Solved BSOD - Unknown Causes

Ziwdon

New Member
Messages
6
Hi there,

For quite a while now, my computer has been showing some strange symptoms. I have had one or two BSOD, sometimes I get random and complete freezes, and sometimes it doesn't warn me when the battery is over and it just turns off. However, because it is so rare, and also because I had no idea what the cause is, even though I suspect the graphics drivers being the most probable cause, I always ignored the problem.

Yesterday, I decided to update the graphics drivers to the most recent and stable version. I made sure to completely remove the old drivers, but when it was installing the new drivers, the computer crashed and it showed the following BSOD:

SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (atikmpag.sys)

When I rebooted, because the drivers were probably corrupted now, it crashed again during the boot to the following BSOD, apparently overwriting the memory dump of the previous one:

DRIVER_UNLOADED_WITHOUT_CANCELLING_PENDING_OPERATIONS (ntoskrnl.exe)

So now I've been trying to debug the BSOD and find the cause. Here's what I've done so far:

- Booted into safe mode with networking, where I have been working since.
- Completely removed the video drivers with Driver Fusion.
- Ran a full scan in Windows Defender and Malwarebytes with 0 malicious items detected.
- Ran HijackThis with no relevant results.
- Ran Memtest86+ for 9 passes with 0 errors.
- Configured system settings to generate minidumps and to stop from auto restarting when BSOD occurs.
- Enabled and configured Driver Verifier according to THIS thread.

After configuring Driver Verifier I rebooted the computer. During Windows boot a BSOD occurred, but no memory dump was generated. The only information available was this:

DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION

I can't boot into Windows with Driver Verifier enabled and had to get into safe mode again.

So I really don't know what to do anymore. I was hoping someone here could help me.
I have attached the SF Diagnostic Tool generated output.


Thanks in advance.
Carlos


-- SOLUTION --

If anyone is reading this and wondering how I solved the problem, I'll tell you.
Because I could not trace the cause of the BSOD, for no dumps were being created, I decided to format the computer. After doing so and installing Windows Updates, I enabled Verifier.exe and there was the BSOD again. So I figured that the BSOD was due to some device drivers being updated automatically through Windows Update. I formatted the computer yet again but this time without automatically installing Windows Updates. Instead, I manually went through all the devices and installed the drivers manually by searching them in pcidatabase.com and downloading the latest ones. I did this while creating Restore Points after each driver installation so I could revert the process in case of BSOD. After all this, I hid all device related updates in Windows Update to prevent Windows from messing things up. I have been running my pc without problems since. And by the way, if you have AMD ATI hybrid graphics, like I do, you can find drivers at leshcatlabs.net.

Take care.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP LQ118EA
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2630QM 2Ghz
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 6770M (1 GB DDR5)
Your dmp file still indicated atikmpag.sys is the cause of BSOD.
  1. Download the latest video driver from HP site
  2. Download this freeware Driver Sweeper 3.2.0 Download - TechSpot and boot up in safe mode and use it instead of Driver Fusion.
  3. Still in Safe Mode, reinstall the video driver.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Your dmp file still indicated atikmpag.sys is the cause of BSOD.
  1. Download the latest video driver from HP site
  2. Download this freeware Driver Sweeper 3.2.0 Download - TechSpot and boot up in safe mode and use it instead of Driver Fusion.
  3. Still in Safe Mode, reinstall the video driver.

Hello topgundcp, thanks for answering.
The dump file still indicates atikmpag.sys as the cause because it was generated while the driver was still in the system. I only ran Driver Fusion after the 'DRIVER_UNLOADED_WITHOUT_CANCELLING_PENDING_OPERATIONS (ntoskrnl.exe)' BSOD.

I have, however, installed Driver Sweeper as you recommended but it found no leftovers. I then tried to install the drivers in safe mode but it won't let me. I get an error saying that the detection driver couldn't be loaded or something.
So I have disabled Driver Verifier and booted into normal mode, in order to install the graphics drivers. I won't install the ones from HP though, because the ones they have available are the original ones from 2011, and they are known to cause constant errors and even more BSOD. I also can't install the ones from AMD ATI because they don't offer support for hybrid graphics, like I have in my HP. So my only option is to get the drivers from leshcatlabs.net, where you can find ATI original drivers modified for systems with hybrid graphics. I have always downloaded my drivers from there and never had a problem, so I guess I'll just install the ones I had before this whole mess and be done with it.

What I can't understand is why Driver Verifier keeps generating BSOD during boot, but it doesn't even point to a driver. Oh well..

Sorry for wasting your time topgundcp.
Carlos
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP LQ118EA
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2630QM 2Ghz
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 6770M (1 GB DDR5)
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