SOLVED bsods almost every day for a long long time

[zambas]

Hi to everyone,

I have almost every day 1 or 2 bsods for maybe 3-4 months now and i really need your help to resolve this.

My specs are:
asrock x58 extreme 6 motherboard
intel i7 980x cpu on water
2 x 4gb 1600mhz ddr3 geil enchance corsa ram.. Actually on the sticker it says 1333mhz but they have xmp profile for 1500mhz and work without any problems at 1600mhz cl9 tested for 5 passes on latest memtest. Before i had corsairs dominators 2000mhz cl8 3 x 2gb triple channel and discovered errors using memtest and replaced them.
1kw platinum antec psu
r9 290 gigabyte gpu on water
asus xonar essense stx sound card
aver media H753 tv card. A tv card is well known to be very tricky on a system but i've only installed this a week ago and it works pretty much flawlessly to my surprise.

My latest attempt to resolve this was to manually uninstall every windows kb updates to date, leaving me with only sp1 and 3-4 others that dont unistall for some reason.
Up to now i've changed motherboard twice, changed ram 3 times, changed graphics card, changed psu. Tried diffrent drivers for satas, tried achi or ide modes etc. I've also restored overclock settings in the bios
With the unistallation of windows updates i thought that was the fix. My pc worked ok for 1 whole day and today it bsoded again....

So enough with the crying.. i will upload some of my minidumps for you experts if you want to help me.

Thanks in advance

P.S. For some reason i couldnt upload rar files so i renamed it to zip. If it doesnt open renaming it to rar will help probably

 

[zambas]

Anyone???

 

[Shintaro]

Mate,

I'm just having a look at the crash dumps now.

 

[zambas]

thanks

 

[Shintaro]

Mate,

You may have a faulty video card.
Try downloading and installing the latest video driver.

BugCheck A0000001, {5, 0, 0, 0}
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+2781e )
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa800b319028, ba000000, 400405}
Probably caused by : GenuineIntel
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
BugCheck A0000001, {5, 0, 0, 0}
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+2781e )
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
BugCheck A0000001, {5, 0, 0, 0}
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+2781e )
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``

It is difficult to tell what exactly went wrong with the hardware because the hardware error report simply say's "unclassified".

6: kd> !errrec fffffa800b319028
===============================================================================
Common Platform Error Record @ fffffa800b319028
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Id  : 01cf8f31da5f2644
Severity  : Fatal (1)
Length  : 928
Creator  : Microsoft
Notify Type  : Machine Check Exception
Timestamp  : 6/23/2014 23:43:20 (UTC)
Flags  : 0x00000000

===============================================================================
Section 0  : Processor Generic
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor  @ fffffa800b3190a8
Section  @ fffffa800b319180
Offset  : 344
Length  : 192
Flags  : 0x00000001 Primary
Severity  : Fatal

Proc. Type  : x86/x64
Instr. Set  : x64
Error Type  : Micro-Architectural Error
Flags  : 0x00
CPU Version  : 0x00000000000206c2
Processor ID  : 0x0000000000000010

===============================================================================
Section 1  : x86/x64 Processor Specific
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor  @ fffffa800b3190f0
Section  @ fffffa800b319240
Offset  : 536
Length  : 128
Flags  : 0x00000000
Severity  : Fatal

Local APIC Id : 0x0000000000000010
CPU Id  : c2 06 02 00 00 08 20 10 - bf e3 9a 02 ff fb eb bf
  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Proc. Info 0  @ fffffa800b319240

===============================================================================
Section 2  : x86/x64 MCA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor  @ fffffa800b319138
Section  @ fffffa800b3192c0
Offset  : 664
Length  : 264
Flags  : 0x00000000
Severity  : Fatal

Error  : Internal unclassified (Proc 6 Bank 5)
  Status  : 0xba00000000400405

 

[zambas]

Thanks for the help.

I will install latest drivers and i will report back. The reason i am using these 13.11 v5 drivers are because anything else makes my games slower like and have a serious fps hit. When in jets on bf3 my turns feel slower and the game generally more unplayable.
Although i will not change anything today somehow the pc was ok yesterday.

some questions:

Using blue screen viewer in 3-4 different kind of bsods it identifies the faults as:
1.atikmdag.sys .......... graphics
2.ntoskrnl.exe ........... ?????? ram?
3.hal.dll ........... ?????? ram?
4.acpi.sys ........... ???????
5.tcpip.sys .......... ethernet?
6.avgfwd6a.sys ........... antivirus
7.dxgmms1.sys ............ direct x - graphics

Are all these happening because of graphics card?
Note that i have changed my graphics card 2-3 times now. I've used a gtx660ti, a gtx670 4gb and now amd r9 290
What do you suggest i do? Is there a program to test vram like memtest does?
Do you think there's a problem with my motherboard? I am using a very powerfull card and also on the pci-express i am using an audio card maybe i have reached my limit on the pci express lanes?

 

[Shintaro]

Ok, one thing at a time.

If you make changes other than what I have asked you to do then please let me know, because it can change what I decide to do next.

If the sticker on the RAM say's 1333Mhz then please run the RAM at that rate. Just until we sort the crashes out.

If you can please re-seat the video card.

If the Latest AMD Driver (HERE) doesn't seem to make a difference, try uninstalling it and this time only install the Driver, nothing else.

If your still having trouble, try an older version (HERE)and again remember just the driver none of the other stuff unless you cannot unselect it.

I haven't seen a VRAM tester lately that seems to work well, but I must admit I stopped looking as it is very rare these days that VRAM is faulty.

I'm not sure what the fault is yet, it is too early to say either way. Besides I would be guessing, which I hate to do.

 

[Shintaro]

Could you also please run CPU-Z, save the information as a text file and upload it to the forum.

 

[zambas]

So that you know after i removed windows 7 updates it seems much better now. I only had one bsod which is the latest in the rar file i've attached.
So i will leave it be for a few days or until i have problems again and i will update here.
If i get any bsods i will follow your steps by the letter.
By the way do you or any other person knows what speed or timings ram would be great for my x58 system? What would be the best and not creating problems elsewhere?
Thanks shintaro for all the help

 

[Shintaro]

It's strange that removing updates fixed the problem.
Makes me wonder if a BIOS fix/update might be worth considering (But not just yet). I see that you have the latest BIOS for the motherboard, but what about the video card? Does it have the facility to update it's BIOS?

The problem with some computers is that there can be multiple things causing blue screens. For example you might fix the crash with the ATI driver only to find it is still crashing. It can be very frustrating.

However I can understand your frustration since you have changed so much hardware already.

In regards to timings, there are numerous over-clockers sites that deal with that. However I would strongly suggest that you not consider different timings until you get your computer stable.

 

[zambas]

Shintaro thanks for your help and please dont be mad after hearing this
This card i am using now the r9 290 is fairly new. With all the other cards i had i was having bsods also. I failed to mention that after i removed windows updates i've also switched my card to its original bios.
You see the r9 290 can be flashed to r9 290x bios. There are so many people that did this and to them everything is ok. The card has 2 bios. To 1 i have the 290x bios and the other one is the one coming from the factory.
For the motherboard i have the 1.60 bios which is the latest. The thing crossed also my mind to flash it to a previous one but this will be my last resort.
Anyhow the pc looks solid now. Whether its the windows updates or the bios of the r9 290 or the ram sticks remains a mystery.

 

[Shintaro]

All good mate,

So long as the crashes stop, that is all I care about.

See how things go if there are more crashes, we will sort them out.

Please keep us up to date.

 

[zambas]

Ok. Everything is going strong for these past days. No bsods. I am very happy. Windows are responding blazing fast, games are superb, my programs and everything works ok.
I was going to test what was the reason but all this time tinkering and trying and failing got me tired.
Again thanks for your help shintaro. My best to you mate

 

[zambas]

Ok i've updated amd drivbers to 14.4 and today i got again a bsod.
Can you please analyse it shintaro and tell me whats wrong? Is it the same as before?
Thanks

 

[Shintaro]

The problem was from Atikmdag.sys which is the kernel mode part of your video driver.
There is a beta driver 14.6 that was released on the 24th of June, so you could give that a try.

Built by: 7601.17514.amd64fre.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850
Debug session time: Tue Jul 1 05:53:16.913 2014 (UTC + 10:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 1:14:32.865
BugCheck A0000001, {5, 0, 0, 0}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmdag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+28ece )
BUGCHECK_STR: 0xA0000001
PROCESS_NAME: System

This stack shows that the kernel mode driver called directly in to KeBugCheckEx.

STACK_TEXT:
fffff880`03477708 fffff880`0f253ece : 00000000`a0000001 00000000`00000005 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`03477710 00000000`a0000001 : 00000000`00000005 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : atikmdag+0x28ece
fffff880`03477718 00000000`00000005 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0xa0000001
fffff880`03477720 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x5

So if the beta driver fails to work correctly then try an older driver from HERE.

EDIT: Uninstall utility seems to have been taken down. So just use the normal uninstall.

**REMEMBER - Do not install CCC (Catalyst Control Centre) ONLY install the video driver.

 

[zambas]

I always uninstall graphics drivers first from control panel and then ,using a program called display driver unistaller in safe mode, i think was from guru3d.
But i always ,whatever driver version used, was using the full package drivers and catalyst.
Ok I will try the beta 14.6 and if fails i will stick with the 13.11 v5 from guru3d which is the most stable in my opinion.
What do i loose if i dont install ccc?
let me ask you, do you think this problem might be from overheating or is strictly driver related? What does your hunch tells you?

 

[Shintaro]

CCC allows you to manage the video card for performance (tweaks) and updates.

At this moment in time I am thinking that it is a video driver problem. Hence that is why I suggested that you try the beta driver and if that fails try one of the older drivers.
Don't be concerned if you are not using the "Latest and greatest" video driver. Sometime when they fix problems in a driver they break other things. It is impossible for a manufacturer to test for every scenario.

It is important that you only install the drivers. CCC has been known to cause problems.

 

[zambas]

Ok mate thanks. I will update if i still have any problem

 

[Shintaro]

Mate,

Just wondering how things are going?

 

[zambas]

I removed the 14.4 bs drivers and i stayed with 13.11 v5 and i have no problems at all. It seems that was my problem.
I didnt try to install only the drivers because everything is working ok now. Windows is fast, games and programs run superb
Thanks again for all your help shintaro.