Question Regular BSODs with Wacom Tablet, I've tried a lot already and can't figure out the real issue ?

[NyxNyven]

The tablet is a Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WxusMTTh8VXoNSj_4t6DNP0bHcdbjkQZ/view?usp=sharing

Minidump archive right out of the way. I admittedly cannot understand a lot of this information even with a guide so maybe someone else can make heads or tails of it.

The crashes seem sort of random and sometimes the tablet can act fine for a while before continuing to crash during what I would consider regular activity for me. Given that most of the information I've found regarding the issue seems to be unable to actually narrow down what the issue is, I'm going here as sort of a last resort. I believe it might be some sort of driver issue, but I've already tried using a recommended driver by Wacom themselves and then when that began to crash, I updated it via Intel's tools and that also keeps causing it to crash.

 

[ubuysa]

Sadly the dumps are not very clear-cut and there is no obvious driver at fault here. TBH my initial thought is that they all look very much like a RAM problem.

We could do with more troubleshooting data so could you please download and run the V2 log collector and upload the zip file it produces. It doesn't include any personally identifying information.

 

[NyxNyven]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VK6X03KGIl_9MKiLMCmPVM_vU66EvZqI/view?usp=sharing

I should note that I have run a Wacom driver updater again since my original post and ran the V2 Log Collector after that.

 

[ubuysa]

The System log contains a great many corrected hardware error messages, like this one...

Event[125]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger
  Date: 2023-10-12T11:53:05.9800000Z
  Event ID: 19
  Task: N/A
  Level: Warning
  Opcode: Info
  Keyword: N/A
  User: S-1-5-19
  User Name: NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE
  Computer: DESKTOP-8UVLORF
  Description: 
A corrected hardware error has occurred.

Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Unknown Error Source
Error Type: Internal parity error
Processor APIC ID: 4

The details view of this entry contains further information.

The processor that detected this error is always either processor 4 (as here) or processor 5. This may be the CPU having problems, especially since only processors 4 and 5 suffer from this party error, but it may also be a RAM issue too, again, especially since it's a parity error.

However, from some research I've just done for you it's possible that this is a consequence of your BIOS not being compatible with the Windows Spectre/Meltdown mitigations. These two vulnerabilities were published in 2018 and your BIOS dates from the end of 2019, so it's very likely that your BIOS doesn't contain any Spectre/Meltdown mitigations. You're running Windows version 22H2 and that most certainly does contain Spectre/Meltdown mitigations, so I'm wondering whether your BIOS isn't suitable for Windows 22H2...?

Since it's a tablet I don't think you can update the BIOS? I certainly didn't find a BIOS update on the Wacom drivers & download website. One thing you can try if you feel up to it is to disable (most of) the Windows Spectre and Meltdown mitigations and see whether that stops your BSODs and the error messages.

If you want to try that (it is reversible) download the InSpectre.exe tool from Gibson Research. Steve Gibson talks a lot of nonsense sometimes but some of his tools are quite handy. Download and run the InSpectre.exe tool, it will tell you whether the Spectre/Meltdown mitigations are installed in Windows (they will be). There are also two buttons at the bottom that allow you to disable either or both. Try disabling both and see how things go.

If that doesn't help then post back and I'll suggest another set of tests you can try.

 

[NyxNyven]

Yeah, I'm not seeing much improvement in terms of preventing crashes- there was a pretty hard black screen crash that occurred via opening Clip Studio Paint shortly after disabling it and rebooting, but after the reboot it seemed to be fine but then it crashed after about two hours on a blue screen with the same sort of driver irql_less_or_not_equal message I've been getting before. After that I've re-enabled the protections.

Would like to try any other options as you've alluded to.

 

[ubuysa]

Ok, lets try enabling Driver Verifier then...

Driver Verifier subjects selected drivers (typically all third-party drivers) to extra tests and checks every time they are called. These extra checks are designed to uncover drivers that are misbehaving. If any selected driver fails any of the Driver Verifier tests/checks then Driver Verifier will BSOD. The resulting minidump should contain enough information for us to identify the flaky driver. It's thus essential to keep all minidumps created whilst Driver Verifier is enabled.

To enable Driver Verifier do the following:

1. Take a System Restore point first. It is possible that Driver Verifier may BSOD a driver during the boot process (some drivers are loaded during boot). If that happens you'll be stuck in a boot-BSOD loop.

If you should end up in a boot-BSOD loop, boot the Windows installation media and use that to run system restore and restore to the restore point you took, to remove Driver Verifier and get you booting again.

Please don't skip this step. it's the only way out of a Driver Verifier boot-BSOD loop.

Note: I've never asked anyone to run Driver Verfier on a tablet before and I don't know whether you can boot Windows installation media on it? If not, be aware that a Driver Verifier caused boot-BSOD loop would be pretty catastrophic.

2. Start the Driver Verifier setup dialog by entering the command verifier in either the Run command box or in a command prompt.

3. On that initial dialog, click the radio button for 'Create custom settings (for code developers)' - the second option - and click the Next button.

4. On the second dialog check (click) the checkboxes for the following tests...

• Special Pool
• Force IRQL checking
• Pool Tracking
• Deadlock Detection
• Security Checks
• Miscellaneous Checks
• Power framework delay fuzzing
• DDI compliance checking

Then click the Next button.

5. On the next dialog click the radio button for 'Select driver names from a list' - the last option - and click the Next button.

6. On the next dialog click on the 'Provider' heading, this will sort the drivers on this column (it makes it easier to isolate Microsoft drivers).

7. Now check (click) ALL drivers that DO NOT have Microsoft as the provider (ie. check all third-party drivers).

8. Then, on the same dialog, check the following Microsoft drivers (and ONLY these Microsoft drivers)...

• Wdf01000.sys
• ndis.sys
• fltMgr.sys
• Storport.sys

These are high-level Microsoft drivers that manage lower-level third-party drivers that we otherwise wouldn't be able to trap. That's why they're included.

9. Now click Finish and then reboot. Driver Verifiier will be enabled.

Be aware that Driver Verifier will remain enabled across all reboots and shutdowns. It can only be disabled manually.

Also be aware that we expect BSODs. Indeed, we want BSODs, to be able to identify the flaky driver(s). You MUST keep all minidumps created whilst Driver Verifier is running, so disable any disk cleanup tools you may have.

10. Leave Driver Verifier running for 48 hours, use your PC as normal during this time, but do try and make it BSOD. Use every game or app that you normally use, and especially those where you have seen it BSOD in the past. If Windows doesn't automatically reboot after each BSOD then just reboot as normal and continue testing.

Note: Because Driver Verifier is doing extra work each time a third-party driver is loaded you will notice some performance degradation with Driver Verifier enabled. This is a price you'll have to pay in order to locate any flaky drivers. And remember, Driver Verifier can only test drivers that are loaded, so you need to ensure that every third-party driver gets loaded by using all apps, features and devices.

11. To turn Driver Verifier off enter the command verifier /reset in either Run command box or a command prompt and reboot.

Should you wish to check whether Driver Verfier is enabled or not, open a command prompt and enter the command verifier /query. If drivers are listed then it's enabled, if no drivers are listed then it's not.

12. When Driver Verifier has been disabled, navigate to the folder C:\Windows\Minidump and locate all .dmp files in there that are related to the period when Driver Verifier was running (check the timestamps). Zip these files up if you like, or not as you choose. Upload the file(s) to the cloud with a link to it/them here (be sure to make it public).