Random WHEA Uncorrectable and c000021a blue screens

A few months ago I upgraded my computer with a new CPU, motherboard, GPU, and raid array and since then I have had sporadic BSODs. All of the BSODs have been WHEA uncorrectable error except for 1 time it showed c000021a. They appear to only happen when I am playing a video game or video - I have not noticed my computer crashing while it was left on unused. I have made sure that my computer is not overheating. Prime 95 and memtest haven't shown any problems. I have tried updating my BIOS and drivers. I tried running the windows repair disc. From what I can tell, the blue screen errors I'm getting are hardware related and since I changed so many components at once and the crashes sometimes don't happen for a week, swapping out my parts 1 at a time to try to find the problem doesn't seem like a good solution. I've read that some software can cause these errors and I know I'm using some of the ones notorious for it (e.g. malwarebytes) - is there any way someone could check my blue screen log and tell if a particular program or driver is to blame? Right now all I can think to do is uninstall every possible problematic program and see if that works, if it doesn't then do a clean reinstallation of Windows 8 or maybe even see if the problem persists in Windows 10, if that doesn't work then start replacing my components that are most likely to cause the problem, and if that doesn't work then I'll probably sit down and cry for a while.

If anyone has any better ideas for what I can try or can make any sense of the blue screen log I've posted, I would be immensely grateful for your help!

Hi CodenameMolotov,

Welcome to the 8forums.

The errors are 0x124 WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (Windows Hardware Error Architecture)
This means that there are problems with your hardware, but this error is also caused by overclocking or faulty drivers.
To rule out hardware, please run the tests below.
Also, additional troubleshooting information

Part One: CPU Stress Test
Part Two: MemTest86+ RAM Diagnostic
Part Three: Hard Drive Diagnostics
Part Four: GPU Stress Test

Run Prime95 to stress test your CPU. Prime95 - Stress Test Your CPU - Windows 7 Help Forums

Run MemTest86+ to analyse your RAM. MemTest86+ - Test RAM - Windows 7 Help Forums

Run SeaTools to check the integrity of your HDD. SeaTools - HDD test - Windows 7 Help Forums

Run chkdsk Chkdsk - HDD Test - Windows 7 Help Forums

Run Furmark to stress test your GPU. FurMark - GPU Stress Test - Windows 7 Help Forums

The problem
There is a generic cache error in the level 2 cache.
As with a 0x124, more then this specific you won't get it.
This problem could mean that a driver tried to write to the cache or the CPU wanted to execute it, but it is not clear what happened.
Because of this, it could be so many things causing this.

1) I ran prime95 for over 2 hours with no errors. Temps didn't go over 65 C.
2) I ran memtest for ~12 hours with no errors. When it was done and I stopped the test, it appeared to freeze and I had to use the power button to reboot the system. I'll run it again tonight to see what happens. However, this is the same RAM I had in my old system that never crashed, so I don't think it's faulty.
3) I ran chkdsk on all drives and it found no errors. I ran seatools on my hard drives and they passed, but my C: drive is on a RAID array made of 4 SSDs so I wasn't able to test that (the linked post said it gives bad results for SSDs). Do you know of any other software to test RAID / SSD stability?
4) I ran furmark for 30 minutes twice, once on each GPU and there were no errors. GPU 1 never went over 85 C, GPU 2 never went over 80 C.

I'm not overclocking anything. I've made sure I have updated my drivers and BIOS.

I suspect that some software problem is to blame for this because I have some software like corsair link and malwarebytes that I've heard can cause this blue screen error. All I can think to do now to try to fix my problem is to do a fresh resintallation of windows with minimal software to see if that fixes the BSODs and if it doesn't then I'll try installing windows somewhere other than my RAID array. Do you have any ideas for things I can try before reinstalling my OS?

At point 2) you are incorrect.
It doesn't really matter if the RAM is used in a previous system or is just new bought or whatever happened with the RAM, it all is no reason for the RAM to not being the cause. Old hardware can fail after a few years of use, new hardware is faulty. Just FYI

Please install HDTune to check the SSD's.

Please check the manufacturer of your motherboard for BIOS updates.
Please make sure the BIOS settings are configured for optimal settings.

If the hardware, except for PSU and motherboard, and BIOS have been ruled out we need to focus on the drivers.

axe0 said:

At point 2) you are incorrect.
It doesn't really matter if the RAM is used in a previous system or is just new bought or whatever happened with the RAM, it all is no reason for the RAM to not being the cause. Old hardware can fail after a few years of use, new hardware is faulty. Just FYI

Click to expand...

But wouldn't it be a very unlikely coincidence for the hardware I've been using for years to fail immediately after I upgrade my motherboard/CPU/boot drive/PSU/CPU cooler/GPU?

Please install HDTune to check the SSD's.

Click to expand...

HDTune found no problems with the RAID array made of 4 SSDs that I boot off of or with my 2 storage SSDs.

Please check the manufacturer of your motherboard for BIOS updates.
Please make sure the BIOS settings are configured for optimal settings.

Click to expand...

I flashed my BIOS to the latest version a while back and made sure that all of the drivers on my motherboard manufacturer's site are updated. I believe my BIOS is configured OK - I can go in and take some pictures if that would be helpful.

If the hardware, except for PSU and motherboard, and BIOS have been ruled out we need to focus on the drivers.

Click to expand...

My PSU and motherboard both have self check lights on them and they aren't showing any problems, if that helps.


I got a new type of blue screen error since my last post. I had a fullscreen game running and a video open (but paused) - this combination is usually what causes my crashes, but sometimes it happens when I'm just watching a video or just playing a game. Anyway, I wasn't using the computer for a little while and it turned off the displays to save power. When I went back to wake it up a while later, the displays turned on to reveal a blue screen with a "Video Scheduler Internal Error". I ran the dm log collector again and attached the new file to this post.


I've run memtest again and it didn't find any errors running overnight. However, when I use escape to try to stop the test, it says it's halting but never stops. This happens whether I've been running memtest for 8 hours or 5 minutes. I waited ~10 minutes for it to stop, I will repeat this test and try giving it a few hours to stop to see if that changes anything. Here is a picture I took of what I see when I tell it to halt: https://i.imgur.com/wbUaFLC.jpg The "CPU: 0123" and "CPUs Active: 1" parts looked promising to me - could this suggest a CPU failure?

Thank you very much for the assistance!

CodenameMolotov said:

But wouldn't it be a very unlikely coincidence for the hardware I've been using for years to fail immediately after I upgrade my motherboard/CPU/boot drive/PSU/CPU cooler/GPU?

Click to expand...

For a part yes, but it is possible.

I flashed my BIOS to the latest version a while back and made sure that all of the drivers on my motherboard manufacturer's site are updated. I believe my BIOS is configured OK - I can go in and take some pictures if that would be helpful.

Click to expand...

Isn't necessary, if you say it is I won't judge.

I got a new type of blue screen error since my last post. I had a fullscreen game running and a video open (but paused) - this combination is usually what causes my crashes, but sometimes it happens when I'm just watching a video or just playing a game. Anyway, I wasn't using the computer for a little while and it turned off the displays to save power. When I went back to wake it up a while later, the displays turned on to reveal a blue screen with a "Video Scheduler Internal Error". I ran the dm log collector again and attached the new file to this post.

Click to expand...

Of course, a crash related to the graphics.
For now, please uninstall everything of Nvidia using Display Driver Uninstaller and install new drivers from Nvidia

I've run memtest again and it didn't find any errors running overnight. However, when I use escape to try to stop the test, it says it's halting but never stops. This happens whether I've been running memtest for 8 hours or 5 minutes. I waited ~10 minutes for it to stop, I will repeat this test and try giving it a few hours to stop to see if that changes anything. Here is a picture I took of what I see when I tell it to halt: https://i.imgur.com/wbUaFLC.jpg The "CPU: 0123" and "CPUs Active: 1" parts looked promising to me - could this suggest a CPU failure?

Thank you very much for the assistance!

Click to expand...

You have a quad-core CPU, where the 2nd core is active, nothing special.

I noticed
The intelppm is the Intel CPU driver.
Please check Intel for driver updates
Driver Reference Table - intelppm.sys

axe0 said:

CodenameMolotov said:

But wouldn't it be a very unlikely coincidence for the hardware I've been using for years to fail immediately after I upgrade my motherboard/CPU/boot drive/PSU/CPU cooler/GPU?

Click to expand...

For a part yes, but it is possible.

I flashed my BIOS to the latest version a while back and made sure that all of the drivers on my motherboard manufacturer's site are updated. I believe my BIOS is configured OK - I can go in and take some pictures if that would be helpful.

Click to expand...

Isn't necessary, if you say it is I won't judge.

I got a new type of blue screen error since my last post. I had a fullscreen game running and a video open (but paused) - this combination is usually what causes my crashes, but sometimes it happens when I'm just watching a video or just playing a game. Anyway, I wasn't using the computer for a little while and it turned off the displays to save power. When I went back to wake it up a while later, the displays turned on to reveal a blue screen with a "Video Scheduler Internal Error". I ran the dm log collector again and attached the new file to this post.

Click to expand...

Of course, a crash related to the graphics.
For now, please uninstall everything of Nvidia using Display Driver Uninstaller and install new drivers from Nvidia

I've run memtest again and it didn't find any errors running overnight. However, when I use escape to try to stop the test, it says it's halting but never stops. This happens whether I've been running memtest for 8 hours or 5 minutes. I waited ~10 minutes for it to stop, I will repeat this test and try giving it a few hours to stop to see if that changes anything. Here is a picture I took of what I see when I tell it to halt: https://i.imgur.com/wbUaFLC.jpg The "CPU: 0123" and "CPUs Active: 1" parts looked promising to me - could this suggest a CPU failure?

Thank you very much for the assistance!

Click to expand...

You have a quad-core CPU, where the 2nd core is active, nothing special.

Click to expand...

axe0 said:

I noticed

Code:

STACK_TEXT:  
ffffd001`a80cbdf8 fffff803`39641213 : 00000000`00000124 00000000`00000000 ffffe001`a1bca028 00000000`be000000 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
ffffd001`a80cbe00 fffff803`3983ad59 : 00000000`00000001 ffffe001`9a5c8480 ffffe001`9a5c8480 ffffe001`a1bca028 : hal!HalBugCheckSystem+0xcf
ffffd001`a80cbe40 fffff803`396416a0 : 00000000`00000728 00000000`00000003 ffffd001`a80cc230 00000000`00000000 : nt!WheaReportHwError+0x22d
ffffd001`a80cbea0 fffff803`39641a0d : ffffe001`00000010 ffffe001`9a5c8480 ffffd001`a80cc048 ffffe001`9a5c8480 : hal!HalpMcaReportError+0x50
ffffd001`a80cbff0 fffff803`396418f8 : ffffe001`9a5c7d50 00000000`00000001 00000000`00000003 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMceHandlerCore+0xe1
ffffd001`a80cc040 fffff803`39641b42 : 00000000`00000008 00000000`00000001 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMceHandler+0xe4
ffffd001`a80cc080 fffff803`39641ccf : ffffe001`9a5c7d50 ffffd001`a80cc2b0 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalpMceHandlerWithRendezvous+0xce
ffffd001`a80cc0b0 fffff803`397d43bb : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : hal!HalHandleMcheck+0x40
ffffd001`a80cc0e0 fffff803`397d4171 : 00000000`00000000 fffff803`397d40f2 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KxMcheckAbort+0x7b
ffffd001`a80cc220 fffff801`b9696214 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiMcheckAbort+0x171
ffffd001`a80d78e8 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : [COLOR=#FF0000]intelppm[/COLOR]!MWaitIdle+0x18

The intelppm is the Intel CPU driver.

Code:

1: kd> lmvm intelppm
start             end                 module name
fffff801`24b3d000 fffff801`24b5b000   intelppm   (pdb symbols)          d:\symbols\intelppm.pdb\79BC4E9098AA405EBFB8ADC3ACDACCE01\intelppm.pdb
    Loaded symbol image file: intelppm.sys
    Mapped memory image file: d:\symbols\intelppm.sys\5215CFEB1e000\intelppm.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\intelppm.sys
    Image name: intelppm.sys
    Timestamp:        [COLOR=#FF0000]Thu Aug 22 10:46:35 2013[/COLOR] (5215CFEB)
    CheckSum:         00026EA5
    ImageSize:        0001E000
    File version:     6.3.9600.16384
    Product version:  6.3.9600.16384
    File flags:       0 (Mask 3F)
    File OS:          40004 NT Win32
    File type:        3.7 Driver
    File date:        00000000.00000000
    Translations:     0409.04b0
    CompanyName:      Microsoft Corporation
    ProductName:      Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
    InternalName:     intelppm.sys
    OriginalFilename: intelppm.sys
    ProductVersion:   6.3.9600.16384
    FileVersion:      6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)
    FileDescription:  Processor Device Driver
    LegalCopyright:   © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Please check Intel for driver updates
Driver Reference Table - intelppm.sys

Click to expand...

Some new symptoms have come up - hopefully they will help narrow down what needs fixing.

3 days ago, I turned my desktop computer on but all of the displays were black when it should have shown the login screen. The monitors weren't showing that there was no input, they were just black, from both graphics cards. The motherboard graphics shown during startup and the windows loading screen showed up fine, but once the OS started there was nothing. I restarted the computer and it worked normally for the rest of the day (without ever being turned off).

The next day, the same thing happened. When I restarted the computer, all of my monitors except for my primary monitor showed the background color for the password screen, but the primary just said something like "video input not supported". I turned the monitor off and on again and it worked normally for the rest of the day.

Today, I went through the same thing of turning it on, all screens are black, then restarting. This time when I restarted I could move the mouse, but it lagged and I could not click on anything, After a minute, I got a blue screen saying "critical process died" and it asked me to wait while it made a report but it never went beyond 0%. I restarted and was able to use it normally. I appeared to have been logged out of some programs by the crash and I had to reauthorize my computer to access the program Steam.

I then tried to do a clean installation of my video drivers as you suggested. I booted into safe mode, ran the uninstaller program, rebooted normally, then installed the drivers. After installation it asked me to restart the computer, but when I did all screens are black. This time, rebooting does not fix the problem. I can boot into safe mode and the display will show up, but now there's no way for me to use the drivers and not get a black screen.

I ran the intel driver update utility and the only drivers it told me to update were a LAN driver and one for a wireless internet card I have.

So, right now I'm thinking that the problem is either:
A) something is incredibly wrong with my OS and I should try formatting my boot drive and reinstalling it
B) something is wrong with one of my graphics cards (probably the new one) and I need to RMA them

Any advice on how to proceed before I start mailing parts back and wiping drives? My computer becoming unusable is probably for the best tonight, I have a 10 page paper to write and Fallout 4 distracting me.

Also, I've attached a new BSOD report file that I took before uninstalling the video drivers.
Thanks for the help!

How long have you been waiting for the screen to come up everytime?

axe0 said:

How long have you been waiting for the screen to come up everytime?

Click to expand...

Over 15 minutes.

Try to wait 30min to 1 hour, I in the past had waited so long but it was worth it.