Question BSOD when idle & NVMe occasionally not detected in BIOS

Dec 16, 2024
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Over the last 2 months I've been experiencing random BSODs that are often when the computer is effectively idling. The error I generally see is CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. After this happened more that once I would occasionally run various stress tests to try and cause the issue but I have not been able to trigger a BSOD. I ran prime95, memtest86, cinebench, 3dmark, occt, chrystaldiskmark... I'm sure there were more plus other diagnostic tools like the seagate toolkit. All of the diagnostics passed and I could never get the stress tests to cause a BSOD. The only issue I had during off of these was coil or capacitor whine during the OCCT combined test (but not testing individually).

In the last few days when booting first thing in the morning about half the time my m.2 NVMe isn't detected. The first time, I disassembled everything and reseated the m.2 and it booted and seemed fine - though I'm pretty sure I got at least 1 more BSOD that day but it rebooted itself and was "fine." I updated my BIOS to the current version and installed the latest windows update - 24h2, and everything else I could think to update (though I couldn't find out if the firstware on the SSD has a newer version) but still have these random issues.

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard - Bios v F39d
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Seagate FireCuda 510 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
EVGA XC ULTRA GAMING GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Video Card
EVGA SuperNOVA 650 GM 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply

My primary suspects are the NVMe and the motherboard, but I'm having a hard time imagining why it would cause occasional rather than consistent issues. I have also considered that there could be a software problem, but I'm not sure how that would cause the ssd to not show up in BIOS. I also considered that maybe the CMOS battery is borderline, but I would think I'd get a beep or it would boot straight to bios if that were the case. I have 2 thoughts on additional testing I could do, though I wish I could cause these issues so I could test reliably: I have a cheap inland m.2 that I got for a project that I didn't end up using so I could try that or I could move the seagate to the second m.2 slot but it's on the back of the board and has no room for a heatsink. I talked to one of the guys at Microcenter, and he suspected the cause was limited to the motherboard, but again, I have a hard time imagining why it wouldn't be a consistent issue.

I'm open to any ideas and hoping I can limp my way through the holiday season!
 
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Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I updated my BIOS to the current version and installed the latest windows update - 24h2
For the sake of relevance, can you state the BIOS version you're on for your motherboard?

You will need to locate your mini dump files and then upload them on a site like DropBox then pass on the link for us to go through them.

if you suspect your drive to be the culprit, use the other drive you have but this time out, recreate you bootable USB installer, disconnect all storage drives, then install the OS in offline mode, manually install all drivers in an elevated command with the latest versions, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator then tax the system and see if the issue is alleviated.

I also considered that maybe the CMOS battery is borderline, but I would think I'd get a beep or it would boot straight to bios if that were the case.
Do you have a POST speaker hooked up to the motherboard? Do you need to input time and date into BIOS when the drive goes missing? If so, then you need to replace the CMOS battery with a fresh cell.
 
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I updated my BIOS to the current version and installed the latest windows update - 24h2
For the sake of relevance, can you state the BIOS version you're on for your motherboard?

You will need to locate your mini dump files and then upload them on a site like DropBox then pass on the link for us to go through them.

if you suspect your drive to be the culprit, use the other drive you have but this time out, recreate you bootable USB installer, disconnect all storage drives, then install the OS in offline mode, manually install all drivers in an elevated command with the latest versions, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator then tax the system and see if the issue is alleviated.

I also considered that maybe the CMOS battery is borderline, but I would think I'd get a beep or it would boot straight to bios if that were the case.
Do you have a POST speaker hooked up to the motherboard? Do you need to input time and date into BIOS when the drive goes missing? If so, then you need to replace the CMOS battery with a fresh cell.
Bios v. F39d - I'll update above as well
I don't see a minidump folder but the settings are configured so there should be one. When it bluescreens, it pops up and then reboots often without enough time for me to read the code.
I didn't think about there not being a built in speaker for codes but I think CMOS issues are probably very unlikely I just don't know why it would be so intermittent.

You would go straight to a fresh install of windows on the other drive and not move the drive to the other slot first?