[SOLVED] 0xA IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL; Suspect: NIS?

I have a very strange occurrence to note.

The system runs faster with HD Tune doing an error check on each sector. The HD is constantly spinning during the tests.​

I saw this last time I ran HD Tune with the old drive, as well. I thought it was just my imagination.
 
Agreed. I would expect a performance drop while the hard drive is under heavy use, not a performance increase.

HDTune came back clean with no errors found. Performance dropped after it finished.

FurMark maxed at 69 C and had no artifacts.

Running other video tests now...
 
Video artifact finder and all three video memory tests passed with 0 errors.

Memory swapped to original factory RAM again in the only slot I had not tested by itself. Still issues remain. RAM likely ruled out, display card likely ruled out, CPU likely ruled out, hard drive likely ruled out. That leaves the power supply and the CPU, and I doubt it is the power supply. I can put the battery in to check, though. That's the last thing I have left to test.

I'm leaning toward a hard drive related problem through the motherboard. A new hard drive fixed it for a time. Running HD Tune fixes it during the error check. Strangest hardware problem I've ever encountered with a PC...


Edit: Battery did not resolve the problem...
 
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Please note the Informational section of perfmon /report:
Informational
Severity:
Information
Warning: The average disk queue length is 2. The disk may be at its maximum transfer capacity due to throughput and disk seeks
Related: Disk Diagnosis
Click to expand...

Yet there's no problem with the hard drive. That is suggestive of a controller/mobo issue.
Intel storage controller drivers date from late 2010 to early 2011
I'd suggest updating them to the latest version available from the Intel Download Center ( http://downloadcenter.intel.com )

I've seen strange problems when switching between AHCI and IDE/SATA - are you certain that the BIOS settings for the hard drive are correct?
Did you update the drivers from the Intel website previously (after this latest install)? If so, could you have downloaded the incorrect version of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers? My experience at work with Sony's and Advanced Format drives failed when installing RAID drivers - but worked when installing AHCI drivers.
 
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The Intel driver that comes with the system is AHCI Driver 10.0.0.1046 from 06/04/2011 which seems to be the most up to date AHCI driver available, or did I miss one? EDIT: The date was misleading. My version was actually newer. I'll try some other drivers to see if any help. I should mention the problem occurs in safe mode with networking, too. There is a IRST driver update from Sep. 2012, but I believe that is the RAID driver you mention.

The disk queue warning seems to go away after about 15 minutes from startup. It shouldn't take that long for the system to startup... Also, the performance issues are less pronounced once the system is up and running for a while, but they can come back after a longer time. I have seen them return after a few hours of system uptime.

I'll keep an eye on the disk queue problem and the 0xc0000005 problem. The 0xc0000005 has not repeated since the programs were initially installed, so it may be an installation issue. My bigger concern is the update errors I've had the past few times I've done a clean install. I've never had update problems in the past with any of my systems, and that indicates to me that something is wrong with this PC that is probably also related to the performance issues.


EDIT:

A bit more to report: The disk queue problem seems to be the culprit. When the disk queue message is not present, the system behaves as normally expected on a high end system. I have tried many Intel Mobile Express Chipset SATA AHCI Controller drivers. I currently am running with the driver dated Sep. 1st, 2012 and have the same problem where the disk queue is high for the first 15-20 minutes of system uptime. It then runs well for a while. I'll have to see how long it typically runs before the queue error returns.

This feels like hardware to me, but could it just be no good drivers exist yet for the controller on this system?

Would you expect this problem in Safe Mode with Networking?​

EDIT2:

Just realized I never addressed the BIOS question. There are no settings to change for the AHCI vs. IDE controller mode, so I would think the built in option would be AHCI and always AHCI.​
 
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These drivers (and the controllers that they work on) have been around for years - so I don't expect issues with them.
I'm uncertain if they load in Safe Mode - but suspect that they do.

Winload selects Boot Start drivers without regard to Safe Mode settings.
 
That was what I thought, too. Thanks for confirmation. I'm packing the system up and letting Sony fix it in hopes of getting a new system or at the very least a new motherboard.
 
Sony support representatives just called me to let me know they found nothing wrong with the system and are unable to reproduce the hangs. I had to explain that the problems are intermittent and most often occur during the first fifteen minutes of startup. Hopefully they can see what I mean and don't just send the system back. My five year old Toshiba with an Intel Core 2 1.73 GHz processor and only 2 GB of RAM runs Windows 64-bit smoother than the Sony with an Intel i7 2.2 GHz processor and 8 GB of RAM... :confused2:

The Toshiba barely meets 64-bit requirements, so I run 32-bit most of the time, but I did install 64-bit to test at one point, and I do not recall having any performance issues during the time it was installed. I may try it again to see whether it is still smoother than the Sony. That would give me a little more leverage with their tech support to get the system fixed, hopefully.
 
I was able to persuade them to do more testing, but the guy working on my system didn't even know what I meant when I said perfmon /report showed long average disk queue lengths... He asked me how I got to that information. I told him to go into the Start Menu and type in "perfmon, space, forward-slash, report" and his response was: "So the problem occurs when searching through the Start Menu?"

I'm considering calling their consumer relations department again to let them know that I do not feel their technician is familiar enough with Windows to understand my problem!
 
That is unreal.

I could understand them not knowing about perfmon /report, but then jumping to the conclusion -
"So the problem occurs when searching through the Start Menu?"
Click to expand...

.. is beyond comprehension.
 
The thing I found odd about the guy not being familiar with perfmon /report is I mentioned the average disk queue length and Performance Monitor. I would expect technicians to at least know what Performance Monitor is. Do you think that is unrealistic to have that expectation?
 
Service Centers aren't very concerned with the knowledge of the tech's - they have set procedures (like telephone tech support) and don't vary from it at all. The tech's at Service Centers are able to run the specific diagnostics that the manufacturer requires - and then they replace parts as indicated by the diagnostics. If things don't fit into that scenario - then they either say "no fault found" or they escalate it to another level.

Keep massaging the tech that you're talking to - and bring up escalation (and customer satisfaction).
The tech usually won't care ("an action delegated is an action completed" mentality) and will be glad to palm this problem off onto another person.

Continue with customer service also - they can make the decision to give you another computer (it may need to be escalated also.)

Remember, this is money to them - the time spent with you, the time working on your system, even the time shipping and receiving the unit.
Eventually it's just not worth (monetarily) spending any more time on it - and that's when they either give you a new system (or a massive repair), or they tell you that they just can't help you anymore.

Yesterday at work we finally stopped working on a system that we'd had for 3 weeks (because it was no longer cost-effective). We offered to refund all moneys that the customer paid (except for the diagnostic fee) and give him 10% off on a new computer (for his inconvenience). Just FYI - it was a mobo problem and we didn't want to spend any more time troubleshooting a Vista system.
 
That makes sense. I'll keep pushing with support until I at least get a motherboard replacement. Thanks for the info and for sharing your own experience.
 
writhziden said:
The thing I found odd about the guy not being familiar with perfmon /report is I mentioned the average disk queue length and Performance Monitor. I would expect technicians to at least know what Performance Monitor is. Do you think that is unrealistic to have that expectation?
Click to expand...

Depending on the escalation level - no.

I have found most of them read from scripts and get lost if you veer off course.

If it was an escalation engineer - yes, he should have known or at a minimum, had a similar tool like Process Explorer summary.
 
Thank you both. I guess I thought all technicians would be more at an expert IT level. I did not realize the tiers involved and the processing needed to have the system fully analyzed and diagnosed.

It is a bit frustrating being without my usual PC for going on two weeks and knowing it may easily be another 2-4 weeks before what I want done can be accomplished. I do not want to get this system back in as bad of shape as I received my previous system back after having what should have been a very minor repair accomplished. That's how I ended up with this system in the first place; it was a replacement system for my VPCCW17FX that had a broken mousepad key that I brought in under the extended warranty I purchased. That system came back with a broken mouse key and an overheating processor, was sent in again, and it came back a second time with the still broken mouse key, a bad sound system, and the inability to install Windows on it. A new motherboard and a new laptop casing was all the system required. There was no reason it should have been shipped back to me in worse condition than when I handed it over for repairs.

I do not want a repeat of that experience. Between these two experiences, I've lost 6 weeks of having a working laptop and probably 3-4 weeks of being able to do my PhD research as a result.
 
Sony called this morning. They've now replaced the hard drive a second time as they determined that the problems were hard drive related. The system is currently going through quality assurance. I asked that they test it for a few extra days since the previous hard drive replacement also met with success in the beginning and then deteriorated back to its previous state after a few days.

While it is unlikely that I would have two bad hard drives in the span of eight months, it is not ruled out as a possibility, especially given that some drives were shipped post-tsunami that should have been scrapped.
 
Marking this thread solved for now. All appears to be good. I am running into a hardware/driver issue with my USB 3.0 ports, though. I will probably start a new thread in the Hardware area.
 

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