BSOD non-stop ? should have done homework first

As I embarked on a fresh installation of W8 Pro this weekend on my T440p, I managed to put myself in an endless loop of BSOD.

Everything went hunky dory at first after I mounted my newly purchased OEM W8 Pro (Lenovo won't send me "clean" W8 media). There was no LAN connection so I immediately installed ethernet driver and went online and completed the zillion Windows updates. At some point I also installed wireless and BT drivers from Lenovo drivers download site. After all that everything was still peachy.

At that point I was feeling smug about my "clean system". No Norton, no Nitro (not as a biggie as Norton), and no Pokki (which in fairness was "charming" in its own right). No big red "ThinkVantage" button in system tray.


Then a Windows message popped up (similar to the one telling you to enable Smart Filter and what not) to prompted me to install "chipset driver", and even directed me to a page at Intel, which, of course, said "page not found". Then I went to Intel's own vaunted " Driver Update Utility" site, which scanned my system and reported backa bunch of driver updates. It helpfully pointed out that my chipset driver is not recognized and I need to get one from OEM/vendor, but not from Intel.

So I thought to myself, perhaps I do need some Lenovo "add-on" after all. I then downloaded ThinkVantage System Update (TVSU). TVSU found me a bunch of "optional updates" which were all hardware related.

Nonchalantly I selected what I thought I needed which included the said chipset driver, and installed them. A single restart later, I was brought into a purgatory of BSOD - basically non-stop. About 20% the times it allowed me to see the "Seattle screen" but could go no further. Every single BSOD was a "Driver_Power_State_Failure".

To compound the problem, I found out that W8 doesn't get you into Safe Mode easily or reliably at all. I probably reinstalled Windows 2 or 3 times and varied the update orders but it didn't help (I did not alter the right way as I found out).

Fortunately booting from the Windows Installation DVD in the bay allowed me to "repair" Windows at every restart. It still does not get me into Safe Mode, but reliably gets me into "Advanced Mode" and I could System-Restore to any point. Another another fresh installation, I must have made 8 or 9 restore points driver after driver, and it was obvious that the chipset driver was the problem.

Finally I restored all the way back to just after Windows was installed, and loaded the Chipset driver first, everything onward went without a hitch.

No more BSOD.


Who'd have known? Installing LAN driver before chipset driver would earn a one-way ticket to BSOD haven? In truth, many of you aficionados here probably would have.

Then I vaguely recalled that a couple years ago a Dell tech support directed me to a page on the Correct Order of Driver Installation.

I also looked up Lenovo advice on driver installation, and it stated in black-and-white: "It's better to install the Chipset Driver first, and then other hardware device drivers such as Ethernet Driver ...".

What I had in this case was a clear-cut instance of operator failure - my failure to exercise due diligence. So there is no one else to blame, as much as I wanted to find someone.

Lesson: on my T440p, Intel chipset driver (v9.4.0.1027) must be installed before all else, including LAN driver, which one might "instinctively" want to install first.

Now a couple of questions for the learned:

How come back with my Win 7 fresh installations I never needed to bother with "chipset drivers"? Or was that just me being cavalier? And if Win 8 prompted me for "chipset driver", can I assume that generic/built-in chipset drivers in Win 8 are generally insufficient?

And given my experience, would anyone ever "update" their chipset driver? I would be pretty wary that updating chipset driver after everything else already installed on T440x will risk BSOD. Is there ever a need to update chipset driver?

 

I think I got reasonable answers to my own questions from Dr. Google here and here, among many other places.

But some do swear that a better installation order after a fresh OS load is to perform Windows Update first (without updating any drivers), and then the myriad of drivers. But this is predicated on the fresh OS giving you LAN/Ethernet access from the get go.

But in my case a fresh Win 8 Pro installation did not get me Ethernet, possibly an indirect sign that Win 8 was slightly "rushed" indeed (compared with "driver completeness" of Win 7).

I should have probably bought an 8.1 disc and gone with that right off the bat instead, which may have obviated an instinct to install the LAN driver first, which of course got me thoroughly hosed for 10 hours straight.

I am curious about others' experience.

Still, do people ever update their chipset driver? After this I'd be extremely wary.

 

Honestly, that's the very first driver I install on a freshly loaded OS, going back to W2K days or thereabouts.

I never run Windows Update until I've ran Lenovo's System Update and cherry picked the drivers/utilities that I feel are needed for the particular system.

Then - and only then - do I start Windows Update.

Having said that, please be advised that I do not use W8 in any shape or form.

My $0.02 only...

 

Glad I saw this. I wasn't aware that there really had to be a particular order. Not sure what the reason is though. Not sure if I'd ever venture to do a fresh install. My system runs silky smooth working up from the factory default image. Perhaps what stops me from doing a clean install is that I might find some of the ThinkPad software useful, and I don't want to go through the hassle of trying to find this software somewhere else and downloading them one by one.

 

All drivers and utilities are available on Lenovo's website, and System Update will usually pick up whatever's missing and offer it to you to install them or not.

Once you get really comfortable with your system you'll get an idea what you need/use and what you don't and be able to take it from there. There is no "one size fits all" answer here.

 

I did a fresh install and I think I installed the chipset drivers first out of habit... usually after doing that anything that wasn't found before would be discovered anyway...

At any rate, glad you got your clean install working