Inconsistently unstable system, crashes, bootloops, you name it!

[buck369]

Hey guys,

I built my first PC recently, it consists of:

MSI B350 Tomahawk

Ryzen 1600

Corsair TX750M

Corsair Vengeance LED DDR4 3200 MHz 2x8gb (CMU16GX4M2C3200C16R)

Samsung PM961 SSD 512GB M.2 NVMe

RX Vega 56

Seagate Barracuda 3TB

Windows 10 Home

In a Phanteks P400S tempered glass

___________________________
TLDR:

My system sometimes workes fine and I can game for 5 hours. Sometimes it crashes shortly after entering windows: this problem seemed to go away after turning off AMD Cool'n'quiet. But I recently had it crash during a Windows update which just made everything worse.

These crashes sometimes sent me into bootloops. Sometimes I have bootloops from cold boot. Crashes have happened at stock CPU and RAM settings.
___________________________

What follows is in chronological order what my PC has been doing for about a month.

At the time this happened the CPU was running at stock settings.

I was playing GTA5 for about 4 - 5 hours, I had A-XMP activated, and was running with absolutely no issues.

Then I closed the game and set Windows in sleep mode. Upon returning i fired up Microsoft edge and about 30 seconds in the screen freezes, the CPU fan speeds up a little bit and the power shuts off.

Computer automatically restarts, I get into windows, launch Edge again and crash soon thereafter. This time the computer automatically tries to boot unsucessfully 5 - 6 times, power turns on and off with nothing appearing on screen at any time, no BIOS or Windows screens.

I eventually am prompted with a Windows recovery screen, asking me choose between repair options or restart computer.

I chose restart computer.

I figured it might be the A-XMP, which was the last thing I fiddled with, so I turn that of in BIOS.

I get into windows, I launch Edge again, and after a while I press the windows key twice, which again freezes the computer and causes the power to shut off.

I am now prompted with a black screen reading "Reboot and select proper boot device"

A concern was that I could not find my Samsung SSD in the boot menu upon restarting BIOS, it used to read ~ "UEFI HARD DRIVE:Windows Boot Manager (SAMSUNG MZVLW512HMJP-00000)", now there was only an option of "UEFI Hard drive".

I can boot using "UEFI Hard drive" and get into Windows. But i keep getting crashes after a minute or so.

To clearify, these crashes are happening at stock CPU clock and RAM (2133) settings. Only deviation in BIOS should be CPU fan speed, which I had turned down in Idle because it went up by 1000 RPM when I activated A-XMP. The CPU temp was less than 35 degrees at the time of the crashes according to HWinfo64. Though I will try to reset fan speeds as well and see if that's the problem..

Update: I reset the fan speed, which was still my custom curve from before, I.e. BIOS does not appear to have been automatically reset. Now the whole name of my Samsung SSD showed up in the boot options, but it failed to boot of it twice, I was returned to BIOS where the name had disappeared and was now showing "UEFI Hard drive" again. I chose this as boot option 1, then I noticed a setting called "HDD BBS Priority, which had my 3TB storage disk as the only option (which was selected), I disabled this setting.

I booted into Windows. Tried my hand with GTA 5 instead of Edge. After about 3 minutes the screen froze for about 10 seconds, after which the computer crashed, I was quickly booted into Windows again.

It seems really strange to me how I can play for 4 hours straight and then suddenly not run Edge or press the windows key.

My CPU temperature was never over 51 degrees celsius while playing. HW Info did show that my Samsung M.2. SSD had reached around 75 - 80 (don't remember exactly) as a maximum while playing. I don't know if this is enough to cause damage to the SSD, which could cause my crashes?

I've ran Memtest86 for ten passes with RAM at 2133 after all this happened, I had no errors at all. I've also done 6 passes with A-XMP enabled at 3200, no errors reported.

I turned off Hibernation sleep in Windows and have not used the sleep setting since I started having these issues.

________________________________

I turned off AMD Cool'n'Quiet and since I've had 5 - 6 gaming sessions without any issues now, ranging from 1 - 3 hours.

One issue that I noticed was that sometimes my memory speed is reduced to 2133 even though A-XMP is activated in BIOS/UEFI, along with the 1000 RPM CPU fan increase that follows with the activation of A-XMP.

Unfortunately, problems returned yesterday:

Upon starting the computer it boots of my USB stick with Memtest86 on it, even though USB is not prioritized ahead of my SSD in the boot sequence. Memtest86 starts very slowly reading my hardware.

I turn off the computer and start it again: I counted 4 or 5 failed attempts in a bootloop, then I am prompted with a "Reboot and select proper boot device".

I turn off the computer, start it again and the same thing happens, 5 failed attempts in a bootloop which is followed by the "Reboot and select proper boot device".

I reboot into BIOS/UEFI and look at the boot order: I believe it has changed again since i last saved my desired order. I change "UEFI Hard disk" to 1, and "Hard Disk" to 2.

I save the settings and try to boot: another bootloop of five unsuccesful attempts follow. Then a Windows screen appears saying "incorrect password", this is the screen that you are prompted with if you enter the wrong password for the Windows log in. I hit OK and enter my correct password and I'm finally inside Windows. After this I could play games for about 90 - 120 minutes without any issues. Note that even though A-XMP was activated and memory at 3200 MHz last time I checked BIOS/UEFI: the memory is running at 2133 according to HWInfo64 and CPU-Z. The fan curve is however still affected by the A-XMP setting, which has it running about 1000 RPM faster in idle.

I'm really not an expert but I'm thinking I might have (had?) several issues? I have not had any crashes in Windows/while playing since deactivating AMD Cool'n'Quiet. But I'm still experiencing issues with booting, specifically getting bootloops, having my boot order changed around and the names of the items in the list changing.

I'm thinking this is caused either by my memory settings or an issue with my Samsung SSD, or the Windows installation. As mentioned, Memtest86 works flawlessly, but I'm not sure if my RAM is actually compatible, it is not on this list but some that are similarly named are: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B350-TOMAHAWK.html#support-mem-12 Note that I am not on the latest BIOS version, I have the one from July still.

I will try running the memory without A-XMP for a while, at stock 2133 setting to see if I get any further boot issues.

____________________________________

I've had a few sessions of usage/gaming run fine. A-XMP is still activated an indicating that memory is running at 3200 in the settings, but the speed stated in UEFI/BIOS says 2133, which is what I get according to HWInfo. I turned of A-XMP. Upon trying to reboot I get a black flashing screen, which indicates no signal from the computer. I turn off and boot into windows without any issue.

However my GPU started making a new noise, a high frequency high pitch buzzing when I'm in a game. It comes and goes instantly when alt-tabbing. This was with a custom radeon profile though, it mostly goes away at the default settings. This seems unrelated to my other issues though.

I've noticed ticking noises from my computer, that can be felt when touching the chassis. I suspected this was my HDD (not the OS SSD) so I disconnected it this morning. With the backplate off, i started the computer and was prompted with a Windows update, you know the one that says "Don't turn off the computer".

At about 30% the computer crashes straight into UEFI/BIOS.

Note that this is the first crash I've had in many sessions that was "when using the computer", i.e. not a bootloop. Otherwise I've had no crashes in Windows/gaming since turning AMD Cool'n'quiet.

I exit UEFI and return to a Windows update screen at 35%, which goes almost instantly to 90 and 100%.

At Windows log in screen I enter password but nothing happens. I do it again and get logged in.

After this the computer feels a bit strange, doesn't register all my input, after a while it freezes, goes to black screen and reboots into UEFI/BIOS. Similar thing happens again shortly after.

I wanted to try to reset my Windows system to an earlier point, but as none were saved this was not possible according to Windows.

Any help is greatly appreciated cause I'm lost and frustrated. Let me know if you need any additional information, thanks!

 

[MeanMachine41]

Hi Buck Sorry to hear your having a bit of a nightmare and more than a few issues.

It is hard to tell just exactly where the problem lies however my advice is to first reflash your Bios to the latest version and clear CMOS back to default. (You may have corrupted your Bios)
Don't worry at this stage regarding RAM frequency settings. just allow the system to choose what is most stable if D.O.C.P does not bring RAM to their rated speed.

I think you have an instability issue and need to get to the bottom of what causes these crashes. Certainly 75-80 (if that's in Celsius) is not normal for your SSD and you may be having other thermal issues. Describe your Cooling system.?

With your system Bios at default frequency, (you can disable Cool and Quiet) run a series of stress tests using AIDA64 to test your CPU initially in conjunction with HWINFO64 to establish a baseline and to check that your temperatures are OK under load. In AIDA64 there are also tests for your SSD, RAM, GPU which should be run separately. The tests can be analyzed here if your not sure how to interpret your findings. To eliminate any problem with your PSU you can check your Rail voltages in HWINFO64 whilst the test is running to see if the 12V rail is constant under load and no voltage droop. This can be adjusted with LLC (Load Line Calibration) in Bios. Leave auto values in Bios as is and don't make any arbitrary changes for now.

First establish a baseline stress test in AIDA64 by checking the boxes for CPU, FPU and Cache and check your temperatures under load during the test. Run the test for 10mins and stop the test if temps exceed 80C on the Core.

Take screen shots at the 10min mark and post the results.

 

[buck369]

Hi Buck Sorry to hear your having a bit of a nightmare and more than a few issues.

It is hard to tell just exactly where the problem lies however my advice is to first reflash your Bios to the latest version and clear CMOS back to default. (You may have corrupted your Bios)
Don't worry at this stage regarding RAM frequency settings. just allow the system to choose what is most stable if D.O.C.P does not bring RAM to their rated speed.

I think you have an instability issue and need to get to the bottom of what causes these crashes. Certainly 75-80 (if that's in Celsius) is not normal for your SSD and you may be having other thermal issues. Describe your Cooling system.?

With your system Bios at default frequency, (you can disable Cool and Quiet) run a series of stress tests using AIDA64 to test your CPU initially in conjunction with HWINFO64 to establish a baseline and to check that your temperatures are OK under load. In AIDA64 there are also tests for your SSD, RAM, GPU which should be run separately. The tests can be analyzed here if your not sure how to interpret your findings. To eliminate any problem with your PSU you can check your Rail voltages in HWINFO64 whilst the test is running to see if the 12V rail is constant under load and no voltage droop. This can be adjusted with LLC (Load Line Calibration) in Bios. Leave auto values in Bios as is and don't make any arbitrary changes for now.

First establish a baseline stress test in AIDA64 by checking the boxes for CPU, FPU and Cache and check your temperatures under load during the test. Run the test for 10mins and stop the test if temps exceed 80C on the Core.

Take screen shots at the 10min mark and post the results.

Hi MeanMachine, thanks for the reply and empathy!

I will do as you suggested, first some info I already have on -

Cooling and temperature
My cooling system is the stock Wraith cooler for the CPU. I have 140mm and 120mm fans in the front of the case and one 120mm in the back. My room ambient temperature is usually between 15 - 17 degrees C, I have a thermometer just infront of the PC. I have a new 140mm fan that I will fit in the front later which hopefully will circulate a bit better.

The M.2 SSD is a bit awkwardly fitted on this motherboard, its sitting right under the GPU. I don't know how reliable the HWinfo temps are for the SSD, but I have no reason to doubt it I suppose.

I've ran Aida64 previously to check the stability of an overclock. I remember that my temperatures went up extremely fast during the stress test, "tdie" in HWInfo could reach 80 within 30 seconds. The first time I ran the test it was for about ten minutes, I didn't really know what to look for but I might have ran it at 80 for a few minutes. Due to this I abandoned OC. I never ran the stress test at stock settings.

My (tdie) idle temperatures are about 25 with A-XMP off, and 30 with it activated. While playing GTA5 @ stock settings (Q'n'Q off) my tdie will max out at about 53.

What I will do
Since the crash during the Windows update this morning, I fear my Windows might be a bit wonky as I've had two crashes in two attempts since. I will clear my CMOS and update to the newest version, does it matter in what order I do it? I suppose repairing/reinstalling Windows might be in order after the crash, I'll do this after the BIOS stuff, is the preferred method off a USB stick as I did the first time around?

Then I'll do the tests that you've ordered, unless you prefer a different order of actions.

Questions in general
Could the few minutes my tdie was at 80 degrees have caused permanent damage?
Can temperature issues cause bootloop problems even when cold booting?

Again, big thanks for you time and help!

 

[Paul NZ]

Did you do a clean install of windows? Not put a hdd with an OS on it into this?

 

[MeanMachine41]

Your SSD is not in a good place if the GPU is none reference as heat from the GPU will have an impact. Do you have a lower slot to move it to.?

Update your Bios (as before) using M-Flash to version 7A34v19. I clear CMOS prior to flashing.
As all this may take awhile so it might be a good idea to list your full system specs.

Your Wraith cooler will suffice at stock frequency however lets see some results first from the stress tests.

There's no reason to believe that your Windows files are the culprit at this stage and a complete OS reinstall is a bit radical. You can however check your Windows system32 files for possible corruption.

Run "sfc /scannow" without the quotation marks in an elevated Command Prompt. This will attempt to fix any corruption and tell you if it indeed files have been corrupted and if it was successfully fixed.

WOW!! 15-17C ambient. You must live in a cold climate so your system should not overheat at all.
FYI. Ideal temperatures are 10-15C above ambient room temperature at idle and 60-65C under load.

Tdie is the correct sensor to read and a short run at 80C would not harm the CPU. The system would throttle anyway to prevent damage or shut down if the VRMs on the MB get too hot.

 

[buck369]

Did you do a clean install of windows? Not put a hdd with an OS on it into this?

Hi Paul, thanks for the response!

It is a brand new SSD with a new installation of Windows.

Let me know if you need anything else!

 

[buck369]

Your SSD is not in a good place if the GPU is none reference as heat from the GPU will have an impact. Do you have a lower slot to move it to.?

Update your Bios (as before) using M-Flash to version 7A34v19. I clear CMOS prior to flashing.
As all this may take awhile so it might be a good idea to list your full system specs.

Your Wraith cooler will suffice at stock frequency however lets see some results first from the stress tests.

There's no reason to believe that your Windows files are the culprit at this stage and a complete OS reinstall is a bit radical. You can however check your Windows system32 files for possible corruption.

Run "sfc /scannow" without the quotation marks in an elevated Command Prompt. This will attempt to fix any corruption and tell you if it indeed files have been corrupted and if it was successfully fixed.

WOW!! 15-17C ambient. You must live in a cold climate so your system should not overheat at all.
FYI. Ideal temperatures are 10-15C above ambient room temperature at idle and 60-65C under load.

Tdie is the correct sensor to read and a short run at 80C would not harm the CPU. The system would throttle anyway to prevent damage or shut down if the VRMs on the MB get too hot.

I have successfully reset CMOS and updated the BIOS. Now I'm running on stock settings.

After the update I got to a screen saying I should input something in my boot device and press any key to restart. I turned off the PC and restarted and got into Windows. I tried running the sfc command that you mentioned but it was not recognized. (re-reading your message I think I put the "/" before sfc and not scannow...) After a few minutes or so the screen froze, I forgot but I think it went black then it crashed right into BIOS, i.e. it did not turn off as my usual crashes did before. The crash was more similar to those two I've experienced since the Windows update crash. I googled and a Microsoft site said to run a DISM-tool first, and if Windows update has been damaged I should use an external medium for the repair.

I think this was the Microsoft page https://support.microsoft.com/en-ie/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system. But I read it in Swedish, from my cold room in Sweden.

Just prior to updating the BIOS my SSD was labeled including Samsung in the boot order. After the BIOS update it is labeled UEFI hard drive, and if I look at the Storage section in UEFI it says the M.2 slot is empty.

Since the crash didn't power off the computer completely like my other crashes did, is it more likely a Windows error this time around? I have not been able to use the PC for more than 3 - 4 minutes since then.

Sadly there is only the one slot for the M.2, could I use an adapter and wire and stick it somewhere else in the case? Otherwise I have a spare 120mm fan I stick somewhere in the case aiming towards the SSD... I have the reference blower style Vega.

Bonus question: After the CMOS reset the MB still knew the time, I thought the reset wiped everything?

Best regards,

 

[MeanMachine41]

Check in Bios that your Bios is indeed flashed to version 7A34v19.

It would appear that there is corruption in your Windows OS if the DISM tool is to be deployed.
(DISM.exe) (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) is a command-line tool and used to clean up or Repair a Windows image.

To use the tool, open an elevated command prompt and type in the following:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

This will tell you if your image is healthy, repairable, or non-repairable and if non-repairable then I recommend a clean instal of the OS.

According to Microsoft, when you run DISM it uses Windows Update to provide the files that are required to fix corruptions. However, if your Windows Update client is already broken, use a running Windows installation as the repair source, or use a Windows side-by-side folder from a network share or from a removable media, such as the Windows DVD, as the source of the files. To do this, run the following command instead:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:\RepairSource\Windows /LimitAccess

The "SFC /scannow" command can be used in Windows safe mode, just incase a driver or service is the issue causing the system to crash.

Quote/ "Just prior to updating the BIOS my SSD was labeled including Samsung in the boot order. After the BIOS update it is labeled UEFI hard drive, and if I look at the Storage section in UEFI it says the M.2 slot is empty". End quote"

Not sure about this but will research why that has happened.

Regarding your CMOS reset. It is usual that time and date are kept however, if it is not then that's probably a dead or dying CMOS battery.

BTW: Just check in Bios that CSM (Compatibility support module) is enabled.

 

[buck369]

Check in Bios that your Bios is indeed flashed to version 7A34v19.

"Just prior to updating the BIOS my SSD was labeled including Samsung in the boot order. After the BIOS update it is labeled UEFI hard drive, and if I look at the Storage section in UEFI it says the M.2 slot is empty". End quote"

Not sure about this but will research why that has happened.

.....

BTW: Just check in Bios that CSM (Compatibility support module) is enabled.

I didn't find a CSM setting but from googling I figured that this might be it:
Boot mode is set to Legacy+UEFI
Windows 10 WHQL support is disabled

The SSD kept changing between UEFI hard drive and the full name before as well. Today it was detected under storage and the full name was listed there and in the boot order: "UEFI Hard drive: Windows Boot manager (Samsung XXYYZZ..). Seems pretty random.

The BIOS is indeed on version 19 now.

In your reply on the 7th you asked for full system specs, what would that be other than what I listed in my first post?

I didn't have time to fiddle around in Windows today, hopefully tomorrow.

Can't thank you enough for your help!

 

[MeanMachine41]

Sorry Buck and at the time I should have reviewed your well detailed specs, I was more concentrated on the main body of text. The only thing I think is the Tower Case.

CSM (Compatibility Support Module) is UEFI firmware that provides Legacy BIOS compatibility by allowing Legacy operating systems and some option ROMs that do not support UEFI to still be used. As your SSD is being recognized you should not have that issue.

 

[SensationzH4mR]

This may seem like a simple response, but I had a very similar issue and it was fixed by taking out my ram and reinstalling it. The ram can visibly look like it is in fully, but it can be slightly out and cause the crashing and other issues. Hope I helped!

 

[buck369]

Hi Buck

First establish a baseline stress test in AIDA64 by checking the boxes for CPU, FPU and Cache and check your temperatures under load during the test. Run the test for 10mins and stop the test if temps exceed 80C on the Core.

Take screen shots at the 10min mark and post the results.

Hi Again Meanmachine!

Pardon the late reply, I worked 76 hours last week so I had no time to tinker with my pc..

What I've done
Reset CMOS

Took out both RAM-sticks and put them back in again

8 passes of Memtest86 without errors.

I used Windows media creation tool to create a USB with Windows. I used this to do a System Restore to right before the Windows update that my computer crashed in. I booted onto the USB and strangely enough, the PC told me that I had no restore points, while in the trouble shooter I click to use an external source (the USB) so it boots of that and then it shows me several system restore points.. Anyway I sucessfully restore and was able to run Aida64.

I did the first stress test as you asked. Room temp was at 15. When my tdie hit 55.6 I turned my case fans from 50% to 75% and the temp leveled out at 56.

Screenshot
https://imgur.com/a/53wAA

Another strange thing, after the CMOS reset AMD cool and quiet should have been turned on, and I believe i checked that it was. But as you can see my CPU is running at 3400 constantly...

What should I do next?

Thanks for the patience and help!

Thanks to SensationH4mR for the input!

 

[MeanMachine41]

Hi once again buck

Cool and Quiet should be disabled if you wish to increase your CPU frequency.
Your Stress test indicates your system is stable at 3400MHz stock frequency so congrats.
Temps are ideal at MAX 56C and steady so no problems there.
All Rail Voltages are good so your PSU is OK.

If you now wish to Overclock you can do so using your Multiplier in Bios. Change the Core ratio from 34 to 36 to give you an Overclock of 3600MHz. 100 bclk x 36 = 3600MHz.
You may get as high as 4000Mhz however don't try to do it in one jump. 200Mhz in each step between stress tests.
You will need to increase Core voltage to maintain stability so try 1.2V for 3600MHz on the core and if it accepts the OC then stress test. If no go and system fails to boot then increase Vcore in .05v steps till stable.
You will probably require 1.375V on Vcore to achieve 4000Mhz however do not exceed 1.4V for longevity.

Check your temperatures at each step of your Overclock and save a profile in Bios if the OC is stable.
Other minor changes may be required however see how you go and post the results.

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[buck369]

Hi,

First time starting the computer since the stress tests. Boots fine,. I open HWInfo64, after 10 - 15 seconds computer freezes for a fairly long time, maybe 10 seconds. The computer reboots, first thing that appears is a Windows update screen. This doesn't go all the way, computer reboots automatically, I return to Windows update at 35% and the counter finishes quickly.

I logged in. Opened Windows update and installed two updates.

I ran Dism online cleanup Scanhealth and it says no corruptions were detected.

This all happened with the same settings as I had during the recent stress test.

______
I ran the Aida64 SSD stress test for seven minutes. SSD temp maxed out at about 63 for "Drive temperature 2".

https://imgur.com/a/1t7Zn

I found this manual online for my SSD:

http://www.hammer-drive.com/assets/uploads/downloads/drive-selector/PM961.pdf

Says operating temp range is 0 to 70.

My drive has been at 80 while gaming according to HWInfo64. Could the SSD have suffered damage which could cause my very random crashes?

I'm not sure what speeds I should be getting in the stress test, but they're obviously no where near listed specs.

Computer has been on for 1h 47 minutes without any issues now... Inconsistently unstable is the prevailing theme.

Any other ideas?

 

[MeanMachine41]

You can prevent Windows update from that kind of behavior and sellect when you want an update.

Samsung Magician has the tools to optimise your SSD for performance and to test its integrity.

I don't like 80C temps that are sustained and can shorten the life of the SSD. You may want to consider a Weekly/Monthly backup to an external source as I do for safety.

 

[buck369]

Alright today's adventure:

Turn on PC everything starts fine. Open HWinfo, open Edge computer freezes and crashes into BIOS.

In the BIOS it says that nothing is detected in m y M.2 slot, Samsung doesn't appear in the boot order. The boot debug LED on the MB is lit while I'm in BIOS.

I exit BIOS. I'm prompted with a "User name or password is incorrect" screen from Windows. I hit OK, enter my PW and I'm back in Windows.

I was not allowed to download Samsung Magician because of some 24h limit on their website, seems absurd. I went with HD-Tune and performed an error scan on the whole SSD. No indications of errors. I wasn't able to do a health check on it, couldn't start anything.

Now the PC has been on for 2.5 hours without issues, could play games and do whatever. SSD hit 78 degrees though.

I've had a feeling it's the SSD, but it doesn't make sense that it works fine when it's too hot and can crash on boot. Could my scan for Windows errors have missed problems?

 

[teslacoilftw]

Your NVMe M.2 SSD Drive... is most likely right next to if not under your Video card.. it's always going to be HOT. I wouldn't be concerned My M.2 Drive sits right under my 970 GTX and is constantly Showing 141 Degree F... Yet I haven't had a single issue.

This sounds like 1 of 3 things...
You have tested your RAM... but is it correctly timed in the motherboard?

we can all speculate but... Look into your Event Viewer...
Type Admin Tools in your Windows 10 you should get 'Administrative tools"
Select "event Viewer".
In the middle Window will be
+ Critical
+ Error

Screen shot your critical.
and post this should give you some idea as to what is happening before the crashes are occurring....
This feels like a Memory Management issue... either RAM or Hard drive..

 

[MeanMachine41]

Alright today's adventure:

Turn on PC everything starts fine. Open HWinfo, open Edge computer freezes and crashes into BIOS.

In the BIOS it says that nothing is detected in m y M.2 slot, Samsung doesn't appear in the boot order. The boot debug LED on the MB is lit while I'm in BIOS.

I exit BIOS. I'm prompted with a "User name or password is incorrect" screen from Windows. I hit OK, enter my PW and I'm back in Windows.

I was not allowed to download Samsung Magician because of some 24h limit on their website, seems absurd. I went with HD-Tune and performed an error scan on the whole SSD. No indications of errors. I wasn't able to do a health check on it, couldn't start anything.

Now the PC has been on for 2.5 hours without issues, could play games and do whatever. SSD hit 78 degrees though.

I've had a feeling it's the SSD, but it doesn't make sense that it works fine when it's too hot and can crash on boot. Could my scan for Windows errors have missed problems?

The fact that your Bios is not recognising your SSD is imo a Bios issue. Strange how it asks for your Password then boots.
Normally if the issue is Windows corruption or a driver issue then a BSOD would occur or a simple crash to the desktop and not a complete crash to Bios.
Event Viewer upon returning to Windows will show an error as the system did not shut down correctly and that would be logged.
Your system is not overheating and other stress tests indicate the system is stable under load.

Although we can't eliminate 100% that its not Windows, Failure by the Bios to recognise the SSD is the most likely cause but why exactly is baffling. I doubt that ASUS support will help much but give them a try. They will most likely get you to RMA the MB. Others have done this with success from what I have read.

I hope someone can shed more light on this problem cause i'm out of ideas and want it resolved as you do.

 

[buck369]

Your NVMe M.2 SSD Drive... is most likely right next to if not under your Video card.. it's always going to be HOT. I wouldn't be concerned My M.2 Drive sits right under my 970 GTX and is constantly Showing 141 Degree F... Yet I haven't had a single issue.

This sounds like 1 of 3 things...
You have tested your RAM... but is it correctly timed in the motherboard?

we can all speculate but... Look into your Event Viewer...
Type Admin Tools in your Windows 10 you should get 'Administrative tools"
Select "event Viewer".
In the middle Window will be
+ Critical
+ Error

Screen shot your critical.
and post this should give you some idea as to what is happening before the crashes are occurring....
This feels like a Memory Management issue... either RAM or Hard drive..

Hi Tesla and thanks for the help!

Here's the screenshot, I also pasted some of the errors I've had in there. Please let me know if you want to see details on any of the other errors.

https://imgur.com/a/2LtgF

I don't know what the correct timings are for the RAM. I've left it at whatever the MB defaulted to. The RAM is running at 2133 but it's supposed to do 3200, should I still use the timings that are listed for 3200?

If it's a RAM or SSD issue, does it make sense that the problem comes and goes? On boot-up, my system either does one or two things currently:

1. Freeze and crash into BIOS, after which I might be able to boot into Windows again but with "wrong password screens or the like"
2. Everything works fine for several hours, gaming, stress tests.

The second one rarely happens on cold-boots it seems.

Today's adventure

Boot into Windows. Seems a bit laggy. Hit the Windows key, mouse pointer gets the blue thinking wheel for maybe 10-15 seconds. Then it freezes and crashes and I'm immediately prompted with "User name or password incorrect" from Windows. I just let it sit at this screen while taking notes, then it crashes again after 5-10 seconds.

Boot-debug LED comes on, I get into BIOS.

M.2 slot is reported as empty. Samsung SSD not recognized. I exit BIOS but I get thrown back into BIOS after a very brief black screen.

I exit BIOS again. Same thing happens, black screen, back into BIOS.

One more try, no success. The boot-debug LED is on for all of this. This behaviour is new I believe, I don't think I've failed to boot and been thrown back to BIOS before, at least not this quickly.

In BIOS I instead turn of the power.

I turn the power back on, hit delete. Samsung SSD is now recognized. I fiddle with the boot order to make sure it's the only option: UEFI HDD: Windows boot manager (Samsung ...)

I exit BIOS and the first thing that comes up is "Incorrect password or username" from Windows. I can log in after this.

HWInfo says my drive temperature is already at 67 Celsius. Googling tells me that there are two different temps reported by HWInfo, one for the memory and one for memory controller, the latter one is the one that goes high and the text becomes red in HWInfo. Its at 70+ Celsius within 50 seconds of HDTune error scan. When it goes over 70 it supposedly throttles the speed of the SSD.

Your help in interpreting this is greatly appreciated!

Meanmachine, I will try MSI's support and the retailer that sold me this mess!

 

[teslacoilftw]

Well I can see your having a few different issues...

1st.. it's crashing from Realtek Audio Driver issue...
Uninstall all Realtek products...

Go into bios and disable "onboard sound"

2nd..
You have a corrupted user profile.
Create a new User account...

Call it "Admin 2"
make the password .. just password1 or something simple.. but make sure you have a password..

2nd... Detach the Seagate Barrucuda 3TB drive..
and reboot computer let me know what happens.
Did you clean install Windows without the Barrucuda installed?

 

[teslacoilftw]

I did some more digging and found this... which is exactly the file that's causing one of your crashes:
https://www.file.net/process/rtkngui64.exe.html

 

[buck369]

Well I can see your having a few different issues...

1st.. it's crashing from Realtek Audio Driver issue...
Uninstall all Realtek products...

Go into bios and disable "onboard sound"

2nd..
You have a corrupted user profile.
Create a new User account...

Call it "Admin 2"
make the password .. just password1 or something simple.. but make sure you have a password..

2nd... Detach the Seagate Barrucuda 3TB drive..
and reboot computer let me know what happens.
Did you clean install Windows without the Barrucuda installed?

Thank you!

I'll try to figure out how to do these things. I don't have any Realtek products, other than the on-board sound I guess. If i disable this would I still have sound? There's a setting in BIOS called "HD Audio Controller" (Currently ON), is that what you're after?

Is it easier to just reset Windows to fix both issues?

However
I started the PC and looked at the Event Viewer again today, and I get the same errors but I haven't had any crashes or strange behaviour.

https://imgur.com/a/Txkfr
I screenshotted the order of the errors and then details on each individual report from the bottom up.

It says the last shutdown was unexpected, but that was a stable session which ended by me hitting shut down in Windows. I'm currently in another stable session and the same errors have come up, do you still reckon these are causing the crashes?

EDIT:
I left the computer on for 30+ minutes while I was away. Upon returning it's at the Windows welcome screen, the one before logging in. I can move the mouse but the PC is unresponsive. The computer crashes and reboots quickly to the same screen, I can log in. The Event Viewer shows the same errors again just before these issues, and they happened when I was away and the PC was unused. Anyway I watch a youtube clip and 3 minutes in it stops, clip goes black, taskbar dissapears, screen froze and the PC crashes and reboots to Windows. This behaviour is also new to me.

Regarding the HDD
I detached the 3TB drive 2 or 4 weeks ago as it was making clicking noises even when it was idle. The clicking could even be felt while touching the case. The first crash I had in Windows update was actually the first boot without the HDD connected.

When I installed Windows I had both my SSD and HDD connected.

I sent the HDD back to the retailer for testing, but they are sending it back cause they found no errors in their tests... I have not had any clicking sounds since removing the HDD.

Really appreciate your time and effort, thank you.

 

[teslacoilftw]

Reviewing your most recent screenshots... I'm still seeing your Realtek Audio "onboard" audio crashing...as a
troubleshooting step I would suggest
Disabling onboard sound and Uninstalling any Realtek Drivers...

2nd issue ...
Your getting an error:
Permission settings do not grant Local Launch permission for the COM Server application with CLSID
I've not seen this in a computer that wasn't a Server.. or had some sort of Server permissions...
Here's a link...

http://blog.paulgu.com/windows/permission-settings-do-not-grant-local-launch-permission-for-the-com-server-application-with-clsid/

 

[buck369]

The misery continues

I completely reinstalled Windows from a USB stick. I removed all partitions and installed Windows 10 Home. This time I only had the SSD plugged into the computer. I installed in UEFI mode from the USB.

The PC restarts several times during this process, but I believe it is supposed to. The shutdowns seemed natural.

PC seems to run fine. I remove some bloatware, namely, Candy crush and some similar games. Then I create a system restore point.

I look in Windows update, I let all updates download and install. A few are waiting for restart. I restart the computer.

Upon getting back in Windows I check Windows update, one installation seemingly did not succeed, KB4056892 - "problems installing some updates".

I restart the computer again. It does the Windows update again. Not sure if it succeeded that time.

I go to AMD's website and to download chipset drivers. I enter Chipset->AM4/Ryzen->B350->Win 10 64 bit

I install these, strangely enough this installer is called Radeon Software, it should not have anything to do with Radeon which is graphics, correct? I'm not sure if it actually updated or just reinstalled the same drivers that I assume were on the computer from the clean installation.

Next I go to the same AMD website: Desktop Graphics->Vega RX series -> Win 10 64bit

I Install the drivers

So far so good. I've screenshotted Event Viewer while doing all this. No Realtek issues, no volmgr. Still some COM stuff though.

I start downloading GTA, right as the download finishes I leave the computer, which presumably proceeds with the installation, this was just before 16.00, so you can look at the event viewer screenshots to compare. The power settings were set so that the computer would not go to sleep until 3 or 4 hours of inactivity. I return 2 hours later to find the computer at a Windows Recovery screen "Looks like Windows didn't load correctly". I go through the menus and turn the PC off.

The clean installation was done at around 10.00, so the PC was completely fine for the 6 hours I did all of the above until the crash that I assume happened while I was gone.

Event viewer 1
https://imgur.com/9WVjw5i

I turn the power on. Go to Event Viewer and find Volmgr for the first time since reinstall. Screen freezes, computer crashes and boots to the Windows USB that I still have in. It shouldn't boot to this, SSD is first in line. I click X to exit Windows installer, it boots from USB again. I turn power off, remove the USB and turn it on again.

I get in to Windows, go to Event Viewer, the whole screen goes black. Computer reboots to Windows. Black screens are kind of new I think.

When back in Windows I touch nothing for 3 minutes. I click the start menu button, screen goes black, PC crashes and boots back into Windows.

I go to troubleshooting menu and restore to the restore point I created earlier this morning. IIRC I did it via the USB stick, but the recovery point was stored on the SSD.

Windows restore:
https://imgur.com/v0YNgJT

Windows 10 updates are qeued, they install and ask for a restart. I click restart. But the computer just sits at the restart screen for 5 minutes untill it goes black, I move the mouse and the windows restart screen comes back, but shortly thereafter it goes black again. I leave the computer for 50 minutes at this black screen. Can still move the mouse around. I turn off the PC with the power button.

I turn the power on. "Windows is working on updates, stage 1 of 2". The computer does some Windows updating, restarts two times but I think it's meant to do so as it said "Restarting" just before it did. These stages did not happen when I first did the Windows update in the morning.

I get back into Windows, can look around for a while, use the browser. I went into Event Viewer and clicked a link in one of the warnings, it went to a Microsoft site. Event Viewer stops responding, the task bar gets locked, screen freezes and PC crashes.

Event viewer 2
https://imgur.com/YpkNXEq

Back in Windows. I look around in C/, I went back and out of "program files", when trying to go back in it starts loading really slowly, several seconds to open a folder? Screen goes black, I get the weird blue screen with white dots in photo below, computer crashes.

https://imgur.com/tm5fAea
____

Seemingly, it's not the audio drivers anymore as I never bothered to update them this time around. The restore point that I went back to should have undone the chipset and GPU drivers I installed. Are we back to hardware problems?

I will try using a Ubuntu USB stick to see if I crash in there as well.

Any other ideas?

All screenshots
https://imgur.com/a/D8gHN
Sorry for taking photos of the screen. But I don't trust the PC enough to do the screenshots on it..

 

[MeanMachine41]

Been trying to evaluate how you have gone about your OS instal.

The first thing I noticed is you created a restore point just after installation then did a restore when you thought things were going wrong. Unfortunately many apps drivers as depicted in one of your screen shots have all been removed. Corruption could have occured.

RX Vega 56 uses Radeon. AMD Radeon Software Crimson (formerly named ATI Catalyst and AMD Catalyst) is a device driver and utility software package for Advanced Micro Devices, graphics cards and APUs.

Trying to repair now if issues still arise may be a frustrating exercise in futility. I would wipe the SSD and start again. According to event viewer you have errors that are fixable and one recurring Critical error however, kernel error 41 is logged because the system did not shut down correctly.

The blue screen with what look like artifacts are more than likely associated with your GPU. It may be the driver.