Random system crashes during gaming = ????

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PC-HAngover

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 2, 2003
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Ok this is really starting to piss me off. So I decided to get some opinions on it. I will be playing a game.. any game - BF2, Howeworld, etc, etc. And occasionaly, not all the time, it will just crash and flash a BSOD at me and shut down. The BSOD is so fast that I can't really read it. Now I was having a problem similar to this before with my last configuration where it would just lock up and restart, but no BSOD.

Here is the kicker. My last config had an ECS RS480-M motherboard, EVGA 7800 GTX, and a Sounblaster Audigy 2 ZS. I know the motherboard is a piece of shit, and that the Audigy has problems with a lot of ATI chipsets... so I thought if I got a new motherboard, there would be no problem.

So I recently bought a Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9 motherboard, stepped up my GTX to the 7800 GTX K.O. edition, and bought an Audigy X-Fi Elite Music to replace my ZS. Now I figured that it would be practically impossible for me to still have stability issues, but alas I do!

So that leaves me with a possible problem with my cpu, ram, hdd, or psu?

I know its not heat related, and I have formatted well over 10 times.

So any opinions?

Thanks
 
Unchecking the "automatically restart" option under startup and recovery options (system properties>advanced tab>startup & recovery) should give you time to read the bluescreen.

Anything in the event viewer?
 
Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer. Under System, look for Warnings and Errors and post a screenshot if possible of the contents of the errors.
 
Are you Memtest86 errorfree.
If unknown then download and run it.
If you have 1 bad cell in your memory it could be generating these errors.

Luck.......... :D
 
Okie dokie, I will post that info as soon as I get home.

As for memtest.. I ran it a while ago and it was free of errors, but I will do it again.
 
Ok I ran memtest and everything passes just fine.

Here are the errors I received:

er1.jpg


er2.jpg


er3.jpg


er4.jpg



*EDIT.. hmm it seems like photobucket messed up my pics...
 
Another thing to check would be your hard drives. Make sure there are no hard disk errors with event code 7. Also check that your hard drives have no bad sectors.

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be my hard drive. I was able to track it down using the event viewer and the seagate diagnostic tests.
 
Using my magnifying super powers (moving my head about 5" from screen), it looks like you're getting a 0x0000009c error, which Microsoft says it's up to you to find the hardware problem: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=329284
Machine check exceptions are frequently caused by one of the following conditions: • You are running the processor or mainboard beyond its specifications. For example, you are overclocking the processor or bus. We recommend that you run your hardware at the manufacturer-rated speeds.
• Noisy power, overstressed power strips, outmatched power supplies and failing power supplies can destabilize your computer. Make sure that you have a stable, reliable power supply to your computer.
• Extreme thermal conditions caused by the failure of cooling devices such as fans may damage your computer. Make sure that your cooling devices are all working.
• You have damaged memory or memory that is not the correct type for your computer. If you recently changed the memory configuration, revert to the previous configuration to determine what is wrong. Make sure that you are using the correct memory for your computer.
Click to expand...
Edit: Test the HD and see if is the cause of the problem. Try using the computer with the basic hardware: motherboard, processor, one stick of RAM, power, HD and video. And see if you experience problems.
 
Well so far..

memory is fine. ran memtest86
main hard drive is fine (Raptor 74GB).. now to test the other 2 maxtor drives.


weird?
 
New update.. I was just sitting here listening to some music, browsing the net, etc. and boom.. it restarts with a BSOD that started with "Machine_exception_check" or something like that.

This is really freaking me out...
 
Wow, I had the same problems. A bunch of hardware failure BSODs, followed by a ton of other BSODs, when gaming or not.

I thought it was my video card drivers, reinstalled them, then the whole system went crazy.

So I spent an entire week reformatting and fixing everything and now have a dual-boot Linux/XP system setup.

I think it was one of the latest Windows Updates, because that's when the errors started for me.
 
Did you just reformat or actually delete the partitions? I deleted the partitions and started everything from scratch. I think that's better, but don't take my word or it.
 
yeah, and I wrote 0s to the hard drive.. so it was a complete format.


Another update.. I tested my other hard drives, and they are checking out fine. Any more ideas?
 
Did you install any new drivers recently?

Thinking back, when I performed my updates for drivers/Windows Updates, the problems started happening. I installed the latest Nvidia Forceware drivers, and also all the Windows Updates I needed, and that's when I started getting the problems. Maybe a conflict or something?

I couldn't diagnose my problem entirely, and I got too fed up to worry. So I'm not too sure about the exact cause of what happened. I did rule out viruses/hacks/malware, though.
 
Well it looks like the only thing left would be a driver issue or a problem with the power supply?

What I did once when I thought I might have had a problem with my power supply. I went down to best buy and picked up a Antec power supply. (I made sure that it had a 30 day return policy).

I turned out after I put in the new power supply I still had the same problem so I just returned the new one to best buy and got my money back. Its worth a shot if you don't have a spare power supply laying around.
 
Understanding and Troubleshooting Reboots and Blue Screens

If you can provide a readable copy of the message and/or a dump file, I can look at it for you when I have time.

If it is indeed 0x0000009c (seriously, I can't read the screen shots -- why didn't you paste the text using the copy pushbutton that's in the UI?) then it's a machine check exception. We might be able to get a diagnosis, but it means that your CPU or your memory subsystem might be acting up.

The reasons are outlined in that KB, as well as in this MSDN article. The only trick is separating a symptom from the cause. Maybe your CPU is really cooked; or maybe your CPU is flakey because your powersupply is electrically noisy. Unfortunately, the processor only notices the fault -- it doesn't diagnose it before reporting it to Windows.
 
mikeblas said:
Understanding and Troubleshooting Reboots and Blue Screens

If you can provide a readable copy of the message and/or a dump file, I can look at it for you when I have time.

If it is indeed 0x0000009c (seriously, I can't read the screen shots -- why didn't you paste the text using the copy pushbutton that's in the UI?) then it's a machine check exception. We might be able to get a diagnosis, but it means that your CPU or your memory subsystem might be acting up.

The reasons are outlined in that KB, as well as in this MSDN article. The only trick is separating a symptom from the cause. Maybe your CPU is really cooked; or maybe your CPU is flakey because your powersupply is electrically noisy. Unfortunately, the processor only notices the fault -- it doesn't diagnose it before reporting it to Windows.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mikeblas. I will copy and paste that info as soon as possible. But you mentioned a machine check exception... thats what the last BSOD started with. I really hope its not my power supply, because I just sleeved it and voided my warranty... :eek: But it was doing the same thing before hand, so it wasn't my fault with the sleeving! lol

Damn... diagnosing problems are a PITA.
 
Ok here are my errors copied and pasted:

Error code 0000009c, parameter1 00000004, parameter2 80545ff0, parameter3 b2000000, parameter4 00070f0f.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Error code 0000009c, parameter1 00000004, parameter2 80545ff0, parameter3 b2000000, parameter4 00070f0f.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Error code 0000009c, parameter1 00000004, parameter2 80545ff0, parameter3 b2000000, parameter4 00070f0f.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort0, is not ready for access yet.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The driver detected a controller error on \Device\CdRom0.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Was at a LAN for this one)
The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer JEFFRO that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{C40D3396-BD39-469C-B8. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Error code 0000009c, parameter1 00000004, parameter2 80545ff0, parameter3 b2000000, parameter4 00070f0f.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Error code 0000009c, parameter1 00000004, parameter2 80545ff0, parameter3 b2000000, parameter4 00070f0f.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.



hmmmm lots of those ones that start with 0000009c
 
The master browser election message is totally normal in a peer-to-peer network. Did you try clicking on the provided link for any of these, BTW? When its in the event viewer, the event viewer will provide information about the error to a web serivce at Microsoft and give you advice about the error.

Anyway, yeah: those are all machine checks.

Error code 0000009c means its a machine check.

parameter2 80545ff0 is, as far as I can tell, is the address where the error happened.

parameter3 b2000000 is the high half of the status. The bits you have set indicate that the report is valid, that the error condition wasn't masked, and that the error condition couldn't be corrected by the processor. It was't recoverable, in other words.

parameter4 00070f0f is a bunch of flags describing the error. The flags indicate that there was an address parity error.

I can't pull anything more specific out of the error; but it means that something on the bus is screwing up an address. The good news is that I don't think that can possibly by your CPU. Funny thing is, it's the same address every time. It's possible that some peripheral is always mapping memory there, but I've got no way to tell.

I guess you're on to swapping parts around, but it seems like your CPU is okay.
 
mikeblas said:
The master browser election message is totally normal in a peer-to-peer network. Did you try clicking on the provided link for any of these, BTW? When its in the event viewer, the event viewer will provide information about the error to a web serivce at Microsoft and give you advice about the error.

Anyway, yeah: those are all machine checks.

Error code 0000009c means its a machine check.

parameter2 80545ff0 is, as far as I can tell, is the address where the error happened.

parameter3 b2000000 is the high half of the status. The bits you have set indicate that the report is valid, that the error condition wasn't masked, and that the error condition couldn't be corrected by the processor. It was't recoverable, in other words.

parameter4 00070f0f is a bunch of flags describing the error. The flags indicate that there was an address parity error.

I can't pull anything more specific out of the error; but it means that something on the bus is screwing up an address. The good news is that I don't think that can possibly by your CPU. Funny thing is, it's the same address every time. It's possible that some peripheral is always mapping memory there, but I've got no way to tell.

I guess you're on to swapping parts around, but it seems like your CPU is okay.
Click to expand...

hmm the only devices I have are the sound card, and the video card.
 
did you reseat all of your parts? i just posted this to someone elses problem as well.

things can come loose. just take out and put back in all the PSU, ram and drive cables, sound card and video card. do the video card last. the PSU cables have quite a lot of current going through them and can sometimes become intermittant. when the voltage drops it can cause a crash (the ones that plug into your drives as well)

its often the simplest things that cause these stupid problems.
 
I did a little more reading. The address is always the same because it's where the kernel stores the hardware exception structure. I had hoped it was the address that was on the bus at the time of the trap.

So, all I can give you is that it's not an on-chip cache problem.
 
Might be your motherboard or CD-ROM drive (look at the error messages mixed with the error codes):

The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.
The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort0, is not ready for access yet.
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\CdRom0.

Disconnect your CD-ROM drive and see if that fixes it or try a new IDE cable.
 
z-lite said:
Might be your motherboard or CD-ROM drive (look at the error messages mixed with the error codes):

The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.
The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort0, is not ready for access yet.
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\CdRom0.

Disconnect your CD-ROM drive and see if that fixes it or try a new IDE cable.
Click to expand...

alright will do
 
I think its the motherboard.
I also have that Gigabyte motherboard and I keep getting the MACHINE_CHECK_ERRORS all the time in the middle of games.
Also look at the reviews over at newegg, seems lots of people that purchased that board are getting the same thing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570

Im hoping its just a bug that can be fixed with a BIOS update cuz the motherboard is good otherwise :/
 
clarknova said:
I think its the motherboard.
I also have that Gigabyte motherboard and I keep getting the MACHINE_CHECK_ERRORS all the time in the middle of games.
Also look at the reviews over at newegg, seems lots of people that purchased that board are getting the same thing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570

Im hoping its just a bug that can be fixed with a BIOS update cuz the motherboard is good otherwise :/
Click to expand...

these damn mATX motherboards are really starting to get on my nerves.
 
I was curious if this problem was ever fixed as I seem to be having the same problem, same error code.
0x0000009c (0x00000004, 0x80545ff0, 0xb2000000, 0x00070f0f)
My specs are

Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 NForce3
Athlon 64 3000+
1 Gig PC 3200 Corsair Value
128M Geforce 6800 NU
250 gig Maxtor
NEC 2500a DVD/RW
SB Live 5.1
Creative DVCR
D-Link Wireless G Card

I've replaced the ram, replaced the video card, replaced the power supply with an Enermax 430W supply, my temps are fine, I ran ramtest for 12 hours with no errors, I ran hot cpu tester pro for 6 hours without errors, im honestly not sure what else it could be. If you were able to fix this problem, please let me know.
 
Shapptastic said:
I've replaced the ram, replaced the video card, replaced the power supply with an Enermax 430W supply, my temps are fine, I ran ramtest for 12 hours with no errors, I ran hot cpu tester pro for 6 hours without errors, im honestly not sure what else it could be.
Click to expand...

There's something wrong with the processor or the motherboard, then. The sticky points to documentation for the flags in the bugcheck parameters.

The problem with test applications is that they don't fully exercise the machine.
 
Well, im fairly certain that its not the motherboard or the CPU at this point. I removed the sound blaster live, tv card, and wireless card. So far, i have had no issues for 4 days. If everything is good till sunday, I'll make the assumption its one or a combination of the three cards. The wierd thing is why would one of those cause the system to get that error? Most of the time, the issue seems to be either ram, vid card, cpu or mobo.
 
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