Windows 10: BSOD caused by DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. Need advice to solve.

Hey everyone,

I have been dealing with quite the issue for the last few weeks and I haven't made much headway on solving it. During the first week of Nov my computer started having the occasional lockup where I couldn't control anything and it would then just die without a BSOD after about 20 seconds. I couldn't make out what was the cause since event viewer was only recording that the computer shut down unexpectedly. I tried testing all the hardware I could by using HeavyLoad to test my GPU and CPU, and using the default tests that windows has to check things like the hard drive and RAM chips. All came back with good statuses.

It wasn't until about a week ago that I finally got a BSOD with the DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL title. After looking in the dump file I found that the cause of the crash came from the following Bucket_ID: AV_storahci!AddQueue with an offset of 80. I was finally happy to have a cause of why my computer kept locking up and crashing, but I am still lost on which piece of hardware is the culprit. It seems like there is an outdated driver that is trying to access registers that doesn't exist, at least that's what I can tell. If I could figure out what driver needs to be updated or what piece of hardware I could just replace, then I could finally have my computer back to 100%.

I am planning on using the window's driver stress tester this weekend when I will have more time to monitor my PC. I will try to answer any questions you guys send my way and I appreciate any help I can get. Im not sure if it matters but I have had different ways my computer crashes. Sometimes it will lock up and shut off after 20 or so seconds, but other times it will lock up and almost immediately restart. Both of these dont have a BSOD when it happens, and Event Viewer doesn't have anything useful.

Let me know what Ideas you guys have and what other info you might need to help me figure this out.

Regards,

GD

:)

 

BSOD: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

I have been getting random BSOD (DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL - Source: nwifi.sys) in the last 3 days. They seem to only appear when playing videos on YouYube, but it might be a coincidence.

What has changed in the last 3 days?

Nothing on the laptop itself. I plugged in a new keyboard and mouse (both USB), and a USB hub (USB-C).
I also installed new drivers for the Intel Graphics and "Intel(R) Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Manager" as suggested by Dell Driver Updater, but this was an attempt to fix the BSOD, which already happened before updating these drivers.

What are the laptop info and specs?

• Text version: https://mega.nz/#!w8AGRbDb!_n4JklD702aj7aoC48b-yawUQ69-cko13R9Zt8X_U6c
  
• Speccy version (can be imported into Speccy): https://mega.nz/#!YpQhAYCT!NTfqThbNZ-lqDVMTsKqGTDwKc4GCuUTWzipsDuVVE8c
  
• MsInfo32 Output: https://mega.nz/#!8p4SwTgR!NXJeUPATjAZ6JUUI4-s_-iJGOcDz1FvRmO8JCSniQs8
  

Most recent dump files?

This is the content of C:\Windows\Minidump: (all 3 are the most recent BSOD dumps and match with the date and time of the BSODs)

https://mega.nz/#!40B0TBAA!7n_QUccYUPr80FN0bvhY2evT_0SWbadh1MBFpxqh3Hk
https://mega.nz/#!B0YRUIAZ!XB25NdCVqBFkEleRdFPsKgGssf9PReYKXP5IJIFz1uY
https://mega.nz/#!FtJQmIba!sYXWqG3ayUyaIp7Vf6wnQrhJMYldHwIg8tw46cNp2fo

What have you tried?

I have checked with the Dell System Detect utility to see if all the drivers were up to date; 2 weren't and I updated them (as written above) but that didn't solve the issue.

I have cleaned the system Registry with the CCleaner utility, but that didn't solve the issue.

What can I do?

EDIT:

Upon suggestion, I updated the killer drivers.
All seemes fine of a while, then, after the laptop went to suspended state, I noticed the external mouse stopped working, while the touchpad worked.
After plugging and unplugging, I rebooted.
Laptop stuck to reboot for 6 min (usually takes 6 seconds) then BSOD: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE.

Log:

https://mega.nz/#!RxhhyBYJ!7AGY6uAErZnqeE_lGCfk65Webalfc0vNbC_NokwJ-ys

 

BSOD - driver_irql_not_less_or_equal (l1c63x64.sys)

Hi Seung,

Sorry for the inconvenience caused by BSOD - driver_irql_not_less_or_equal (l1c63x64.sys).

Please let us know the make/model of your computer.

The L1C63x64.sys is the Atheros LAN driver and I would suggest to uninstall and reinstall the Atheros LAN driver but install the latest Atheros LAN driver by visiting the manufacture's website and avoid using any LAN driver available though Windows Update.

However the problem could also be with any VPN software and other software so make sure you have the latest version of each of these software.

If the errors continue uninstall the VPN software and check if the issue persist.

Hope this helps. Get back to us for further queries for BSOD - driver_irql_not_less_or_equal (l1c63x64.sys). We are happy to help!

 

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED


Hi,

Since I would really like to know what the problem is I decided to do your suggested solutions one step at a time.

I started installing the killer driver but then I suffered another BSOD.

So I will continue doing the next and so on.

I'll let you know if any of the steps solve my issue.

Thanks a lot.