Random restarts - Windows 8.1 x64

Glennh · Dec 1, 2014

I have a new PC I put together a few weeks ago. Since Thursday I've been getting random restarts, and I've spend a lot of time trying to figure out why. I reinstalled Windows yesterday, but they started coming again today. I disconnected every hard drive, and I switched keyboard/mouse, no change. It has generally happened when the system has been under load, for example when playing games, but also when watching movies.

There has been a few problems building the this PC, so it can be HW related. The motherboard wasn't working properly, so I had to get it replaced. The PSU all of a sudden (after running stable for days) "blew" up, but it didn't appear to do any damage to the rest.

OS: Windows 8.1 Full Version
Architecture: X64
Age of System: A few weeks
Age of OS Installation: 1 day

CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K
Video Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 980 SC
Motherboard: Asus Maximus Vii Gene
RAM: Kingston HyperX FURY 16GB 1866MHz
SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB
Power Supply: Corsair HX750i

Semi-custom water cooling: Swiftech H220-X + 240mm radiator, the GPU is added to the loop.

I was not able to run the perfmon /report command, kept getting an error: "An error has occurred while attempting to generate the report. The operator or administrator has refused the request." I tried logging onto the system Admin account, didn't help.

I ran the Driver Verifier before I reinstalled, and kept getting BSOD's before Windows loaded. I ran it again after the re-installation, and I'm able to login, but after a while the PC freezes and I get a black screen. Waited 10 min for it to come back, with no luck. I've also tested the RAM, by running Memtest86+ for 6 passes, no errors.

Any help is appreciated.

Patrick · Dec 1, 2014

Hi,

2x 0xD5's.

1st -

DRIVER_PAGE_FAULT_IN_FREED_SPECIAL_POOL (D5)

This indicates that a driver has referenced memory which was earlier freed.

Code:

rax=ffffcf804e29edf0 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=0000000070f7852c
rdx=0000000000000000 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffff8004129b7e2 rsp=ffffd000246f22f0 rbp=ffffe001b0550000
 r8=fffff8003f24b16c  r9=0000000000000001 r10=fffff8003f24a960
r11=fffff8003f2270a0 r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000
r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000
iopl=0         nv up ei ng nz na po nc
nvlddmkm+0x87c7e2:
fffff800`4129b7e2 4883a0a000000000 and     qword ptr [rax+0A0h],0 ds:ffffcf80`4e29ee90=????????????????

Failed performing an AND operation.

Code:

7: kd> !pte ffffcf804e29edf0
                                           VA ffffcf804e29edf0
PXE at FFFFF6FB7DBEDCF8    PPE at FFFFF6FB7DB9F008    PDE at FFFFF6FB73E01388    PTE at FFFFF6E7C02714F0
contains 00000000032E3863  contains 00000000D31FF863  contains 000000013DC34863  contains 4F80586EE0000000
GetUlongFromAddress: unable to read from fffff802c1974104
pfn 32e3      ---DA--KWEV  pfn d31ff     ---DA--KWEV  pfn 13dc34    ---DA--KWEV  not valid
                                                                                  PageFile:  0
                                                                                  Offset: 4f80586e
                                                                                  Protect: 0

rax is invalid due to being off on the disk, as it cannot be paged in.

Code:

ffffd000`246f1ef8 fffff802`c178fbd2 nt!KeBugCheckEx
ffffd000`246f1f00 fffff802`c16692b9 nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+0x1dd22
ffffd000`246f1fa0 fffff802`c176bc2f nt!MmAccessFault+0x769
ffffd000`246f2160 fffff800`4129b7e2 nt!KiPageFault+0x12f
ffffd000`246f22f0 ffffc001`04f10000 nvlddmkm+0x87c7e2
ffffd000`246f22f8 00000000`0000000a 0xffffc001`04f10000
ffffd000`246f2300 00000000`000003a0 0xa
ffffd000`246f2308 fffff802`68536956 0x3a0
ffffd000`246f2310 ffffcf80`4dfa04b0 0xfffff802`68536956
ffffd000`246f2318 fffff800`4129b79c 0xffffcf80`4dfa04b0
ffffd000`246f2320 ffffcf80`4daa0a00 nvlddmkm+0x87c79c
ffffd000`246f2328 00000000`00000002 0xffffcf80`4daa0a00
ffffd000`246f2330 00000000`00000000 0x2

It was caused by nVidia's video driver according to verifier.

2nd -

Code:

rax=ffffcf80aa9eeaa8 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=ffffcf80acbdafec
rdx=fffffffffcb26000 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffff800d799d2e1 rsp=ffffd001bff45e78 rbp=ffffd001bff45f70
 r8=000000000000007e  r9=ffffcf80a9700f70 r10=0000000000000000
r11=ffffcf80acbdaf70 r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000
r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000
iopl=0         nv up ei ng nz na pe nc
avc3+0x722e1:
fffff800`d799d2e1 668b040a        mov     ax,word ptr [rdx+rcx] ds:ffffcf80`a9700fec=????

Failed setting the lower 16 bits of EAX to the value at address rdx+rcx. As it's a minidump we can't see what went wrong here.

Code:

ffffd001`bff45e78 fffff800`d794e418 avc3+0x722e1
ffffd001`bff45e80 ffffd001`bff45f70 avc3+0x23418
ffffd001`bff45e88 00000000`0000003f 0xffffd001`bff45f70
ffffd001`bff45e90 00000000`00000000 0x3f

Pretty dead stack, we just see two calls from Bitdefender.

1. Ensure you have the latest video card drivers. If you are already on the latest video card drivers, uninstall and install a version or a few versions behind the latest to ensure it's not a latest driver only issue. If you have already experimented with the latest video card driver and many previous versions, please give the beta driver for your card a try.

2. Remove and replace BitDefender with Windows 8's built-in Windows Defender for temporary troubleshooting purposes:

BitDefender removal - How to uninstall Bitdefender

Windows Defender (how to turn on after removal)

A.Navigate to Control Panel (with icons). You can do this by hitting Start > Search > Control Panel. Once in Control Panel, change the drop-down from Category to Large and/or Small icons.

B.Among the list of icons, find and click Action Center.

C.Assuming the removal of your prior antivirus software went properly, you will notice for both Spyware and unwated software protection (important) and Virus protection (important), it'll have a button labeled Turn on now. Click this button (it doesn't matter which, as Windows Defender serves as both in Windows 8/8.1).

Regards,

Patrick

x BlueRobot · Dec 1, 2014

Code:

BugCheck D5, {ffffcf804e29ee90, 1, fffff8004129b7e2, 0}

Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+87c7e2 )

The bugcheck indicates that your nVidia graphics card driver has attempted to write a freed address, this leads to various problems like memory corruption, whereby a driver begins to write into invalid memory addresses (no allocation) or into a memory address which may later be used for an allocation by another driver.

Code:

7: kd> lmvm nvlddmkm
start             end                 module name
fffff800`40a1f000 fffff800`416ff000   nvlddmkm T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: nvlddmkm.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys
    Image name: nvlddmkm.sys
    Timestamp:        Wed Nov 12 20:51:31 2014 (5463C853)
    CheckSum:         00CA4D59
    ImageSize:        00CE0000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

I would suggest rolling back to an older driver, and seeing if rectifies the problem.

Code:

7: kd> .frame /r 4
04 ffffd000`246f22f0 ffffc001`04f10000 nvlddmkm+0x87c7e2
rax=ffffcf804e29edf0 rbx=ffffcf804daa0a00 rcx=0000000070f7852c
rdx=0000000000000000 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=ffffe001b0550000
rip=fffff8004129b7e2 rsp=ffffd000246f22f0 rbp=ffffe001b0550000
 r8=fffff8003f24b16c  r9=0000000000000001 r10=fffff8003f24a960
r11=fffff8003f2270a0 r12=0000000000000000 r13=ffffe001b022cab0
r14=0000000000000000 r15=ffffe001b0f27540
iopl=0         nv up ei ng nz ac po cy
cs=0010  ss=0018  ds=002b  es=002b  fs=0053  gs=002b             efl=00000297
nvlddmkm+0x87c7e2:
fffff800`4129b7e2 4883a0a000000000 and     qword ptr [rax+0A0h],0 ds:002b:ffffcf80`4e29ee90=????????????????

Glennh · Dec 1, 2014

Thank you for replying!

I've already uninstalled Bitdefender, and activated Windows Defender. Are there still traces of it? I'll go ahead and uninstall the Nvidia drivers I have, and install the previous stable version.

Also, before I put the GPU on water, I ran it both on my new PC and my old with the stock cooler. THere were no problems. I'll consider removing it from the water loop, and refit the stock cooler if this doesn't help.

Patrick · Dec 1, 2014

If you've done it before those dumps, use the removal tool.

Also, before I put the GPU on water, I ran it both on my new PC and my old with the stock cooler. THere were no problems. I'll consider removing it from the water loop, and refit the stock cooler if this doesn't help.

I'd wait.

Regards,

Patrick

Glennh · Dec 2, 2014

Didn't have any crashes yet today, so I decided to run Driver Verifier again. Loaded Windows, and started up a game (GW2). After 5 min or so, the system restarted. No dump files in the Minidump folder. The game did lag quite a bit, but I guess that's normal when you're running Driver Verifier?

After the system restarted, I didn't really open any software. It restarted again just a few minutes later.

Glennh · Dec 2, 2014

Sorry for double post, couldn't edit. Seems there were one dump file, after crashing/restarting 3 times. I also checked Event Viewer, and I'll add that to the attachments. And I just got an actual BSOD while writing this, I'll add that as well.

Patrick · Dec 2, 2014

Same exact bug check, same exact cause.

Did you follow our instructions regarding the nVidia driver?

Regards,

Patrick

Glennh · Dec 2, 2014

I did, yes. I uninstalled it again, and went with 344.48. Been playing for 2h without crashing now, so we'll see.

x BlueRobot · Dec 3, 2014

Good, please provide further updates when you can.

Glennh · Dec 3, 2014

Playing went fine for 2-3 hours yesterday, so I thought it might be fixed. I ran Driver Verifier today, and no.. it keeps crashing after 5-10 min. Only got one dump from 5 or so restarts, added to attachments. I'm guessing it is the same thing. Never had those problems with Nvidia drivers before I added it to the water loop, and I tested the card in two different computers (on the stock cooler). I also have another (new) PSU I could try, if it could be a power issue. But the Corsair HX750i is platinum rated, so I don't know..

Thanks for all the help btw!

Jared · Dec 3, 2014

I've had, and still are having bad experiences with Nvidia's drivers, they're horrible. I would neevr go with them again.
It's difficult to say, trying to find a good stable driver is extremely tedious. In fact, all drivers I've used are unstable and will crash at some point. Other people have different experiences with them.

From the dump file you've provided, it seems that your graphics driver is still behind the crashes; you're probably best trying a few more versions, including beta drivers.
Do you have an AMD card you could try? Maybe borrow one from a friend?

Glennh · Dec 3, 2014

I don't have an AMD card, only other option is using the integrated graphics HD 4600 from Intel. I just had another crash when playing now, after 1 hour. Seems to be random when it happens. If it doesn't get better with another driver, I'll just put the stock cooler on and see if it helps. There are no beta drivers for GTX 980, far as I can see.

Jared · Dec 3, 2014

If you've checked your temperatures, and the crashes are random then it's your Nvidia driver playing up. I can't see a cooler helping if your temperatures are fine.

Glennh · Dec 3, 2014

The temps are great. Below 30 idle, and 40-50 on full load. They were a lot higher with the stock cooler, hitting 70-80. I also switched out the PSU earlier, put in a new EVGA 750 G2, which did not help. Could be something wrong with the motherboard I guess, wish I had another GPU to test with.

Jared · Dec 3, 2014

Well, given that your temperatures are fine, and it doesn't crash when strictly under load, I would say your driver is playing up. I've had my GPU replaced with a Ti rather than a GTX 650, it still crashes whenever I play games. Although the timing is completely random, it can be within an hour or over a week; regardless of the time, it will crash eventually... Is there a way for you to refund the GPU at all? It might be a good diea to get your money back, if possible to try an AMD card like the R9 290.
Do note, if you get the R9 GPUs, make sure you get a good edition such as the Sapphire variants as they have three fans, rather than the stock versions which have one. The main problems I've seen with the R9s is that they overheat quickly, three fans usually fixes that problem.

Glennh · Dec 3, 2014

I've never had any issues with Nvidia drivers before though, even on the same card as I mentioned. Not gonna be able to refund, I've had it for over a month. I'm not even sure I'm gonna be able to RMA it (due to me putting a water block on), but from what I've read EVGA are generally ok with it. I have another motherboard laying around, if there's no other options.

Glennh · Dec 4, 2014

I had the PC running for over 12h now today, without crashes. Temps were fine, everything seemed alright. As usual I decided to run Driver Verifier to check, and as usual, it crashes after 5-10 min. I didn't get any dumps from the crashes, it just restarts. I'm not even doing opening anything, Windows loads and I just wait for it to crash. Added temps to attachments.

So I'll be doing some hardware changes tomorrow. Gonna check with another GPU (Nvidia as well, GTX 465) to rule it out. If it works, I'll remove the water block from the GPU. If it still crashes, with the other GPU, I'll switch out the motherboards.

Really wish I didn't put together this PC myself now..

Glennh · Dec 5, 2014

So I've had the GTX 465 running for around 30 min now, will keep it running for a while longer. It seems to use the same drivers as the 980, 344.75 (did a clean install though). I haven't crashed yet, and I even opened up a game to really push it. There are lags, obviously. This is running Driver Verifier. Seems it's the 980 itself causing problems, so I'll take off it off the waterloop, and remount the stock cooler. Unless it crashes within the next hour, that is.

Running the 980 it never passes 10 min, if I recall correctly.

Random restarts - Windows 8.1 x64

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