Windows 10: The Revenge of the BSOD - Random BSOD Strikes Back

Hey all, some of you might remember me from a long post a few months ago about random but frequent BSODs. After a long and grueling troubleshooting process (shoutout to essenbe and axe0 for being super helpful) I found that my motherboard power cable was loose inside the case. Embarrassingly but also thankfully, I thought I'd resolved the issue and I ran into no troubles for a while. But, it looks like my computer won't have that. A few weeks ago I ran into a random hardware issue BSOD, it was pretty traumatizing because I thought I'd have to go through the huge process from before all over again but I decided it was just some one off thing and did nothing about; then, it crashed again yesterday. So, I decided to open the case and make sure all the cables were in place which I did and they were. Now however, I just had ANOTHER crash. So, I'm pretty upset and hope its something easily identifiable so I can fix this damn machine. Anyways, DM log is attatched, should I run memtest overnight? I was considering it before but I forgot about it. Anyways, hey again guys, hope you've all been well and hope I can get some help *Biggrin

Attachment 86499

:)

 

ntoskrnl.exe+1640e0 BSOD error

So far, with one memory chip no BSOD. But, getting a BSOD would be random and infrequent.

I've went through that article in the past and still have gotten BSOD.

 

BSOD on Windows 10

• The last time i accessed was computer was today as I can log on but randomly causes BSOD's at random times
• Not much althought I have reset my computer which did not eliminate my BSOD, safe mode does not get rid of my bsod either.

 

I would definitely run memtest86+ overnight. Today's crash dump shows possible memory corruption:

Code: BugCheck A, {0, 2, 0, fffff801b66ed59d} Probably caused by : memory_corruption ( nt!MiCaptureProtectionFromLockedProto+21 )[/quote]

 

Alrighty, will do and post back with results

 

So, looks like my RAM is thoroughly diseased. Got 292 errors after running Memtest for 10 passes last night. Now, as I understand it, I have to test the individual sticks and all my DIMM slots to see which are bad correct? How exactly would I do this now, should I remove one stick and run memtest on the other stick and switch the slot everytime until I've done all four and repeat with the other stick? That seems incredibly time consuming.... Do I have to run with 8 passes for each?

 

I would run the sticks one at a time, you may find that the bad stick(s) show up quite quickly in which case you can stop the test straight way and move onto the next. I think it is less likely that the slots will be faulty.

 

It looked like a majority of the errors showed up in the third pass. So, I should take one stick out, run the other in every slot and check if I get any errors? If none come up does that mean I have to keep running it for 8 passes to make sure? Also, is there anything I have to do in the BIOS or software side when I'm taking RAM out or do I just turn the PC off and take the stick out then run memtest?

 

You should run each stick in slot 1 to test the stick, if one fails then that is the bad one. If both fail repeat the test in slot 2 to make sure it is not slot one that is faulty. You do need to run for 8 passes but of course as soon as there is a failure stop the test and move on. As you know, turn off the PC and ground yourself when handling the memory. The memory should be detected automatically and MEMtest will run. If it does not you can check in the BIOS that the stick has been detected and if necessary try another slot.

 

I see, that clears it up thanks. I'll go do that and check back with results

 

Good advice from @philc43 *Smile

Only thing that needs to be done is making sure everything of the memory: frequency, voltage & timings, are running stock, if that is the case then you do not have to do anything *Smile

 

So, after lengthy testing over two days, I've pretty much confirmed that one of my sticks (let's call it R2) is bad. I followed philc43's advice and tested one stick (R1) in all four slots first. With that I found no errors - pretty much confirming that neither the stick nor the slots were bad and by process of elimination confirmed that R2 was faulty. But I wanted to make sure so I tested R2 in the first slot for good measure. Problem was, I got no errors. Then, I decided to test it in the second DIMM slot and left memtest running overnight which resulted in it running for about 19 passes. The good news was that memtest found some errors on the 16th pass :O

Again, I wanted to make sure so I ended up testing R2 in all of the slots also and got errors in slots 3 and 4. The errors seem to come up at random passes, sometimes very late (like with the second slot) and sometimes very early like with slot 4 when they came up in the first pass. Here's a table that may clarify the results better:

RAM 1 RAM 2 Slot 1 No errors - Ran 10 Passes No errors - Ran 9 Passes Slot 2 No errors - Ran 12 Passes Errors detected on 16th pass - Ran 19 Slot 3 No errors - Ran 20 Passes Errors detected on 7th pass - Ran 8 Slot 4 No errors - Ran 8 passes Errors detected on 1st pass - Ran 1
So, am I correct to assume that R2 is the bad stick and that I should buy new RAM? Or could there be another cause for the BSODs? Like it says in the dm log, some of the crashes weren't related to hardware failure, could the others be caused by hardware failure but not be indicated as such because something else failed as a result of the RAM beforehand?

 

I think your results are conclusive. R2 is bad. Can you run your PC for while with just R1 until you get new memory?

 

Yeah I should be able to. On the topic of ordering new RAM, should I order the exact same model I have right now? Or does the ram simply have to be the same speed and ddr format?

 

It looks as if you are using dual channel memory so the chances of getting an exact match to your present good stick are low especially if it was bought some time ago. You would probably be better off getting a new matching pair of DDR3 suitable for your MB.