Confusing (driver realted?) problem

spoonbard · 04-25-2007, 04:19 AM

Hey :) This might take a LONG time to explain, as the problem's been going on for a good while now. I've been trying to put together a new system with the following components:

MoBo: abit NF-M2 nView
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 (Socket AM2, Dual Core)
RAM: 4GB of Corsair 'Dominator' DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400 (that's 2 sets of 2 TwinX linked 1GB sticks)
Graphics: ASUS EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M
PSU: Antec 'Phantom' 500W

Additional Stuff: Zalman 'flower cooler' CPU fan + two 120mm case fans.

OS: WinXP x64

Okay, here are the problems I've come across in order:

1) Put the system together, and it booted fine. Put the WinXP (32bit) CD in and got an error message before I could even begin installing it. Windows was telling me I had a bad memory configuration. So I take out 2GB of ram, and try again, and this time it works.

2) After getting windows up and running, I realise I've got some weird stability problems. The system is prone to randomly restarting itself. It does this with more-or-less any combination of hardware. I tried putting in all the RAM, taking out all but one stick, using each pair independantly of the other, taking out the Graphics card, running onboard graphics, running a seperate soundcard, running onboard sound, etc etc. No change, Still randomly restarts.

The restarts are completely unpredictable. They happen most often when the system is loaded, but they have happened when they system is almost at rest. Time periods between crashes range from 5mins from boot to 2 or 3 hours from boot.

3) So maybe it's a driver error. Killdisk the harddrive, and reinstall windows, this time downloading all the latest driver's from the manufacrturer's sites instead of installing them off the provided CDs. Problem persists.

4) Maybe it's something to do with my 64bit processor and my 32bit OS. I try installing WinXP x64. Problem persists.

5) Discover 'auto restart on error' command, and finally see an actual blue screen of death when the system crashes. Error is is invariably IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
This apparently is a driver based issue, but I've already updated my drivers, and the error screen never actually specifies the driver which caused the error.

7) Maybe it's still a memory problem. I run memcheck for a couple of hours with all 4 modules in. No errors returned, the sticks seems fine. A friend suggests I turn my clock speed down as that's helped him in the past. This seems to solve the problem. No restarts for a few days, then bang, all of a sudden it happens again.

8) I put the clock-speed back up to full, since that didn't help, and try doing some more tests. CPU burn-in produces no errors after 10mins of 100% on both cores. I try overloading the system by running oblivion on top settings and rendering an after effects project at the same time. The system actually handles it for a while, but I do get the Blue Screen after a bit. Seems that the restarts are still random in nature, but you can pretty reliably cause them by overloading the system. The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL screen has now been accompanied by a few DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL screens, compiounding the idea that it's a driver based problem. I try flashing the BIOS with the latest version, but that doesn't work either.

9) I'm at the end of my tether, nothing is working, when FINALLY, the Blue Screen reports a specific driver along with the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL message. It's i8042prt.sys ... a microsoft keyboard driver. I was expecting some 3rd party driver that I could disable or update, but no such luck. I'm now stumped. Does anyone know what's going on?

P.S. Other symptoms include tempremental onboard LAN. Occasionally when I boot up, it takes forever to search for the DHCP server, never manages to find it, gives itself some silly IP address, then refuses to refresh it. I have to reboot to get it working again. This isn't a router or server based error because no-one else on my home network has the same problem, and it's not a driver problem because I have the latest nForce drivers.

If the Blue Screen weren't telling me I have a driver problem, I'd think my MoBo was at fault. Any seconds for this idea?

**Terrister** · 04-25-2007, 10:20 AM

Did you load the motherboard drivers before loading any other drivers?

spoonbard · 04-25-2007, 11:28 AM

may have loaded the graphics driver first, but if I did the motherboard drivers would have been the second things I installed. Can't quite remember though.

Does that make a big difference?

04-25-2007, 04:19 AM	#1 (permalink)
spoonbard Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 5 OS: Win2000	Confusing (driver realted?) problem Hey :) This might take a LONG time to explain, as the problem's been going on for a good while now. I've been trying to put together a new system with the following components: MoBo: abit NF-M2 nView CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 (Socket AM2, Dual Core) RAM: 4GB of Corsair 'Dominator' DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400 (that's 2 sets of 2 TwinX linked 1GB sticks) Graphics: ASUS EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M PSU: Antec 'Phantom' 500W Additional Stuff: Zalman 'flower cooler' CPU fan + two 120mm case fans. OS: WinXP x64 Okay, here are the problems I've come across in order: 1) Put the system together, and it booted fine. Put the WinXP (32bit) CD in and got an error message before I could even begin installing it. Windows was telling me I had a bad memory configuration. So I take out 2GB of ram, and try again, and this time it works. 2) After getting windows up and running, I realise I've got some weird stability problems. The system is prone to randomly restarting itself. It does this with more-or-less any combination of hardware. I tried putting in all the RAM, taking out all but one stick, using each pair independantly of the other, taking out the Graphics card, running onboard graphics, running a seperate soundcard, running onboard sound, etc etc. No change, Still randomly restarts. The restarts are completely unpredictable. They happen most often when the system is loaded, but they have happened when they system is almost at rest. Time periods between crashes range from 5mins from boot to 2 or 3 hours from boot. 3) So maybe it's a driver error. Killdisk the harddrive, and reinstall windows, this time downloading all the latest driver's from the manufacrturer's sites instead of installing them off the provided CDs. Problem persists. 4) Maybe it's something to do with my 64bit processor and my 32bit OS. I try installing WinXP x64. Problem persists. 5) Discover 'auto restart on error' command, and finally see an actual blue screen of death when the system crashes. Error is is invariably IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL This apparently is a driver based issue, but I've already updated my drivers, and the error screen never actually specifies the driver which caused the error. 7) Maybe it's still a memory problem. I run memcheck for a couple of hours with all 4 modules in. No errors returned, the sticks seems fine. A friend suggests I turn my clock speed down as that's helped him in the past. This seems to solve the problem. No restarts for a few days, then bang, all of a sudden it happens again. 8) I put the clock-speed back up to full, since that didn't help, and try doing some more tests. CPU burn-in produces no errors after 10mins of 100% on both cores. I try overloading the system by running oblivion on top settings and rendering an after effects project at the same time. The system actually handles it for a while, but I do get the Blue Screen after a bit. Seems that the restarts are still random in nature, but you can pretty reliably cause them by overloading the system. The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL screen has now been accompanied by a few DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL screens, compiounding the idea that it's a driver based problem. I try flashing the BIOS with the latest version, but that doesn't work either. 9) I'm at the end of my tether, nothing is working, when FINALLY, the Blue Screen reports a specific driver along with the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL message. It's i8042prt.sys ... a microsoft keyboard driver. I was expecting some 3rd party driver that I could disable or update, but no such luck. I'm now stumped. Does anyone know what's going on? P.S. Other symptoms include tempremental onboard LAN. Occasionally when I boot up, it takes forever to search for the DHCP server, never manages to find it, gives itself some silly IP address, then refuses to refresh it. I have to reboot to get it working again. This isn't a router or server based error because no-one else on my home network has the same problem, and it's not a driver problem because I have the latest nForce drivers. If the Blue Screen weren't telling me I have a driver problem, I'd think my MoBo was at fault. Any seconds for this idea?

04-25-2007, 10:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 7,098 OS: Xp	Re: Confusing (driver realted?) problem Did you load the motherboard drivers before loading any other drivers? __________________

04-25-2007, 11:28 AM	#3 (permalink)
spoonbard Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 5 OS: Win2000	Re: Confusing (driver realted?) problem may have loaded the graphics driver first, but if I did the motherboard drivers would have been the second things I installed. Can't quite remember though. Does that make a big difference?