Random BSOD problems

My M14x suffers from random BSOD. Circumstances vary, but it often happens when I bring the machine up from standby.

I've done a diagnostic from the BIOS - no issues.

Not sure what is causing this, and does anyone else get lots of bluescreens?

My M14x is a core i5 model, BIOS A08, 4Gb RAM, Corsair Force GT SSD (worked flawlessly in my old XPS 15), 1.5Gb graphics (GF116, driver v296.1). Killer network card (latest driver).

I'm debating contacting Dell support as my box is only a month old, but would rather not go through all that if this is a common software issue that a lot of people are having.

 

wasnt there a problem with sleep and ssds?

 

Do you have RST installed? Yah seems like the sleep/standby problems happens with SSD

 

Sound like one of a HDD failure symptom, that's what my last failure HDD did about 3 week before its imminent failure, thing like BSOD on standby, BSOD when boot up, BSOD during files transfer, or extremely slow when transferring files, and the most annoying and very easy to spot is that IF you defrag drive C or whatever your Windows install on.

If your laptop has any one of the symptom I list above, then most likely, your HDD is going to fail in less than a month, not to mention mine fail just around 5 weeks of use.

 

On the RST front, I don't think so. There is an Intel app called 'Intel Management & Security' installed and running, but the taskbar icon that RST uses (if memory serves) isn't there. Is it better to have it running or not?

On the HDD failure front, my drive isn't mechanical so I'm not sure those symptoms will apply. I'm not ruling out my SSD as a problem. however.

I also find the Killer networks 1103 card is a bit unstable, and often causes application crashes, so my first step has been to disable it and use wired networking. Once I've ruled this one out I'll try something else.

 

Zip and upload your dump files from C:\Windows\Minidump\ and I'll analyze them for you.

 

could also be a RAM problem in case of that you would also get BSOD while gaming or working, do you?

 

I rarely if ever get one whilst using the machine heavily (e.g. gaming). It happens either when coming out of standby as mentioned, or when I'm doing something light, like web browsing or moving between folders.

Latest minidump file attached (thanks).

 

If you have other dump files those would be helpful to have as well to see if all the BSOD's were caused by the same thing or not. Follow the instructions here:
Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions and upload the files to your post.

Here's the dump file you uploaded:

Spoiler

Code:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 7A, {fffff6fc400162d8, ffffffffc000000e, 8e6d1860, fffff88002c5bc70}

Probably caused by : afd.sys ( afd! ?? ::NNGAKEGL::`string'+15db )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

2: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR (7a)
The requested page of kernel data could not be read in.  Typically caused by
a bad block in the paging file or disk controller error. Also see
KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR.
If the error status is 0xC000000E, 0xC000009C, 0xC000009D or 0xC0000185,
it means the disk subsystem has experienced a failure.
If the error status is 0xC000009A, then it means the request failed because
a filesystem failed to make forward progress.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffff6fc400162d8, lock type that was held (value 1,2,3, or PTE address)
Arg2: ffffffffc000000e, error status (normally i/o status code)
Arg3: 000000008e6d1860, current process (virtual address for lock type 3, or PTE)
Arg4: fffff88002c5bc70, virtual address that could not be in-paged (or PTE contents if arg1 is a PTE address)

Debugging Details:
------------------


ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc000000e - A device which does not exist was specified.

DISK_HARDWARE_ERROR: There was error with disk hardware

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x7a_c000000e

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME:  svchost.exe

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

TRAP_FRAME:  fffff8800bb90200 -- (.trap 0xfffff8800bb90200)
NOTE: The trap frame does not contain all registers.
Some register values may be zeroed or incorrect.
rax=0000000000000000 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=fffffa800685c900
rdx=0000000000008020 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=0000000000000000
rip=fffff88002c5bc70 rsp=fffff8800bb90398 rbp=fffffa8005cc9b30
 r8=0000000000000000  r9=00000000000001b0 r10=fffff88002f66780
r11=0000000000000014 r12=0000000000000000 r13=0000000000000000
r14=0000000000000000 r15=0000000000000000
iopl=0         nv up ei pl zr na po nc
afd!AfdReuseEndpoint:
fffff880`02c5bc70 48895c2408      mov     qword ptr [rsp+8],rbx ss:0018:fffff880`0bb903a0=fffffa8007233860
Resetting default scope

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from fffff80002f37012 to fffff80002ec6d40

STACK_TEXT: 
fffff880`0bb8fee8 fffff800`02f37012 : 00000000`0000007a fffff6fc`400162d8 ffffffff`c000000e 00000000`8e6d1860 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`0bb8fef0 fffff800`02eedc2f : fffffa80`051b4290 fffff880`0bb90060 fffff800`030fb540 fffffa80`051b4290 : nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+0x3716a
fffff880`0bb8ffd0 fffff800`02ed43c9 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000008 ffffffff`ffffffff fffff700`01080000 : nt!MiIssueHardFault+0x28b
fffff880`0bb900a0 fffff800`02ec4e6e : 00000000`00000008 fffff880`02c5bc70 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`07233860 : nt!MmAccessFault+0x1399
fffff880`0bb90200 fffff880`02c5bc70 : fffff880`02c508af fffffa80`07233860 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000017 : nt!KiPageFault+0x16e
fffff880`0bb90398 fffff880`02c508af : fffffa80`07233860 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000017 00000000`00000000 : afd!AfdReuseEndpoint
fffff880`0bb903a0 fffff880`02c4c496 : fffff880`0bb905b0 fffffa80`07233860 fffffa80`07255738 fffffa80`00000011 : afd! ?? ::NNGAKEGL::`string'+0x15db
fffff880`0bb90450 fffff880`02c60f1c : 00000000`00000042 00000000`00000005 fffffa80`07255780 fffff800`02edcedf : afd!AfdCreate+0x176
fffff880`0bb905a0 fffff800`031c3cd5 : 00000000`00000005 fffffa80`072681c8 fffffa80`07504b10 fffffa80`0698c498 : afd!AfdDispatch+0x6c
fffff880`0bb905f0 fffff800`031c0578 : fffffa80`04a6f8e0 fffff800`00000000 fffffa80`07268010 00000000`00000001 : nt!IopParseDevice+0x5a5
fffff880`0bb90780 fffff800`031c1796 : 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`07268010 fffffa80`04a6f8e0 fffffa80`0433c970 : nt!ObpLookupObjectName+0x588
fffff880`0bb90870 fffff800`031c309c : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000001 00000000`00000000 : nt!ObOpenObjectByName+0x306
fffff880`0bb90940 fffff800`031cdce4 : 00000000`02f7f3e8 00000000`c0140000 00000000`02f7f420 00000000`02f7f410 : nt!IopCreateFile+0x2bc
fffff880`0bb909e0 fffff800`02ec5fd3 : fffff880`0bb90b60 fffffa80`06aa69e0 fffff880`0bb90ab8 00000000`00000000 : nt!NtCreateFile+0x78
fffff880`0bb90a70 00000000`770a186a : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x13
00000000`02f7f338 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x770a186a


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_IP:
afd! ?? ::NNGAKEGL::`string'+15db
fffff880`02c508af 4885c0          test    rax,rax

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  6

SYMBOL_NAME:  afd! ?? ::NNGAKEGL::`string'+15db

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: afd

IMAGE_NAME:  afd.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  4efa9418

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x7a_c000000e_afd!_??_::NNGAKEGL::_string_+15db

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x7a_c000000e_afd!_??_::NNGAKEGL::_string_+15db

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

The stop error was a 0x0000007A: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR which is usually caused by RAM/drive/motherboard failure, page file corruption, file system corruption etc.

In addition, the error status was 0xc000000e indicating a disk hardware error. This could mean your SSD is on its way out or there was an error with page filing. Do you have page files disabled? If not try disabling it to see if it resolves the issue. To do this click Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Settings (Performance) -> Advanced Tab -> Change -> Uncheck Automatically manage -> No paging file -> Set -> OK -> Restart your computer. This is only a temporary measure if you prefer to have page files enabled.

Second thing to do is to make sure all your drivers are up to date as well as your Windows updates (especially service pack 1).

The driver that caused the error was afd.sys. I'm not familiar with this particular driver but some brief research shows that it's related to the network drivers. I know you have the latest Killer Card drivers installed but try uninstalling them, reboot, run a registry cleaner (such as CCleaner) to remove all remnants of the driver and then reinstall the Killer Card driver. I have seen the Killer network cards cause BSOD's as well so perhaps try switching to a different wireless card (Intel), uninstall the killer card drivers and reinstall the new card's drivers and see if the BSOD's go away.
Also see if there's an update for your atheros network card.

You may also want to run Memtest: RAM - Test with Memtest86+ to see if your RAM has any issues as well.

edit: Apparently AFD.sys is related to the Winsock driver. In which case you can also try this:
Open a command prompt, right click on the command prompt icon and select run as administrator, then type this command to repair lsp/winsock

netsh winsock reset

Press enter

Reboot/restart your computer.

 

Many thanks.

I have a couple of other dump files, and the KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR is the message I usually get. Your analysis makes some sense - some thoughts:

SSD failure - possible but hard to tell. There is a newer firmware version for my drive that may be worth trying out (I've never bothered as the drive hasn't caused problems previously).

Pagefile - I do have a pagefile, but at a set size of 512Mb just to act as an overrun if I run out of RAM. I can try disabling, but I reckon the killer network card is the more likely culprit

Killer network card - this is interesting and possibly the most likely culprit. As well as BSOD, I get the occasional 'Windows Explorer has shut down' application crashes, and it is always the Bigfoot Networks driver cited (I forget the name - bfldr.dll or something).

Also, my box used to regularly have winsock problems caused by the same card, to the point where I leave a batch file on my desktop so I can quickly reset the winsock when it goes. A bit of research suggested the killer networks driver doesn't like some antivirus software (I run Sophos). Disabling Sophos web protection and disabling the killer network management service has stopped the winsock problems and most of the application crashes.

Thanks for the help. I will try the reinstallation of the network drivers, though scarily I tried that before a week or so ago and upon rebooting my Nvidia card mysteriously disappeared from device manager and was a sod to get back!

Edit: Just ran two passes on memtest and no errors. Also created the dump file zip as per instructions but at 923k it is too big to post on here.

 

Yea, I just listed all the possible explanations based on the dump file you uploaded. I'm no expert so there could well be other aspects of the issue that we've overlooked. However the program that I linked to will collect a lot more info that we can work with.

I agree that the most likely cause out of the ones I deduced is the Killer card driver.
Speaking of antivirus software, some of them are known to cause BSOD's. Some examples are McAfee, AVG/Avast, Kaspersky etc. Not sure about Sophos.
Virtual drive programs like Daemon Tools and Alcohol have been known to cause BSOD's as well; the sptd.sys driver being the cause in that case.

In any case, if at all possible, try another wireless card to see if that resolves the issue.

 

If possible you can pop in a HDD with an OS to test it if the HDD give you BSOD then the problem will like cause by the killer card (according to aznpos531), but like I said as seen in most of the symptom you describe it seem like the SSD is going to fail, because mine I when my HDD's fail, I get all sort of BSOD during operating, sometimes computer just shut down like the power when out, or at boot I will usually get an error where my network drive is missing which I never even use to plug one into.

Most of the BSOD are relate to Kernel_inpage_error, Kernel.dll is not found or ntoskrnl.exe etc.. In the first few week, I didnt get any error message with the Dell Diagnostic, but in the very week of failure, I start to get BSOD like 10 times per days most of which are random BSODs and by that time Dell Diagnostic already show error where it cannot find the HDD. If you bought the laptop with the SSD and still under the warranty then I suggest you to call Dell, they'll sure to replace a new one for you.

 

Okay, after a bit more experimentation I think I may have solved the issue - early days but looking promising.

Refreshing the Killer drivers didn't seem to make a lot of difference, so I put my old HDD back in (the one that came with the M14x, with a more or less untouched factory build). The BSOD stopped, and no amount of closing the lid and opening it, which normally causes a BSOD, resulted in any problems.

Looks like it was my SSD then!

I then went on the Corsair site and, lo and behold, there is a firmware refresh, v1.3.3 for the Force GT fixing a problem whereby 'in rare circumstances, restoring from sleep mode causes the drive to hang and a BSOD' (sounds familiar).

I've updated the firmware and not had a crash since, despite several attempts to force one.

It is still early days and I've no guarantee the problem won't return, but so far so good.

Almost a shame actually, I was starting to think I might have to swap the drive for an Intel 520 or Samsung 830!

 

Mod please erase thanks

 

I am having the same problem not with an SSD though but with a normal HD. So was your HD the problem in the end?

Thanks.