Question irql_not_less_or_equal

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May 25, 2019
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Hello everyone! I currently experienced several BSoD during the past few weeks, ranging from MEMORY_MANAGEMENT to IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. I did everthing I could, considering I'm not super good with computers. I've run hours over hours of memtest+, did all the tricks I could find (sfc /scannow, play with DISM, uninstall drivers and all) and my computer is still crashing alot. Temperature on my hardware is ok. Who crashed and blue screen view point toward NDIS.SYS or NTOSKRNL.exe but they don't tell me which drivers make them crash. I'm truly desperate right now. I think it my be the network adapter on my motherboard and I want to be a 100% sure it's this before contacting the company for an exchange.

If you have a program to list my spec so I can post them here, don't hesitate. Same thing if you need files or stuff like this (I think my dump files are deleting after a while)

Thank you in advance!

P.S: Also, from time to time, my pc doesn't want to restart by itself after a BSoD. It's stuck on 0% and I can't do anything but restart it. I'm on windows 10 pro I think. 64bit)
 
May 25, 2019
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Alright....new BSoD right now and my computer stayed on 0% while trying to gather information about the incident. MEMORY_MANAGEMENT was the issue. I'll try to check and see if I can have a dump file out of it.
 
May 25, 2019
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Everything seems to be up to date right now. I'm just checking for BSoD to appear right now. That Memory_management was kinda weird. I'll have to check for this if it happens again. I'll try to play games to see if I have more BSoD.
 
May 25, 2019
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IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSoD came back twi minutes ago. No dump since Windows 10 gathering information thing stayed at 0%.

I'm currently trying the 219-V driver right now. I hope it'll solve the problem once and for all. I will also communicate with Asrock in case my mobo is deffective.
 
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PC Tailor

Illustrious
Ambassador
Did you try removing the previous internet drivers and installing the L219-V ones only?
Can you confirm still that the issue still doesn't occur at all in safe mode?
This could still be hardware, but it just initially points to driver of the network adapter. Does the issue occur if you disable the internet adapter entirely? (Enable it again when you need to post). You may need to use autoruns to prevent it from starting at reboot to test.
 
May 25, 2019
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I did remove the previous internet drivers to install the L219-V ones. In safe mode, the issue doesn't occur at all. I'll try to disable the internet adapter entirely and go play on my PC for a while. I've also contacted Asrock to see if there is anything they can do on their side since my motherboard is still under guaranty. I'll get in touch if something happen while the adapter is offline.
 

PC Tailor

Illustrious
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I have run this through the debugger and found the following:

You can view the full report here: https://pste.eu/p/GqZH.html

BugCheck A, {1cc0, 2, 0, fffff8046d674358}

Probably caused by : dxgmms2.sys ( dxgmms2!VIDMM_MDL_RANGE::Lock+6c )

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: 0000000000001cc0, 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: fffff8046d674358, address which referenced memory

Most Likely Cause: Driver

Did you try it with the ethernet adapter disabled and all ethernet cables unplugged?
  • It may be worth checking if your Intel Management Engine Driver is up to date as this has to be up to date with your BIOS.
  • SteelSeries Engine HID Driver - you may want to verify if this is up to date
  • You may want to check that your Razer drivers are up to date.
The stack shows your MS Graphics modules loading, but I suspect again that this is a false alarm.

Third party modules that have been running during both crashes:

Intel Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology) driver
Intel Intel Management Engine Interface driver
HWInfo HWInfo 64 Driver
SteelSeries SteelSeries Engine HID Driver
NVIDIA NVIDIA Virtual Audio Driver
NVIDIA Virtual USB Host Controller driver
SteelSeries SteelSeries Engine Device Factory Driver
Razer Razer End Platform Driver
Razer Razer Rzudd Engine Driver
Razer Razer Virt Mouse Driver
NVIDIA NVIDIA Video Drivers
However also saw this was running on the second crash: Intel Network Adapter Diagnostic Driver

 
May 25, 2019
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Alright, I've uninstall everything and installed it back and checked for updates. (Well, I hope they are all up to date right now). I've uninstalled my razer driver since I've only installed it in case it was a issue (I'm using a old Lycosa keyboard). For the other stuff, Steelseries engine is up to date and I've reinstalled the intel management engine driver (Well, I think I did right). I'll disconnect my network adapter + unplug my cable to see if there is a issue. I'll contact you back after.
 
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DavidM012

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irq_not_less_or_equal and memory_management bsods can be related to hardware problem with cpu if your freezes persist having tidied up the driver situation I'd be looking at whether the cpu cooler is properly attached, fan still spinning, thermal grease, general temperature conditions, dustiness etc. and set bios to defaults to clear any overclock, if there was one. A mouse pointer freeze is indicative of a cpu stop rather than a situation where it's shutting down thermally but you can develop a situation where maybe if the cpu is running hot for a long time, it could potentially suffer thermal dmg.

Used to see it all the time on pentiums where most often the thermal paste, which back then, wasn't of the non-curing type, turned into something akin to concrete, the fans would dust up and the cpu would stop. Modern cpus have more protections built in but I think you can still run on the edge for a while and it gets damaged in precisely the same way, and stops with the mouse pointer freeze on the screen, not necessarily bsods, no shutdowns, sometimes you get bootloops or sometimes it just freezes. I'd be 99% sure cpu stop if the cooler is in bad nick.
 
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May 25, 2019
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@DavidM012 My CPU is fine, thank you for trying to help me though. I've check temperature several time during the past few weeks and I haven't seen any huge temperature, even while playing game. I've check every connections on my motherboard and I've also refreshed the thermal paste on my cpu and verified that everything was connected properly. I've also cleaned every pieces of my computer recently (my build is only like 16 months old). I also don't have any overclock. I'm not super eager to try this anyway. I'm fine with the settings I have currently.

@PC Tailor While I was doing supper, my pc crashed again. same good old NDIS.SYS but this time it was a CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION and I had to reset my computer since windows was not able to gather information about this (Stayed @ 0% for a good 30 minutes). If I have another BSOD with a dump file, I'll let you know!
 

PC Tailor

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Well the huge variety of BSOD sooner starts pointing towards a hardware problem, but the fact that it is fine in safe mode is strange.
Thus why I'm still leaning towards a network error.

Presumably you have run anti virus and anti malware scans? Sometimes structure corruption can be intentional from some software.
At this point, a clean install / reset may be an easy way of ensuring it doesn't return if it is just a driver.
 

DavidM012

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I wasn't suggesting that you should overclock I was suggesting that you should clear any overclock if there was one! Reset Cmos to default can't hurt anyway since you're experiencing a problem.

Could also try to replace the cmos battery with a new cr2032 coin battery, could get crashes since if the cmos battery is drained it doesn't save any settings to the bios.

Can you list your pc specs:

cpu:
cooler:
mobo:
ram:

Psu:
gpu:
drives:
Case:
all fans:

If not the cpu, which still might be bad for some other reason such as a manufacturing defect, maybe the Ram, try memtest86, removing one dimm and trying each dimm seperately, still got heap of tests you could try.

Could also try simply disabling the network card in the bios, altogether, to see whether or not the symptom persists, to eliminate that. Sometimes it's handy to have spares of some items.

I think it's a hardware problem and the only way to trace it is to substitute parts one at a time.
 
May 25, 2019
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Well...I can try this. I did 3 clean install so far. I've downloaded just a couple games from Steam + microsoft store and that's it. Beside coming here I mean, I've been on youtube and Netflix. I'm really thinking that my motherboard is the culprit right now....Well, the ethernet module on my motherboard. I've contacted Asrock since my mobo is still under warranty. I'll see if it solve the problem. I'll also do another clean install and get all drivers one by one instead of letting windows 10 install them for me. If nothing works, I think I'll send it to a computer shop. It's my last resort right now.
 
May 25, 2019
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@DavidM012 I did several hours on memtest. Something between 24 hours and 48 hours. I tried one stick at a time and I tried both of them during the last few hours. 0 errors came out of this.

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600k @3.80GHz
Cooler: Hyper 212 led from Cooler Master
Mobo: Asrock B250M Pro4
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V series 16GB (2x8) DDR4

PSU: EVGA 100-N1-0750-l1 750 N1 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power supply
GPU: Asus Geforce 1060 6gb
drives: Samsung 860 EVO Series 2.5" 250GB SATA III V-NAND 3-bit SSD
Case: DIYPC Gamemax-W White Dual USB 3.0 ATX Full tower
All fans: 3 on top, 2 in the front + 1 backside + The huge ass fan on my cpu cooler.

I hope you can give me more intel on what might be the situation. Any help is welcome!
 

DavidM012

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Try disabling the onboard ethernet for a while. Everything looks pretty normal for it, good cooler, lots of airflow it posts, loads windows, runs for a while and then goes down, might also be gpu if you have spare any one of those about try switching it. Latest driver should be 430.64.

What else could I think of, cpu-z. If you run the stress test on that, if there is a cpu problem that will fall over pretty quickly. Can also try prime 95 version 26.6.

https://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=15504

Use core temp to monitor temps when stress testing, don't exceed recommended values. Stop the test immediately if getting warm.

https://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Here's the recommended operating range for Core temperature:

80°C Hot (100% Load)
75°C Warm
70°C Warm (Heavy Load)
60°C Norm
50°C Norm (Medium Load)
40°C Norm
30°C Cool (Idle)
25°C Cool

Core temperatures up to 80°C are safe.

Intel Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1800828/intel-temperature-guide.html


A stress test won't run for long without crashing if the problem is in fact the cpu. The hyper 212 cooler is a 160w tdp cooler but the 7600k is a 95w tdp cpu "at idle" under load it could be 180w hence exceeding the specified tdp capacity of the cooler, or to put it conversely, the cooler might still be insufficient to the cpu which has made it farble a bit. All running on the margins for a protracted time span is a bit of a grey area there. Obviously if the cpu gets too warm, you need to shut down the stress test right away.

I think all the symptoms are indicative of a cpu problem & it's kind of stacking up with the less than overkill cooler on it.
 
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May 25, 2019
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I will try that. I'll disable the onboard ethernet. If it's my gpu, I'll try to contact Asus. I have a 3-year warranty with them. I'll come back with feedback tomorrow or the day after. I'll try to post the dumpfiles if my computer crash again.
 

DavidM012

Distinguished
dump files aren't usually all that informative, crashes indicate something isn't right, switching out the gpu will isolate the problem more to the cpu if it persists with a different gpu installed. The load on the cpu is pushing out frames to the gpu and if it has any problem at all, it'll crash, and the symptoms of the crash look like a literal cpu stop: mouse pointer & screen freezes Lights on nobody home.
 
May 25, 2019
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Using CPU-Z, my CPU went up to 65 degrees. No crash happened during the test. I guess my CPU is out the way. And like I said, the screen freeze happened once today. I think it's only an isolated crash because of all the mess I'm doing with my computer right now.

EDIT: Last minidump for tonight https://drive.google.com/open?id=1D40VzM7Xs70gNdhNazrNCi1-2ctsqtqT Happened again while loading Forza Horizon 4.
 
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DavidM012

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A stress test simulates a load on the cpu, and is usually greater than the load produced by gaming, however it can take half an hour for the pc to warm up, just as it might running for a several hours gaming session. Granted that you seem to have good airflow, it could still be running on the margins which isn't ideal 'cos the coin could fall on side or the other, given a margin of error.

Prime 95 it for a couple of hours is what is considered basically passing a stress test but not really comprehensively.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=26798 Having a look at the minidump but it's probably all gonna be gobblydegook to me. It is all gobblydegook.

Major Geeks might have log debug experts. I think it's the h'ware. What else isolates the cpu, favorite method of mine, disconnect all drives and peripherals, except kyb and mouse, run windows setup from a usb drive and attempt to install windows on another different 32gb usb drive. That completely isolates your current windows install, takes the drives out of the equation, and tests the cpu and all the driver loading and all that, clean install, ok so it runs slow on a usb but it's ideal for detecting hardware problems. If you get to the end of windows setup, and it even runs off a usb, your hardware looks healthy. If it crashes, it has to be a hardware problem somewhere.
 
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Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
So now I see motherboard is the 250 and not the 450 as quoted before, I won't wonder why i can see Intel drivers on an AMD system, as that was just wrong code quoted.

I will ask gardenman to look at dumps.
About only driver i see as old there is Intel management engine interface as it should match the bios age.
 

PC Tailor

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As others have stated as I have in a previous post, it could well be hardware and the vast variety of BSOD can also indicate as such.

The only driver that really seems like it could cause an issue is the intel management engine as Colif has also stated.

If you have tried clean installs and the problem still hasn't disappeared, I would sooner lean down the hardware route again. I wasn't aware that clean installs had been tried previously, I would still try the RAM 1 at a time, as even faulty RAM can still pass a memtest.

It is just a case of isolating the drivers, then swapping out each component to identify the guilty party if it is hardware.