W10 PC Crashing

[Batmann77]

First, my PC specs.

OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i7 4770 @ 3.40GHz
RAM: 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz
Motherboard: ASRock H87M
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (EVGA)
Storage: SSD for OS + programs.
PSU: Thermaltake Litepower 550W - Approx. 2 years old

For the past 2 days I have been experiencing BSODs. The error is either "DPC watchdog violation" or "Driver PNP watchdog". Usually this is what happens:

• 
  Computer freezes and crashes to BSOD.
  BSOD is either "DPC watchdog violation" or "Driver PNP watchdog".
  I restart the PC.
  I experience the infinite loading screen (rotating dots screen).
  I keep restarting until the Automatic Repair initiates.
  Sometimes the auto repair does not load and I get a BSOD error "inaccessible boot device".
  If the automatic repair loads, it can't fix the issue and sends me to the advanced options screen.
  I try system restore and repair startup issues, but neither succeed.
  I restart again until I get lucky and it decides to boot properly (sometimes first go, sometimes after 5-10 restarts).
  This is more or less the same process each time it crashes, the only difference being the amount of restarts required to be able to boot properly.

From what I've read on the net, this could be a driver issue. I checked the ASRock website for an update to the motherboard and the BIOS, but neither are listed for available download. Current BIOS version is P1.70 dated 5th July 2013.

I checked my device manager and there is one unknown device (I've known of this for years now) with the hardware ID of ACPI\VEN_PNP&DEV_0510. A google search returned results on a "Communications Port", with a number of drivers, but since I do not know what that is, or if it's related, I decided to leave that for now.

Besides that, I've just tried to load up GeForce Experience to check my GPU drivers, and it says it cannot open. I'm going to restart the computer now and I'll report back with any new findings. (Update - GeForce Experience required an uninstall and reinstall to resume its normal operation.)

Kind regards,

Jimmy.

 

[Lutfij]

You have BIOS updates pending. Update your BIOS from 1.7 to 2.6 incrementally. Then see if your system regains stability. You also forgot to mention your PSU's make and model and it's age.

 

[Batmann77]

You have BIOS updates pending. Update your BIOS from 1.7 to 2.6 incrementally. Then see if your system regains stability. You also forgot to mention your PSU's make and model and it's age.

I feel like an idiot. I clicked on their "Downloads" link on the main page, and searched for downloads for my mobo, rather than just scrolling down on the actual page of my mobo. Thank you for showing me that. I will update incrementally as you say, and report back tomorrow when it's all done.

 

[Batmann77]

I've updated my BIOS from 1.8 to 2.6 incrementally, as instructed. So far so good, but then again I haven't really used the computer much yet, aside from the updating. If all is still good within a week, I will come back and mark this as solved.

 

[johnbl]

the bios version has to match the chipset driver version. So your bios updates should fix the problem (if you also updated the motherboard chipset drivers)

I've updated my BIOS from 1.8 to 2.6 incrementally, as instructed. So far so good, but then again I haven't really used the computer much yet, aside from the updating. If all is still good within a week, I will come back and mark this as solved.

 

[Batmann77]

the bios version has to match the chipset driver version. So your bios updates should fix the problem (if you also updated the motherboard chipset drivers)

I'm not seeing any updates anywhere on the internet for my motherboard, but I could be searching the wrong places. I don't even know what version my chipset drivers are at the moment....

 

[Batmann77]

Just wanted to report back and let everyone know that it seems it was in fact the BIOS that was causing my issues. Updating my BIOS to the latest version seems to have fixed it for now (and hopefully forever!). Special thanks to Lutfij!