Daily Bugcheck 133 (DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION) BSODs/Freezes

[ubuysa]

Removing RAM sticks is by far the best way to test RAM, few people want to do that though!

 

[slavkosky]

Ok, I've reset RAM XMP profile to default (Auto), which brings them back to stock 2667Mhz and have begun running MemTest86 on the two sticks I left in originally after pulling 2 (I've been still getting freezes during use and BSODs during idle with these two). I'm running all tests (default), but only 4 passes (also default). Do you recommend more or is 4 a good number?

 

[ubuysa]

8 iterations of the 14 different tests will find most common RAM issues.

 

[slavkosky]

Ok thanks. I let the original 4-pass test finish (no errors found), then immediately started another 4-pass test (this time with the "experimental" DMA Test also enabled). So far, after 2.75 passes, still no errors. I'll report back when it finishes this round.

 

[slavkosky]

Tests finished with no errors...hmph. At this point, I'm weighing the time required to reinstall Windows against the time required to keep debugging this issue.

It does bother me that I still don't know what is causing the bugchecks. If it was a software, driver, or configuration issue I'd like to know so I can avoid it in the future, but at this point I'm not sure what else to try.

 

[ubuysa]

I've been looking at some of the older drivers you have installed and there are a couple I'd question...

AsrAppCharger.sys - this is the ASRock App Charger driver and the version you have is dated 2011. Prior to 2013 this driver was a common cause of BSODs. I would either look for an updated version or uninstall it.

AsrAppCharger.sys                             Tue May 10 11:28:46 2011 (4DC8F73E)
ASRock App Charger Likely BSOD cause - haven't seen recently (15Jan2013) ASRock > App Charger
https://www.sysnative.com/drivers/driver.php?id=AsrAppCharger.sys

mtinvme.sys - this is a Micron NVMe SSD driver, which is fine except that it's oldish, dating from 2011.

mtinvme.sys                                   Tue Aug  3 14:38:40 2021 (61092AC0)
 
mtinvme.sys - this driver hasn't been added to the DRT as of this run. Please search Google/Bing for the driver if additional information is needed.

I'm assuming that this related to your Crucial NVMe system drive, since you don't have another NVMe? I would suggest that you download the Micron Storage Executive and use that to ook for an updated driver for the drive - you might look for a firmware update too.

There are also a lot of other old drivers on there (5 years old or more), you can see these listed below...

inpoutx64.sys                                 Sat Oct 18 02:01:16 2008 (48F9193C)
DLL and driver for direct access to hardware ports http://www.highrez.co.uk/Downloads/InpOut32/default.htm
https://www.sysnative.com/drivers/driver.php?id=inpoutx64.sys
 
3dxshim.sys                                   Sat Jan 15 00:07:26 2011 (4D30C91E)
3Dconnextion Inc HID Miniport Driver http://www.3dconnexion.eu/service/drivers.html
https://www.sysnative.com/drivers/driver.php?id=3dxshim.sys
 
3dxkmj.sys                                    Sat Jan 15 00:07:28 2011 (4D30C920)
3Dconnextion Inc KMJ Minidriver http://www.3dconnexion.eu/service/drivers.html
https://www.sysnative.com/drivers/driver.php?id=3dxkmj.sys

SteelBus64.sys                                Tue May 27 19:42:05 2014 (5384C05D)
SteelSeries Bus Enumerator Support(FAQ):  http://faq.steelseries.com/
Downloads:  http://steelseries.com/support/downloads
https://www.sysnative.com/drivers/driver.php?id=SteelBus64.sys
 
SteamStreamingSpeakers.sys                    Fri Jul 21 03:56:15 2017 (5971512F)
 
SteamStreamingSpeakers.sys - this driver hasn't been added to the DRT as of this run. Please search Google/Bing for the driver if additional information is needed.
 
SteamStreamingMicrophone.sys                  Fri Jul 28 18:33:15 2017 (597B593B)
 
SteamStreamingMicrophone.sys - this driver hasn't been added to the DRT as of this run. Please search Google/Bing for the driver if additional information is needed.
 
vbaudio_vmvaio64_win10.sys                    Sat Jan 12 09:23:23 2019 (5C3995EB)
 
vbaudio_vmvaio64_win10.sys - this driver hasn't been added to the DRT as of this run. Please search Google/Bing for the driver if additional information is needed.
 
vbaudio_vmauxvaio64_win10.sys                 Sat Jan 12 09:23:46 2019 (5C399602)
 
vbaudio_vmauxvaio64_win10.sys - this driver hasn't been added to the DRT as of this run. Please search Google/Bing for the driver if additional information is needed.
 
vbaudio_vmvaio364_win10.sys                   Sat Jan 12 09:24:10 2019 (5C39961A)
 
vbaudio_vmvaio364_win10.sys - this driver hasn't been added to the DRT as of this run. Please search Google/Bing for the driver if additional information is needed.
 
BstkDrv_bgp.sys                               Fri Nov 29 15:46:05 2019 (5DE1211D)
 
BstkDrv_bgp.sys - this driver hasn't been added to the DRT as of this run. Please search Google/Bing for the driver if additional information is needed.

You might possibly want to review each of these as well?

You might also try enabling Driver Verifier to see whether that can catch a flaky driver? Full details on how to do that properly are at Driver Verifier Instructions - BSOD - Windows 11, 10, 8(.1), 7 and Vista

 

[slavkosky]

Thanks for that info @ubuysa! Coincidentally, we've stumbled upon the same topic (outdated drivers/firmware) but from different angles.

Today, I discovered that there was a Local Group Policy configured for Windows Update (according to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced > Group Policies that was excluding drivers from Quality updates. I immediately opened Local Group Policy Editor, but found the policy was "Not configured". Confused, I decided to try toggling it and rebooting. After that, the item disappeared from the list of configured policies in Settings. I have no idea how/how long that policy was enabled, if it carried over through OS upgrades then it could've been awhile. I had driver updates when I checked again (2nd image), so that's a sign my policy 'toggling' worked.

As for Driver Verifier, I ran that for around a week a couple months ago, but I'll add it back to my list to try again.

I'll look into those drivers you shared as well and report back!