Loads of BSODs on M1730

Hi guys,

I'm sorry if I'm breaching any policies or rules in posting this here, but it's a first post, and (I hope) a legitimate problem..

I got my M1730 in April this year, with the Raid 0 array, 2X160Gb drives, 2X 8800GTX, the physX card, and the 1900X200 display.
(and if it matters, the Ivory White colour scheme).

I love the laptop to bits - it was bought to replace a loud, space-filling, 2xdisplay main rig, and it's done that brilliantly.....


...... when it hasn't been crashing.



I've had periods when the M1730 hasn't booted into windows for hours. BSODs all over the place, during windows (vista 32) boot, during windows use. With a Wide variety of crash 'reasons' -

IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
MEMORY MANAGEMENT,
TCPIP.SYS..

...and a few others that I didn't have a chance to note..


My instinct is to think that it's my mis-management of the new system - I don't particularly like vista, but it uses all the ram i've paid for, and that's good.

But it's crossed my mind that it could be an overheating issue; and it arbitrarily picks a component, or driver to blame.

It actually gave me a RAID0 failure last week - I performed a disck consistency check, and it was all fine..

I've just downloaded GPU-Z to check the GPU temps..
When i have the back of the laptop jacked up, it idles between 55 and 65..
.. However the temp rose very quickly over something like 2 minutes when I took the jack out, and just let the laptop sit on my table.
(the top of the table is glass.. whether that stores heat any differently, i'm not sure.. could be a contributing factor?)




any help or experience/insight would be gratefully received..

again, apologies if I've stepped on any toes!


Many thanks!




Nick.

 

Hi!

As you may or may not know, the two main causes for BSOD:s are bad drivers and faulty hardware. IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL usually indicates faulty ram. You could download Memtest86+, burn it to a CD and boot with it. If the test fails, you have a faulty RAM module, which DELL will have to replace.

You could also try backing up all your data and performing a fresh install, without loading any third-party drivers at first. Then, observe the system's stability. If all works, install the drivers one by one, observing the stability between each install. When (or if) it fails at some point, give DELL a call. After all, it's their responsibility to make sure you have a working computer while it's under warranty.

 

Yes , First do a MemTest to find out if indeed your ram is faulty ... you don't need any CD , Vista Has Built in Memtester .

and I think its time for you too re-install the OS and this will fix most of your problems .

 

Did you fresh install when you got the system?

Do so if you haven't. It saves alot of headaches in a long run IMO.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys -
I was actually on the phone to Dell last night for about 2 hours where the rep took control of my machine, installed a couple of apps allowing me to check minidump files - he and I ultimately diagnosed the issue in the nvidia drivers.

we replaced them for marginally more recent ones, but this morning, my M1730 wouldn't boot - giving PFN_LIST_CORRUPT stop errors, displaying memory faults.. - pretty much every singing and dancing error that this laptop is capable of.

i lost count, but there were between 10 and 15 BSODs in the space of 10 minutes.. literally after every restart.

i'll try a fresh install - I back up to NAS regularly.


@Achilles - I just used the standard setup - as I thought getting a package system from Dell, my modification wouldn't be as good.



!




again, thanks everyone!

I'll keep the thread updated with any progress.

 

yeah imo time for a fresh install..

 

Righty -

ok.. last night it took 23 attempts to boot into safe mode.. some times using the startup repair.. but into safe mode I eventually got.


I backed up the stuff I wanted, and used the "repair windows" option on the F8 start. Then restored the factory image.


even after this, this morning i'm still in safe mode having recorded predominantly 2 bsod errors. PAGE_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, and IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.


both apparently errors pointing to bad memory?


.. anywhey - Kumar from Dell will call back tomorrow night, so I'll tell him everything then. and then probably get the pc back into its box ready for dell..



sigh.

£1800 for the most unstable system i ever owned (and the first pc I haven't built)..


Nick.

 

well a repair installation of Windows is not the same as a full reformat but if the errors point to memory you can try to take one stick of RAM out, boot up and see if you still have problems. If you do then take that stick out, put the other one in and boot again, this may weed out the bad stick

 

- Hi Again,

@ Rhody, I performed a restoration of the factory disk image - which involved a total re-format of C:\..

however, this is of little consequence - I called dell again last night, and weeded the problem: a Bad DIMM..

until a few nights ago, both ram sticks had returned no errors in the basic dell diagnostics, but tuesday morning i got a 0123 error pointing at DIMM A..
then lat night, diagnosed which stick, and got rid.
The system's very table now, just running on 1 X 2Gb stick, and there's another in the post..


- hopefully this is the end of it!



thanks for all the input and advice!


Nick.