Blue Screen Of Death! Driver Problem (Fixt)

[fishmonger12]

hi,

im having trouble with my computer. I get blue screen crashes, usually when playing a game, that were unreadable. i just recieved a crash outside of a game five minutes ago that i could read. here's the text:

Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Stop 0x000000D1 (0x78539330, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0xf701a726)
ALCXWDM.SYS - Address F701A726 base at F6FD4000.
Datestamp 40a4e498


i've tried a number of different fixes.

1.) formatted the hard drive, reinstalling windows, doing all of the windows updates, installing all of the drivers i recieved with my hardware.
2.) patching the games to the most current versions.
3.) reverting back to older versions of drivers. I've reverted to 3 or 4 different versions, none worked
4.) ran memtest86. no dice.
5.) tried different versions of video drivers, omega and ati catalyst.
6.) updating the chipset drivers

my specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Gigabyte K8NSNXP-939 MoBo
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
1 Gig Corsair Dual Channel Ram, pc3200

the error happens about every 20 minutes in warcraft 3, every 2-3 hours in ut2k4, and once in a blue moon in windows.

any help is appreciated,

thomas

 

[Smilin]

Crummy sound card driver. Is there an update available?

 

[fishmonger12]

sorry i didnt post all of the specs, it gave me an error the first time i tried to post.

i have realtek ac`97 onboard sound. ill go check for update.

k, i ran the realtek update manager. it just says "beginning to update", no setup is complete or anything. and i try to get the sound drivers off of the manufacturers website, and it just gives me funny looking symbols.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: fishmonger12
sorry i didnt post all of the specs, it gave me an error the first time i tried to post.

i have realtek ac`97 onboard sound. ill go check for update.

k, i ran the realtek update manager. it just says "beginning to update", no setup is complete or anything. and i try to get the sound drivers off of the manufacturers website, and it just gives me funny looking symbols.

Realtek update manager? Just get the driver from here.

 

[fishmonger12]

hey it works.

i tried it earlier and it gave me a bunch of symbols:

??###$$%!???@@#$??????????$$$###?????

 

[fishmonger12]

ok, i did update the drivers, and i still have the problem

now that i look at it, the same blue screen appears in games and outside of games, it just occurs much more frequently in game. would going out and buying a pci sound card solve these problems?

 

[mechBgon]

If your memory voltage is at Auto, try 2.7 volts instead. If it's the Corsair XL, make it 2.8. Also, what brand, model and wattage is your power supply?

 

[fishmonger12]

its the corsair dual channel value pack.

i've got a 350 Watt, protechnic magic psu... came with the case.

my bios doesnt list the voltage, just +.1 or +.2

im guessing i should use +.1?

 

[mechBgon]

Use +.2 (2.5V is undoubtedly the baseline) and may I suggest getting a proven aftermarket PSU from Enermax, Fortron, or Antec Cheap power is like cheap gasoline... fine for Dad's Oldsmobile 88, but not for your Corvette.

 

[fishmonger12]

why would the power supply cause a driver irq error... .

ill go do the ram thing now.

i've disabled my onboard sound, im going to see if i get any error messages in the next week or so.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: fishmonger12
why would the power supply cause a driver irq error... .

The driver is...? Software. The software runs on...? Hardware. The hardware runs on...? Electricity. The electricity comes from...?

~ ah so, grasshoppah

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: fishmonger12
why would the power supply cause a driver irq error... .

ill go do the ram thing now.

i've disabled my onboard sound, im going to see if i get any error messages in the next week or so.

I'd be happy to look at the dumps and MPS Reports. Read the URL in my .sig if you'd like to see what information I need. That will tell us what's going on.

It's possible that the sound card driver has a problem - even the new one.

 

[fishmonger12]

it isnt a sound card!! its integrated!!! there is no sound card, and i dont have a new one yet. but i was thinking that if i went out and bought a halfway decent soundblaster or santa cruz turtle beach, these problems may be avoided.

i have the .cab file, if you are interested.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: fishmonger12
it isnt a sound card!! its integrated!!! there is no sound card, and i dont have a new one yet. but i was thinking that if i went out and bought a halfway decent soundblaster or santa cruz turtle beach, these problems may be avoided.

It's still a sound card, whether it's integrated or not, in common speech.

Read over the URL and follow those steps if you'd like me to look at the dump and offer a suggestion or two.... we might find something.

 

[fishmonger12]

ok, i've emailed you.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: fishmonger12
ok, i've emailed you.

Module[ 8] [C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ALCXWDM.SYS]
Company Name: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
File Description: Realtek AC'97 Audio Driver (WDM)
Product Version: (5.10:0.5580)
File Version: (5.10:0.5580)
File Size (bytes): 622172
File Date: Fri May 14 23:24:10 2004

Here's your sound drivers you're using. There are newer ones
available on the site from 9/14 or so - grab those and try again. If
it dumps again, send me the latest dump file and re-run mps reports
(again, *after* it dumps again.)

(and if you'd like, I'd be happy to look at the previous dumps, or you can try this first.)

RealTek AC97 Audio drivers:
http://www.realtek.com.tw/down...es=8&Software=True

Also, you should update to Service Pack 2 if you can.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

fishmonger I have reason to believe your problem is a RAM issue. Shame on you guys for not reading through the other threads involving this motherboard. Check out this link http://forums.anandtech.com/me...p;keyword1=K8NSNXP-939 and this one http://www.hardforum.com/showt...;highlight=K8NSNXP-939

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: flawlssdistortn
fishmonger I have reason to believe your problem is a RAM issue. Shame on you guys for not reading through the other threads involving this motherboard. Check out this link http://forums.anandtech.com/me...p;keyword1=K8NSNXP-939 and this one http://www.hardforum.com/showt...;highlight=K8NSNXP-939

Hmm...looked at the first link, didn't see anything about ALCXWDM.SYS issues. Can you be more specific on why you think a consistent bluescreen that complains about ALCXWDM.SYS is a RAM issue?

Did the OP ever update to the latest sound card drivers? Did that fix the issue?

 

[flawlssdistortn]

You should note that BSODs are not always related to their corresponding microsoft "explanations" and the information provided along with them are often useless. Yeah, i know it says that it is a driver issue, but in my experience with this board, processor, and RAM, it is a hardware issue. fishmonger, why dont you try running the Prime95 torture test and see if you can pass that. Memtest often doesnt catch problems since it is a purely synthetic test. Next, I think you should try running only one memory module and see if you crash then. If you dont, then your problem lies within the RAM. Third, check the bus frequencies using the Nvidia system utility when you first boot up. If the AGP, HT, and memory buses are slightly overclocked, put them back to their standard settings (66MHZ, 1000MHZ, 200MHZ). I have found that that has helped in preventing BSODs.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

The K8NSNXP-939 has a bad track record with corsair RAM, especially in dual channel mode, and that is what made me think that the problem lies within the memory. It's not a manufacturing error or anything like that, just an unforseen incompatibility with the processor's memory controller, the Nforce3 chipset, and the memory. By the way, there is a new F4 bios available on gigabyte's website that may address some of these issues.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: flawlssdistortn
You should note that BSODs are not always related to their corresponding microsoft "explanations" and the information provided along with them are often useless. Yeah, i know it says that it is a driver issue, but in my experience with this board, processor, and RAM, it is a hardware issue. fishmonger, why dont you try running the Prime95 torture test and see if you can pass that. Memtest often doesnt catch problems since it is a purely synthetic test. Next, I think you should try running only one memory module and see if you crash then. If you dont, then your problem lies within the RAM. Third, check the bus frequencies using the Nvidia system utility when you first boot up. If the AGP, HT, and memory buses are slightly overclocked, put them back to their standard settings (67MHZ, 1000MHZ, 200MHZ). I have found that that has helped in preventing BSODs.

I *completely* agree with you about normally clocking a machine. Overclocking is the first thing to get rid of when troubleshooting any computer issues.

I debug bluescreens (or rather, the dumps that are generated when a BSOD happens). I know how they work and where the BSOD gets its' explanation you mention. In this case, I suspect the explanation is a good place to start. Typically hardware issues like what you're talking about point to a core OS component (the kernel, or another low-level device), not a high level device like the sound card. So, when troubleshooting an issue like this, typically the first thing to be done is to upgrade the driver, or uninstall the driver and the device, and see if the issue goes away.

Unfortunately, the OP has not sent me any minidumps that I can look at them.

Since the OP mentioned it happens mostly in a game, that too suggests the sound card could be involved.

But I'm all for trying a new BIOS version, all the same. I suggest doing ALL updates for everything whenever there are BSODs.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

Fishmonger how bout an update?? We took the time to try and help you out, now why don't you give us the courtesy of responding.

 

[fishmonger12]

sorry about the delay. i was relatively certain it was the onboard sound, after that initial post from smilin. i bought a creative sound blaster live for 30 bucks, disabled my onboard sound, and i haven't had a blue screen yet. thanks for the help.

oh, and the microsoft explanation may not always be right, but in some instances it is