[SOLVED] BSOD loop at startup with error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, but can boot into safe mode ?

[cocosoy29]

[SOLVED] Issue caused by mixing RAM kits, I was mixing two RAM kits (exact model, 2 sets of 2x16GB). But for that specific RAM kit, my mobo only supports 2x16 or 2x32 set up, not 4x16. After getting new RAM kits, no BSOD so far.

Non stop BSOD loop at start up showing error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. This happened this all of a sudden, the PC was fine two nights ago when I shut it down. Suddenly BSOD after I tried to turn it on yesterday.

However, I can boot into Safe mode from the blue restore screen and everything seems fine in safe mode.

I have the dump files and can upload them if anyone wants to take a look.

Here are the steps I've tried:

- Update BIOS
- Run sfc /scannow; chkdsk etc.
- Tried disable GPU in safe mode.
- Tried analyzing the dump files with WinDBG, the results point to different sys file such as ITEUCMCXCLIENT.SYS or ACPI.sys
- Wanted to run intel processor diagnostic tool but it won't let me in safe mode.
- Overnight memtest86 for RAMs, passed
- unplugged all other devices (mic, exHD, mouse etc.)

Also, safe mode with networking doesn't really give me internet 🙁

System spec:

CPU: 13900K
MOBO: ROG STRIX Z790F LGA1700
GPU: MSI 4090
RAM: GSkillz Trident Z5 (16GB x 4) 6400MT/s CL32-39-39-102 1.40V
Cooler: Lian Li Galahad 240
PSU: MSI MPG A1000G PCIE 5.0 Gold (1000W)
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB M2 (system drive)

If it can reliably boot into safe mode, does that mean it's probably a driver issue? At this point, what should I do?

 

[ubuysa]

Can you enter the command perform /rel in the Run command box and post a screenshot of the resulting display please?

 

[cocosoy29]

Can you enter the command perform /rel in the Run command box and post a screenshot of the resulting display please?

Here you go, I took screenshots for the past couple days (3/7/24 to 3/12/24), I installed new RAM kit on 3/10/24.

https://imgur.com/a/AijPoy3

View: https://imgur.com/a/AijPoy3

Some additional info on the processes:
- VaM.exe is a video game I play regularly, and it crashes all the time. But I rarely get a BSOD while playing it.
- TODO: it says ITE Gen2x2 Flash Tool, not sure what that is.
- I don't have any Anti virus software other than windows defender

Here is an updated screenshot for today:

https://imgur.com/a/EjPNeap

View: https://imgur.com/a/EjPNeap

 

[Satan-IR]

I did some research online and did a DISM restore health thing. After that, I was able to run SFC /scannow. It shows there is one corrupted file "BTHMODEM.sys" and it was repaired.

Well that is a driver file (*.sys). For a/the Bluetoosh Modem? Do you use the motherboard bluetooth feature? Have you installed the driver for it? Has any one the BSODs happened while you were using that by any chance?

Also have you installed the Asus utility Armory Crate by any chance? It has been known to cause issues and mess with systems.

The storage drive/s seem OK. Although we miss the left panel of the HDSentinel in the shots and don't know what's what with those health shots. The SMART tab would show possible problems, better than the Overview tab. Smart shot for that NVME drive (system drive?) looks OK.

I actually meant to ask you if you have any third part Anti Virus software installed. Sometimes they cause BSODs with the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (50) bugcheck. Also can be called by a corrupted NTFS volume/partition (which we mentioned ealrier, therefore the SFC /scanow). The abrupt shutdowns (which happen with BSODs) might damage/corrupt the NTFS driver, the file system or the NTFS volume.

 

[cocosoy29]

Well that is a driver file (*.sys). For a/the Bluetoosh Modem? Do you use the motherboard bluetooth feature? Have you installed the driver for it? Has any one the BSODs happened while you were using that by any chance?

Also have you installed the Asus utility Armory Crate by any chance? It has been known to cause issues and mess with systems.

The storage drive/s seem OK. Although we miss the left panel of the HDSentinel in the shots and don't know what's what with those health shots. The SMART tab would show possible problems, better than the Overview tab. Smart shot for that NVME drive (system drive?) looks OK.

I actually meant to ask you if you have any third part Anti Virus software installed. Sometimes they cause BSODs with the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (50) bugcheck. Also can be called by a corrupted NTFS volume/partition (which we mentioned ealrier, therefore the SFC /scanow). The abrupt shutdowns (which happen with BSODs) might damage/corrupt the NTFS driver, the file system or the NTFS volume.

I don't have a bluetooth modem, the Mobo has wifi feature but not sure about BT modem. Let me check on that. My PC is connected to internet via ethernet cable.

I DID install ASUS ARMORY CRATE!!! Because I wanted it to check if all my drivers/chipsets are up to date 🙁 Should I uninstall the whole thing?

I don't have any Anti Virus Software other than Windows Defender.

Here are additional screenshots from HDsentinel including the left panel and SMART tab (yes, the NVME drive is system drive):

https://imgur.com/a/XY4XEA7

View: https://imgur.com/a/XY4XEA7

p.s. Another BSOD just happened while I was working on another laptop, didn't even touch the PC. Then it went into disk scan/repair mode again. Booted into windows after two tries.

 

[Satan-IR]

I don't have a bluetooth modem, the Mobo has wifi feature but not sure about BT modem. Let me check on that. My PC is connected to internet via ethernet cable.

I DID install ASUS ARMORY CRATE!!! Because I wanted it to check if all my drivers/chipsets are up to date 🙁 Should I uninstall the whole thing?

I don't have any Anti Virus Software other than Windows Defender.

Here are additional screenshots from HDsentinel including the left panel and SMART tab (yes, the NVME drive is system drive):

https://imgur.com/a/XY4XEA7

View: https://imgur.com/a/XY4XEA7

Yes, the bluetooth feature of the motherboard. It has one.

Armory Crate has been known to cause more issues than it solves. I wouldn't install or keep it installed in my system.

The shots look OK to me.

Is that 14TB Western Digital where you have by any chance installed any of the apps/games you use and they crash? It seems healthy though.

Is the Windows Power Settings set to turn storage drives off after X minutes? If yes I would change that to 'never'.

 

[cocosoy29]

Yes, the bluetooth feature of the motherboard. It has one.

Armory Crate has been known to cause more issues than it solves. I wouldn't install or keep it installed in my system.

The shots look OK to me.

Is that 14TB Western Digital where you have by any chance installed any of the apps/games you use and they crash? It seems healthy though.

Is the Windows Power Settings set to turn storage drives off after X minutes? If yes I would change that to 'never'.

I uninstalled Amory Crates and encountered a BSOD during the uninstall, and another one after it's uninstalled lol. But now that software is GONE! (I used a uninstall tool provided by Asus).

The 14TB WD was mainly used to back up media and used as my Plex streaming storage, usually I don't interact with it.

I just turned off Storage off in power setting as you suggested (it was set to 20min before).

Let's see how it goes! Hopefully, it gets better.

If it still BSOD randomly, should I wipe out C: entirely and do a fresh install of Windows? (instead of using backup images). Would that help narrow the issue? [Update: it sitll BSOD left and right]

p.s. I also noticed BSOD happens more often when I have excel open, not sure if it's related.

Update: I was away from PC for about 5 hours tonight, left the PC on, no BSOD during this period. PC still running when I got back. During the day, it BSOD at least 4-5 times when I was working, mostly using Excel.

 

[Satan-IR]

I uninstalled Amory Crates and encountered a BSOD during the uninstall, and another one after it's uninstalled lol. But now that software is GONE! (I used a uninstall tool provided by Asus).

That application has been known to cause issues and I personally wouldn't bother installing it in the first place. In general, in order to keep drivers updated you can visit MOBO page on Asus website and see if there's any major updates for chipset and storage controller or other drivers which 'improve stability'. Then again if you/any user has no problem with stability it's OK if you don't have the latest version of every driver installed.

I mean it's best practice to keep them up to date but if everything works as it should it's OK to have the driver that is one version before the last one.

Same goes for BIOS updates. If system is OK leave BIOS alone as a botched BIOS update can brick a motherboard. But sometimes it is necessary to ensure system stability.

The 14TB WD was mainly used to back up media and used as my Plex streaming storage, usually I don't interact with it.

Good.

I just turned off Storage off in power setting as you suggested (it was set to 20min before).

Sometimes this causes problems when a drive is sleeping and needs to wake up upon access. The extra stop-start cycles also put some strain on mechanical drives (HDDs). The energy savings due to turning drives off are minimal and I think not significant.

If it still BSOD randomly, should I wipe out C: entirely and do a fresh install of Windows? (instead of using backup images). Would that help narrow the issue? [Update: it sitll BSOD left and right]

This is a drastic measure I think and a last resort. If you can narrow down the cause of BSODs and eliminate it why go through the hassle of installing Windows and all applications from scratch? But more to the point, yes, if there's something wrong with Windows and drivers a fresh install would help. Then again if something you install or use messes up for example with NTFS driver and storage same would happen if you install/use it on fresh install of Windows.

p.s. I also noticed BSOD happens more often when I have excel open, not sure if it's related.

Update: I was away from PC for about 5 hours tonight, left the PC on, no BSOD during this period. PC still running when I got back. During the day, it BSOD at least 4-5 times when I was working, mostly using Excel.

Are you using a registered copy of Office? Are there any updates? I think it won't hurt to uninstall and reinstall Office and also update to latest version if there are any after you reinstall Office.

 

[cocosoy29]

I left the PC on and went outside

That application has been known to cause issues and I personally wouldn't bother installing it in the first place. In general, in order to keep drivers updated you can visit MOBO page on Asus website and see if there's any major updates for chipset and storage controller or other drivers which 'improve stability'. Then again if you/any user has no problem with stability it's OK if you don't have the latest version of every driver installed.

I mean it's best practice to keep them up to date but if everything works as it should it's OK to have the driver that is one version before the last one.

Same goes for BIOS updates. If system is OK leave BIOS alone as a botched BIOS update can brick a motherboard. But sometimes it is necessary to ensure system stability.


Good.


Sometimes this causes problems when a drive is sleeping and needs to wake up upon access. The extra stop-start cycles also put some strain on mechanical drives (HDDs). The energy savings due to turning drives off are minimal and I think not significant.


This is a drastic measure I think and a last resort. If you can narrow down the cause of BSODs and eliminate it why go through the hassle of installing Windows and all applications from scratch? But more to the point, yes, if there's something wrong with Windows and drivers a fresh install would help. Then again if something you install or use messes up for example with NTFS driver and storage same would happen if you install/use it on fresh install of Windows.


Are you using a registered copy of Office? Are there any updates? I think it won't hurt to uninstall and reinstall Office and also update to latest version if there are any after you reinstall Office.

Yes, I am using Office365 (annual subscription) which is linked to my microsoft account. I will try to update it.

Good point on the fresh install of windows. I also prefer to identify the root of the issue instead of reset my PC everytime it happens 😉

I've been using my PC this morning for about 4 hours (mostly just Chrome), no BSOD. So even the BSOD is not consistent. Yesterday was a shit show. Everything just seems so random and out of my control.

Another thing I noticed is Windows is having trouble updating itself. See screenshot:

https://imgur.com/a/qi6NK7e

View: https://imgur.com/a/qi6NK7e


I tried multiple times but the update always fails. Now, if I do SFC /Scannow again, it tells me "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the request operation." This message sometimes show up when it's only 3% complete, sometimes show up when it's 60%+ complete. And I ran it couple hours later, it just worked... Again, not consistent.

https://imgur.com/a/CSnBI3b

View: https://imgur.com/a/CSnBI3b

 

[cocosoy29]

I ran overnight memtest86 on my new RAM and the passed.

However, I was able to run Prime95 stress test for 3 hours without error when I just installed the RAM. But today when I try it again, Prime95 gave BSOD within minutes. I didn't change anything to the system during the past couple of days.

At this point, is there any other test I can run in hope to pinpoint the issue? I feel like you guys already helped me to exhaust all the options (less fresh install and reseat SSD)

Btw, the BSOD has eased down a bit for the past two days, averaging 1.5 BSOD each day. But I still have no idea why it happens 🙁

 

[Satan-IR]

You're not mixing RAM again by any chance? Still using the kit/pack that came together when running the Prime95? What set of tests did you run in Prime95?

Maybe you can try Driver Verifier? before going down the wire and fresh install of Windows?

I'm also thinking I can't think of anything else to try except the DV and then clean install of Windows.

Let's see if @ubuysa has any ideas of anything further we can try. He gave a complete set of instructions on how to work with the Driver Verfier in another thread, you can check it out here. If you decide to try DV, follow the instructions to the letter.

 

[cocosoy29]

You're not mixing RAM again by any chance? Still using the kit/pack that came together when running the Prime95? What set of tests did you run in Prime95?

Maybe you can try Driver Verifier? before going down the wire and fresh install of Windows?

I'm also thinking I can't think of anything else to try except the DV and then clean install of Windows.

Let's see if @ubuysa has any ideas of anything further we can try. He gave a complete set of instructions on how to work with the Driver Verfier in another thread, you can check it out here. If you decide to try DV, follow the instructions to the letter.

Yes, I'm only using the new kit (2 sticks only) for RAM. Not mixing any thing else.

For Prime95, I ran the "Blend" test which I assume incorporates all the other tests.

I haven't tried DV yet, I am going to back up my system first (I heard it may cause BSOD loop). If everything fails, I will do a clean install.

Thanks again for sticking with me, I know it's very hard to solve technical issues remotely.

 

[cocosoy29]

Update: after enable DV and reboot, it immediately goes into BSOD loop. I can boot into safe mode, but nothing else. Does that point to driver issue?

Unfortunately since I can’t boot normally, I won’t be able to collect dump files.

Now I have a more pressing issue, the PC doesn’t even post now. It doesn’t show the mobo logo, no BIOS just black screen after power up. I gotta work on this first lol.

Update2: ok got the black screen thing fixed, now back to BSOD hell. I will try to do a fresh install at this point.

Update 3: now I’m having problem creating fresh install drive using my laptop grrrr. “There as a problem running this tool”

Update4: ok that was solved by giving my USB drive a Name lol. Genius. Now I decided to re seat my SSD, then I remove the heat sink, I noticed some oil like liquid(almost feel like WD40) on the surface of the ssd where it touches the thermal pad. Is that normal?

https://imgur.com/a/ShxlE7C

View: https://imgur.com/a/ShxlE7C


You can see the reflection in the photo

 

[ubuysa]

Apologies for butting in again but I was looking at the Reliability Monitor output I asked you to post. Everything seems to have been running fine (you had a reliability score of 10) and then at some point on 3rd Jan it all fell apart. What happened on the 3rd Jan to cause it to suddenly fail?

 

[cocosoy29]

Apologies for butting in again but I was looking at the Reliability Monitor output I asked you to post. Everything seems to have been running fine (you had a reliability score of 10) and then at some point on 3rd Jan it all fell apart. What happened on the 3rd Jan to cause it to suddenly fail?

I honestly don’t remember if anything changed on 1/3. But I had a breakdown and did a fresh install back in late December last year. The system wasn’t stable after that.

The breakdown was also a BSOD loop, I couldn’t get into windows so I just did a fresh install. Didn’t do much diagnostic back then.

 

[ubuysa]

What sort of breakdown did you have in December and how did you fix it?

 

[cocosoy29]

What sort of breakdown did you have in December and how did you fix it?

It’s very similar to this one I’m having. I could not boot into windows, it goes into a mobo logo>BSOD>restart>mobo logo>self repair>repair fail > restart > BSOD loop. I was able to fix it by doing a wipe on system drive and did a fresh install of windows. But I still get BSOD occasionally after that ( not nearly as frequent as now thou. )

A little more background on the PC, it was built in Nov 2022. No over clock or anything , it runs perfectly for about a year before the BSOD happened. 6 months after it’s built, I added another SSD to it. No issue after adding that. It started to BSOD near the end of 2023.

 

[cocosoy29]

So I was trying to do a fresh install from a usb drive (followed instruction on the pinned post) after re seat my SSD. However, when the install finishes and the PC restarts automatically, it goes into another BSOd loop with same error code 0xc000021a every time.

Tried install a second time, this time BSOD loop after install with a different code: page fault in non page area. This BSOD went on for about 3 loops and then it keeps restarting and showing me this screen:

https://imgur.com/a/3xDOyhD

View: https://imgur.com/a/3xDOyhD

At what point should I consider if there’s something wrong with my CPU? And is there way to test that? Right now I can’t even perform a fresh install of windows🙁

Right now I’m trying to recreate the win11 install usb, and plan to try the install again with my GPU removed.

Update: removing GPU made no difference, I’m going to remove my SSD and try fresh install on another SSD, see if that makes a difference.

Update 2: removed primary SSD, no weird error during install, but still random BSOD when restart PC. Able to boot into windows now. I think I’m going to start RMA for my CPU at this point. Really can’t think of anything else. The chance of all 3 of my SSD are bad is really slim considering I’ve tested all of them.

Ps i also encountered this code during installation for the first time, see screenshot:

https://imgur.com/a/MH0Tju5

View: https://imgur.com/a/MH0Tju5

 

[ubuysa]

The 0xC000021A exception indicates that a critical process terminated. That it's happening at installation time clearly indicates a hardware issue. That 0xC0000005 exception in the screenshot is an invalid memory access and that can happen for any number of reasons.

Are you running the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool on this PC or on another PC? You MUST create the installation USB via the Media Creation Tool on a different PC, because you can't trust yours.

Is there a BIOS update for your motherboard?
The 13900K CPU is a frighteningly hot CPU, especially the i7 and i9 versions. I wonder whether that cooler is man enough? You may have damaged the CPU through insufficient cooling perhaps? All CPUs run very hot during the boot process.....

 

[Satan-IR]

Apologies for butting in again but I was looking at the Reliability Monitor output I asked you to post. Everything seems to have been running fine (you had a reliability score of 10) and then at some point on 3rd Jan it all fell apart. What happened on the 3rd Jan to cause it to suddenly fail?

Personally, @ubuysa not only I don't mind but welcome and appreciate the help.

The 0xC000021A exception indicates that a critical process terminated. That it's happening at installation time clearly indicates a hardware issue. That 0xC0000005 exception in the screenshot is an invalid memory access and that can happen for any number of reasons.

I agree. If you created the installation media on your system and then there's erros processing that during the actual installation could indicate a hardware issue has interfered during the install media creation too.

You MUST create the installation USB via the Media Creation Tool on a different PC, because you can't trust yours.

This is true. Creating the installation USB on a differnt PC would eliminate the possibility of yours messing it up when you want to make it.

Also agree about the cooler not being able to cope. Perhaps testing the CPU with Intel software would shed light on that. While monitoring the temps closely as those tests and stress tests would increase CPU temps largely and rapidly.

Now I decided to re seat my SSD, then I remove the heat sink, I noticed some oil like liquid(almost feel like WD40) on the surface of the ssd where it touches the thermal pad. Is that normal?

Don't see the 'stains' you mean. The stricker seems crooked and as if it was not applied properly or that it has slid a bit under remp making the glue runny a bit? That grey stuff (with some scratches) under the M.2 is themral paste on the board?

 

[cocosoy29]

@Satan-IR @ubuysa

I did create the install drive on my other laptop (since I couldn't even get into windows on the problematic PC). BIOS was update to latest version when the BSOD started about 2 weeks ago.

This morning, I remove all SSD (3 of them), and installed a brand new one I just bought. Same BSOD happens!! So I'm pretty sure SSD is not the issue here.

Now, the CPU. As you guys mentioned, it does run VERY hot during certain task. It was pretty concerning tbh, but I did some research and it seems 13900K just run hot. During the past year, I've been monitoring the CPU temp. Idle temp around 38-45 depending on the room temp. During heavy gaming, the CPU usually stabilizes around 85 degrees (GPU usually stays below 65). But CPU often hits 100C (thus throttles), when I run AI related task (model training etc.). So this CPU was definitely heavily abused in the past 15 months.

The cooling system I have is an AIO from Lian Li (Galahad 240, my case doesn't support 360 radiator). I have 10 Lian Li SL-Infinity 120mm fans installed. I've done a lot of research before purchasing this AIO, and it seems people have no issue handling 13900 with this specific AIO. I also made sure the Airflow is efficient. Here is a Youtbue video of a build which is almost a carbon copy of mine (while, I actually copied his build haha, but his temp is a lot better than mine).

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4g8K4K6NKE&ab_channel=MrMattLee


Do you guys agree at this point CPU is most likely culprit? I submitted a RMA request to intel and is waiting for their reply.

 

[ubuysa]

Do you guys agree at this point CPU is most likely culprit? I submitted a RMA request to intel and is waiting for their reply.

I don't think any of us could say with any certainty that the CPU is the problem here, but the evidence we have certainly suggests quite strongly that it could be the CPU. If this were mine I would be swapping the CPU as the next step - but I think you need to confirm that the cooler you have is beefy enough, because if it's not you'll just cook the replacement CPU as well...

Just be aware that if you have cooked the CPU due to insufficient cooling then the warranty might be invalidated.

 

[cocosoy29]

I don't think any of us could say with any certainty that the CPU is the problem here, but the evidence we have certainly suggests quite strongly that it could be the CPU. If this were mine I would be swapping the CPU as the next step - but I think you need to confirm that the cooler you have is beefy enough, because if it's not you'll just cook the replacement CPU as well...

Just be aware that if you have cooked the CPU due to insufficient cooling then the warranty might be invalidated.

I should be receiving the RMA CPU today, will test and report back.

During my research this week, I learned that all Asus Z790 motherboard has Asus Multicore Enhancement set to ON by DEFAULT in the Bios. This setting will override the CPU's power limit and bascially supply the CPU with uncapped voltage. Thus resulting in the CPU being a lot hotter than it needs to be. I suspect this has something to do with my CPU degrading in such a short period (together with my heavy daily use).

This time I will have that Enhancement disabled, and maybe even try undervolt it a bit to have a better temp. But first, hopefully I get a stable system after replacing the CPU. Fingers crossed!

 

[cocosoy29]

Reporting back. No BSOD so far after replacing the CPU, everything runs well.

I also turned off Asus's AI enhancement setting, which restores the default CPU power limit.

@Satan-IR @ubuysa Thank you guys for helping along the way! I've learned a lot during the past two weeks. I will edit my OP to reflect the issue and the solution, hopefully it will help someone else in the future.

 

[ubuysa]

Glad it's now sorted.

 

[Satan-IR]

I'm glad it's alright now.

Recently ubuysa mentioned the real possibility of it being a hardware issue and specifically a CPU-related one here.

So if I may I suggest you mark his post #46 as the 'Solution'.