Sager NP2090 - 2 reocurring Bluescreens I was hoping SP1 would fix - didn't.

Ok guys, if anyone has had any experience with a similar problem, or has any advice please reply.

Background (You probably don't need to read this):
I got the laptop in August, from powernotebooks.com.

• Phase 1: It came installed with Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and I was not satisfied with the poor quality drivers and software.
• Phase 2: I installed Vista 32 bit. I was experiencing reoccurring blue screens (sometimes several times an hour) in Vista Home Premium 32 bit.
• Phase 3: I switched to XP at this time, but XP still gave me a less frequent, but still reoccurring Blue Screen (maybe once a day), it wasn't as frequent as Vista's.
• Phase 4: I installed a fresh copy of Vista Home Premium 32 bit edition, and I was hoping Vista SP1 would fix my Blue Screen issues, and it didn't. I've always been running into 2 blue screens when using Vista.

I have not done any 3d gaming to speak of, I have not modified the hardware in anyway. I am using the latest drivers. I have the latest BIOS installed.

The Main Problem:
2 reoccurring Blue Screens of Death:

• BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER STOP 0x000000FE (My most frequent error) (No USB devices plugged in, although built in webcam is called "USB 2.0 Camera" on device manager)
• IRQL_NOT_DISPATCH_LEVEL - I don't know the specific error number

These errors appear to occur randomly while using my laptop while windows vista is running, it sometimes even occurs at the login screen.

System Info:
Sager NP2090
Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit (Latest Drivers and BIOS, no hardware modifications)

Questions:

• Am I the only one having these blue screens?
• Could this be a hardware problem? (These errors occur on brand new installs of Vista and XP, how can it be an OS issue?)
• Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for reading this, please post a reply if you have anything to add that may be helpful to my situation.

 

You should disable any integrated devices that is using the USB controllers:
- webcam
- fingerprint reader
- card reader

See if that helps.

Have you done:
- to rule out HDD errors, (in command prompt): CHKDSK C: /F
- or a MemTest86+ to rule out any memory errors.

 

try googleing those errors... no garrentees, but you might find a hotfix.

 

I found http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941600 (an update that is supposed to solve many usb errors), for some reason they gave the error "the update does not apply to your system" when I tried to install the update. I tried various other hot fixes to solve this usb error, and none have resolved the issue. This update was supposed to be included in SP1, so I was expecting it to solve my USB bluescreen, but I was disappointed that it didn't.

Searching the other error, I didn't find any clear cut solutions that worked for me.

 

I have performed CHKDSK several times, I am sure its not an HDD error. I have disabled those USB devices, I will watch the computer for blue screens and report back.

 

next time give us the dump.

You can analyze the memory dump to get a better idea of what is the error coming from.

 

How do I use Event Viewer to find logs of blue screens, and where do I find the memory dump?

How do I analyze the dump?

 

Read here first:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263

Then this:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...AA9-B792-43E02A243C71/SVR422R_Russinovich.ppt

Event Viewer does not help much for BSODs... as compared to the minidump file that is created when the system crashes.

 

What kind of a dump should I be performing on BSOD? I found the drop down box of choices. I have one Kernal Dump file of a previous BSOD.

 

I would choose the small memory dump 64k.

Vista has the Kernel Dump on default, while XP/2000 has the small dump as default... go figure.

 

OK well I looked into all that dump check process. I'm stuck at "!analyze -v" because "Kernel symbols are WRONG. Please fix symbols to do analysis." I set my source smbol path as "srv*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols" just like the powerpoint says.

Even with the wrong symbols the report says:
MODULE_NAME: usbhub
FAULTING_MODULE: 81c4c000 nt

It also says something about USBPortDriver, I don't know if this is a driver problem or a hardware problem. If I am using the same drivers as all other NP2090 users, why am I the only one with this USB bluescreen?

 

you should contact Sager about this issue, they would probably have a workaround or fix for you.

 

I'd still like to know how to analyze dumps for the future, whats wrong with my symbol path?

Edit: Further research shows this symbols problem isn't that big of a deal.
Conclusion from dump: "Probably caused by : usbhub.sys ( usbhub+13d9d )"
I will contact support about this.

 

I would recommend to leave your paths at default.

And just change the dump type to "small 64k".

I use a number of tools (like ERD Commander 2005 and up) to analyze the dumps... but you can read the txt file

 

I ran Vista's "Memory Diagnostics Tool" which restarted the machine and scanned the memory before the operating system was loaded, and it found no errors.

I also haven't had any blue screens since I disabled integrated USB devices.

 

Contact Sager, sounds like a hardware issue then.

 

Update: I had all internal USB devices disabled for a short period, for some reason I did not experience blue screens during this time, maybe it was a coincidence. I have since re-enabled only the fingerprint reader. in a seven minute period today I received 2 blue screens, details below:
DRIVER_IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL: 3:10 PM - About 5 minutes after resuming from hibernation (which seems to be my most common time for getting this bluescreen, but not always)
Photo:

Full size Image
Minidump: Mini032308-01.dmp

BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER: 3:17 PM - About 10 seconds after swiping my finger to log in after the previous crash. (Starting up after an improper shutdown)
Photo:

Full size Image
Minidump: Mini032308-02.dmp

It is clear to me now that both bluescreens are caused by issues with USB support in Vista. However, if there are others with this laptop, and this Vista version, and these drivers, but without these problems, then isn't it probably a hardware problem unique to my machine?

 

you should forward this page to Sager support.

They will either give you a fix, or ask you to send it in so that they can repair/replace your system.

 

Yes I have been doing that, thanks. I just thought since I created this thread, I might as well keep it updated.

 

when I get some time, I will look into the minidump...

but for the pics... it seems theres a faulty USB component in your notebook... more than likely the USB controller.

 

There have been a few people who have similar problems with the NP209x and blue screen.

I wonder if this is not a widespread problem.
Even the heating issue... who would think think the 8600 could cause this much heat(assuming it is responsible for it)