6 replies to this topic

[Macaroni]

Hi all,

I have a recurring problem of either bluescreen or else that white text on black "I/O device errors..." usually during some critical piece of text editing, natch. I run Windows 7.

I have snooped around in the BIOS (American Megatrends) and there are a couple of things that don't seem to stack up and I'm wondering whether the machine just can't find the drives in the "right" places.

 

In BIOS:

The boot option priorities are

Boot option #1 P4: (followed by the DVD drive spec)

Boot option #2 P5: (followed by HDD spec)

 

When the machine is booting up, it reports a line of text

"Detected ATA/ATAPI devices...

Port 3 (reports dvd spec)

then it either a) gives the black screen from which there's no way back, only switch off and try again - or

B) reports "Port 4 (followed by HDD spec) in which case it goes on to start Windows normally

 

My question is: is there a discrepancy between the boot options and the ports that the machine is actually using? If so is it "fatal" so to speak? And could it cause the crashes/bluescreens that I get inexplicably and without warning halfway through a session or, more worryingly, some vital piece of work with a swine of a deadline? If it's not a likely cause, can anyone suggest another possible way to eradicate this troublesome thing?

 

I have tried to find a way to edit the BIOS and the ports that it looks for during boot up, but no joy.

 

You can probably tell I'm a neo here, but this is what the forum's for I guess.

It might take a few passes to get to the nub of the problem, but I'd really appreciate some advice

Thanks very much and good evening - I'll be stopping by again shortly to see if there's any thoughts.

D

[paws]

Hi Macaroni,
Sorry to hear of the blue screen issues you are experiencing.

If they are happening once your machine has booted up and you have been working on it for a while then it unlikely that the BIOS is at the root of the problem.

Unless you have made changes to your computer(operating system etc) its usually not necessary for "ordinary users" to have to go into the BIOS..... Have you or anyone made changes in the BIOS?

I's usual to set the Boot priority to:

1 Hard drive 0
2 Optical drive(CD/DVD)
3 External USB devices

The rest don't really matter much! but the first two in the list are the important ones, The boot priority settings are usually found in the "Advanced Setting" or "Boot Priority" settings in the BIOS

If you make any changes in the BIOS then you need to save them before exiting, when your computer will normally reboot into Windows. You should NOT change anything at all in the BIOS unless you have a clear idea of exactly what you are doing and have made a back up or taken screen shots or photos of each page with the existing settings.

to ascertain the reason for the blue screen go here:

http://www.resplendence.com/downloads

and download "Who Crashed version 5" free home version (scroll down half the page)
the output should point you in the right direction.

Any problems and post the output and we will advise the next steps.
Regards
paws

[Macaroni]

Cheers paws,

just getting round to this after another day of breakdowns. I wasn't around for most of them so I didn't get the full details.

Is it possible that the machine stops recognising the hard drive? As well as crash dumps we often get a blank screen followed by the "select boot media..." message.

 

Anyway over to WhoCrashed...

[Macaroni]

I can say with some certainty that there have been more blue screens than this, however here are the reported ones:

Cheers

D

 

On Thu 21/11/2013 11:12:26 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: Unknown (0xFFFFFFFFC0000006)
Bugcheck code: 0x7E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000006, 0xFFFFF80002D1B0A3, 0xFFFFF88003774558, 0xFFFFF88003773DB0)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a system thread generated an exception that the error handler did not catch.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error.
Google query: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED



On Mon 07/10/2013 17:47:17 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\100713-14336-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: msrpc.sys (msrpc+0x45840)
Bugcheck code: 0x7A (0xFFFFF6FC40008228, 0xFFFFFFFFC000000E, 0xFE86860, 0xFFFFF88001045840)
Error: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\msrpc.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Kernel Remote Procedure Call Provider
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that the requested page of kernel data from the paging file could not be read into memory.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Fri 26/07/2013 09:38:38 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\072613-57564-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x75C00)
Bugcheck code: 0x9F (0x3, 0xFFFFFA800309A3B0, 0xFFFFF8000400E3D8, 0xFFFFFA8005BE7810)
Error: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that the driver is in an inconsistent or invalid power state.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sun 27/01/2013 18:57:10 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\012713-23322-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntfs.sys (Ntfs+0xEF18C)
Bugcheck code: 0x7A (0xFFFFF6FC40009860, 0xFFFFFFFFC000000E, 0x9DEE9860, 0xFFFFF8800130C18C)
Error: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ntfs.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT File System Driver
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that the requested page of kernel data from the paging file could not be read into memory.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Sun 27/01/2013 18:28:47 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\012713-28828-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntfs.sys (Ntfs+0xEE650)
Bugcheck code: 0x7A (0xFFFFF6FC400098B8, 0xFFFFFFFFC000000E, 0xA4A9B860, 0xFFFFF88001317650)
Error: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ntfs.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT File System Driver
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that the requested page of kernel data from the paging file could not be read into memory.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system that cannot be identified at this time.



On Thu 10/01/2013 20:13:50 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\011013-22791-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x705C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x7A (0xFFFFF6FB80000000, 0xFFFFFFFFC000000E, 0x89103880, 0xFFFFF70000000000)
Error: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that the requested page of kernel data from the paging file could not be read into memory.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

[Macaroni]

Left machine on overnight but in the morning I find a black screen and

 

A disk read error occurred

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

 

I have to switch off completely then restart, simple CtrlAltDel doesn't work.

 

Any ideas out there I wonder?

Thanks

D

[paws]

Hi Macaroni, It appears that you have major problems with this machine.

It would be wise to perform some "broad brush" troubleshooting and the first step I would recommend is to check that your hardware is working OK (with the exception of your hard drive that we can check at a slightly later stage)

 

To do this down load a live distro of Linux (Linux Puppy is good) burn the .iso to a CD as an image (ImgBurn is good for this) and setting your BIOS this time to boot as priority 1 from CD/DVD with hard drive as no 2 priority save the changes and with the bootable Linux Puppy CD in the CD tray save the changes to the BIOS and the machine should then boot from the CD.

Follow onscreen direction from Puppy as to keyboard, language etc.,

 

Puppy will run entirely within RAM and you will be able to test your machine, look at your pictures/Photos on your hard drive, view your documents etc and even play your music if you have any!

 

Puppy does not actually need a hard drive or Windows to be in place as it is a completely self contained operating system (free) but it may take you a few minutes to get used to it if you have only ever used Windows in the past, just rememeber in Linux you only need to click once....( no double clicking!) and your C drive will probably be called sda1 in Puppy Linux.

 

Puppy will be able to give your computers hardware a good "workout" so spend a while and check it out....

 

If it works perfectly then we will know that your hardware ( ex hard drive) is working OK and so the problem is problem is probably withing Windows, its settings or applications (or your hard drive) so at least we will know wherer to focus our attention...

 

If you can't get it to work , then you are either doing it wrongly! or there is a hardware problem, but here again we will know where to start the diagnostic procedures to get the best result possible as quickly as possible.

 

If you are having trouble downloading Puppy and burning it as an image to CD (a copy wont do it must be burnt as an image) then post back with the information identifying where you are having difficulty and what exactly is happening, and we will send you the links and more detailed instructions on how best to proceed.

Regards

paws

[Macaroni]

Hi paws,

thanks for all that.

The first major problem I see looming is (...drum roll...) BIOS-related!!!

You see, I can't find a way to change the boot priorities as you suggest.

The machine itself is apparently able to do it willy-nilly. But not me.

One or other of the drive entries regularly disappears from the priority list, leaving the machine unable to boot. When the entry re-appears after repeated switching off/on, then it will boot.

 

I have a session log as follows from Sunday. The machine was left on overnight Sat/Sun but when I "woke it up" there was a crashdump/blue screen.

I wait for reboot.

Press [F7] and inspect the Boot Option Priorities

 

P4 has changed to DVD...

P3 is not listed at all

Machine will not reboot.

 

I switch off mains and wait 5 mins.

Switching on, it now recognises all boot options (checked with [F7]) and resumes with the last session, all programs and windows open.

 

However, the bluescreen shortly repeats after which it reports:

"Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected drive and press a key".

 

That's a no-go because I can't select a device, so I switch off.

 

I switch on again and it recognises all boot options then gives me the monochrome screen with safe mode and other options.

I select "start windows normally" and a new session starts.

 

I run WhoCrashed. There's no report of the morning's two crashes.

 

I'm determined to get to the bottom of the problem anyway. Just now I can't tinker with Ubuntu as I have some deadlines to meet and the machine will just about play ball long enough to allow it. The fact that I can't set a priority 1 or 2, all except P4 and P5 seem unavailable, is to me very strange. Perhaps you also find that odd.

 

Meantime the description above of crashes etc might give you some new food for thought. Once again, your effort really is appreciated.

 

More soon!

DB