Question BSOD - IRQL Not Less or Equal

[Jaskel]

Hi Folks,

My partner's computer has been encountering a number of BSODs, mainly IRQL Not Less or Equal, though prior to the BIOS update, I was also seeing Hypervisor Errors, though Hyper-V was not installed. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to them, regardless of system load or uptime. This is a fresh Windows 11 install from early August. Machine hardware is as follows:

Motherboard: Asus Prime B450M-A (BIOS 4202)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5-3600
RAM: Silicon Power 32GB (16GBx2) XPOWER Turbine Gaming DDR4 3200MHz
SSD1: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe
SSD2: Crucial MX500 2TB SATA
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB

Troubleshooting Steps are as follows:

Updated BIOS from 4002 to 4202 (There are some changed BIOS settings for Secure Boot, Fastboot Off, CSM Off. I don't have the machine in front of me to check at the moment)
Ensured latest drivers from AMD Download/Support Tool
Clean Uninstall/Reinstall of Nvidia Driver using DDU
Checked SSD Firmware/Drivers via Samsung Magician & Crucial Storage Executive
Removed iCue Software/Driver
Ran DISM Scan/Check/RestoreHealth - OK
Ran SFC /Scannow - OK
Ran Chkdsk C: /F - OK
Enabled Driver Verifier for all Non-MS drivers (Special pool, Force IRQL checking, Pool tracking, Deadlock detection, security checks, Miscellaneous checks, Power framework delay fuzzing, DDI compliance checking)

Recorded 5 Minidumps once Verifier was enabled: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AhbbggDci1sCnaxSxCfLGKF-0ozotg?e=oyyQxN

The RAM and SSDs are the only recent changes, but they do line up with the new OS install. It's possible that it's bad RAM, but I haven't sat down to run Memtest86+ against it. Barring that, I'm running out of ideas.

 

[ubuysa]

I think it's the RAM.

All the dumps fail for the same reason, but in different operations...

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  AV_STACKPTR_ERROR_nt!SwapContext

A stack pointer error doesn't necessarily mean it's a RAM issue, but it's a strong indication. There are no third-party drivers involved in any of the dumps, that too is a strong indication of a hardware cause.

One of the dumps goes a step further and gives us a bigger clue...

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0x1E_c0000005_R_STACKPTR_ERROR_nt!SwapContext

That 0xC000005 exception code is a memory access violation.

If you just replaced the RAM then that's where I'd start. Replace the old RAM and see whether the problem disappears. You could also remove one stick of the new RAM and see whether that helps. If not, swap sticks and run on just the other stick.

You could run a memory tester (Memtest86 is the one I'd recommend) but since you have plenty of RAM the most relaible way is to remove a stick.

Have you checked that the RAM is fully compatible with the motherboard?

 

[Jaskel]

I think it's the RAM.

All the dumps fail for the same reason, but in different operations...

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  AV_STACKPTR_ERROR_nt!SwapContext

A stack pointer error doesn't necessarily mean it's a RAM issue, but it's a strong indication. There are no third-party drivers involved in any of the dumps, that too is a strong indication of a hardware cause.

One of the dumps goes a step further and gives us a bigger clue...

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0x1E_c0000005_R_STACKPTR_ERROR_nt!SwapContext

That 0xC000005 exception code is a memory access violation.

If you just replaced the RAM then that's where I'd start. Replace the old RAM and see whether the problem disappears. You could also remove one stick of the new RAM and see whether that helps. If not, swap sticks and run on just the other stick.

You could run a memory tester (Memtest86 is the one I'd recommend) but since you have plenty of RAM the most relaible way is to remove a stick.

Have you checked that the RAM is fully compatible with the motherboard?

Thanks for digging into it! I was definitely leaning that way, but was hoping that wasn't the case.

We swapped the old RAM in last night, and that seems to have done the trick, though we won't know for sure until tonight.

I'm going to need to do some more testing and see if it's a compatibility issue, bad sticks, or maybe I just didn't seat it right or there was dust in the contacts.