Question Windows 10 freezing and becoming unresponsive - HP Omen laptop

[RoadCase]

Hello all,

I'm using an HP Omen 15-EN0023dx laptop to run WindowsGSM to host a small dedicated server so my wife and I can play Icarus and I don't have to take a CPU usage hit (on my desktop machine) that hurts frametime performance. I know the laptop is probably not an ideal machine for running servers but I figured it should do fine if it was just serving a few clients.

This laptop has a persistent freezing issue that I cannot pin down the cause of. Screen just freezes in place, mouse and keyboard are unresponsive, and only way to recover is a hard shutdown holding the power button. This problem has been around for about 2 years or longer on this laptop, and would often freeze while I had it on my desk at work just playing music.

In the past week however I have done a fresh install of Windows 10 onto a new Samsung 990 EVO 1tb drive. I did this because the OEM 1tb drive was giving me error messages when using HP Diag tools to run short or long DSTs. When I ran the 24-digit error codes on HP's "Service Center" landing page the diagnostic report said the following:

"Failure details - Hard drive check:
Failure ID:60AL7V-AKECAD-MFPU3G-60S503
Test date:2024-11-28
Component tested:Hard drive check
IMPORTANT:The test found a problem with your hard drive and it may need to be replaced. If possible, back up your personal files to a flash drive or external hard drive as soon as you can.

chkdsk in cmd prompt was also resulting in what looked like repairs being made upon restart. So I made the decision to try a fresh install on a brand new drive.

I was optimistic that I found the cause but sure enough after getting WindowsGSM running on the laptop again and connecting to the server on my desktop PC, the laptop froze up again after about an hour of play. Any connected players (just myself in this case while testing) are booted from the server as I'm guessing the network services stop responding as well.

Most recently, after checking Event Viewer and finding numerous entries of Event ID 1 (Error: The description for Event ID 1 from source Icarus-PIDxxxxx cannot be found) and Event ID 2 (Warning: Ran out of memory), I decided to swap from the OEM 2x8GB SODIMM RAM kit to a Crucial 2x16GB SODIMM RAM kit. I was unsure if I was making a mistake cause the highest I had ever seen the total RAM usage climb while running the server was about 9GB so I thought 16GB still had some headroom. But I decided to try it anyway. I am still getting the Error and Warning in event viewer while WindowsGSM runs the server, after upgrading to 32GB of memory.

After installing the new RAM kit and starting the server I played for a bit and then the laptop BSOD'd with a message like PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA or something like that. There was another detail below that but I missed it before the system rebooted.

I will stop here. I'm sorry for such a long-winded post and if my formatting sucks, I don't like to ask others to save my butt, but when I do I want to provide plenty of info.

Thanks so much for any help or ideas!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

In the past week however I have done a fresh install of Windows 10 onto a new Samsung 990 EVO 1tb drive.
Where did you source the installer for the OS? Are you able to get into the OS and then use Samsung's Magician App to see if the drive is pending any firmware updates? Speaking of firmware updates, can you check to see if your laptop has any BIOS updates pending? Use the SKU/Part Number on HP's support portal to bring up a bespoke page for your laptop.

Back to the topic about the OS, did you install the OS in offline mode or did you let the OS download and install all drivers meant for your laptop? I would reinstall the OS(after recreating the installer) then install the OS in offline mode, then manually install all relevant drivers with the latest versions in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

Can you locate .dmp files for your laptop/OS? If so, host them on dropbox or their ilk and then pass on a link for us to go through.

 

[RoadCase]

Thanks for the reply and welcome! Glad to be here.

I meant to include, my windows install was using retail Windows 10 Home USB media that I purchased in-store probably almost 5 years ago at this point.
I made sure windows went through all the updates it wanted (checking for new ones after restarts) before I carried on configuring my apps. I will check on the SSD firmware and the BIOS versions.

While installing the OS I was offline, until it asked about connecting to a network and I recall I then connected ethernet, as I did not recall seeing an option to search for wi-fi networks. I assumed the driver for the wi-fi was not yet installed/downloaded.

I'm unsure what you mean by installer. I'm guessing you would be referencing an .exe for running windows install media. I suppose this doesn't apply in my case? Also unsure what recreating the installer would entail. I will figure out how to locate .dmp files. I think I've accessed them on windows in the past but it's been a while.

The laptop has currently been running the server for 5.5 hours. I let WindowsGSM run the server for about 3 hours before I connected to it just to see if there was any change. I played for about 2 hours and it ran smoothly. I am going to let it run for a while to see if it stays up. I will report back once I have news.

Thanks again so much.

 

[RoadCase]

Just wanted to provide an update. The laptop has been powered on and running my game server for now 27 hours and 45 minutes. Most recent hardware change again is installing a Crucial 2x16GB RAM kit. Still nothing conclusive as of yet in my opinion, but I will watch closely to see how it performs going forward.

I have not yet worked on any of the previously mentioned firmware or BIOS updates, nor have I located .dmp files. I will update this thread once I've made more progress.

 

[RoadCase]

Well I came home from work this evening, connected the laptop again and started the server. Ran for about 10 minutes and at about 12:08am the laptop froze right up again.

I've looked in C:/Windows/Minidump where I found one .dmp file. Here is the dropbox link to that file.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6iyx...ey=rzzbxym9kdjl6v2taapd6lecx&st=1z8qyt90&dl=0

It appears the file is from Saturday, I'm guessing due to the BSOD I had after installing the new RAM kit.

Leading up to the freeze, Event Viewer logged (12) each of the previously described "ran out of memory" Warnings as well the Errors. these 24 logs are between 12:04am-12:08am. Not sure if that frequency is of any significance.

I was going to game for an hour but instead I will now go update my BIOS (or try to) and my SSD's firmware.

 

[RoadCase]

BIOS is updated from F.02 (I have found past forum posts from 2018 referring to F.02 as the "newly released" HP Notebook/Laptop BIOS. Outdated much?? ) to F.24. I'm guessing the BIOS has always been this outdated version, even when I purchased the laptop in 2021. An OS install on a fresh storage drive would have no change on anything related to BIOS, as far as I understand things. Maybe I'm wrong?

Samsung Magician reports my 990 EVO as having the latest firmware.

From this point I will just keep trying to watch for clues, hopefully the huge BIOS leap has an impact on stability. Thanks everyone for letting me ramble on about this!

 

[RoadCase]

Well, I'm at work and had a youtube video paused. Went to hit play and it was frozen again. Another hard reboot to get it back.

Not sure what to check next. If anyone can think of anything, I appreciate the ideas.

 

[ubuysa]

Since your new RAM is from Crucial I'm assuming that you used the Crucial online tool to find RAM compatible with your laptop? It's also a mistake to look at the RAM in use and use that as a measure of whether you need to install more. The Windows memory manager is extremely good at managing RAM. Upgrading the RAM will do no harm of course, provided the new RAM is compatible with the laptop.

The HDD failing was certainly a cause of problems, so replacing it was very wise. Was the new drive new or one you had lying around?

It's difficult to make a reliable diagnosis based on just one dump, but I can say that the dump looks as though bad hardware may be the cause. I say this because there are no third-party drivers referenced in the lead-up to the bugcheck, only Microsoft drivers. However, it is probably worth looking for a rogue third-party driver before we delve into the hardware, so I'd suggest you enable Driver Verifier...

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 and/or take a disk image of your system drive (with Acronis, Macrium Reflect, or similar). 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. Alternatively you can use the Acronis, Macrium Reflect, or similar, boot media to restore the disk image you took.

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

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. The Driver Verifier generated BSODs are these...

• 0xC1: SPECIAL_POOL_DETECTED_MEMORY_CORRUPTION
• 0xC4: DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION
• 0xC6: DRIVER_CAUGHT_MODIFYING_FREED_POOL
• 0xC9: DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION
• 0xD6: DRIVER_PAGE_FAULT_BEYOND_END_OF_ALLOCATION
• 0xE6: DRIVER_VERIFIER_DMA_VIOLATION

If you see any of these BSOD types then you can disable Driver Verifier early because you'll have caught a misbehaving driver.

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 Verifier 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).

If you don't see any Driver Verifier triggered BSODs in 48 hours then there probably aren't any flaky ones. It is vital however, that all third-party drivers get loaded at some time whilst Driver Verifier is active. It can only check drivers as they are loaded, so you MUST ensure that all drivers get loaded by using every feature, device, function etc.

 

[RoadCase]

Hey ubuysa,

thanks for the post. I'm definitely going to get to work on using the driver verifier as soon as I can. Hopefully I have an update about this by Friday night.

The RAM kit was indeed selected using the compatibility checker on Crucial's site for my specific laptop model. Cross-checked the RAM kit number at Best Buy and sure enough they had the compatible kits in stock. I was definitely kind of firing the parts cannon at the issue but I decided to try the RAM mostly because of the "Ran out of memory" error I was getting in Event Viewer. I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn't a conclusive diagnosis though.

Thanks again! I'll be back with an update soon.