I've been suffering from IRQL NOT LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO beginning last Friday.
The BSOD would result in boot loops of BSOD, with a variety of other error messages. I would be unable to boot into safe mode or recovery mode. I was only able to get into BIOS. As a side note, sometimes it would let me boot to windows. It would then promptly crash within a few minutes or, if I was lucky, hours.
I started troubleshooting on my own to figure out the issue. One of the first things I did was run memtest86 on my RAM, I've run my ram indiviudally, as well as dual channel. One thing I noticed was that the error messages were pretty inconsistent. I was only able to run each for 4 passes because of the version of memtest I have, but in some cases I would get no errors, and in others I would get plenty. So, one of the first things I did was replace the RAM. I got brand new ram and memtest picked up errors on the new sticks as well. I also kept getting the same blue screens. Given that I think its highly unlikely to be sent two brand new sticks that are faulty, I moved onto checking other elements.
I then began checking drivers, and uninstalling any new programs. The only updates I recall installing were a windows update. Nevertheless, I reinstalled drivers, flashed bios, and ran driver verifier. I did get a BSOD from driver verifier, but at the time I was unable to boot past windows, so I didn't get a chance to do anything with it.
I also scanned all of my drives using sfc /scannow, as well as dism restore health. Initially, there were errors found using sfc, but aside from the first time, I found no other errors. DISM also didn't report anything was wrong. In addition, I still got blue screens with all of my drives unplugged, and only a windows bootable usb plugged in. Even though I didn't thing my drives were the issue, I reinstalled Windows. This made me believe that it was not a driver error, but a hardware error.
At this point I figured it had to be a hardware issue. Also, at this point, I was three days in and the BSOD errors kept getting worse. The amount of times I could get into windows decreased, from sometimes being able to boot, to not at all. The blue screens themselves sometimes wouldn't even report errors codes, just a frowny face. I went out and bought a new motherboard, new psu, and new cpu. I went through switching out various parts beginning with the psu. New psu didn't change anything. Motherboard didn't change anything either.
However, a new CPU fixed my issue entirely, or so I thought. I had all new hardware in my PC before trying the new CPU. Once installed, it booted immediately. From that point, I worked backward, putting my old hardware back in and booting. Everything went smoothly and now the only new hardware I have in my PC is the CPU. I never saw another BSOD or issue up until now. I was able to boot back up immediately however. I'm just hoping the issues don't continue to get worse like before.
I'm now really unsure what the issue is here. Maybe its a combination of hardware components? Motherboard and CPU? Or maybe hardware and driver issues? I'm going to run Driver Verifier and see if I can get a memory dump from it, since I as unable to boot last time.
It's been a long week and I would appreciate any help.
Below I have my PC specs, as well as the new hardware I purchased. In addition, I have a minidump from the most recent BSOD.
Old Hardware:
CPU: i7-9700k - 3 months old
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z390-H - 3 months old
GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 1080 SC Gaming
PSU: Corsair CX600 - ?? years old
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LED DDR4 3000 mHz - CMU16GX4M2C3000C15R - 1.5 years old
Drives: Samsung 850 Evo 250 GB - almost 2 yrs, Samsung 860 Evo 1TB - 3 months old
New Hardware:
CPU: i7-9700k
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus
PSU: Corsair CX650M
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 mHz - CMK16GX4M2B3000C15
Dump:
I'm not entirely sure how to understand dump files. The IMAGE_NAME towards the bottom of the dmp file says memory corruption. So, does that mean my old memory is corrupted? Also, the process that caused it was chrome.exe?
Path validation summary *
Response Time (ms) Location
Deferred srv*
Symbol search path is: srv*
Executable search path is:
Windows 10 Kernel Version 18362 MP (8 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff801
Debug session time: Fri Oct 25 18:31:26.110 2019 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 1 days 0:41:23.029
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
.............................................................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
.....................................
For analysis of this file, run !analyze -v
nt!KeBugCheckEx:
fffff801
3: kd> !analyze -v
***
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
An attempt was made to access a pageable (or completely invalid) address at an
interrupt request level (IRQL) that is too high. This is usually
caused by drivers using improper addresses.
If a kernel debugger is available get the stack backtrace.
Arguments:
Arg1: ffffeb47504950d0, memory referenced
Arg2: 0000000000000002, IRQL
Arg3: 0000000000000000, bitfield :
bit 0 : value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation
bit 3 : value 0 = not an execute operation, 1 = execute operation (only on chips which support this level of status)
Arg4: fffff8013d679a64, address which referenced memory
Debugging Details:
------------------
KEY_VALUES_STRING: 1
Key : Analysis.CPU.Sec
Value: 2
Key : Analysis.DebugAnalysisProvider.CPP
Value: Create: 8007007e on THE_SENATE
Key : Analysis.DebugData
Value: CreateObject
Key : Analysis.DebugModel
Value: CreateObject
Key : Analysis.Elapsed.Sec
Value: 5
Key : Analysis.Memory.CommitPeak.Mb
Value: 70
Key : Analysis.System
Value: CreateObject
DUMP_FILE_ATTRIBUTES: 0x8
Kernel Generated Triage Dump
BUGCHECK_CODE: a
BUGCHECK_P1: ffffeb47504950d0
BUGCHECK_P2: 2
BUGCHECK_P3: 0
BUGCHECK_P4: fffff8013d679a64
READ_ADDRESS: fffff8013db733b8: Unable to get MiVisibleState
Unable to get NonPagedPoolStart
Unable to get NonPagedPoolEnd
Unable to get PagedPoolStart
Unable to get PagedPoolEnd
fffff8013da2a3c8: Unable to get Flags value from nt!KdVersionBlock
fffff8013da2a3c8: Unable to get Flags value from nt!KdVersionBlock
unable to get nt!MmSpecialPagesInUse
ffffeb47504950d0
CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1
PROCESS_NAME: chrome.exe
TRAP_FRAME: ffff8685f4f8f480 -- (.trap 0xffff8685f4f8f480)
NOTE: The trap frame does not contain all registers.
Some register values may be zeroed or incorrect.
rax=ffffeb0000000000 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=ffff8685f4f8f780
rdx=ffff8685f4f8fa00 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffff8013d679a64 rsp=ffff8685f4f8f610 rbp=ffff8685f4f8f810
r8=ffff8ea092a1ae20 r9=0000007ffffffff8 r10=ffffeb0000000000
r11=ffff8685f4f8fa00 r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000
r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000
iopl=0 nv up ei ng nz na pe nc
nt!MiResolveProtoPteFault+0xc4:
fffff801
Resetting default scope
STACK_TEXT:
ffff8685
ffff8685
ffff8685
ffff8685
ffff8685
ffff8685
ffff8685
000000f7
SYMBOL_NAME: nt!MiResolveProtoPteFault+c4
MODULE_NAME: nt
IMAGE_VERSION: 10.0.18362.418
STACK_COMMAND: .thread ; .cxr ; kb
IMAGE_NAME: memory_corruption
BUCKET_ID_FUNC_OFFSET: c4
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: AV_nt!MiResolveProtoPteFault
OSPLATFORM_TYPE: x64
OSNAME: Windows 10
FAILURE_ID_HASH: {2f2238e9-4751-e3c3-543c-b0cdf930b219}
Followup: MachineOwner
---------
Also, if I break any rules, I'm sorry. I looked over them and don't think I am, but this is my first time posting on any sort of forum like this.
The BSOD would result in boot loops of BSOD, with a variety of other error messages. I would be unable to boot into safe mode or recovery mode. I was only able to get into BIOS. As a side note, sometimes it would let me boot to windows. It would then promptly crash within a few minutes or, if I was lucky, hours.
I started troubleshooting on my own to figure out the issue. One of the first things I did was run memtest86 on my RAM, I've run my ram indiviudally, as well as dual channel. One thing I noticed was that the error messages were pretty inconsistent. I was only able to run each for 4 passes because of the version of memtest I have, but in some cases I would get no errors, and in others I would get plenty. So, one of the first things I did was replace the RAM. I got brand new ram and memtest picked up errors on the new sticks as well. I also kept getting the same blue screens. Given that I think its highly unlikely to be sent two brand new sticks that are faulty, I moved onto checking other elements.
I then began checking drivers, and uninstalling any new programs. The only updates I recall installing were a windows update. Nevertheless, I reinstalled drivers, flashed bios, and ran driver verifier. I did get a BSOD from driver verifier, but at the time I was unable to boot past windows, so I didn't get a chance to do anything with it.
I also scanned all of my drives using sfc /scannow, as well as dism restore health. Initially, there were errors found using sfc, but aside from the first time, I found no other errors. DISM also didn't report anything was wrong. In addition, I still got blue screens with all of my drives unplugged, and only a windows bootable usb plugged in. Even though I didn't thing my drives were the issue, I reinstalled Windows. This made me believe that it was not a driver error, but a hardware error.
At this point I figured it had to be a hardware issue. Also, at this point, I was three days in and the BSOD errors kept getting worse. The amount of times I could get into windows decreased, from sometimes being able to boot, to not at all. The blue screens themselves sometimes wouldn't even report errors codes, just a frowny face. I went out and bought a new motherboard, new psu, and new cpu. I went through switching out various parts beginning with the psu. New psu didn't change anything. Motherboard didn't change anything either.
However, a new CPU fixed my issue entirely, or so I thought. I had all new hardware in my PC before trying the new CPU. Once installed, it booted immediately. From that point, I worked backward, putting my old hardware back in and booting. Everything went smoothly and now the only new hardware I have in my PC is the CPU. I never saw another BSOD or issue up until now. I was able to boot back up immediately however. I'm just hoping the issues don't continue to get worse like before.
I'm now really unsure what the issue is here. Maybe its a combination of hardware components? Motherboard and CPU? Or maybe hardware and driver issues? I'm going to run Driver Verifier and see if I can get a memory dump from it, since I as unable to boot last time.
It's been a long week and I would appreciate any help.
Below I have my PC specs, as well as the new hardware I purchased. In addition, I have a minidump from the most recent BSOD.
Old Hardware:
CPU: i7-9700k - 3 months old
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z390-H - 3 months old
GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 1080 SC Gaming
PSU: Corsair CX600 - ?? years old
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LED DDR4 3000 mHz - CMU16GX4M2C3000C15R - 1.5 years old
Drives: Samsung 850 Evo 250 GB - almost 2 yrs, Samsung 860 Evo 1TB - 3 months old
New Hardware:
CPU: i7-9700k
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus
PSU: Corsair CX650M
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 mHz - CMK16GX4M2B3000C15
Dump:
I'm not entirely sure how to understand dump files. The IMAGE_NAME towards the bottom of the dmp file says memory corruption. So, does that mean my old memory is corrupted? Also, the process that caused it was chrome.exe?
Path validation summary *
Response Time (ms) Location
Deferred srv*
Symbol search path is: srv*
Executable search path is:
Windows 10 Kernel Version 18362 MP (8 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff801
3d600000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff801
3da48210Debug session time: Fri Oct 25 18:31:26.110 2019 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 1 days 0:41:23.029
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
.............................................................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
.....................................
For analysis of this file, run !analyze -v
nt!KeBugCheckEx:
fffff801
3d7c1220 48894c2408 mov qword ptr [rsp+8],rcx ss:ffff8685
f4f8f340=000000000000000a3: kd> !analyze -v
***
- *
- Bugcheck Analysis *
- *
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
An attempt was made to access a pageable (or completely invalid) address at an
interrupt request level (IRQL) that is too high. This is usually
caused by drivers using improper addresses.
If a kernel debugger is available get the stack backtrace.
Arguments:
Arg1: ffffeb47504950d0, memory referenced
Arg2: 0000000000000002, IRQL
Arg3: 0000000000000000, bitfield :
bit 0 : value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation
bit 3 : value 0 = not an execute operation, 1 = execute operation (only on chips which support this level of status)
Arg4: fffff8013d679a64, address which referenced memory
Debugging Details:
------------------
KEY_VALUES_STRING: 1
Key : Analysis.CPU.Sec
Value: 2
Key : Analysis.DebugAnalysisProvider.CPP
Value: Create: 8007007e on THE_SENATE
Key : Analysis.DebugData
Value: CreateObject
Key : Analysis.DebugModel
Value: CreateObject
Key : Analysis.Elapsed.Sec
Value: 5
Key : Analysis.Memory.CommitPeak.Mb
Value: 70
Key : Analysis.System
Value: CreateObject
DUMP_FILE_ATTRIBUTES: 0x8
Kernel Generated Triage Dump
BUGCHECK_CODE: a
BUGCHECK_P1: ffffeb47504950d0
BUGCHECK_P2: 2
BUGCHECK_P3: 0
BUGCHECK_P4: fffff8013d679a64
READ_ADDRESS: fffff8013db733b8: Unable to get MiVisibleState
Unable to get NonPagedPoolStart
Unable to get NonPagedPoolEnd
Unable to get PagedPoolStart
Unable to get PagedPoolEnd
fffff8013da2a3c8: Unable to get Flags value from nt!KdVersionBlock
fffff8013da2a3c8: Unable to get Flags value from nt!KdVersionBlock
unable to get nt!MmSpecialPagesInUse
ffffeb47504950d0
CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1
PROCESS_NAME: chrome.exe
TRAP_FRAME: ffff8685f4f8f480 -- (.trap 0xffff8685f4f8f480)
NOTE: The trap frame does not contain all registers.
Some register values may be zeroed or incorrect.
rax=ffffeb0000000000 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=ffff8685f4f8f780
rdx=ffff8685f4f8fa00 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffff8013d679a64 rsp=ffff8685f4f8f610 rbp=ffff8685f4f8f810
r8=ffff8ea092a1ae20 r9=0000007ffffffff8 r10=ffffeb0000000000
r11=ffff8685f4f8fa00 r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000
r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000
iopl=0 nv up ei ng nz na pe nc
nt!MiResolveProtoPteFault+0xc4:
fffff801
3d679a64 4c8b0b mov r9,qword ptr [rbx] ds:00000000
00000000=????????????????Resetting default scope
STACK_TEXT:
ffff8685
f4f8f338 fffff801
3d7d30e9 : 000000000000000a ffffeb47
504950d0 0000000000000002 00000000
00000000 : nt!KeBugCheckExffff8685
f4f8f340 fffff801
3d7cf42b : 0000000000000000 00000000
00000000 0000000000000001 0a000003
08ea4025 : nt!KiBugCheckDispatch+0x69ffff8685
f4f8f480 fffff801
3d679a64 : ffff8685f4f8f780 0a000003
08ea4121 0000000000000000 000078f6
00000000 : nt!KiPageFault+0x46bffff8685
f4f8f610 fffff801
3d674bbc : ffff8685f4f8f780 00000000
00000000 ffff8685f4f8f758 fffff801
3d673cb4 : nt!MiResolveProtoPteFault+0xc4ffff8685
f4f8f710 fffff801
3d672cf9 : 0000000000000110 00000000
00000100 00000000c0000016 000078f6
13cb4000 : nt!MiDispatchFault+0x80cffff8685
f4f8f860 fffff801
3d7cf320 : 0000000000000000 ffff8685
f4f8fa80 0000000000000018 ffffffff
fff0e4d0 : nt!MmAccessFault+0x169ffff8685
f4f8fa00 00007ff9
887041e0 : 0000000000000000 00000000
00000000 0000000000000000 00000000
00000000 : nt!KiPageFault+0x360000000f7
475fa5f8 00000000
00000000 : 0000000000000000 00000000
00000000 0000000000000000 00000000
00000000 : 0x00007ff9`887041e0SYMBOL_NAME: nt!MiResolveProtoPteFault+c4
MODULE_NAME: nt
IMAGE_VERSION: 10.0.18362.418
STACK_COMMAND: .thread ; .cxr ; kb
IMAGE_NAME: memory_corruption
BUCKET_ID_FUNC_OFFSET: c4
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: AV_nt!MiResolveProtoPteFault
OSPLATFORM_TYPE: x64
OSNAME: Windows 10
FAILURE_ID_HASH: {2f2238e9-4751-e3c3-543c-b0cdf930b219}
Followup: MachineOwner
---------
Also, if I break any rules, I'm sorry. I looked over them and don't think I am, but this is my first time posting on any sort of forum like this.