Question BSOD's with multiple different stop codes, replaced hardware but still ongoing!

Oct 9, 2022
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Hi everyone,

I built this PC around 2 years ago, and have had no issues up until the last 6 months. I did not change anything during that time which may be causing this to my knowledge. I have been dealing with constant BSOD and 'freezing' black screens during idle use and gaming sessions. It will crash variably - sometimes instantaneously after switching on my PC or after an hour or two of gaming. I am unable to complete an OCCT system test as it will generally black screen or BSOD within 1 minute.

The various stop codes have been SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (win32kfull.sys failing), standard error code 41, irql driver_not_less_or_equal. As mentioned, my PC will occasionally just 'black screen' where the displays are frozen but the fans/PC is still running. There is a single dump file which is 1mb large (although I recently reinstalled windows so the last dump files before this aren't available).

So far, I have tried multiple things to try sort this out including:
  • Reinstalling fresh windows and formatting all drives
  • Double and triple checked all my internal and external cables
  • All my temps are within reasonable ranges on hwinfo (idle and with use)
  • Updating GPU drivers
  • Disabling windows fast reboot
  • Disabling XMP profile - RAM is now running at 2166
  • Disabling CPU-C state
  • Replaced both sticks of ram
  • Replaced and upgraded motherboard
With the previous motherboard, I was getting errors on startup saying that only one RAM was detected and it would crash with heavy use.
My specs are as follows:
  • AMD Ryzen 3600
  • CRYORIG H7
  • MSI MAG B550M MORTAR (old mobo was ASRock B450M Steel Legend)
  • G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB (2x8) DDR4-3200 (have also tried Corsair Vengeance LPX 16gb 2x8)
  • Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280
  • EVGA KO ULTRA GAMING GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB
  • Cooler Master MWE Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified
My feeling is that it could be a power supply issue however I am a novice with tech and only really have experience building PC's but not much past that. I appreciate any and all help as I have been scouring the net for solutions and am exhausted with figuring out what is wrong.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
i would be tempted to run this and see if you get any rounding errors. Run over night as it can take 17 hours
https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/prime95-download.html
Prime 95 Instructions - https://appuals.com/how-to-run-a-cpu-stress-test-using-prime95/

only as you reinstalled a few times.

we can humor it and look at dumps:
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 . . .
 
Oct 9, 2022
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Do you have, or have access to, a volt meter for testing?

I don't unfortunately but I could purchase one to help tease out if it's the PSU?

i would be tempted to run this and see if you get any rounding errors.
Have Windows Create a Small Memory Dump (Minidump) on BSOD

I've tried stress testing with OCCT and Prime95 which causes it to either black screen or freeze after a minute. Theres only one mini-dump file from all the recent BSOD's as I've reinstalled the OS earlier today. I've attached that.

I've also attached a video of the crashes happening while running OCCT - during this time, my fans/PSU are running on full & are super loud (louder than usual), and continue to run after the whole system crashes (second shorter clip)...

OneDrive
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
if you ran prime, it might show a text file in the folder its installed in, that shows perhaps some progress

I think Dark breeze means - multimeter https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158

Conversion of dumps

report - Click run as fiddle to see report

File: 100922-6765-01.dmp (Oct 10 2022 - 11:59:45)
BugCheck: [IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (A)]
Probably caused by: memory_corruption (Process: explorer.exe)
Uptime: 0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 09 Min(s), and 50 Sec(s)
cause isn't obvious

I think you about 5 BIOS versions behind now - https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B550M-MORTAR-WIFI/support
grab latest chipset drivers (not RAID or Stormi) - https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-socket-am4/b550
 
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Oct 9, 2022
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Can’t find any dump text files from Prime, ran it another twice but black screens.

oh my that’s embarrassing with the bios! I’ll get ahold of a USB and get that updated tomorrow.

I’ve just updated the chipset driver. Now running another prime stress test, this time it’s not crashing - will update
 
Last edited:
Just for future reference for you, these are the steps I generally recommend when somebody is having similar problems. My "cut and paste" reply if you will. Not that Colif's suggestions haven't been on point and included some of this, because they did, just for your own reference or anybody else that comes along later, and in case you do still have the problem you can say you've tried all or most of this before having to really go down the rabbit hole. Just click the spoiler below to expand it.

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

Make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release. In cases where you DO already have the latest BIOS version, simply resetting the BIOS as follows has a fairly high percentage chance of effecting a positive change in some cases so it is ALWAYS worth TRYING, at the very least.


BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for about three to five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes while the CMOS battery is out of the motherboard, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 15-30 seconds, in order to deplete any residual charge that might be present in the CMOS circuit. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP, A-XMP or D.O.C.P profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, IF the problem is related to a lack of video signal, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.

Trying a different monitor as well, if possible, is also a good idea if there is a lack of display. It happens.


Second,

Go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the motherboard chipset, audio chipset and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates. When it comes to the chipset drivers, if your motherboard manufacturer lists a chipset driver that is newer than what the chipset developer (Intel or AMD, for our purposes) lists, then use that one. If Intel (Or AMD) shows a chipset driver version that is newer than what is available from the motherboard product page, then use that one. Always use the newest chipset driver that you can get and always use ONLY the chipset drivers available from either the motherboard manufacturer, AMD or Intel.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory and SPD tabs. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.



Fourth (And often tied for most important along with an up-to-date motherboard BIOS),

A clean install of the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.


If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.


Graphics card driver CLEAN install guide using the Wagnard tools DDU



And last, but not least, if you have never done a CLEAN install of Windows, or have upgraded from an older version to Windows 10, or have been through several spring or fall major Windows updates, it might be a very good idea to consider doing a clean install of Windows if none of these other solutions has helped. IF you are using a Windows installation from a previous system and you didn't do a clean install of Windows after building the new system, then it's 99.99% likely that you NEED to do a CLEAN install before trying any other solutions.


How to do a CLEAN installation of Windows 10, the RIGHT way
 
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Oct 9, 2022
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if you ran prime, it might show a text file in the folder its installed in, that shows perhaps some progress

I think you about 5 BIOS versions behind now

Just for future reference for you, these are the steps I generally recommend when somebody is having similar problems.

I appreciate the continued support from you both!

I've gone ahead and updated my AMD chipset, BIOS, network & audio drivers, and done a fresh install of my graphics drivers with DDU. I've also gone ahead and reverted back to the XMP profile which has my ram running at the advertised speed.

I've also attached two text files from my recent Prime95 runs - 'results' was before I updated my bios and caused PC to crash after 10 minutes, the second 'results1' was after the bios update which I ran overnight and I think went on for 2ish hours? Let me know if these are the files you were after
Prime95 text files

To note, I'm noticing after these changes that it is no longer doing BSOD's at idle or heavy use, and more so just black screen freezing when hitting high loads such as installing drivers or running Prime/OCCT. I can attach another video of this if useful while running one of the stress tests.
 
Oct 9, 2022
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Could it be that I mounted my CPU cooler too tight when I installed the new mobo? i had another search online and that was something that other people had issues with when they tried most solutions

or am I getting ahead of myself by looking at hardware :x
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
installing drivers shouldn't stress pc out. if it runs prime for 20 hours and doesn't crash, I would question it being any of the hardware you tested. results look good, I was just trying to find some to compare it against. Most of the ones I see fail.

Try running Samsung Magician on the boot drive, it should have diagnostics. It might want you to install the Samsung nvme drivers, they below it on this page - https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/support/tools/
 
He said 2 hours, not 20. Just to be clear.

Yes, installing the CPU cooler too tight or unevenly can create problems. Black screens can be many things but it is commonly related to problems with the power supply. Given that this is not a great model, just adequate or mediocre and really not a great choice for use with discreet cards, you might want to consider a better power supply. It might not be the problem, but on the other hand it would really suck to spend weeks trying to figure out something that could have been resolved in an hour.
 
Oct 9, 2022
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i misread it as 20... 2 hours isn't long enough for Prime, it takes 17 at least.

I ran it overnight but it black screened on me after 2 hours.

I installed samsung magician and the driver however it says 'the selected drive does not support this feature' for the 970 evo. unsure about this, tried google and didnt find any answers other than BitLocker not being available on the os im runnning?

I ran the built in diagnostic scan in the bios which returned no issues for the ssd drive if thats any help.

I reseated the CPU cooler, cleaned and applied new paste and now the PC isnt running on full fan rpm however it still is black screening after doing any of the CPU stress tests.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
I installed samsung magician and the driver however it says 'the selected drive does not support this feature' for the 970 evo.
some people fixed that by swapping from RAID to AHCI in bios... but nvme don't use AHCI so not sure how that would help... swapping out of RAID could be it though.. i guess.
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5...-not-compatible-with-Magician-5-2/td-p/324966

it doesn't help that most of the results are for the Evo Plus models. I know some of the Pro NVMe don't use the program. Magician website seems to suggest it should work.
 
Oct 9, 2022
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I ended up buying and replacing the power supply which fixed the black screens so i think I did end up having a dodgy power supply.

I've just come back from holiday and my PC has decided to give me another headache (hooray). The audio service is disabled (red X) and its not registering any audio devices that I try plug in. I've tried both the front and back ports for audio. I've done a clean install of both the audio and graphics card drivers. Currently on control panel, it says there are no input or output devices found even though I have them plugged in. My MIC isn't working in sound settings as well.

I am thinking of just buying a sound card to fix this but I've already replaced the mobo and PSU after the BSODs and RAM issues I was having and hoping to not have to throw more money at this!

thanks!