BSODs, Random Freezing, Weird POST issues (Solved?))

[Brainonska511]

Possibly related to problems here: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2171348

Specs:
Asus M4A785TD-M Evo AM3+ Board (latest BIOS; Oct 2010)
Athlon II X4 635 (BL-C2)
8GB DDR3 1333 (4x2GB) (running at DDR3 1066)
2 WD 500GB Caviar Green drives (one is just backup)
ATI HD5770 (Catalyst 11.5)
Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium
OCZ Fatal1ty 550W PSU

Somewhat abridged. My computer crashed when I was almost done with this! Now writing it on my laptop...

Last night: Yellow BSOD: 07F, amdkmdag.sys; not doing anything stressful to it, just came back from sleep and was opening a new tab in FF. Restarted, everything seemed fine.

This morning: tried to start the computer, wouldn't POST. No beep codes, just fans spinning. Took several hard restarts and a partial reseating of the graphics card to make it POST. When it finally did start, the BIOS had been reset to the defaults. I had to reinput the desired settings (eg: AHCI instead of IDE, turn memory down to DDR3 1066). It froze twice in BIOS while trying to do this, but I attribute that to the AMD Athlon II/Phenom II errata for the C2 stepping: 2+ sticks of DDR3 1333 per channel can cause system instability: solution run at DDR3 1066.

Everything seems fine at this point and for about 3 hours. I step away for a few minutes, come back and find it has frozen on my screensaver. Hard restart: seems like it takes a little longer than usual to go through the standard BIOS system checks, but it boots. As it is logging in, BSOD: System_Service_Exception 03B Win32k.sys. Hard restart again.

Then it freezes on the Welcome screen, no BSOD. Hard restart. Finally get it to log in. Just as I open Firefox, BSOD: 07F again with amdkmdag.sys. Hard restart again. Get it to log in again, started to write this thread, BSOD 07F again (amdkmdag.sys).

I know the RAM is good: memtested it all, as kits, individually, etc...

It was working perfectly since that last incident (see linked thread above) was seemingly resolved.

Is this then a dying PSU (since it had problems POSTing), a bad motherboard, bad graphics card, or maybe just a driver issue, or maybe a mix of bad hardware + bad driver? I should try running it with the integrated graphics, just to see if I still have the same problem, but the not POSTING thing (no single beep as it normally would as it boots up and no beep codes to indicate a problem) lead me to believe that it might be a failing PSU or failing motherboard...

Unfortunately, I don't have another PSU to test with. Any suggestions or ideas would be welcomed.

Thank you.
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Update 8-3-2011

I got the board back from Asus about a week ago. I mailed it off on the 14th of July and received it back on the 25th. Finally got around to reinstalling it tonight and it seems to work fine once more.

From what I can tell (which is very little), it looks like they just replaced the CMOS battery. As long as it all keeps working...

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Update 12-22-2011 (in case anyone digs this up)

Computer seemed to be working flawlessly from when I put it all back together through mid-November. Unfortunately, I wasn't using my desktop nearly as much as I was prior, so I may have missed some things. Regardless, just before Thanksgiving, the computer just crashed and then failed to POST. I did get it to Windows once, but then it fatally crashed. Tried resetting the CMOS again, that gave a momentary reprieve, but it froze once again putting in my BIOS settings. Another reset did nothing.

I've had it with this Asus board, so I just picked up a Core i3-2100 and an MSI H67 board. Reused all my other components and what's now effectively a new machine is working flawlessly.

 

[Quiksilver]

All those errors and BSOD's would make me think it's a hard drive issue after it already passed memtest and what not but the fact it's not wanting to boot and post correctly makes me wonder if your motherboard is just taking a dump on you.

Also have you tried clearing the CMOS?

 

[Brainonska511]

All those errors and BSOD's would make me think it's a hard drive issue after it already passed memtest and what not but the fact it's not wanting to boot and post correctly makes me wonder if your motherboard is just taking a dump on you.

Also have you tried clearing the CMOS?

Well, the CMOS cleared itself. And I did that the last time as well. It was also working perfectly for the last 2 weeks. I don't think it's the hard drive, since it passed the Western Digital utility, both quick and complete scans. Plus, pre-POST problems would suggest it isn't.

Definitely been thinking motherboard though. I may just give Asus a ring and see about RMAing the board.

 

[Brainonska511]

Definitely thinking it is the motherboard more and more. Just tried restarting again:

1st time: no post, no beeps
2nd try (after hard shut down): Made it to the Windows Didn't Shut Down, Choose Option Screen. Froze and beeped twice
3rd try: CMOS had been reset, at least, the date and time had been. Claimed it had not been set. Try to set it, BIOS freezes.
Few more tries, still won't POST.

Edit:
Even removed the newest kit to double check, still has issues POSTing. No beeps, nothing . Just have to find out my motherboard's serial number and I can finish filling in this RMA thing-a-ma-jig.

 

[Brainonska511]

Just for the hell of it, I pulled out the graphics card to see if that makes a difference and run it on integrated graphics

It reset the BIOS settings when I did it (why, I do not know); so far, the first two times, it's booted up, no weird freezing in BIOS, able to get into Windows...

Makes me wonder....

 

[Brainonska511]

Haha! Look at that timing! I just made that post and now it froze again in Windows! No BSOD, just froze on the desktop. Tried to reboot - froze again on that "Windows Did Not Shut Down Properly, Choose Options Screen". And now when I try to boot - nothing. Just spinning fans.

Definitely going to get my serial number and contact Asus about this.

 

[Brainonska511]

RMAed the board to Asus. They're email form is pretty terrible - they never responded after a week, so I called them up and they authorized it almost immediately. I didn't notice any visual damage (blown capacitors, burn marks, etc...) when I was taking it out. No bent pins on the processor or the board.

They said they'd repair the board (if that's even possible).... we'll see in about 10-14 business days.

On a side note, anyone looking for the serial number of the board: it will be on the box, but there is also a sticker on the side of the last PCI slot.

 

[Brainonska511]

Update

I got the board back from Asus about a week ago. I mailed it off on the 14th of July and received it back on the 25th. Finally got around to reinstalling it tonight and it seems to work fine once more.

From what I can tell (which is very little), it looks like they just replaced the CMOS battery. As long as it all keeps working...