BSOD
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Hi, I have my laptop since a few months now (Vista X64) and it BSOD's on me sometimes once a week, sometimes 5x times in 30 minutes. I did some searching and (memory)tests on pre-boot level. after 5 phone calls to dell and more then 10h (!) of running tests (swapping memory sticks in different slots) they finally agreed to send me new memory sticks (2x2GB). One half hour later: BSOD. Today I got the message SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION. What's weird is that the tests passed when performing them on one stick, but failed when putting them together. (although it failed on different tests and sometimes even passed) My guess was that the communication between the two sticks wasn't working (Mo'board ?), but of course Dell didn't listen. Any ideas or suggestions (before I start a new dell frustration session)? I would really hate re-installing the OS... thanks in advance :-).
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview ArchiveI'd think there was something wrong with the motherboard if each stick individually passed the test on all the slots and not when used together. edit: also check your bios settings for the RAM. also, what tests did you perform?
modified on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 6:39 AM
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I'd think there was something wrong with the motherboard if each stick individually passed the test on all the slots and not when used together. edit: also check your bios settings for the RAM. also, what tests did you perform?
modified on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 6:39 AM
UserNameless wrote:
also check your bios settings for the RAM
Didn't do that, what should I look for? What settings might be important?
UserNameless wrote:
what tests did you perform?
1. One that you can start via the control panel (after reboot, the system will scan) 2. The one dell delivers, first basic, than continue to elaborate and after that it will do another scan. It gives things like ground bounce test, XMATS32, WCMATS, ... etc.
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
UserNameless wrote:
also check your bios settings for the RAM
Didn't do that, what should I look for? What settings might be important?
UserNameless wrote:
what tests did you perform?
1. One that you can start via the control panel (after reboot, the system will scan) 2. The one dell delivers, first basic, than continue to elaborate and after that it will do another scan. It gives things like ground bounce test, XMATS32, WCMATS, ... etc.
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archivelets see... I haven't used a laptop in a long time so don't know whats in their bios... uh, generally you should look at the ram timings and voltages (if they are there) also try running memtest86+. general guidelines for RAM testings are to test each stick individually, if they pass then try with both sticks. also further googling the issue, suggests to update drivers and bios version. see if these help
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Hi, I have my laptop since a few months now (Vista X64) and it BSOD's on me sometimes once a week, sometimes 5x times in 30 minutes. I did some searching and (memory)tests on pre-boot level. after 5 phone calls to dell and more then 10h (!) of running tests (swapping memory sticks in different slots) they finally agreed to send me new memory sticks (2x2GB). One half hour later: BSOD. Today I got the message SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION. What's weird is that the tests passed when performing them on one stick, but failed when putting them together. (although it failed on different tests and sometimes even passed) My guess was that the communication between the two sticks wasn't working (Mo'board ?), but of course Dell didn't listen. Any ideas or suggestions (before I start a new dell frustration session)? I would really hate re-installing the OS... thanks in advance :-).
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview ArchiveCheck how it behaves under different temperature conditions (cool room/hot room); make sure the vents are always free. If temperature is a clear factor, then it isn't a software issue, and probably a BIOS settings issue. :)
Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles]
The quality and detail of your question reflects on the effectiveness of the help you are likely to get. Show formatted code inside PRE tags, and give clear symptoms when describing a problem.
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Hi, I have my laptop since a few months now (Vista X64) and it BSOD's on me sometimes once a week, sometimes 5x times in 30 minutes. I did some searching and (memory)tests on pre-boot level. after 5 phone calls to dell and more then 10h (!) of running tests (swapping memory sticks in different slots) they finally agreed to send me new memory sticks (2x2GB). One half hour later: BSOD. Today I got the message SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION. What's weird is that the tests passed when performing them on one stick, but failed when putting them together. (although it failed on different tests and sometimes even passed) My guess was that the communication between the two sticks wasn't working (Mo'board ?), but of course Dell didn't listen. Any ideas or suggestions (before I start a new dell frustration session)? I would really hate re-installing the OS... thanks in advance :-).
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview ArchiveI had something similar happen to me, weird crashes all over the place on a custom built machine with an Asus mobo. What fixed it for me was increasing the North Bridge voltage by 0.2 volts.
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Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP Visual Developer - Visual Basic
2006, 2007, 2008 -
I had something similar happen to me, weird crashes all over the place on a custom built machine with an Asus mobo. What fixed it for me was increasing the North Bridge voltage by 0.2 volts.
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Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP Visual Developer - Visual Basic
2006, 2007, 2008Thanks, although I have no clue what the "North Bridge" voltage is. :-) I'm reading more and more about these voltage settings, I will certainly try this. Is it dependent from laptop to laptop? I guess I can break my laptop if I set it too high or too low?
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
Thanks, although I have no clue what the "North Bridge" voltage is. :-) I'm reading more and more about these voltage settings, I will certainly try this. Is it dependent from laptop to laptop? I guess I can break my laptop if I set it too high or too low?
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview ArchiveThe northbridge is the main part of a PC chipset. With extremely rare exceptions you're not going to get access to any voltage/timing parameters from an OEM system. Fiddling with them is mainly a feature of DIY mobos because the board maker doesn't have any control over the parts connected or the quality of the power supply running it. An OEM has control over all of that, and nothing should need adjusted from defaults unless there's an impending hardware failure.
The European Way of War: Blow your own continent up. The American Way of War: Go over and help them.
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The northbridge is the main part of a PC chipset. With extremely rare exceptions you're not going to get access to any voltage/timing parameters from an OEM system. Fiddling with them is mainly a feature of DIY mobos because the board maker doesn't have any control over the parts connected or the quality of the power supply running it. An OEM has control over all of that, and nothing should need adjusted from defaults unless there's an impending hardware failure.
The European Way of War: Blow your own continent up. The American Way of War: Go over and help them.
I don't have access, so I guess you're right :-)
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
Check how it behaves under different temperature conditions (cool room/hot room); make sure the vents are always free. If temperature is a clear factor, then it isn't a software issue, and probably a BIOS settings issue. :)
Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles]
The quality and detail of your question reflects on the effectiveness of the help you are likely to get. Show formatted code inside PRE tags, and give clear symptoms when describing a problem.
Running a monitor tool: GPU: +/- 55°C Core 0: < 40°C Core 1: < 40°C Everything seems fine from a temperature point of view. I re-ran the mem test, no errors this time. I'm starting to think the corrupted memory was a consequence and not the cause of the BOSD? (is that possible? I think so) So it still might be SW related. Thanks for the input.
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview Archive -
Running a monitor tool: GPU: +/- 55°C Core 0: < 40°C Core 1: < 40°C Everything seems fine from a temperature point of view. I re-ran the mem test, no errors this time. I'm starting to think the corrupted memory was a consequence and not the cause of the BOSD? (is that possible? I think so) So it still might be SW related. Thanks for the input.
V.
Stop smoking so you can: Enjoy longer the money you save. Moviereview ArchiveV. wrote:
I'm starting to think the corrupted memory was a consequence and not the cause of the BOSD?
impossible. Keep looking for any correlation between mishaps and ROOM temperature. :)
Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles]
The quality and detail of your question reflects on the effectiveness of the help you are likely to get. Show formatted code inside PRE tags, and give clear symptoms when describing a problem.