Minimum processor state keeps reverting to 100%

[michalkacer]

Hi all,

I've experienced quite a few BSODs on my laptop during the last weeks, all of them with the same error message: "faulty hardware corrupted page." I did not know why that was happening but supposedly it can be due to unstable overclocking and/or overheating of components.

Anyway, I found out that something keeps reverting the "minimum processor state" setting in Power Options to 100% from the default 5%, even if I change it manually. I think it might have something to do with the Intel HD Graphics Control Panel, which has three graphics power plans: Max Battery Life, Balanced, and Max Performance. It seems that it keeps reverting itself to Max Performance, which, in turn, changes the minimum procesor state setting to 100.

My question is, does anyone have a clue how I could stop Intel HD Graphics Control Panel from readjusting the minimum processor state setting, which might be causing my laptop to overheat?

My laptop is an ASUS Zenbook with an integrated GPU, I'm not using it for gaming.

EDIT: automatic memory dump from after the BSOD: https://goo.gl/fSy4R6.

Thanks!

 

[Colif]

Which model Asus Zenbook? there is more than 1, just wanted to look through programs installed to see if anything there might be over riding your choices.

Its possibly a bios setting meaning it will ignore windows anyway.

Maybe Intel HD & the power settings are being changed by something else, and what you are seeing is just the result. What Asus software is running on PC?

I know samsung SSD used to have a program that could set PC up as high performance and change all the settings, so I wouldn't be surprised if Asus had similar for laptops

 

[michalkacer]

Which model Asus Zenbook? there is more than 1, just wanted to look through programs installed to see if anything there might be over riding your choices.

Its possibly a bios setting meaning it will ignore windows anyway.

Maybe Intel HD & the power settings are being changed by something else, and what you are seeing is just the result. What Asus software is running on PC?

I know samsung SSD used to have a program that could set PC up as high performance and change all the settings, so I wouldn't be surprised if Asus had similar for laptops

It's Asus Zenbook UX303LA, I've uninstalled most Asus software except Smart Gesture, ATK package and USB Charger+. Here is the list of my installed programs: https://imgur.com/a/qZuvSAq.

The laptop has a SSHD so that shouldn't be a problem, but if this is a BIOS setting, could I change it in there?

 

[Colif]

Smart Gesture - Touchpad (enough problems with this and new version of win 10)
ATK = Keyboard
USB charger - Isn't this for mobile phones"?

So Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework is likely to be the thing setting the power options

I think this question/answer might help explain what they do in power - https://superuser.com/questions/909158/intel-dynamic-platform-and-thermal-framework-settings-what-exactly-do-they-do

 

[michalkacer]

Yes USB Charger+ is for quick charging although I'm not sure if it works too well

That doesn't make sense though, if Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework adjusts the power/temperature/fan limits, why would it make the CPU work on 100% all the time?

 

[Colif]

I thought that was too easy - I was just going by that guys screen shot that showed High TDP was default setting if device was on battery or unplugged. I don't have the software installed on my desktop so I don't know what defautls for those are.

It seems Smart Gesture was also a cause in 2012.And in 2015 - https://superuser.com/questions/897488/asus-smart-gesture-getting-cpu-to-3ghz

Normally when your CPU hits 100% utilization it’s because you’re doing some pretty intense stuff, like gaming, performing intense calculations, or working with video. Simple gesture-based scrolling, however, shouldn’t max out your processor — at least that’s what a lot of geeks think.

Apparently, they’re all wrong, at least according to some Asus tech support staffers. It turns out it’s all part of providing customers with an optimal computing experience. “The behavior you see is intended, meaning, when you put 2 fingers on the pad, it will power on to full power to prevent lag or bad performance when doing gestures on the pad.”

Lag is bad, right? Of course it is. No one wants a laggy computer. Asus clearly decided to ramp the processor up to make sure that its laptops can render on-screen content with absolute clarity even while it’s sliding up and down a few measly lines at a time. If that comes at the expense of battery life and noise, so be it. Lag must be eliminated at all costs.

To make matters worse, you can’t even replace the custom Asus trackpad drivers with a plain vanilla version that doesn’t cause this annoying processor problem. Presumably, then, you’re stuck using page up/page down, your arrow keys, or the touchscreen if you want to avoid putting needless strain on your processor and fans.

But hey, if claiming that 100% CPU usage was necessary to scroll content was a stupid stance to take, they wouldn’t call the software responsible for translating your finger motions Smartgesture would they?

https://www.geek.com/apps/asus-says-100-cpu-utilization-is-required-for-smooth-scrolling-on-laptops-1608457/

Now it could also be a side effect of the software not playing well with latest version of win 10, or like my last assumption, not the problem at all

Do you know if you have latest BIOS?

 

[Colif]

wonders how he missed you been getting BSOD about faulty hardware...

Can you follow option one on the following link - here
and then do this step below: Small memory dumps - Have Windows Create a Small Memory Dump (Minidump) on BSOD

that creates a file in c windows/minidump after the next BSOD
copy that file to documents
upload the copy from documents to a cloud server and share the link here and someone with right software to read them will help you fix it

 

[michalkacer]

I probably don't have the latest BIOS since I've never updated it. Should I, in this case?

Anyways, thanks for the dump tip - here's an automatic memory dump that Windows created after a BSOD some time ago, not a minidump, but maybe that'll work as well: https://goo.gl/fSy4R6.

 

[Colif]

I wouldn't yet, Lets see if that error returns, it may tell us what cause is. Also tell us a few other things about machine. A guy called Gardenman will reply with a link I can use to look into that dump you gave me so far.

I won't speculate what cause is until i see them. Already been wrong once

 

[michalkacer]

What info about the machine would you need, like specs?

I actually went ahead and ran the dump file through WhoCrashed, some analyzing software, and it's telling me this:

***
On Mon 4/16/2018 2:36:26 AM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\Users\Michal\Desktop\041618-32109-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x175930)
Bugcheck code: 0x12B (0xFFFFFFFFC00002C4, 0x371, 0x2B3530B0, 0xFFFFD7019E876000)
Error: FAULTY_HARDWARE_CORRUPTED_PAGE
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a single-bit error was found in this page. This is a hardware memory error.
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This error suggests a case of memory corruption because of a hardware problem. It is suggested you do a test on your RAM modules (memory test) and make sure your system is not getting overheated. This problem might also be caused because of overheating (thermal issue).
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.
***

So it seems that if memory is not the issue (I remember running some memory/hdd checks some time ago when the BSOD started to appear, and no results) - could it be overheating caused by constant 100% CPU usage? This would bring us to solving the minimum processor state error again.

 

[Colif]

what memory test did you run? Memtest86? or just the one built into windows?

The dump file can show us more than who crashed, it just tells you what crashed, not why. ntoskrnl = Windows Kernel. It is a critical part of windows, it handles memory management, driver requests and power management. It got blamed but its not the cause, it was just following instructions that didn't work.

That error can be worked around by turning off fast startup - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html - that doesn't fix it but can avoid it.

try this:
right click start button
choose powershell (admin)
type SFC /scannow and press enter
restart PC once finished

Other fixes are to update drivers, once the Dump is read by Gardenman I will have some idea what is on PC

It could be both issues are related, Did one start before the other or around same time?

 

[gardenman]

Hi, I ran the dump file through the debugger and got the following information: https://pste.eu/p/aBUc.html

File: 041618-32109-01.dmp (Apr 15 2018 - 20:36:26)
BugCheck: [FAULTY_HARDWARE_CORRUPTED_PAGE (12B)]
Probably caused by: ntkrnlmp.exe (Process: MemCompression)
Uptime: 4 Day(s), 9 Hour(s), 14 Min(s), and 48 Sec(s)

I can't help you with this. Wait for additional replies. Good luck.

 

[Colif]

Try turning off fast startup and see if that fixes the BSOD. Judging by age of most of your drivers, they weren't written for the new Win 10 power modes and turning that off might fix it. Most of them are win 8 drivers as there aren't any newer.

Try the other fixes above as well

You have the newest BIOS. Your touch pad drivers are newer than what is showing on Asus site, tricky.

ntkrlmp = Windows Kernel again. It appears driver that caused it was Win 8 but that only narrows it down to 17 drivers.. out of 21

thats also an error from April so lets see what next minidump contains.

You also not on the latest version of windows which means the problems Smart Gesture was having with Windows doesn't apply to you... until you get the version upgrade.

 

[michalkacer]

I might have found a solution, ASUS Smart Gesture being the culprit.

Smart Gesture (from http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/lower-zenbook-power-consumption-due-to-asus-smart-gesture.741039):

The Asus Smart Gesture application . . . forces the system to a higher power state permanently. More specifically, it forces the current CPU minimum CPU state to 100%, the system cooling policy to Active (start fans before throttling), and the Intel Graphics profile to maximum power.

Solution (from http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/lower-zenbook-power-consumption-due-to-asus-smart-gesture.741039/page-2, credits to flunserl):

You can add a DWORD value with Regedit to disable that behaviour:

In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture

Add the DWORD AutoSetMaxPower, set it to 0 and reboot.

So I did that, rebooted, and so far the minimum processor state is at 5%. Let's see if this fixes the BSOD as well

 

[Colif]

Yes, Smart Gesture does ramp CPU up to 100% if you use 2 finger gesturing as they feel its better to have smooth response time. Its by design.

quoted that already, but I didn't find the fix. Good on you