PC failing me...

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Hello everyone!

Hope you're all looking forward to Christmas, if you celebrate it.

The bad news today....

...I had a blue screen a short time ago this evening - and then the PC took several goes before it would start again!

I might need Santa to bring me a new PC!!!

If I'm not around for a day or two it might be nothing to do with being shot to bits by Christmas, it might have everything to do with a failing PC....



Any idea what the info means?!! If you have, do let me know!!

[madwolf_Uk]

Im no expert by any means, but seems youve got a conflict on one of your USB devices.

Added anything new recently, or had any updates loaded?

"Driver IRQ" - as i understand it the IRQ address is like an address for every bit of hardware attached, and im guessing it either doesnt like one of your drivers, or the hardware itself. To be this serious though, id suggest maybe its actually the USB ports themselves rather than something attached to it

Can allways PM me ya number and can ring ya and try to help out.

The "Stop 0x00001" type numbers are the microsoft fault codes if you like, can look them up on microsofts website for info, but there not allways that clear or helpfull for the non technical!

First step would be to see what you have changed recently, software or hardware, take it from there.

HTH

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Thanks Gary, there seems to be a concensus about a hardware device.

I've not added anything new but some people think it's possibly my ADSL modem, and that is of course a USB device - suggestions include that it is pulling too much from the motherboard and that I need to try a port which isn't direct to the motherboard, and that it needs a firmware update - I checked the manufacturer's website which was a bit rubbish to be honest.

The only other USB device connected to a USB port is the mouse - the keyboard is adapted to a serial port.

I have two spare USB ports on the back of the PC and two at the front, one is used for memory sticks but all the others are vacant.

All advice gratefully received!

[newsh]

Unplug all the usb stuff you can, including the memory sticks. DL and run a program like Regclean or Reg Cure (you have to buy Regcure but IMHO its worth it, completely revitalised my laptop.)

[madwolf_Uk]

Thanks Gary, there seems to be a concensus about a hardware device.

I've not added anything new but some people think it's possibly my ADSL modem, and that is of course a USB device - suggestions include that it is pulling too much from the motherboard and that I need to try a port which isn't direct to the motherboard, and that it needs a firmware update - I checked the manufacturer's website which was a bit rubbish to be honest.

The only other USB device connected to a USB port is the mouse - the keyboard is adapted to a serial port.

I have two spare USB ports on the back of the PC and two at the front, one is used for memory sticks but all the others are vacant.

All advice gratefully received!

I would say more likely you need to leave the modem direct to the motherboard, things like that and mice/keyboards dont like going through a hub or Pci card normally, however if you unplug them and that cures the problem, then maybe its a power related issue, which would suggest power supply on its way out perhaps.

Try putting the modem into the other pair of ports, this may help show if it is just that pair its in at the moment or a more wide spread problem.

As for the firmware update, its a possibility but less likely as it was working before, and if it was, would normally just stop you connecting to the net rather than crash your whole system like that.

HTH

[Nuvo]

Just a quick question. What version of USBPort.sys are you using? You'll find the file in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers.
Just right click on the file and then select properties then the version tab to find out.
The latest version for XP is 5.1.2600.3020. I can send it to you if need be.

It really could be caused by a number of things. Do you have an ATI graphics card or a Logitech USB mouse for example? Power supply is another possibilty as mentioned by Gary.

See for more help in soving the problem : Linky

Be sure to post back with your findings

Attach your dump file (filename.dmp) found on the root of your Windows directory here if you like and I'll have a look through it. Just remember to Zip or RAR it first.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Thanks for added info guys!

Nuvo my USBport.sys is older:

5.1.2600.2180

New version would be appreciated of course!

I'll get back with other info. I've experienced no problems at all today, started the PC without the modem plugged in, but it might have been a result of the processor being cold, it does get rather hot at times.

I recently had a new higher performance fan and heatsink installed (I mean a few months ago, not the past week or anything) along with the speed fan control - I half wondered if I had messed that up the other day when I was manually moving icons on the screen but all seems to be running well.

I get a message when shutting down that speed fan is not responding, I am currently starting speed fan monitoring after starting the pc. I may have wrongly assumed that it was starting with the pc but I have been using it in much warmer ambient conditions without failures. I will now close speed fan manually before shutting down.

I was viewing a clip on You Tube when the failure occurred (note - Can Am 1967 at Road America!), there were other applications idle in the background but nothing was heavily loading the pc apart from the video I would say.

For the record, I download all MS updates and install them, I use AVG free and download all updates, and I have Zone Alarm firewall free version and download all updates (this was recently updated). I do tend to use IE but I can switch to Firefox.



The fault that is listed on the blue screen is shown on MSDN as follows:



The DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL bug check has a value of 0x000000D1. This indicates that a kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high.

Cause
A driver tried to access an address that is pageable (or that is completely invalid) while the IRQL was too high.

This bug check is usually caused by drivers that have used improper addresses.

If the first parameter has the same value as the fourth parameter, and the third parameter indicates an execute operation, this bug check was likely caused by a driver that was trying to execute code when the code itself was paged out. Possible causes for the page fault include the following:

The function was marked as pageable and was running at an elevated IRQL (which includes obtaining a lock).
The function call was made to a function in another driver, and that driver was unloaded.
The function was called by using a function pointer that was an invalid pointer.



.....I am not sufficiently expert to understand all that but I do understand that the kernel interfaces software and hardware, and I would still be tempted to believe a hardware problem with the modem.

If the problem presents itself again I will try using different ports, there has even been a suggestion of dust or debris on vacant USB sockets.

[Nuvo]

Hi,
Boot into safe mode and copy the unpacked driver to your driver folder to overwrite the old. (It wouldn't be a bad idea to copy this to someplace safe beforehand).

Reboot again and see if this helps.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Hi Nuvo - I've done this and now the bleedin' thing won't fire up at all!!! It gets to the page where it asks if you want to start in safe mode or whatever.

I'll get it sorted one way or another, but for now I can only get online elsewhere! I should have left it alone really but thanks for your best efforts!

Cheers for now!

[Nuvo]

Oh crap! Do you have a bootable system CD like BartPE? Boot from this and then you can copy your original device driver back. Please tell me you kept a copy safe.

Just to be absolutely clear, what version of Windows including service pack number are you running? Are you saying this new problem occurred after overwrinting the original usbport.sys file?

[Cullam3n]

Is yours an OEM computer or did you/someone else build it? Get into the BIOS on the motherboard and see if there is a temperature option for the CPU fan setting. Set it to always on or some low temp (like 30C) and run with that for a while to see if it's a heat problem. Also what processor do you have?

Also download this program called Memtest, this runs tests on your RAM sticks and will let you know if you have a hardware issue with your memory. Doubt it but good to rule it out. Run this for a couple of hours or overnight.

Also I have seen this error because the virtual memory was incorrectly set or the drive that the virtual memory is set on becomes full, or the RAM becomes faulty.
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;810093

You said it happened when you were watchin a clip on youtube; a long shot but does it do it when you bring back the computer after not using it for a while when it goes into standby (if it does) or power saving mode?

Also try disconnecting everything unimportant to the computer and start it up with the bare essentials (vid card, CPU, 1 stick RAM, hard drive, etc) and see if that works.

Also I have seen this from a newly installed wireless adapter, sometimes can be solved by updating the BIOS of the motherboard (if applicable).

Also if you can get into the device manager, look at the below pic. Enable the hidden devices and let me know if there is any yellow ! or errors and after that click sort resources and look for that again

lots of advice but good luck, let me know if you want me to come round and help you out

[Cullam3n]

Hi Nuvo - I've done this and now the bleedin' thing won't fire up at all!!! It gets to the page where it asks if you want to start in safe mode or whatever.

I'll get it sorted one way or another, but for now I can only get online elsewhere! I should have left it alone really but thanks for your best efforts!

Cheers for now!

If you still have your original XP cd you should be in luck. You can try a repair install or go into the recovery console and try the "fixboot" command

Look at my post above and download MEMtest, burn it to a cd, and boot from it on the computer. That will tell you if you have a memory hardware issue

[Greg_S]

Martin,

Generally problems lie with cables if the PC is an old one.

Open up the cover, make sure you ground yourself on a radiator or similar and unplug if from the mains.

Disconnect the IDE cables, PCI cards and re insert them all. Quite often it will just be that a cable has become very slightly loose, or a PCI card isnt quite mating properly.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Hi folks, just to let you know I'm still here!!

Happy new year!!

PC is currently in a good local shop where tests have been carried out - the boards and connections are by all accounts good and solid, so it's not that. The hard drives were tested and are fine so no lost data which is nice (I am still annoyed with myself that I didn't back up HD1 to HD2 for a couple of months though).

An attempt at a repair install didn't help, so the last thing that was being tested when we had to leave it yesterday was the RAM, if that proves to be ok then a load fix will be attempted, but if it turns out to be a "stick" of RAM then I might be looking at buying some replacement (maybe a good opportunity to put a little more in).

I'm probably going to get another PC built with a lot more power for the photographic stuff, and use the Advent for internet stuff. We'll see! I have a friend who can put something together with something like 12Mb of RAM, which would be a huge step up where multi-tasking is concerned.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Correction - 12Gb of RAM