DPC Watch Dog Violation BSOD and other issues...

[kris_hm]

Recently my computer did a windows update, maybe 2 weeks or so ago and after this my computer began crashing at random times with the above error in a BSOD. I did not know at the time what the issue was so i began researching. Using bluescreenviewer i found that my computer was blaming the following files; ntoskrnl.exe, nvlddmkm.sys amd HDAudBus.sys.
I have had several bluescreen crashes within the last 2 weeks and not every report is the same. Most of them blame only the ntoskrnl.exe file alone, some of them blame both that file and the nvlddmkm.sys file. Only one report blames both these files plus the HDAudBus.sys file.
I have done much troubleshooting but so far have been unable to resolve this issue. At the time the crashes began happening, i had not updated my video card or any other driver software. I did windows updates only. Everything was working perfectly until a couple weeks ago.
I researched the recent windows updates that had been installed on my computer but none of them seemed to be related to the issue so i did not remove any of them. I cannot remember the exact date this started, otherwise i would just remove those specific updates and see if that resolves the issue, but im unsure.
I have tried updating the drivers, i have tried using DDR to completely remove my GPUs drivers inside of safemode then reinstalled fresh drivers, i have tried the sfc/scannow command, i tried disk check /f and /r. None of these solutions have worked so far.
When i tried to run the sfc/scannow command i tried running it in my windows boot cd, but i keep getting an error stating that a repair is already in progress. I am able to run this command in the OS but when i do it gives the following error; Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

Also, i tried to boot mini XP from hirens boot cd and it boots fine, i was intending to run the sfc/scannow command inside miniXP, but when i boot miniXP my keyboard and mouse do not work at all. I have a few different keyboards and mice to go around and i have tried them all, in diferent USB ports but none of them work. I also removed all other hardware from my computer trying to boot miniXP but i still cannot use my mouse and keyboard. The same boot CD works in my laptop so its not the disk im using.

It seems like every solution i come up with or find online just isnt working for me. Very frustrating. I have read recent forums on here and ive read that even installing a fresh copy of windows may not solve this issue. I do not want to go through all that trouble reinstalling all my software and getting things set up the way i want just to continue having bluescreens. I am continuing troubleshooting by installing my GPU in another desktop computer i have. I will install the drivers from Nvidia and see if this computer crashes or not.
Also while i had my computer on the bench removing the graphics card i did some hardware testing just incase and ruled out my PSU, RAM, HDDs, and my other PCI cards. My computer continued to crash without all of my hardware. So it is either my OS, drivers or my graphics card. Testing right now.
In the mean time, would any one have any other suggestions for me to try?


My setup is:
HP Pavilion P7-1421 (modified)
2x 4TB disk drives
16GB RAM @1866Mhz
AMD A8 Trinity @ 3.2Ghz
Asus Geforce GTX 750TI 2GB
750W PSU
My extras are an elgato capture card,( PCI card) , a 4 port USB 3.0 PCI card. a bluetooth adapter (USB plugin) , 2 CD/DVD drives, and thats it.
Don't know if any of that matters much but there it is.


Sorry let me clarify, when i was doing hardware tests obviously i needed my primary HDD to boot my OS and i continued using my 750TI to display my screen. I removed all unnecessary hardware, still got bluescreens.

 

[jr9]

Was it bluescreening immediately after fresh installing without downloading any Windows updates or drivers?

 

[kris_hm]

So far no. I have my primary machine running on the AMD A8 integrates graphics, and I have a secondary machine running my graphics card with a fresh installation of windows. I did not get any blue screens before installing the driver for the graphics card nor before updates. I left both machines running overnight which is usually when I get my blue screens. When I came home this morning they were both still running. I started windows update at 9am est on my secondary test machine. Will update here in the next 12-24 hours if I get a blue screen or not.
If I do not get a bluescreen I will proceed with a clean install of windows on my primary machine and see if I continue to get blue screens.

 

[jr9]

To confirm, have you installed nVIDIA graphics card drivers prior to going into the Windows 8 update? Did Windows automatically download drivers for you or are you running in VGA low resolution mode with zero drivers?

2nd machine: No GPU driver + No Windows updates = stable
2nd machine: Yes GPU driver + No Windows update = Driver is the problem if it crashes
2nd machine: No GPU driver + Yes Windows update = Windows is the problem if it crashes, faulty patch
2nd machine: Yes GPU driver + Yes Windows update = Possibly a conflict between recent patch and GPU driver.

If you go from Windows update straight to reinstall without trying both nVIDIA drivers and completely patches/updated Windows 10 then you may not be able to tell which is the problem.

 

[kris_hm]

Okay, here is what i have so far.
Primary machine as is with all current windows updates and nvidia drivers up to date = unstable
Secondary machine with GPU and clean install of windows 8.1 with no internet connection (So no windows updates) = stable
secondary machine with GPU and GPU driver but no windows updates and no internet connection = stable
secondary machine wiht GPU and driver and windows update = stable or atleast it seems to be stable. I did the windows updates here and left this machine running for about 12 hours with all updates and drivers and there has yet to be a bluescreen.

Other news, i seem to have gotten my primary machine working, or somewhat working.
I turned my secondary machine off and pulled the GPU only so i can just put it back and continue testing if necessary.
Put my GPU back in my primary machine, booted into safe mode running on built in graphics, not using the GPU yet. I tried to run DDU again from safe mode, but this time instead of only uninstalling the Nvidia drivers i also selected Intel from the drop down menu and this uninstalled the HD Audio driver.
I do not know if this is the driver for my computer or for the graphics card... My GPU has an HDMI port, so i am assuming it is capable of carrying sound if i want it to, but i use the optical input on my PC instead.
So after uninstalling the Intel HD Audio driver with DDU, i have not rebooted my machine at this point yet.
I proceeded to install a graphics driver from Nvidias website. I used version 388.00 instead of the most recent update. When I ran this installer i ran it as an admin, and i used custom installation settings. There were 5 drivers to pick from. I unchecked HD audio, and the one underneath it which also seemed to be related to the HD audio driver. I installed only the GPU driver and the two 3D vision drivers. I did this around 5pm yesterday. I got a little impatient and speeded the troubleshooting along because i need my primary workstation to do work.
Anyway so far, i have not gotten a bluescreen and usually i would have gotten one by now. The odd thing though is that my screen saver was working all night and now all of a sudden it isnt working. Instead of my screen saver it displays a message " Windows could not start this screen saverr".
I tried to change screen savers but all of them now display this message. I have not rebooted my computer since installing the driver software except for the initial reboot from safe mode to the normal OS. So far no bluescreens

 

[kris_hm]

I am not going to restart my primary machine for another day or 2 to see if it is truly stable. Ive seen the "windows could not start this screen saver" error before and a restart fixed it before. I have used my machine alot over the last few hours too, After i got the GPU installed and rebooted to the OS i used it to surf the web, watch movies, and i typed a paper. No hiccups or anything. Seems stable minus the screen saver

 

[jr9]

Sounds like progress.

The Intel HD drivers (Or others like Realtek) that go with your motherboard and the nVIDIA audio driver it used to manage HDMI are known to conflict with each other. This is why I generally always leave the nVIDIA one unselected unless the client is using HDMI to carry their audio signal to a display which is rare outside home theatre/TVs. Most people use either audio jacks on their mobo/sound card when it comes to PCs.

Screensaver thing looks like a Windows bug or there is a software conflict. I would just turn screensavers off in power management unless you have a CRT monitor.

 

[kris_hm]

Okay, i let my computer run for 3 days without turning it off and it did not bluescreen at all. Last night before work i shut my computer down and windows did an automatic update....
this morning i turned it on and it ran for 2 hours then bluescreened with the same DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
Rebooted it and checked bluescreen viewer, it says the cause of this latest bluescreen was ntoskrnl.exe
I checked my most recent windows updates and none of them have yesterdays date on them so i do not know which one(s) to remove....
Any ideas? I feel like windows is perhaps installing the HD audio driver that i removed earlier. I will check this in safe mode and will turn off automatic updates. But if you or anyone else has any ideas or input feel free to post it. As of now i have an unstable computer.

 

[jr9]

Hopefully you have a restore point that you can restore to. If not, uninstall any patch you see for 2018 through "Installed updates". The HD Audio driver can be removed in Device Manager although I'm not sure which driver exactly is responsible for the crash. Hopefully we don't have to reinstall. That would be upsetting.

If you post a BSOD minidump file we might be able to see if a driver stands out.

 

[kris_hm]

Okay, I know how to use bluescreen viewer to look at the files myself but I don’t have a large amount of experience with it. How do I create a dump file for you? I will upload it tonight around 1am est.

 

[jr9]

If you are using BluescreenView then it is reading existing Minidump files on your drive. They are located in C:\Windows\Minidump.

Bluescreenview is a nice program but if all you are getting is ntoskrnl from it then that isn't useful and a kernel debugger may be able to find out more.

 

[kris_hm]

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ptsk97h05hff9lr/021118-36765-01+Minidump.dmp
Meant to post this last night. This is the only file in C:Windows\Minidump

 

[jr9]

That crash was likely caused by the nVidia display driver getting stuck due to a change made to the OS by Windows Update. This is a common problem recently on Windows 8.

- System Restore if there are any restore points available.

- Disable Windows Update, boot into safe mode, run DDU+restart, boot into normal Windows and install latest GPU drivers.

- Try uninstalling Windows Update patches starting with the most recent.

- Reinstall Windows again and have Windows Update disabled from the start.

- Give up on Windows 8 and upgrade to Windows 10.