XPS 15 and BSOD

Hello everyone and Happy New Year !! I apologize to everyone in advance for my bad English but I'm Italian, I write here because I have a problem with my XPS15 just bought, in fact suffering from BSOD, is the 1TB version (toshiba ssd) and 32 gigs of ram . can someone help me??

 

Can you give us more specifics? Does it happen randomly or when doing something? Does the error screen say anything? Anything in the event log?

@GoNz0 normally recommends people run a program that reads the event log, but I can't recall the name. Why did I blue screen or something. I'll see if he can chime in.

 

It happens in a random, hangs around and after a few seconds you will see a blue screen usually written CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED and reboot (it takes a bit of time to recover). if I die how I will be happy to make a log

 

Since you have the Toshiba drive, try the OCZ driver:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...tom-iso-download.789769/page-30#post-10344410

You have to manually install it, but I believe it has been fixing issues with that error.

 

for manual installation should I use the utility or just me the x64 installer ???

 

just the x64 installer. You'll have to go into device manager and force the installation.

here is a how to:
https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/how-to-update-drivers-after-upgrading-to-windows-10/

 

read all this page http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...0-owners-lounge.783377/page-331#post-10421902

 

I tried, seemed to go all right but after reappeared thie BSOD.It may be due to graphics cards from Nvidia and Intel ??

 

install whocrashed and see what it finds, post the results here. http://www.resplendence.com/download/whocrashedSetup.exe

 

Windows version: Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 14393
Windows dir: C:\Windows
Hardware: XPS 15 9550, Dell Inc., 0N7TVV
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz Intel586, level: 6
8 logical processors, active mask: 255
RAM: 34176229376 bytes total



Crash Dump Analysis
Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.

No valid crash dumps have been found on your computer

Conclusion
Crash dumps are enabled but no valid crash dumps have been found. In case you are experiencing system crashes, it may be that crash dumps are prevented from being written out. Check out the following article for possible causes: If crash dumps are not written out.



Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information.

Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.

 

OP: Have you tried running BIOS diagnostics? It can detect some hardware problems. If you contact Dell, they'll also ask you to run the diagnostics.

 

I'm betting it is in raid mode hence the lack of crash dump, your going to need to switch to AHCI mode to allow the driver to work. http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...0-owners-lounge.783377/page-239#post-10262987

 

good morning everyone, thank you so much for all your advice, I have some news, since I had already changed bios AHCI mode and also did a full test of the bios and no error occurs. Occasionally, however, it hangs around and reappears the damn blue screen

 

When the crash next occurs, can you take a picture and post here?

 

ok, though the last time it happened immediately after opening the SSD management program but not always does, I do not know why but I think it is a graphics card problem, often selecting the nvidia card to use as I go to use the intel

 

If it was an nvidia card you would get a crash logged, if it's the SSD controller it drops the drive and cannot write a log. I need a screenshot of your device manager with the Storage controller and Disk drive sections expanded please.

 

Controller di archiviazione = Storage controller. That has the standard NVME controller that needs updating with the Toshiba driver.

 

I need to update this with the drivers that you gave me the other day?

 

Yes the Toshiba driver.

Remember it will tell you it isn't compatible, you have to force it for it to work.

 

Even blue screen. Now format and try again from the beginning

 

Out of interest did the storage controller change to XG3?

 

No, I have not done anything outside of clean install Windows and the drivers that you have advised me

 

When you install the Toshiba SSD driver it replaces the microsoft storage controller with just "XG3" relating to the SSD installed.

 

Ah ... And then what should I do?

 

Thats it, if you go back to page one and follow the instructions to install that Toshiba SSD driver manually to replace the "Standard NVM Express Controller" (translated to your language) making sure it shows as XG3 after the install you should no longer get the BSOD

 

Do you have Razer Synapse installed? Caused Bluescreens for me.

 

ok, maybe I finally managed to install drivers manually toshiba (I have not found the guide, I made by myself), at least the toshiba utility detects me the ssd, now I try it and see how it goes. I don't have rzer synapse installed

 

Today, after a day of testing the BSOD did not show !! thanks a lot to everyone!! especially in GoNz0!! thank you!!!!

 

Shame about the language barrier or you may have avoided the reinstall, but then nothing beats a fresh install!

 

Hate to jump on somebody else's thread, but I had almost identical symptoms (no dump file), on a seemingly identical build. (It's also brand new.) Unfortunately, this fix didn't work for me. I've gotten two BSODs (again, no dump files) in the 30 minutes since I installed the driver.

Are there any other common causes for this? Does it matter that I've switched to AHCI from RAID? I've tried dozens of fixes, including two reinstalls using Microsoft's refresh tool, and I'm totally stumped.

UPDATE: Actually, after checking WhoCrashed yet again (I'd given up on their being dump files) I found that Windows was kind enough to tell me what was going on... I guess that's progress.

from WhoCrashed:

On Sun 1/22/2017 10:47:32 AM your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\012217-9171-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x14A6F0)
Bugcheck code: 0xEF (0xFFFFB1841D0A7780, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a critical system process died.
There is a possibility this problem was caused by a virus or other malware.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 1/22/2017 10:47:32 AM your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntdll.sys (ntdll!RtlImageNtHeaderEx+0x14C)
Bugcheck code: 0xEF (0xFFFFB1841D0A7780, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED
Bug check description: This indicates that a critical system process died.
There is a possibility this problem was caused by a virus or other malware.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: ntdll.sys .
Google query: ntdll.sys CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED


Anyone really familiar with these errors? Could they be related to the driver I just installed?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

Which SSD do you have?

John

 

The 1TB toshiba NVMe, same as the OP.

Thanks in advance.

 

So did you find the Toshiba NVMe driver and force it to install? More here.

John

 

Yes, followed the directions closely and have had multiple BSOD since installing the driver. The only major difference is that now Windows is creating dump files.

 

Can you take pic of the device manager with the storage controller and disk drive section expanded please.

 

Yep: https://imgur.com/a/eFNsM

Thanks so much for your help. I've seen a lot of your posts on this forum, and I really appreciate how much time you've devoted to helping.

 

So it looks like it may be the XG4 but ignore that, updating the NVMe driver has at least stopped the drive vanishing on BSOD.
Check the obvious, is the BIOS up to date, have you ran all the updates and firmware updates from Dells page? never assume the firmwares up to date

Also make sure intel RST isn't installed now you're in AHCI as that is a raid only software.

 

Everything else is up to date. (bios is 1.2.18) I visited the dell site to double check and it asked me to download RST, which I don't want, and "Intel Management Engine Components Installer," even though I already have it. When I downloaded and tried to run that installer, it simply repaired the existing installation, and then crashed almost immediately after reboot.

Also, there doesn't seem to be a hardware problem. Everything's passed Dell's preboot diagnostics, memtest and Macrorit Disk Scanner.

Could my drivers be too new? Before learning about the NVMe driver, I assumed it was a display driver problem and downloaded the latest versions from Intel and Nvidia, which are ahead of Dell's suggestion. Would it be worth rolling them back to what dell recommends? I was still getting BSODs with these older drivers, but I've never tried them with the corrected NVMe driver.

Thanks again,

 

Try them as you never know, start with the intel as the nvidia seems to run ok (never cropped up on this forum really)

The IDE ATA ATAPI controller, what driver version are you running? I am on 15.2.0.1008 and I think I got it by clicking update driver or it may have been part of my custom ISO as I replaced the default drivers.

 

I'm running version 14.8.9.1053 and it won't auto update. Do you have a link for your version?

I actually went ahead and did a full reset of Windows to factory settings. It's clear that in the 4 days I've been fighting this, I've made the problem worse (as measured by BSOD frequency), and I figured it would be simpler than trying to untangle all the drivers I may have screwed up while searching for a solution.

At this point, I've added the correct storage control driver, removed Intel RST (along with all the bloatware) and made sure Windows/Dell has all the necessary updates, based on their updates. That doesn't seem to be enough, as I've gotten two BSODs in quick succession and I'm not even getting dump files anymore.

At this point, I'm about to take my chances with Dell's mail-in repair team. I just hope they're better than Lenovo's.

Thanks again for all your help,

 

I have the feeling that it is my custom ISO that has the drivers embedded and the included intel raid/ahci removed. If you are about to mail in for repair give my ISO a shot, you have nothing to lose.

It's in my sig below.

 

Actaully I think it is this driver (newer version and I just installed it) https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downloads/eula/26361/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver?httpDown=https://downloadmirror.intel.com/26361/eng/f6flpy-x64.zip

Extract the folder and manually update the Intel(R) 100 Series/C230 Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller by browsing for the driver using the "have disk" button and picking the folder you extracted, then pick the iaAHCIC.inf file and let it install.


As you have done a full reset chances are you need the Toshiba NVMe driver again.

 

Thanks for the link. I've installed that but I'm still getting BSODs. (I'd already installed the Toshiba driver, post reset.)

What bios version are you running? I'm on 1.2.18 and that's the only part of my system that didn't reset as part of the refresh. I don't know if my configuration would have worked under the previous bios, as I performed the update a few days after the computer arrived. But, I didn't get any BSODs during those few days, so it's worth a question.

I'm going to try your ISO tonight this evening, just to make sure I cover all my bases. The only other fix I haven't tried is replacing the wireless card, though most of the reports I've seen seem related to the older broadcom card, rather than the killer wireless card.

Thanks again for your help and tips,

P.S. This is likely way too much information, but for posterity, here's the timeline since I performed the factory reset last night:

Full Reset (Late 1/22/17):

1. Ran Factory Reset
   • This reinstalled everything, including bloat ware
2. Removed Bloatware
3. Removed Intel RST, via control panel.
4. BSOD
   
   • Stop Error: Critcal Process Died
   • No Crash Dump
   • Notes: While removing bloat ware
5. Ran Windows Update:
   • Notoble Update: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems (KB3213986)
6. Installed Toshiba NVMe Driver
   1. From: https://ocz.com/download/drivers/nvme/windows/ocznvme-1.2.126.843_whck.zip
   2. Forced install, device manager entry has been replaced by XG3.
7. BSOD
   • Stop Error: Critcal Process Died
   • No Crash Dump
   • Notes: Fine for ~ 1.5 hours. Then, while using chrome, background went black and graphics quality changed.
8. BSOD
   • Stop Error: Critcal Process Died
   • No Crash Dump
   • Notes: Another BSOD almost immediately after rebooting from the first, while trying to access WhoCrashed. Application stopped responding, then immediate BSOD. Did not notice if Background went black. After second reboot, there were no crash dumps.
9. Installed Intel Graphics Display Driver
   • Installed version 20.19.15.4531 from Dell site.
   • Even after after factory refresh, the Intel Graphics Driver was slightly ahead of what dell recommends. Downloaded and installed exact version from Dell Site.
10. Confirm Dell Updates
    • At this point, the only updates Dell Recommended were Intel RST, which I didn't want, and an Intel Management Engine Components Installer, which I opted not to install.
11. BSOD
    • Stop Error: Critical Process Died
    • No Crash Dump
    • Notes: Fine for roughly 15 - 40 minutes. Left laptop running on mild task, syncing Evernote database w/ cloud account. Seemingly immediate BSOD -- I was across the room and couldn't tell if anything froze or an app became unresponsive. Didn't see if background went black.
12. Updated IDE ATA ATAPI controller
    • Installed 15.2.0.1020 from https://downloadcenter.intel.com/do...loadmirror.intel.com/26361/eng/f6flpy-x64.zip
    • replaced 14.8.9.1053
    • Installed from device manager (have disk, etc...)
13. BSOD
    1. Stop Error: Critical_Process_Died
    2. No Crash Dump
    3. Notes: Fine for about 1 hr 15 minutes. Apps became unresponsive while trying to open device manager to double check current driver version. I had gotten a couple of other short-lived freezes, mostly while typing in Evernote. These freezes stopped after I minimized all windows.
       1. Potentially of note: The crash seemed to happen immediately after Evernote finished its enormous (multi-GB) initial sync. I base this on the fact that, after the reboot, the sync had completed. Can't imagine why this would be related, but it's a weird coincidence.
14. BSOD
    1. Stop Error: Critical_Process_Died
    2. No Crash Dump
    3. Notes: 2 minutes after reboot from previous BSOD. Just like the previous crash, I was trying to open the device manager. Mouse became incredibly sluggish, then screen went black followed by BSOD.
15. BSOD
    1. Stop Error: Critical_Process_Died
    2. No Crash Dump
    3. Notes: 10-20 minutes after reboot from previous BSOD, while using Evernote... Seemed like a gradual slow down. At first, Evernote froze, but I could still swithc between programs. Then, I couldn't switch anymore. Finally, the BSOD.
16. Installed Intel Management Engine Components Installer
    1. Version 11.5.0.1020, A01
    2. This was the only suggested update on the dell site, so I figured what the heck. Dell's site doesn't seem to recognize that I've installed it and still suggests I download it. But, I can confirm it installed locally.
17. BSOD
    1. Stop Error: Critical_Process_Died
    2. No dump file.
    3. Notes: 2-3 minutes after installing new Intel driver, and maybe 5 minutes after last BSOD. Screen froze while switching between tabs in chrome. I wasn't prompted to reboot after installing the last driver and was checking the dell site if it was necessary.

 

Todays bios, .19

I am starting to think the board or chips faulty, despite the diagnostics.

 

Those with the XG4 drive http://www.dell.com/support/home/uk...-15-9560-laptop&languageCode=en&categoryId=SA

 

FWIW, I sent my XPS back to Dell for repair, along with all the notes I posted here. After acknowledging (via phone) the notes I emailed (and offering to sell me an upgraded warranty, which was classy.), the techs blamed it on the SSD. They replaced the drive, and it arrived today. Honestly, I'm not terribly hopeful, but after 4 hours, it hasn't BSOD'd. That's something.

I'll post here if there are any updates, but thanks again for all your help.