Question APPCRASH error 1001 dwm.exe

[Maverick_Zer0]

As of the last couple of weeks, i've been experiencing a strange issue when playing Escape From Tarkov and to a lesser extent, Halo Infinite.

After about 4-5 minutes of gameplay, my PC will blackscreen to the point the monitors will consider themselves no longer receiving input and go into standby mode, my GPU fans will ramp up to 100% and the custom lighting will change to it's default state. 4/5 times i can still hear audio in the background from discord and the game and even still be able to control the game, yet no video and nothing i can do will get it back other than physically powering down the PC and back on again.

I narrowed the issue down in Event Viewer to an error with the code 1001, sometimes 1000 (details below), which details the crash of dwm.exe, as i understand it's a core windows process that handles the drawing of windows, though this crash will in turn cause a crash with the nvidia display drivers leading to a blacked out screen.

My first 'fix' was to re-install the graphics drivers which led to the exact same issue, so i decided to simply just revert the drivers to a build that was released before the issues arose, same problem. From there i've done around a dozen fixes which include re-installing the offending programs, updating windows, disabling aero effects, changing to a high-performance power mode, removing unused USB devices, reseating the GPU, RAM, CPU and PSU, running windows diagnostics to scan for corrupt system files and drivers and simply even just turning down the in-game graphics settings, all to no avail.

The issue is pretty easy to replicate as it only happens in certain parts of the game and occurs after around 4-5 minutes of gameplay, not counting being sat in a menu. I've monitored my GPU/CPU temps, usage and memory and nothing is drastically different up until the crash.

My only next move is to re-install windows, which i'll only do after exhausting pretty much every other option. (though i've heard this may not even rectify the issue).

Edit: Confirmed the error also occurs when playing other 'graphically intensive' games.

Spoiler: error 1001

Log Name: Application
Source: Windows Error Reporting
Date: 22/02/2022 22:53:58
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Elliots-PC
Description:
Fault bucket 1486643659604955993, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: dwm.exe
P2: 10.0.19041.746
P3: 6be51595
P4: KERNELBASE.dll
P5: 10.0.19041.1503
P6: b2acaea9
P7: e0464645
P8: 000000000010b382
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERBF94.tmp.dmp
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC032.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC042.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC05E.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC06F.tmp.txt

These files may be available here:
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_dwm.exe_f44735eac4cf1775ef43a9cc34beb965765144b0_c2f10bab_e9ea1991-a1a2-480f-9915-297252eae2cf

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: eb3a0bf1-21f4-4a90-b9b1-55c83f021618
Report Status: 268435456
Hashed bucket: d6508a4cd1925dc5d4a19e8826571359
Cab Guid: 0
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Windows Error Reporting" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1001</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2022-02-22T22:53:58.2783051Z" />
<EventRecordID>156463</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Elliots-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>1486643659604955993</Data>
<Data>4</Data>
<Data>APPCRASH</Data>
<Data>Not available</Data>
<Data>0</Data>
<Data>dwm.exe</Data>
<Data>10.0.19041.746</Data>
<Data>6be51595</Data>
<Data>KERNELBASE.dll</Data>
<Data>10.0.19041.1503</Data>
<Data>b2acaea9</Data>
<Data>e0464645</Data>
<Data>000000000010b382</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERBF94.tmp.dmp
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC032.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC042.tmp.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC05E.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WERC06F.tmp.txt</Data>
<Data>\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_dwm.exe_f44735eac4cf1775ef43a9cc34beb965765144b0_c2f10bab_e9ea1991-a1a2-480f-9915-297252eae2cf</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>0</Data>
<Data>eb3a0bf1-21f4-4a90-b9b1-55c83f021618</Data>
<Data>268435456</Data>
<Data>d6508a4cd1925dc5d4a19e8826571359</Data>
<Data>0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

https://file.io/YLAoNEPhEzN5 - DXDIAG

 

[Colif]

can you look in reliability history for the same time as black screens, are you getting any errors there along lines of Windows trying to restart the GPU drivers? as that is what leads to the black screens. If windows can't restart the drivers, it uses basic display drivers and depending on resolution of screen, they may not show an image at all.

its not an error, its event 1001.

dwm.exe sits between windows applications and the GPU drivers.

cause may not be GPU, I have had something similar before and cause ended up being my mouse. The same chip that controls GPU also runs USB, so if a device is playing up, it can interfere with signals from GPU drivers.

can you use a different upload site, malwarebytes blocking file.io... due to phishing.

what specs of PC? What peripherals do you have? Any old stuff? last 2 times I had problems with my pc it was speakers first time, and my mouse second time. Anything could be cause (yes, I know)

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

can you look in reliability history for the same time as black screens, are you getting any errors there along lines of Windows trying to restart the GPU drivers? as that is what leads to the black screens. If windows can't restart the drivers, it uses basic display drivers and depending on resolution of screen, they may not show an image at all.

its not an error, its event 1001.

dwm.exe sits between windows applications and the GPU drivers.

cause may not be GPU, I have had something similar before and cause ended up being my mouse. The same chip that controls GPU also runs USB, so if a device is playing up, it can interfere with signals from GPU drivers.

can you use a different upload site, malwarebytes blocking file.io... due to phishing.

what specs of PC? What peripherals do you have? Any old stuff? last 2 times I had problems with my pc it was speakers first time, and my mouse second time. Anything could be cause (yes, I know)

https://pastebin.com/jFcMBP5V - DXDIAG in a pastebin so you don't have to download it.

Went through the reliability history, here's the XML on google drive - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BKPjCoTNtWst8urincWTinNDJ-Nr3sD_/view?usp=sharing

It references a hardware error, the source of which is Windows each time the crash occurs, along with several instances of Desktop Window Manager stopping working, each with it's own code 141 event.

Spoiler: here

Source
Windows

Summary
Hardware error

Date
‎23/‎02/‎2022 00:37

Status
Not reported

Description
A problem with your hardware caused Windows to stop working correctly.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Code: 141
Parameter 1: ffff8309ea2d9050
Parameter 2: fffff80639968ca4
Parameter 3: 0
Parameter 4: d64
OS version: 10_0_19043
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1
OS Version: 10.0.19043.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID: 1033

Specs are
OS: Windows 10 Home x64
CPU: Intel i7-6700k @4.00ghz
RAM: 32gb DDR4 2400mhz
GPU: RTX 2080 Gigabyte Windforce OC 8gb
PSU: Corsair CP-9020092 RM750 w Gold
Peripherals are all pretty much 1-2 years old, perhaps minus the monitors which are 2-3 years old and i don't use any speakers.

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

Update.

Deleted everything related to NVIDIA on my PC, wiped the drivers and uninstalled all the GeForce experience stuff. Uninstalled a bunch of old monitoring software and redundant programs relating to gpu/cpu controls. Re-installed Nvidia drivers on a driver build from 2021, before the issues occurred. Ran a Furmark test and it lasted 20+ minutes at a high setting without a crash, tested it in-game and i played for 40 minutes of gameplay without a crash.

Booted back up today and the error occurred again. I've gone through and tested each stick of ram (4x8gb sticks) and it happens with each of those, also with all the peripherals unplugged with the M+KB plugged directly into the back of the MoBo. Interestingly enough the reliability viewer threw up a LiveKernelEvent 117 event once or twice among the regular 141's. I'm starting to fear that this is a GPU/PSU issue. I'll be able to verify hardware tests with a spare GPU in a couple of days to see if it's that.

 

[DRagor]

Which Windows build? How many monitors? By any chance using Intel IGPU (or just having it installed)? If so, which version?

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

Which Windows build? How many monitors? By any chance using Intel IGPU (or just having it installed)? If so, which version?

Version 10.0.19043 Build 19043
2 monitors, the issue happens with just one plugged in, checked both monitors and swapped out the DisplayPort cable and tried it with a HDMI cable.
Not sure about IGPU, i don't think i have it installed.

 

[DRagor]

Not sure about IGPU, i don't think i have it installed.

Can you check it? Asking because there have been problems between certain versions of iGPU drivers and Windows update that caused dwm.exe to have memory leak (and crash sometimes).

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

Can you check it? Asking because there have been problems between certain versions of iGPU drivers and Windows update that caused dwm.exe to have memory leak (and crash sometimes).

How would one check? I can't see anything in Device Manager.

 

[DRagor]

How would one check? I can't see anything in Device Manager.

It would be in Device Manager next to your 2080 if you had it installed - means you don't. False alarm then.

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

It would be in Device Manager next to your 2080 if you had it installed - means you don't. False alarm then.

Yeah, nothing there.

I ran another GPU Stress test again and it can hold out against more strenuous use than any of the games it crashes on, i'm rather confused.

 

[Colif]

Windows sees an unexpected restart as a hardware error. Since you have to restart PC to get a picture back, that is the source of the restart Windows thinks is a hardware error. I should have warned you.

along with several instances of Desktop Window Manager stopping working,

how many? What was happening on mine was Windows would try to run the gpu drivers about 8 times and then load the basic display drivers which won't run 2 monitors at once. And struggle to run anything higher than 1080p really.

it wasn't a good time

I reinstalled windows to try to fix it. I had the PC tested by a 3rd party for a few days it and it didn't crash. That was what told me it was something I was plugging into it. As it wasn't long after I got it home it started again. Lucky for me the mouse started doing other odd things... but it was 7 years old, I probably should have upgraded before then.

I don't think its the GPU, its just whats crashing. What peripherals do you have?


I think my not wanting to know what Reliability History shows started around this time. Often you think PC is fine and it isn't
its not so bad 4 years later

although its a entirely different PC now.

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

how many? What was happening on mine was Windows would try to run the gpu drivers about 8 times and then load the basic display drivers which won't run 2 monitors at once. And struggle to run anything higher than 1080p really.

it wasn't a good time

sometimes once, though more often than not it's around 4-5 times if i leave it for long enough.

My peripherals are a Corsair K90 RGB keyboard, less than a year old, a G505 Logitech Mouse which is a couple of months old, an Arctis 7 headset which is about two months old. I do run them through a USB 3.0 hub, though the issue persists when only M+KB direct into the usb slots in the back of the Motherboard.

I also went ahead and installed Windows afresh, made a new user profile and downloaded nothing but the game and the drivers needed to run the GPU and it seemed to last even less time than it usually did, crashing after barely a minute of gametime.

Update: I borrowed a 1060 and the issue does not occur, either pointing to a defective GPU or possibly a PSU.

 

[Colif]

Update: I borrowed a 1060 and the issue does not occur, either pointing to a defective GPU or possibly a PSU.

only real test of a GPU is to swap it out (like you did) or put it in another PC and see if it has same problems.
PSU is even more difficult
the paper clip method - https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/what-is-the-paperclip-method-of-testing-a-psu.1336402/ (but really this is just to test if it works)

or multimeter - the most accurate but most people don't have one lying around,

or in the BIOS to check the +3.3V, +5V, and +12V. - https://www.lifewire.com/power-supply-voltage-tolerances-2624583
but bios only shows it at idle, not under stress

If you don't have a multimeter, its at best a Guess. I would take PC to store unless you can test GPU in another PC and see if it has same errors there.

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

only real test of a GPU is to swap it out (like you did) or put it in another PC and see if it has same problems.
PSU is even more difficult
the paper clip method - https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/what-is-the-paperclip-method-of-testing-a-psu.1336402/ (but really this is just to test if it works)

or multimeter - the most accurate but most people don't have one lying around,

or in the BIOS to check the +3.3V, +5V, and +12V. - https://www.lifewire.com/power-supply-voltage-tolerances-2624583
but bios only shows it at idle, not under stress

If you don't have a multimeter, its at best a Guess. I would take PC to store unless you can test GPU in another PC and see if it has same errors there.

The voltages according to the BIOS are within their tolerances, though as you said that's idling. It's a shame i don't have another PC to test the GPU in or i'd have done that already.

 

[Colif]

Unless you can borrow that other GPU forever, you might be best getting PC looked at. They can test GPU in another PC, and PSU at same time.
My problem as I said wasn't the GPU at all. Its just what was crashing. Its possible same signs also mean GPU is bad. MY GPU kept working for 3 years after that problem.
Now not best time for GPU to die, so I might try to avoid blaming it as its not as easy to replace.

RTX 2080 are rare these days, as is my 2070 Super. You can blame Nvidia for that, they stopped making them a few months before releasing 30 series, then 2020 happened.

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

Unless you can borrow that other GPU forever, you might be best getting PC looked at. They can test GPU in another PC, and PSU at same time.
My problem as I said wasn't the GPU at all. Its just what was crashing. Its possible same signs also mean GPU is bad. MY GPU kept working for 3 years after that problem.
Now not best time for GPU to die, so I might try to avoid blaming it as its not as easy to replace.

RTX 2080 are rare these days, as is my 2070 Super. You can blame Nvidia for that, they stopped making them a few months before releasing 30 series, then 2020 happened.

I'm starting to think it's not a GPU issue, or even a PSU issue if i'm honest. Though i've ordered a new PSU as it's probably wise, the thing i currently have is 5 years old almost and it's long past due i replace it. Though i've ran into another issue that might shed some more light upon this whole mystery. I was just playing EU4, a not so graphic intensive game when i went to quit the game, i got a BSOD with the error message 'Attempted write to read only memory'. This BSOD message i've never encountered before, starting to think there's something up with my RAM or perhaps even a corrupt drive.

 

[Colif]

or a driver

Can you follow option one on the following link - here - and then do this step below: Small memory dumps - Have Windows Create a Small Memory Dump (Minidump) on BSOD - that creates a file in c windows/minidump after the next BSOD

1. Open Windows File Explore
2. Navigate to C:\Windows\Minidump
3. Copy the mini-dump files out onto your Desktop
4. Do not use Winzip, use the built in facility in Windows
5. Select those files on your Desktop, right click them and choose 'Send to' - Compressed (zipped) folder
6. Upload the zip file to the Cloud (OneDrive, DropBox . . . etc.)
7. Then post a link here to the zip file, so we can take a look for you . . .

instead of waiting, we can look what drivers are there and see if any stand out
Can you download and run Driverview - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html

All it does is looks at drivers installed; it won't install any (this is intentional as 3rd party driver updaters often get it wrong)

When you run it, go into view tab and set it to hide all Microsoft drivers, will make list shorter.

Now its up to you, you can look through the drivers and try to find old drivers, or you can take a screenshot from (and including)Driver name to (and including)Creation date.

upload it to an image sharing website and show link here


5 years isn't that old, my last PC was about that when I stopped using it and previous one was closer to 7. Parts do die over time but not always. Not in 5 years normally. I have had 6 PC since 1999 and the first 3 were in a 6 year time period but they weren't great computers really. Once you have a reasonable PC the need to upgrade every year goes away unless you have to be cutting edge all the time. Just upgrade GPU when you need to.
current PC is about 18 months old, feels brand new to me still.

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n8tkshwo3ue6llk/022822-7234-01.zip?dl=0 - Link to Dropbox containing two .dmp files. First one is from the blackscreen error that occurs, second is the more recent BSOD error.

I've ran Driverveiw and looked over the third party drivers I have, there are a couple that stand out as well as some mystery ones, though I'm not sure what I'm really looking for here so here is a link to a screenshot containing all of them.

 

[Colif]

mystery?
CPU Z is top driver
3 dump files created by system
ASIO.sys - Asus Input Output driver. As seen on most Asus PC
rest have names apart from CimFS.sys which I seen before... its potentially part of windows which makes me wonder why its not listed as such - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/_cimfs/

oldest drivers mostly Intel, I would run https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html and see if it suggests anything.

 

[gardenman]

Hi, I ran the dump files through the debugger and got the following information: https://jsfiddle.net/ucrwpm68/show This link is for anyone wanting to help. You do not have to view it. It is safe to "run the fiddle" as the page asks.

Spoiler: Dump File Results

File information:	022822-7234-01.dmp (Feb 27 2022 - 20:37:38)
Bugcheck:	ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY (BE)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process running at time of crash: eu4.exe)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 4 Hour(s), 00 Min(s), and 06 Sec(s)

File information:	022622-7281-01.dmp (Feb 25 2022 - 19:07:31)
Bugcheck:	IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (A)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process running at time of crash: EscapeFromTarkov.exe)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 2 Hour(s), 55 Min(s), and 14 Sec(s)

Possible Motherboard page: https://www.asus.com/us/SupportOnly/Z170-PRO/HelpDesk_Download/
There are BIOS updates available for your system. Wait for additional information before deciding to update or not. Important: Verify that I have linked to the correct motherboard. Updating your BIOS can be risky. Never try it when you might lose power (lightning storms, recent power outages, etc).

This information can be used by others to help you. Someone else will post with more information. Please wait for additional answers. Good luck.

 

[Colif]

strange how parts of Corsair link didn't show in driver listing

maybe oculus
seen these cause errors before

Jul 20 2017	SteamStreamingSpeakers.sys	Steam Streaming Speakers driver (Valve Corporation)
Jul 28 2017	SteamStreamingMicrophone.sys	Steam Streaming Microphone driver (Valve Corporation)

intel update as suggested might help with internet drivers

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

strange how parts of Corsair link didn't show in driver listing

maybe oculus
seen these cause errors before

Jul 20 2017	SteamStreamingSpeakers.sys	Steam Streaming Speakers driver (Valve Corporation)
Jul 28 2017	SteamStreamingMicrophone.sys	Steam Streaming Microphone driver (Valve Corporation)

intel update as suggested might help with internet drivers

Yeah. I updated the WiFi Intel Drivers, my new PSU arrived today so i got all that installed and the error still persists. I also don't see SteamStreaming devices in device manager.

Verify that I have linked to the correct motherboard

That's the correct motherboard.

 

[Colif]

Yeah. I updated the WiFi Intel Drivers, my new PSU arrived today so i got all that installed and the error still persists. I also don't see SteamStreaming devices in device manager.

how to get rid of the Streaming Microphone and Steam Speakers on the Device Manager :: Steam Link General Discussions

I used the steam link once on my desktop and then I think some drivers was installed. Now I have 3 devices listed on my Device Manager: Microphone (Steam Streaming Microphone) Speakers (Steam Streaming Microphone) Speakers (Steam Streaming Microphone) Since I am not using the steam link anymore...

steamcommunity.com

if that isn't helpful, try using Autoruns. The drivers should show on driver tab, I think you can remove them from here - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
or at very least stop them running with windows.

 

[Maverick_Zer0]

That didn't work either. I went on a bit of an impulse and decided to just re-format the drive and re-install windows from USB. Installed nothing but the drivers required and the game I can get it to crash the fastest on and it still happens. I'm nearing the thought of accepting that this is a GPU error, though even with the 1060 plugged in it gets bluescreens - albeit less often -, so i don't know what to think.

 

[Satan-IR]

While you're at it have you tried installing latest chipset and IRST drivers from moterboard manufacturer?

If this does't helps it's nothing a new install of Windows can't help since you already made the bootable USB.