NP9150 BSODs and Application Crashes

Hello all, just when I thought my time here was done for a bit, seemingly random BSODs began afflicting my laptop semi-regularly. The machine was fine until about two weeks ago. I had never experienced any issues, and left for vacation for 5 days. I kept the computer off the entire time, but when I returned home, it just wasn't the same.

What really perplexes me is that nothing should have physically changed about my machine over the 5 days I was gone. Prior to leaving, I never experienced any BSOD issues, but when I returned, without installing any new applications or making any changes, BSODs started appearing.

So, for the past week, I've been having these ranging from 0-2 times per day. No specific action seems to trigger them, and I've only just now started capturing their error messages.

The first one happened while I was away from the computer, I had stood up to go to the bathroom, or for whatever reason was out of the room. I returned and lo-and-behold, BSOD. Confused, I restarted and had no further problems for the rest of the day.

Another one which confused me was when it BSODed immediately after waking from sleep. I do use a Crucial M4 SSD, but have the latest firmware from their website.

Attached is the image of my most recent BSOD, which occurred no more than 15 minutes ago.



These BSODs are scaring me because I plan to take this machine to college, and really can't have this start happening now. I've used Windows 7 for over 2 years previously on another machine and never had a single blue screen (sure things crash, but never to the point of no return like this).

About application failures: Around the same time my blue screens started popping up, Chrome has become extremely unstable. Shockwave Flash crashes probably about 50-66% of the time, somewhere in there, and even firefox has crashed on me. Many times when opening a page in Chrome, even the home page (google.com) I am greeted with "Aww snap, looks like something went wrong here, reload the page?" I don't know what could be causing this.

Until yesterday, I had never experienced a BSOD while gaming, even for extended periods of time. While it doesn't entirely rule out an Intel 4000 memory issue, that's what I was suspecting before. The BSOD image I took a photo of isn't the most common. I'm fairly certain that most of the time it gives me some type of memory error.

I would upload the dump too, but I don't know where to find it. If anyone posts how to locate memory dumps after a BSOD, I'd be happy to post that as well.

EDIT: It just threw up the more common BSOD while I was running 3DMark11 to test out some new OC settings:

 

hi
bsod screens mean nothing to me but if you download who crashed > Resplendence Software - WhoCrashed, automatic crash dump analyzer and copy/paste the dump report we will be able to advise further.

edit:
we need to know your full specifications so either post here or put it in your signature.

now ive read your full post that last screen could be lose or dodgy ram sticks or hard drive. make sure all components are seated correctly as you mention youve been on a journey something could have come lose.
few things to try.
firstly remove base plate. have you ever cleaned out fans and vents before. if not its worth doing so every few months. as youve now got your base plate off get cleaning.
maybe remove the ram sticks and swop them around in the slots.

also what sort of temperatures have you been getting lately.

you can find lots of free software to monitor everything in my signature below

 

MrDJ said, it could be a number of issues. Sounds like a frustrating bummer.

Please check temps and run the whocrashed. Post results.

My guess is bad RAM. But we won't know til you try. Also, have you tried reinstalling windows? Just backup your data and reinstall clean.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

I downloaded WhoCrashed, and in the information it tell me that it reads from C:\Windows\MiniDumps, which I've checked before and there is never anything there. From WhoCrashed:
Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump
Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.
No valid crash dumps have been found on your computer

As far as hardware, I have the following:
Intel Core i7 3720qm
Nvidia GTX 680M
Crucial M4 256GB SSD
Western Digital AV-25 1TB HDD
16GB Corsair Vengeance 1866 MHz (it does run at 1866MHz, I can upload CPU-Z screens if so desired)

You misunderstood my part about traveling, my mistake. While I was away, the computer sat stationary, off, at my desk at home. It hasn't moved more than being carried to the printer since I've gotten it just over a month ago. It came with only the CPU/GPU installed (as well as things like the screen and keyboard, but the point is that I installed the RAM, SSD, and HDD myself). I will check those components now, but I don't know what could have unsettled them in such a short time.

As far as temperatures go, right now the cores on the CPU are idling between 44-51C, with the ambient temperature in my house ~23C. During gaming or intense workloads (WinRAR or Handbrake for extended periods of time) the the GPU has reached 90C but I've never seen the CPU get over mid 80s.

I will run WhoCrashed again immediately after the next BlueScreen, but it appears that whatever is causing this doesn't allow for memory dumps, as listed on the WhoCrashed website, some errors don't.

I considered bad RAM, as well as possibly a bad RAM slot. Since I am using 4 sticks though, the amount of time it would take to test each stick and each combination of sticks in each slot would be absolutely daunting, and I'd rather avoid a month of running MemTest every night if possible.

I hadn't reinstalled Windows, but if I did, what good would backing up my data be? If I have something screwy on this installation, wouldn't putting the same data on a fresh install possibly just mess up the clean one?

 

Well I doubt your bug is linked to a game file or media file. That is the kind of data I would backup

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

I would burn memtest on a CD and leave it running as you have it now over night. See if it reports any problems in the morning. To me, it sounds like a memory issue. Odd that you had no issues at the beginning.

 

thats a bugger if who crashed doesnt show a dump after every bsod

this is what you will be looking for though

90c for gpu is a bit toasty. if it gets much higher it might be worth thinking about a replacing the thermal paste.

this post is about 4 years old now but it gives a rough idea what to look out for:

 

The OverClockers BSOD code list

"0x1A = Memory management error. It usually means a bad stick of Ram. Test with Memtest or whatever you prefer. Try raising your Ram voltage"

"0x50 = RAM timings/Frequency or uncore multi unstable, increase RAM voltage or adjust QPI/VTT, or lower uncore if you're higher than 2x"

 

thats a handy list. thanks for posting Montage +rep

 

Haha good thinking, Ninite - Install or Update Multiple Apps at Once does make reinstalling most programs fairly painless. I will consider it if the RAM solutions below don't work out.

I can do this, but as stated there's 4 sticks, so it could take about a week (one test per night) to sort out which stick is the bad one.

Thanks for the dump text so I know what to look for now. And as you stated that post is a bit old, I believe both the CPU and GPU are rated to 110C nowdays. The heat is something people have mentioned could stem from either Sager/Clevo's weak fan profiles (no max fan until 90C for instance) and/or the design of the case and cooling apparatus itself, apparently the seals aren't all very tight and it recirculates some hot air inside. The CPU idles around the low 50s and the GPU goes to 41/42C. Honestly though, the temps don't bother me as they go right down once heavy tasks are over and I haven't noticed slowdown or data loss/corruption as a result anways.

I guessed the memory management one had to do with RAM, but thanks for the 0x50 explanation, I had no idea what that meant. That seems peculiar though, because this RAM is at its default timings (10 10 10 27 I believe).

I will try as suggested and allow MemTest to run for several hours tonight and see what it pops up tomorrow morning.

EDIT: As Expected, I seem to have some failing memory. Running Memtest86 from a USB drive after about 10 minutes it's 15% complete with 284928 errors. At te end does it tell me what is causing this problem, or what is the best method to uncovering which stick is causing problems? Also, will it matter if I have slots 1 2 and 4 occupies (say I'm checking it withou 3 to see if that's the issue)?

 

Take out the 2 easy memory stick at the bottom of the laptop and run memtest again. See if it fails after 15 minutes.

 

I typically run the test one stick at a time utilizing the first slot of the board. This is the best method for determining exactly where the problem resides.

 

To cut down your test runs, you can do two at a time. If the first two don't error, it is one of the remaining two. If there are error, then pick one of the two that you tested. Process of elimination from there. This isn't as surefire a way as doing it one at a time, but can be faster than testing four sticks of RAM individually.

Also, it enables you to test if it is the slot/channel is busted as well. Good luck to you.a

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

one thing i forgot to ask was are you still covered by warranty.
if so contact your support and tell them whats up and depending who your reseller was they might send a new stick of ram out for you to change and then you just send the faulty one back when you find it.

 

^This

If you've got warranty.. there's nothing to be afraid of

 

The RAM I bought myself and installed, it didn't come by the Sager or LPC-Digital (who I ordered from, great guy by the way). I believe Corsair products have either a 1 year or lifetime warranty though, so I was going to contact them once I discovered the faulty stick.

 

You could possibly try the store or vendor first before going the RMA route. Would be easier to just get an exchange or return

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Everything is outside of its normal 30 day return policy time, so I'll be having to go with a warranty to get things replaced. I tested two of my sticks during dinner though, and it was able to complete 1 pass through them with 0 errors, which leaves me the two remaining sticks I was using previously under the keyboard. In a combined effort to test both the keyboard slots and remaining RAM, I will move the 'good' sticks to the keyboard slots and put 1 of my two remaining in the back panel slot. This will run overnight for however many passes it completes and then be swapped out for the last stick while I am away from home the entire day.

If neither configuration throws errors, I will put both sticks in the back panel bays and leave the machine as is (which I doubt will happen). If both throw errors up, I will test each stick individually in the back panel slots the following day.

I really hope it isn't the slots under the keyboard that are broken, because I don't have time to ship my laptop to Sager and deal with technical support that barely speaks english right now... I am moving in 2 weeks and need this machine to be functional.

 

After last night, I've tested all 4 sticks and determined that one set of my RAM (2x4GB) both seem to be messing up. The other 8GB worked fine for 9 passes last night with 0 errors. The broken sticks throw up errors within the first few seconds. I contacted Corsair about my RAM with errors and will update this thread as more information comes to me.

 

Awesome man! Glad you could deduce your issues. Hope you get it straightened out soon

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

I am glad you were able to determine it was the memory on your laptop that was the issue. I also noticed you mentioned WhoCrashed was not detecting BSOD errors. If WhoCrashed does not find the crash dump files, you may need to change your Windows settings.

Click on the Start orb, right-click on computer and select Properties. On the left, bluish pane click Advanced System Settings. Under the new System Properties Window, click on the Settings... button under Startup and Recovery. Near the bottom of the new window, you should see "Write debugging information" and a drop down menu, click on it and make sure "Small memory dump (256K) is selected and click OK. You may need to reboot your system after to make sure the settings stick.

This should help with getting WhoCrashed to read the crash dump files.

 

7970m causing the BSOD or is it the 680m?

 

WhoCrashed told me that memory dumps were enabled on my computer, but I'll check those settings you listed. Thanks for the support, Corsair responded to my RMA request, much quicker than I expected actually, and gave me the shipping info. Tomorrow I'll be shipping back my bad RAM and hopefully some time next week some new sticks will come in.

I have a 680M, but that wasn't the source of my problems. My crashes were caused by some bad RAM. The computer crashed both when games were playing and when it sat idling on the desktop, 680M had nothing to do with it.

 

The Crucial M4 SSD used to have troubles like a ticking time bomb. After so many hours people would get BSOD Near the next hour or so. There is a flash update to fix the errors. You may want to look into that.

 

Uhh really? I've heard nothing but good reviews about it and people praising the drive for its reliability.

 

it had better not be like that now as im getting the 512 crucial ssd

 

I don't know what he's talking about. On the SSD section of the NBR forums, Crucial M4s are praised, as well as in their reviews on Newegg.

 

thats good to hear.
was going to go for a samsung 256ssd and a samsung 128gb msata which have the best read/write speeds but then i was told the msata is slower i decided on the crucial.
no matter what it is its still going to be faster than my wd scorpio black

 

M4 IS GOOD but............ BSOD Crucial M4 - Crucial Community

FROM crucial and GL

 

Oh ok so the issue did exist, but has since been fixed. We are well past January 16, 2012. Thanks for that though, I'd never heard about any such problems.