Question Constant BSODs/crashes in games, need some help deciphering DMP files.

Nov 21, 2021
8
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Hey all,

recently started getting some crashes during games. Seems to be on a bit more demanding games, but I haven't been able to reproduce it in stress tests or anything not related to games. I can't remember for sure but it all seemed to have started when I put new RAM modules in my PC. Same model, timings, etc. Correct slots for dual channel, all that. After getting a few crashes, I took the new sticks out and still go the crashes. I reseat the old RAM into the old slots, and that stopped the crashes for a little while but eventually came back without any other changes. I updated my BIOS which did not help the crashes either. I then completely reinstalled windows (on a brand new hard drive), unplugged all other hard drives, and still got the crashes. I tried completely uninstalling my NVIDIA drivers with DDU and clean installing the most recent, as well as rolling back to an older version. Neither of those stopped the crashes. I also booted ram memtest86 and ran all tests with 0 errors on all 4 sticks of RAM. I currently only have my original 2 sticks plugged in.

I've gotten the two most recent DMP files after tweaking things and uninstalling certain drivers, but I cannot get anything more out of them other than I know it is a 'DPC Watchdog Violation'. Seeing as it is on a brand new Windows install with not many other drivers, I was hoping someone could read into these a bit and maybe find where the system is hanging. The files are here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GJzwugDnY3Jp1pq5toU-hX3CC-HL24t5/view?usp=sharing

Any help would be appreciated.
 

gardenman

Splendid
Moderator
Hi, I ran the dump files through the debugger and got the following information: https://jsfiddle.net/wz5pg94v/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.
File information:010922-9843-01.dmp (Jan 10 2022 - 01:42:07)
Bugcheck:DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION (133)
Driver warnings:*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ha20x22k.sys
Probably caused by:memory_corruption (Process: csrss.exe)
Uptime:0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 07 Min(s), and 53 Sec(s)

File information:010922-12718-01.dmp (Jan 10 2022 - 01:09:16)
Bugcheck:DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION (133)
Driver warnings:*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ha20x22k.sys
Probably caused by:memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:0 Day(s), 1 Hour(s), 48 Min(s), and 16 Sec(s)
Comment: The overclocking driver "RTCore64.sys" was found on your system. (MSI Afterburner)

Crashing Driver:
Apr 29 2019ha20x22k.sysCreative 20X2 HAL (WDM) Audio Product (Creative Technology Ltd)

Possible Motherboard page: https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z370-e-gaming-model/
There is a BIOS update 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.
 
Nov 21, 2021
8
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This is interesting, looks like it could be from my old sound card? Luckily I only use it these days for mirroring audio to the tv, so i can try to remove the card and uninstall the drives and see if I can get anywhere.

I'm curious about the file results though that say "probably caused by: memory_corruption". Is that in reference to my RAM or just a different way of saying the audio driver failed?
 

gardenman

Splendid
Moderator
The "probably caused by: memory_corruption" message is probably in about 99% of the dumps. On rare occasions it will say hardware_disk (or something similar to that).

Memory can be multiple things. It can be the memory where the drivers are stored. It can be the RAM. It can be the virtual memory on the hard drive.
I wouldn't get too caught up in that.

The sound card driver was clearly blamed, at least for these 2 crashes. I would highly recommend that you take the actions you mentioned, temporarily remove it and it's driver to see if that helps. If you continue to crash, upload more dump files.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
The "probably caused by: memory_corruption" message is probably in about 99% of the dumps. On rare occasions it will say hardware_disk (or something similar to that).
I agree with this message. I am the one who reads most of the outputs of his reports. It can depend on what code you are getting as to where I am likely to look.

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ha20x22k.sys
this line here makes it obvious what is to blame in crash though. No need to look unless the error returns and starts blaming some other driver.

most of the time crashes don't even mention a driver name, its a matter of working out what might be cause. Yours shows its name twice in both crashes which is something I wish more dumps would do really.
 
Nov 21, 2021
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That's great, thanks a lot for the info. I was doing some testing last night and haven't crashed yet, so fingers crossed. But I've gone a few days before without a crash before so I will keep an eye on it and report back if I get another one.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
the causes of that seem varied.

here is one
Fix #1:
Step 1:
Go to the search box next to the Windows icon and type CMD

Step 2:
Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run As Administrator

Step 3:
Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic and press enter.

Step 4:
Click Next on the Hardware troubleshooter wizard.

Step 5:
Restart PC

Fix #2
Step 1:
Go to the search box next to the windows icon and type "Power & sleep settings"

Step 2:
Click on "Choose what the power buttons do" option

Step 3:
Now click on "Change settings that are currently unavailable".

Step 4:
Disable Turn off fast startup (recommended), Sleep, and Hibernate options. Click on the Save changes button.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e0e-6431-41b6-a9d8-a572aa5d55c8?auth=1&page=1

thing is we don't know what BSOD code you got is.

there is a newer bios since one you on. I wouldn't grab the beta BIOS but the one below it might help - https://rog.asus.com/au/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z370-e-gaming-model/helpdesk_bios

Did you take soundcard out?
 
Nov 21, 2021
8
1
15
the causes of that seem varied.

here is one

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e0e-6431-41b6-a9d8-a572aa5d55c8?auth=1&page=1

thing is we don't know what BSOD code you got is.

there is a newer bios since one you on. I wouldn't grab the beta BIOS but the one below it might help - https://rog.asus.com/au/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z370-e-gaming-model/helpdesk_bios

Did you take soundcard out?


Yeah the soundcard was taken out and I uninstalled the drivers completely in safe mode with DDU. I couldn't see the BSOD code either this time since it happened and restarted so fast. The freezing only seemed to start happening after I put new RAM sticks in (although still continued even after removing them). I updated my BIOS to the version right before the most recent one (which it looks like just adds support for windows 11) which leads me to believe its not the BIOS, and I'd like to not mess with that again if possible (since that update alone brought along some issues with my hard drives).

I did redo my memtest on each individual stick of RAM instead of all of them plugged in, and I found that a test running on one of the new sticks made memtest freeze, and i had to force shutdown. All 3 other sticks completed the test fine. I have removed the new RAM again and have not seen it crash yet, but like I said before it seems pretty random. I am going to RMA this set of RAM for some new ones.
 
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