Random Reboots (In Windows, BIOS, etc.)

[soyobro]

I am having trouble with "random" reboots of my system. Reboots can occur while playing games, watching videos, in BIOS menus, in safe mode, or running diagnostic software. The screen will go blank, and a BSOD is seen rarely. I first noticed a random reboot while playing Starcraft 2 about 2 weeks ago.

I have performed the following measures to try to isolate the problem:

• Removed overclock of CPU from 2.8GHz back to default 2.4GHz. Reset all BIOS settings to default.
• Ran CPU Stress Test (System Reboots During Test)
• Ran GPU Stress Test (http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/) - (System reboots during test)
• Ran MemTest (http://hcidesign.com/memtest/) at least an hour in Win7 (No errors detected, system reboots during test)
• Ran MemTest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/) from bootable USB (No errors detected, system reboots during test)
• Ran Windows Memory Diagnostic (No errors found)
• Ran CHKDSK at startup (No bad sectors detected, system reboots about 2 hours in)
• Swapped Memory Module Positions
• Used only a single stick of RAM of each stick
• Swapped out GPU (ATI 5870 for ATI 4850)
• Disconnected additional hardware (2nd HDD, DVD Drive)
• Ran Windows System Restore to a known date when problem was not occurring
• Temperatures of CPU, GPU, System, HDD's are all within expected levels even under stress. However, to be sure I put a huge fan next to my opened case.
• Cleaned case for any dust

After completing all the above tests, diagnostics, hardware swaps the random reboots still occur.

I am running out of ideas, and I have a feeling the problem is being caused by the CPU, MOBO, or PSU.

From the few BSOD's that occured the following were the error messages w/ frequency:
2x STOP 0x00000124: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
1x STOP 0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

BSOD Dump & System File Collection and System Health Report have been attached.

System Info:
Windows 7 Home x64 (OEM) (1yr since install)
Custom Built PC (3yrs old - except for GPU)
Antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials

Hardware:
CPU: 2.4GHz E6600 Core 2 Duo
MOBO: Asus P5W DH DELUXE
RAM: PC2-6400 2x1GB DDR2 800MHZ
GPU: ATI 5870
HDD: Seagate 750GB SATA2 7200RPM
PSU: ANTEC 650W POWER SUPPLY

I would really appreciate any help that anyone can provide. Thank you kindly in advance.

 

[TorrentG]

Hey.

Please copy the contents of C:\Windows\Minidump to any other folder. Then zip the files. Attach the zip to a post.

John's auto info gatherer software didn't work so well for you since you didn't run as admin. You can post the crash dumps instead, as I've shown.

Gotta tell you though, 0x124 stops aren't so nice and typically mean hardware. We will know lots more after you post the dumps and what to do.

 

[soyobro]

Great, appreciate the help. Will have the dumps up soon.

...I hope my System Restore didn't remove them.

 

[TorrentG]

Cool. Ccleaner would also remove them if you set it to do that, and actually use that, as well.

 

[soyobro]

Ah, yup looks like they are gone. System restore must have deleted them.

The BSOD's were rare though. Out of tens of reboots there were previously only 3 dump files.

 

[TorrentG]

Well, it is definitely without doubt, some hardware issue you're having based on the fact that a 0x124 stop happened and that reboots also take place from within the bios.

I would run Memtest86+ overnight, at least, to test the RAM. The longer it tests, the better.

Other than that, the best resource I could possibly offer to you is the following link about 0x124 crashes. The author is pretty much as brilliant and knowledgeable as one can get, dealing with pcs. Pay close attention to all he is saying, especially bios update and no overclocking:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html

 

[soyobro]

Yes this definitely a great resource and it was the basis for most of my testing. The author knows their stuff.

The unfortunate things is that whilst running Memtest86+, CHKDSK or other tests for several hours, the computer will reboot before I can see any results.

My next steps to take are:

• Flash the BIOS to the latest release.
• Install a vanilla installation of Windows 7.

Thanks again for your continued help.

 

[soyobro]

I found a dump file that I had backed up.

It has been added to the original post.

 

[TorrentG]

Well the crash dump is good so we can at least take care of the software/driver aspect of things.

This driver is notorious:

 ASACPI   ASACPI.sys   Sun Mar 27 22:30:36 2005

Your motherboard on ASUS page doesn't have the correct update. Use this page instead since the driver is the same one across all ASUS boards.

Download tab. Windows 7 64 bit. Utilities section. Download and install "ATK0110 driver for WindowsXP/Vista/Win7 32&64-bit"

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=6i86Hj0lGriFHfY9&templete=2

--------------

Other than that one, your drivers are in fine shape. Congrats.

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If you have another HDD to test with, clone your current one to it using Clonezilla. Then remove the original drive from the system. See how it goes like this.

 

[soyobro]

Hey TorrentG, I updated the motherboard drivers as you stated, and also ran some Memtests with all my hard drives disconnected, although unfortunately, the problem persists.

It looks like I will need to replace the motherboard and consequently the CPU/RAM. Do you think this issue can be caused due to the PSU (not enough power for my setup, low output due to aged caps, or faulty)?

Also, how can I learn to parse my own dump files? Teach me to fish, if you will

Thanks.

 

[TorrentG]

I can show you how to read them properly. But the actual diagnosis part comes in with having lots and lots of experience to know why certain things may be showing. In 95-98% of the cases, a crash dump does not clearly say - "Hey, your Norton antivirus is messing up." - You just gotta know certain things based on what you see. Like, when a 0x7f error happens with a fault in NETIO.sys which is a Windows OS driver, you automatically know that the user has ZoneAlarm and that is the crash cause. It will not say, "Hey, ZA caused that crash."

This is how to get started:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/26584-configuring-debugging-tools.html

And the other threads are very helpful, especially H2S04's:

http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/

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Once a crash dump is opened, you can type "lmtn" without quotes then press enter, at the bottom. This will show all drivers.

To find more info on a driver and the directory where the driver is located, you can type lmvm drivername then press enter.

For example, using your ASACPI.sys:

0: kd> lmvm asacpi
start             end                 module name
fffff880`041e3000 fffff880`041eb000   ASACPI     (deferred)             
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ASACPI.sys
    Image name: ASACPI.sys
    Timestamp:        Sun Mar 27 22:30:36 2005 (42476C4C)
    CheckSum:         00003C77
    ImageSize:        00008000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

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It is extremely rare for a CPU to be bad from the manufacturer. It just doesn't really happen.

Other than that, I can't really say what is the likely cause because there is no way to really tell based on 0x124 analysis, as H2S04 has written about.

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If you want to know more about crash analysis, please feel free to ask any questions. You're even welcome to post about them for users here if you feel you have a bit of a handle on things. In the beginning, I'd be likely to make a correction or two, or show ya what you might have missed or went wrong with, but in no time, you'd be a pro heh heh.

 

[soyobro]

I don't mean to jump the gun here. But I think I may have solved the problem.

Updating my BIOS to the latest version seems to have done it.

I was able to run at least 8 passes of Memtest86+ with no problems!

Update: Looks like this did not solve my problem. I am forced to replace the motherboard.