Windows 7 Oh my... So many blue screens it's a graveyard.

[theunion]

Hello, I have built quite a few computers in my life, but tend to stick to a cookie cutter layout with AMD AM2 / 3 / 3+ based systems. I have NEVER had a bsod from anything other than an occasional finicky program.

So I hear about this new AMD APU, and it just sounds awesome.

Maybe I shopped too fast? but I have never messed with this socket, related mobos, or compatible hardware.

So I do my thing. I put together a system with:

AMD A8 3870 APU
Gigabyte GA-A55M-DS2 Mobo (Rev 1.0)
got a cooler master GeminII S524 cooler on there
2x4 gb of PNY Optima DDR3 PC3-1066 RAM
and a 500w apevia power supply.

Turn it on. boot up Win 7 x64, run 7 passes of memtest - flying colors.

Hooked up all the bios settings and sat around watching the fans for a bit. finally I get in and start installing programs and drivers and well... system won't stay on for more than 5 mins. Each bsod seems different. I'm lost.

I'll attach the file

 

[TONSCHUH]

... checked BIOS-Version ? ...

[URL="http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3998"]GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket FM1 - AMD A55 - GA-A55M-DS2 (rev. 1.0)[/URL]

... your memory is not on the compatibility list: ...

[B]Link Removed[/B]

... AMD-Systems are pretty fossy ... had a few customers with completely unstable systems, because they bought the parts without research ...

... your PSU looks pretty small for these days too ... which kind of GPU you are using ? ...

 

[Elmer]

Hi theunion and Welcome to The Forum.

Wow!! Fifteen random BSOD's in seven hours! Methinks I'd have thrown it out a window!!

Random stop codes can often indicate hardware issues.

As a Priority:

• Ensure that none of the hardware is being over-clocked.
• Ensure that the machine is adequately cooled. Chase out those dust bunnies!
• Make sure all hardware related drivers are up to date.
• Possibly update the motherboard BIOS according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Always keep The Windows system itself up to date.

Some hardware tests you should be prepared to run:

Run Link Removed
Run the correct Link Removed for your HDD.
Memtest86+ iso download.
Guide to using Memtest86+
Link Removed Run the "Blend" and "Small FFTs" tests.
Link Removed​

Please see: Link Removed Following Method 2:
Download and run the SF Diagnostics Tool. Right click the SF Diag tool and select Run as Administrator before running. When the reports have been created, zip them up and attach to a post.

Download and run CPU-Z. Take screenshots**/snips of the CPU tab, Mainboard tab, Memory tab and all the slot #'s under the SPD tab.
Go to Post Reply, click on the Go Advanced button and attach the screenshots**/snips to your post for all the RAM experts to see by using the paper clip you will find on the top toolbar. Do not zip them up.
**If screenshots, please crop.

Also see: Link Removed


HTH.

 

[theunion]

Hi Tonschuh,

The GPU is integrated with the CPU, it's an AMD "APU", and off the top of my head it's got Radeon 6550HD graphics integrated I believe.

I see that memory issue now... If I went and picked up compatible memory, reformatted, and reinstalled windows, would that fix all these BSODs?

Also, the Motherboard and "APU" Drivers were fully updated. Latest chipset drivers, and BIOS version directly from gigabyte, ran the catalyst install wizard for the AMD. All good there.

The 500w PSU should be more than enough for this build, checked max power consumption on everything.

All I see is the RAM issue, which I can fix easily, but will that fix the BSODs? Hmmm. Possible I should get a different MOBO also?

 

[theunion]

Elmer,

Thank you so much for the response, you seem to be pretty resident and know your stuff.

As a general response (since I'm at work ) to your advice thus far, I have run chkdsk and hard drive diagnostics, 7 passes of memtest. Nothing is overclocked, and there's plenty of cooling.

I think I'm going to reinstall windows, and not use the mobo driver disk, not installing anything extra at all, as well as using one stick of memory at a time when I get home, see if I get another bsod. if I do though, I won't know where to go from there.

 

[Elmer]

Why the one stick of RAM?

If you have mixed ram, fine. 7 only really, ideally, needs 2gb. If you think that may be an issue (and only you can answer that as you're the person looking at it) then go ahead.

When / If you get future issues we'll be glad to help.

Ideally continue this thread so us "old hands" D) don't have to search too much.

Also, the more info we can gather about your set up the better. Saves a lot of guesswork. The following is my "canned bsod speech". Ignore the irrelevant, but take note of the relevant. As I say, the more we know...

We really need to see the DMP file as it contains the only record of the sequence of events leading up to the crash, what drivers were loaded, and what was responsible.

To ensure minidumps are enabled:
Go to Start, in the Search Box type: sysdm.cpl, press Enter.
Under the Advanced tab, click on the Startup and Recovery Settings... button.
Ensure that Automatically restart is unchecked.
Under the Write Debugging Information header select Small memory dump (256 kB) in the dropdown box (the 256kb varies).
Ensure that the Small Dump Directory is listed as %systemroot%\Minidump.
OK your way out.
Reboot if changes have been made.

The .dmp files are located at C:\Windows\Minidump. Until a .dmp file is generated, the Minidump folder may not exist.

Go to your C:\Windows\Minidump folder. Copy the .dmp files to a new folder on your desktop. Zip up that folder and attach to a post.

Please see: Link Removed Following Method 2:
Download and run the SF Diagnostics Tool. Right click the SF Diag tool and select Run as Administrator before running. When the reports have been created, zip them up and attach to a post.

Download and run CPU-Z. Take screenshots**/snips of the CPU tab, Mainboard tab, Memory tab and all the slot #'s under the SPD tab.
Go to Post Reply, click on the Go Advanced button and attach the screenshots**/snips to your post for all the RAM experts to see by using the paper clip you will find on the top toolbar. Do not zip them up.
**If screenshots, please crop.

Also see: Link Removed

When attaching dmp files, PLEASE put them in a single zipped folder​

 

[TONSCHUH]

Hi Tonschuh,

The GPU is integrated with the CPU, it's an AMD "APU", and off the top of my head it's got Radeon 6550HD graphics integrated I believe.

I see that memory issue now... If I went and picked up compatible memory, reformatted, and reinstalled windows, would that fix all these BSODs?

Also, the Motherboard and "APU" Drivers were fully updated. Latest chipset drivers, and BIOS version directly from gigabyte, ran the catalyst install wizard for the AMD. All good there.

The 500w PSU should be more than enough for this build, checked max power consumption on everything.

All I see is the RAM issue, which I can fix easily, but will that fix the BSODs? Hmmm. Possible I should get a different MOBO also?

... PSU should be then ok ... in-compatible RAM can cause plenty of BSOD's unfortunately, but it could be still possible that the RAM would run with your sys, even that they're not on the list, but usually the manufacturer of the memory has then an additional compatibility list, but I couldn't find one on there website ...

... also have you bought the memory as single ram or as a kit: ...

8GB Kit (2x4GB) PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Desktop DIMMs

or

4GB PC3-10666 1333 MHz DDR3 Desktop DIMM

... could be too, that the BIOS is not recognizing the RAM-Settings correctly ...

​

 

[theunion]

To Tonschuh, I bought the RAM as a kit of 2x4gb.


To Tons and Elmer:

I took out a stick of RAM, reformatted the drives, reseated the APU, double-checked all the wiring, removed the Front_USB and Front Audio plugs from the motherboard that came with this horrible case I bought, and reinstalled Win 7 with no additional options.

After reinstall I installed all windows updates, Mobo Audio / Lan / Chipset drivers from Gigabyte's website, updated the BIOS to the latest version, rebooted a billion times.

I then ran Chkdsk / memtest again, no errors with 7 passes of memtest, I ran Prime95 and stress-tested the APU for an hour, resolved with no errors in the tests (temp didn't get above 36 c, which I was happy with )

I stopped getting random BSODS, and have been now just getting one. "A clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor within the allocated.." Gotten it 3 times, and I've included the dump file. Tried to play a game for a bit, after 30min, got the 3rd BSOD.

I've attached the minidump files and the CPU-Z snips.

 

[Elmer]

Just a quickie answer while I peruse your dump files. Your Memory tab of CPU-z reads 5-5-5-15, but there are blank spaces. Did you right click the CPU-z.exe and select to run as administrator?

Now look at your SPD tab, unless I'm going blind, do you see a 5-5-5-15 in there? I don't. Looking again at the SPD tab I'm thinking your RAM should be set to 9-9-9-24, or thereabout.

But run CPU-z as Administrator and attach the new images to a post. Replace the others if you like but let us know!!

 

[Elmer]

Of the latest three dumps the newest and oldest are giving:
STOP 0x00000101: CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT
Usual causes: Device driver, BIOS bug, hardware defect (see Significant Post below)

The middle one gives:
STOP 0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Usual causes: Defective hardware (particularly memory - but not just RAM), Faulty system service, Antivirus, Device driver, NTFS corruption, BIOS.

These types of error messages are relatively simple, from a certain viewpoint: as frequently happens during normal processing, one core (processor) attempted to get the attention of another core, in order to synchronise their activites with respect to an operation that requires processor coordination. Described using "official" terminology:

"CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT (101)
An expected clock interrupt was not received on a secondary processor in an
MP system within the allocated interval. This indicates that the specified
processor is hung and not processing interrupts."

The trigger for the crash is the "sender/requestor" processor going "wtf? why is there still no response after almost half a second?!?" Those inter-processor interrupts (IPIs) are some of the most critical activity imaginable, and an unrequited IPI is absolutely lethal - hence the crash.

AMD procs had known issues which manifested themselves in this manner under Vista and Windows 7. There were/are many possible problem permutations, some solved through BIOS updates, and some necessitating fiddling with the "Translation Lookaside Buffer" (TLB), as per torrentg's suggestion to look up 0x101 and AMD and TLB.

Your real aim is to give yourself the best possible chance of discovering a software cause for the target processor to go unresponsive, and thereby avoid the most obvious conclusion - that the processor is periodically unresponsive because of hardware-level defects

I can confidently tell you that the browsers, apps, and games cannot be the root cause of this problem, even though I don't doubt your observation that the operation of certain software seems to more easily trigger the crash. What you're looking for will be in one of the following categories:

a) BIOS bug
b) a driver whose activity is causing the target processor to lock up
c) a hardware defect (temperature, voltage, dust, RFI, outright borkedness...)
Link Removed

Now, I can't see anything significantly wrong with the drivers that are currently loading so that means we need to look elsewhere....

Now look at your SPD tab, unless I'm going blind, do you see a 5-5-5-15 in there? I don't. Looking again at the SPD tab I'm thinking your RAM should be set to 9-9-9-24, or thereabout.

OK. Confirmed. Your RAM timings are away with the fairies/screwed!!

I'm told [12:26:48] Rich: they should be 9-9-9-25 34 You can change this in M.I.T in your BIOS.

 

[theunion]

Elmer,

Ok I went into MIT and changed it to 9-9-9-25 34. snips attached, is this all you see that needs to be adjusted?

I was running as admin earlier, but I noticed the memory was in slot #2, and nothing in slot one. oddly enough, my mobo has writing on it that seems to be backwards for the slots according to CPU-Z. I just put the memory in the slot labeled 2 on the mobo, adjusted M.I.T intelligent tweaker, and now CPU-Z is showing it in slot #1.

*shrug*

Also, Llano processors like 1.5 volt RAM, correct? So the voltage of this shouldn't be causing any issues ...I think?

 

[theunion]

Ok after changing the RAM timings I went and played a game again for awhile, dinked around on the net. Got another BSOD, looks like one I've gotten before

Stop: 0x00000050 (0xFFFFF88009C2C2E8 0x0000000000000000 0xFFFFF80002BB148E is all that fit on the screen)

Attaching the minidump as per usual. I think I'm making progress!

 

[Elmer]

Ok I went into MIT and changed it to 9-9-9-25 34. snips attached, is this all you see that needs to be adjusted?

Yea that should be good to go. Usually a tweak in voltage is only necessary when all four (six, eight?) ram slots are filled. With the changes in your RAM settings we can at least rule that out. I'll take a look at your latest dmp files shortly.