

 

[bobalazs]

I would suppose faulty ram.
I had ntoskrnl errors when i had bad ram.
Happened again after i changed it to another faulty ram.

 

[killersheep]

I updated the drivers that TorrentG listed and I still get the same BSOD today. It's always ntoskrnl.exe and dxgmms1.sys. The thing is I only get BSOD when I'm playing games on the computer. I guessing this really is the case of bad rams huh?



Can anyone take a look at this new minidump and confirm it? Also, thanks for the fast replies guys

 

[TorrentG]

Not necessarily. It could be set wrong in the bios.

Post a screen shot of CPU-Z memory and spd tabs.

You could also download and prepare Memtest86+ in case the bios is already set well, so it is ready to use and test with.

 

[killersheep]

I've taken the pictures of the CPU-Z memory and spd tabs. I also downloaded Memtest86+ last week and ran it for a day. I did 8 passes with 0 errors. btw, thanks for the fast replies, your are crazy fast =D

 

[TorrentG]

Memory in the bios looks good, all drivers are well, you say that 8 Memtest runs have passed and this really leaves only one possibility to look at:

The video card itself.

It is either straight out defective or it is overheating. You can use ATI Tray Tools to set the fan speed to max while playing games to see if it crashes like this at all.

You're welcome.

http://majorgeeks.com/ATI_Tray_Tools_d4569.html

You could update the bios to latest on the motherboard. Also, if your psu is very weak, this would be the issue instead.

 

[killersheep]

I have a 650W psu, though I don't know if that's enough for the stuff I'm running. In regards to the bios, I think it's up to date. I have the version 1.7 from the MSI website.

I'll run Memtest86+ again tonight for multiple passes and see if it turns out differently. After that, I'll run the ATI tray tools you link. I'll report in tomorrow evening when I come home.

Thanks for the help and fast response TorrentG.

 

[killersheep]

Ok, so for the update. I ran Memtest since yesterday night till 4pm today. 8 passes and no errors again. Then I did a sfc /scannow and a chkdsk and both came up clean. I also use the ATI tray tool to set fan speed while playing and nothing happen. The computer said I have directx 11 but I download the directx updater from the directx website and ran it anyways. To my surprise it started updating. So I guess my directx wasn't up to date?

Anyways I ran games like Star Craft 2, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14, etc. for 4 hours and no BSOD. So I'm guessing it's fixed?
However, I also had times when I can play a game all day without any BSOD and other times it would crash within 30 mins. But right now it seems to be running just fine.

I'll report back within a week if it crash again. Thanks for the help TorrentG. I think some of those updates worked. =D

 

[TorrentG]

You're welcome.

Updating DX is excellent but it does not interfere either negatively nor positively on bsods happening.

Try a game after a reboot and not touching the fan setting. See if it crashes again like this.

Seems that heat is/was the issue here. Or perhaps the driver updates did well too.

 

[killersheep]

Looks like it was still too early for me to celebrate. My comp BSOD again yesterday when I was just watching stuff on IGN. This is the first time it BSOD when a game isn't running. I got the 0x00000050 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA error. And today I got a 0x000000c2 BAD_POOL_CALLER error when I left Final Fantasy 14 run idle. This is getting frustrating because none of the memtest, drive check, etc has come up with anything. I guess one of the hardware is defective then?

I attach the two recent dumps. Can anyone take a look and see what is causing the problems? I've been fighting this issue for more than a month and I've run out of ideas. T_T

 

[TorrentG]

Test the modules one at a time while others are removed, until you find errors. There is a RAM defect.

 

[killersheep]

I ram Memtest on the modules one at a time like you said and my results are: one with no results in 8 passes and one with 16 errors in 8 passes. Then I place the RAM with no errors back in and used that one for the day. Everything was going well all day until I got another BSOD while watching movies. The error is a 0x0000001e KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED. I've attach the dump below.

Does this mean that both of the RAMs are defective even though one of them came up clean? or does it have to do with another faulty hardware?

 

[TorrentG]

Replace the entire RAM with a brand new matching set.

 

[killersheep]

I bought a new set of RAM and haven't gotten a single BSOD in 4 days. I think the problem is solved. Thanks again for your help and fast response TorrentG and happy Thanksgiving.

 

[TorrentG]

Very welcome.

As I've been saying over at another forum where they have caused me the absolute necessity to defend my practices, I have never once in my entire life while having repaired over 10k machines online, advised to replace hardware when it was not originally at fault.

Somehow, this hasn't earned their respect there as I am currently banned for repairing 2 of the mod's machines by showing him which drivers were crashing his Windows, if you can believe that.

When the ban runs out later on today, you can be sure that your post and my response here are going to be the first thing I show to them.

Thanks for the update.

Best of luck with continued success and enjoy.

 

[killersheep]

I'm sorry to hear that. Like I was saying, I've been fighting the BSODs for more than a month and I've tried everything. I wouldn't even get past a day without a BSOD. I updated every drivers I know and use all kind of check error programs but nothing came up. My friends said it might be a hardware problem and I was starting to believe them. However, we didn't know which hardware was causing it.

Actually, I was surprised to see you recommend me to check my drivers and run more test before you told me to replace some hardware. Other forums I look at people just said replace the hardware right away and see what happens. Well, I was already willing to replace some hardware anyways because if it doesn't work out, there's always the return product within so and so date. Plus, I already spent almost 1k building the comp so another $50 for RAMs to fix the annoying BSOD is nothing.

Anyways, I hope it goes well with you on that other forum. I can understand that they don't want to accept that it was a hardware failure because hardware cost $$$$. As far as I know, my computer isn't giving me BSOD anymore even when I'm doing the same things as before. If it does, I'll come back and bother you for some more advice, lol. But by the looks of things, I think it's safe to say that I am now BSOD free.