Unbearable STOP 0x124 Error

A

Alex41290

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 20, 2004
Messages
1,570
Hey all,

I have been running myself ragged trying to figure this out, and I'm at a complete loss at this point. Now I turn to you guys, hopefully you can give me some insight into what the hell is going on.

I have a Lenovo T430s that I got about 3 months ago. Here are the specs:

i5-3320M
500GB 5400rpm / SanDisk 120GB SSD
8GB GSkill RAM

Can't really think of any more relevant information about the hardware, but I can provide any of that if you think you'll need it.

So now, to my issue. I have been getting BSODs since I got it (realistically should have just RMAd it from the beginning, but it never seemed like an insurmountable problem, so I've just been keeping at it). It originally came with 4GB of RAM but I replaced it with the GSkill sticks since I had gotten a memtest error after 12-14 hours. I will run another one on these sticks tomorrow, since I can't remember if I received errors on the new sticks or not, but I'm not sure how relevant it is, since the errors did not change once I replaced them.

I have tried many, many things so far to try and stress test the system, and hopefully produce a situation where I can definitively say it crashes. However, so far, the only consistency has been with gaming. I have run HD Tune numerous times (I thought it was SSD seating, which I will also check tomorrow), FurMark / WPrime (including simultaneous exection) with no errors. CPU temp got up to 90*C+ without any crashes, so I don't think it is the CPU or temperatures, although that could still be the issue.

I bought a HDD caddy to move the 500GB to the old disk drive, and put the SSD in the normal slot. So I tried removing the caddy, and still got it to crash. I have run SSD Tweaker on Windows 7, reinstalled Windows with AHCI on and off. I feel like the SSD Tweaker changes made it take LONGER to produce a BSOD, but I honestly can't say that with any conviction at this point. The AHCI changes, however, made on difference.

Over the last two days, before I went to sleep, I loaded up Skyrim and let it run to see how long it took to produce the BSOD. It took anywhere from 30min to 1hr30min to create the same STOP error message. It happens with League of Legends as well, and as of now these are the only games i have to test it.

I have all the latest drivers from the Lenovo website. Tomorrow, I am also going to try a fresh Windows install and slowly install drivers, starting with the graphics, just so I can test the functionality with gaming. I will then see if any specific driver has caused this, and if so I guess I can isolate it to that component?

At this point, I am really at a loss with what to do. I feel like I have tried everything, but I am also totally willing to believe that I blatantly missed something. I come to you all begging for assistance, as it's starting to become ridiculously inconvenient. I cannot test, or am unsure how to test, the motherboard and PSU functionality, so I suppose it could be something pertaining to these.

I would also like to add, that for the majority of using this laptop, I have been dual-booting Ubuntu with Windows 7. The Ubuntu installation had a similar issue, although it crashed before it was able to produce any meaningful error logs. But I have noticed that Ubuntu crashed more easily, or more readily, than Windows. I'm not sure if this is helpful information, but who knows. I actually have no idea what the hell is happening, so maybe someone has an idea about it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and if you have any insight into my issue, please let me know. I can provide any more information if anyone needs it.
 
evilsofa said:
I assume you've found this info about 0x124 errors already? It's pretty strongly worded that it is almost certainly a fundamental hardware problem (not that there was much doubt about that since you have it also with Ubuntu).

http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have seen that. I have pretty much done all the steps, except for 7 which I am going to do today. Do you mean by this that it is most likely a faulty component, as opposed to any sort of driver/software issue? I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I may just have to send this laptop back...
 
Sounds like it might be a fundamental HW issue that you might not be able to fix.

Just to run through an off the top of my head list:

1. BIOS is current?

2. SSD firmware is current?

3. Drivers - laptop mfgs are often terrible/negligent at updating drivers. Personally I go to the source for updates. Realtek, marvell, Intel, AMD, Nvidia. Check the appropriate website for direct access to current drivers for NIC, WiFi, Sound, Graphics, etc. Often I'll find much newer revisions long after the mfg quit caring.

4. Warranty
 
Ultima99 said:
Sounds like it might be a fundamental HW issue that you might not be able to fix.

Just to run through an off the top of my head list:

1. BIOS is current?

2. SSD firmware is current?

3. Drivers - laptop mfgs are often terrible/negligent at updating drivers. Personally I go to the source for updates. Realtek, marvell, Intel, AMD, Nvidia. Check the appropriate website for direct access to current drivers for NIC, WiFi, Sound, Graphics, etc. Often I'll find much newer revisions long after the mfg quit caring.

4. Warranty
Click to expand...
I updated the BIOS only a few days ago. The SanDisk Toolkit says there is no firmware information for my device, not sure if that means it's up-to-date or if something else is messing up. I am on vacation and have sketchy internet, but I'm going to try the manufacturer's drivers for stuff. I'll have to do a little digging, but it'll be worth it. It's a brand new laptop, so I'm hoping Lenovo has fairly recent drivers on their site. Either way I'll check it out.

It's still under warranty, so I can do that. However, I use it for school/vacation, so I'd rather not be without it if possible. Hence arguably wasting my time trying to troubleshoot :p. Thanks for the tips though, I'll look into them.
 
Alex41290 said:
It's still under warranty, so I can do that. However, I use it for school/vacation, so I'd rather not be without it if possible. Hence arguably wasting my time trying to troubleshoot :p. Thanks for the tips though, I'll look into them.
Click to expand...

Just do it. It's very very likely it's a hardware problem where something is going to need to be replaced. Pop the old RAM sticks in and let them figure it out. That's what warranties are for.

Surely you have a friend with an extra laptop or tablet or something?
 
jojo69 said:
dude, do not get stuck with this lemon

R M A
Click to expand...
Well, I was about at that point...but I'll give a slight update that I think signifies a serious development?

I was going to take it apart, just to check it out inside, see if I could notice anything blatantly worrying. To do so, I had to remove the battery. Since I've been going at it for quite some time, it was one of those "fuck it, why not leave it out" moments. I had a good 2hr session of Skyrim with no crashes...so, I'm leaning towards some issue with the battery? Although if it extends beyond that, then obviously that wouldn't resolve it. But I at least have somewhere to start. So I'm going to talk to Lenovo after the holiday and get a replacement battery. At least I can use it while waiting for that, although it's not really ideal.

Thanks for your help guys. My friend has been saying the same thing "Send that POS back" but I guess I'm stubborn like that.

EDIT: Sigh...I should have known not to count my chickens, etc. As soon as I hit "Post" it blue screened again. Since it took a lot longer to crash this time, I still feel like it's a useful development...but I'm not sure.
 
dude, RMA this shit. the longer you wait the more time lenovo says your beat. stop beating around the bush and get rid of it and get a new one. I know it blows, we would all cry if we were without a computer, hell we are on [H] for a reason. just byte the bullet :/ sorry man
 
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