-win xp pro sp2
-mobo gigabyte GA-7N400SL (onboard LAN and sound)
-athlon XP 2000+ with stock fan and heatsink
-2 x 512MB RAM corsair value
-pixelview GF4 MX 4000 with 7189 driver (no the 6177 driver doesn't support my video card)
-seagate 80Gigs IDE 7200
-SB5100 motorola cable modem (works well with my other machine)
-PS2 keyboard and mouse
-400W PSU
-diskette drive
-Liteon CDRW
-LG DVD Rom

I got the same problems since about 2 months ago, my machine crashed after i used it to play games (all range of games, from call of duty, battle of middle earth, to ragnarok online, which shouldn't take too much resources), usually in about an hour or so into the game (but sometimes as early as 5 minutes into the game), sometimes the game just showed me an error message and went back to windows, sometimes the machine just went blank and restarted, and then after the reboot, there is an error message "ur machine has recovered from a serious error" and after i submitted the error to microsoft, there was the "error caused by a device driver". i've searched extensively in microsoft's website and followed their instruction, trying drivers from the oldest to the latest, to no avail.

I've tried to reformat windows a few times now, the last time i only installed the drivers from the mobo's cd and nvidia driver right after i installed windows, and then play some games, and the same error happened.
I've replaced my PSU, tried to use a single stick of RAM, a single stick of borrowed Kingston RAM, and the same error still happened, so i'm pretty sure it's not my RAM or PSU.

I first thought it may be because of overheating (my CPU temperature reached 62 Celcius in the heat of the game), but after i opened the casing and placed a room fan right in front of it, the same error still happened although the temperature was 56 Celcius (my other AMD machine worked fine at 58 - 59 Celcius)

I've turned off the auto restart but haven't got the BSOD yet, and i haven't run memtest because i can't find a diskette (can i run memtest from a CD? and how?). I've also dl a hard drive utility from seagate but haven't run it because i don't have a diskette. This problem is really getting into my nerve so any help is deeply appreciated.

In event viewer, with every crash there is an error saying :
Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 8/18/2005
Time: 2:02:41 AM
User: N/A
Computer: BIGZ
Description:
Error code 10000050, parameter1 87603858, parameter2 00000000, parameter3 805644ba, parameter4 00000000.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45 System E
0008: 72 72 6f 72 20 20 45 72 rror Er
0010: 72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65 ror code
0018: 20 31 30 30 30 30 30 35 1000005
0020: 30 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d 0 Param
0028: 65 74 65 72 73 20 38 37 eters 87
0030: 36 30 33 38 35 38 2c 20 603858,
0038: 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 00000000
0040: 2c 20 38 30 35 36 34 34 , 805644
0048: 62 61 2c 20 30 30 30 30 ba, 0000
0050: 30 30 30 30 0000

But i noticed with every crash, the error code and the parameter can be different, the other error is:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 8/17/2005
Time: 5:44:43 PM
User: N/A
Computer: BIGZ
Description:
Error code 1000000a, parameter1 6f9373d0, parameter2 0000001c, parameter3 00000001, parameter4 806ecaa0.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45 System E
0008: 72 72 6f 72 20 20 45 72 rror Er
0010: 72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65 ror code
0018: 20 31 30 30 30 30 30 30 1000000
0020: 61 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d a Param
0028: 65 74 65 72 73 20 36 66 eters 6f
0030: 39 33 37 33 64 30 2c 20 9373d0,
0038: 30 30 30 30 30 30 31 63 0000001c
0040: 2c 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 , 000000
0048: 30 31 2c 20 38 30 36 65 01, 806e
0050: 63 61 61 30 caa0

oh, i forgot, i've also tried to swap my video card with another one from my other machine (pixelview GF4 MX 440, which works fine for years now), and the same problem still happened. this machine is about half a year old, but i only used it as internet server before and everything worked well, so i only noticed this problem from maybe 2 months ago after i started to use this machine for gaming.

i read somewhere that it may be caused by the sp2 incompatibility with some drivers, but i use windows xp cd with sp2 included, how do i uninstal sp2? or should i reformat my comp again and install windows xp sp1? and microsoft said that sp2 is "final" already...

One of your minidumps crashes at hal!HalpAcquireSystemHardwareSpinLock+0x8 at IRQL 28. System crash at IRQL 28 (x'1c') and this is hardware problem. I have 12 confirmed cases which are related to hardware error at CPU (6), RAM (4) and M/B (2). 6 cases which has no response from the problem owner and I hope you are not one of them. My prelimary finding is faulty CPU. If you can provide more minidumps, I can confirm which hardware is faulty.

The debug report of one of your minidumps
BugCheck 1000000A, {6f9373d0, 1c, 1, 806ecaa0}
STACK_TEXT:
ed2b5d64 0044efcb badb0d00 00000000 f7d12d98 hal!HalpAcquireSystemHardwareSpinLock+0x8
WARNING: Frame IP not in any known module. Following frames may be wrong.
ed2b5ddc 804fa477 f7684b85 86077630 00000000 0x44efcb
ed2b5de0 f7684b84 86077630 00000000 0132027f nt!KiThreadStartup+0x16
ed2b5de4 86077630 00000000 0132027f 00000000 NDIS!___PchSym_+0xc
f7684b85 08458bec 3bf63356 840f57c6 00006fb1 0x86077630
f7684b89 3bf63356 840f57c6 00006fb1 54bff08b 0x8458bec
f7684b8d 840f57c6 00006fb1 54bff08b a5f76844 0x3bf63356
f7684b91 00000000 54bff08b a5f76844 ffa5a5a5 0x840f57c6

Thanks a ton for ur time and effort, it's a relief to know there is someone to ask for advise about this problem, since this problem is so frustrating (the vendor can't do anything about it, since i don't know what the problem really is, they just blamed the windows installation cd i used, although i've used 3 different cds to install windows)

Yes i suspect it's my CPU or my mobo too, since i've checked almost everything else and got nothing. I haven't got the time to play games or even doing anything with my comp today but as soon as i get another crash i'll post the minidump. Meanwhile i'm thinking of swapping my CPU with one from my other machine this weekend and see if that helps. I want to make sure what hardware is the culprit before buying a new processor or mobo, and whether that helps or not, i'll post the result.

Any other suggestions on what i should do?

I don't know whether this has anything to do with the problem or not, but a few days ago, i found out that one of the M/B's capacitor touched the heatsink for the CPU. I called the M/B's distributor and they told me to try to bend it away from the heatsink, i tried to do it but i found out i couldn't because there just isn't space.

I called again and they said i had to replace the heatsink for a smaller one (I don't want to because my cpu temperature is currently 58 Celcius at idle and 62 at heavy gaming, i'm even thinking about buying a better -and bigger- heatsink+fan). So i placed a thick paper between the heatsink and the capacitor, and now, after a few days, the comp never restarts again. I wonder whether this has any connections at all...

Overheat and bad PSU are also hardware problem. It is overheat issue and cause the hardware problem at mother board.

Dear cpc2004,

I have a similar system error problem, my system crashed with the
following error:

"Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Error code: 000000c2, 00000007, 00000cd4, 028e0002, 814e9b98.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp

"

I think, this should be also a hardware problem. Could you help me to make sure which hardware is faulty? I also have the minidump files but could not interpret them. Thank you in advance!

Hi Merczi,

Bugcheck code C2 is usually caused by bad RAM. Without the minidump I cannot confirm it is faulty RAM.

cpc

Dear cpc2004,

Thank you for your reply. Here are the minidump and the log files (by Debugger Tools for Windows):

http://www.palacsinta.com/kopdat/minidump/

Yes, I also suspected my RAM, however, memtest86 (www.memtest.org) had not found any errors during its 1 day-long progress (maybe I should've ran it for a couple of days?)

By the way, what do you think, is it possible to decide accurately whether a system crash was caused by a hardware or software error? Or you can never be quite sure that a WinXP reinstall would have solved the problem? (Some people consider as natural and unavoidable that WinXP locks up sometimes)...

Best wishes,
Marczi.

Hi Marczi,

I believe that it is faulty ram. Some faulty ram can pass memtest cos memtest is not a reliable tools. I've several cases with bugcheck C2 and the culprit is faulty ram. You can refer to the following opened case, Bowie's PC also get bugcheck code C2. He claims he will call microsoft to find out the culprit. You can ask him what is the feedback from microsoft.

http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?p=175578#post175578

cpc2004

Hi Merczi,

The stack trace of your mindump crashes at nt!ExFreePoolWithTag and this is the symptom of bad ram

STACK_TEXT:
b46e9d20 8054b741 000000c2 00000007 00000cd4 nt!KeBugCheckEx+0x1b
b46e9d70 8054b0b9 814e9b98 00000000 b46e9ddc nt!ExFreePoolWithTag+0x2be
b46e9d80 f7704d4b 814e9b98 f770212d 814e9b98 nt!ExFreePool+0xf

BAD_POOL_CALLER (c2)
The current thread is making a bad pool request. Typically this is at a bad IRQL level or double freeing the same allocation, etc.
Arguments:
Arg1: 00000007, Attempt to free pool which was already freed
Arg2: 00000cd4, (reserved)
Arg3: 028e0002, Memory contents of the pool block
Arg4: 814e9b98, Address of the block of pool being deallocated

Hey, i've been busy lately and don't have time to tinker much with my comp, turned out the same error still came up from time to time, and i haven't got time to try to swap the processor. Last time i got the error, the blue screen came up and it said that file "kmixer.sys" is the culprit, now i don't know what's that file is, but i guess it's one of the sound card driver file, am i right?

here are some of the minidumps for the latest errors, and i very much appreciated all the help and advices, u guys rule.

Otamkus,

The crash is not related to sound card driver and it is faulty ram.

Hey CPC, thanks a lot for the advice. But are you sure it's faulty ram? I've tried to swap my memory modules (2 x 512MB corsair value, working in dual channel) with one 512MB memory modules from other computer, which is working fine for years, and the same error still happened. Can it be caused by a faulty M/B? That's pretty much the only thing i haven't tried to swap, because i will then have to reinstall windows again.

Otmakus,

Your latest crash is related to faulty memory which include RAM, L2 cache of CPU, cache memory of M/B and memory of video card. Unless you use the hardware diagnostic tools from the hardware manufacturer. There has no reliable diagnostic tools to detect which hardware component is faulty. You can re-install windows for problem isolation.

cpc,

What do u mean by "You can re-install windows for problem isolation"? Do u mean swapping the M/B, re-install windows and see if the error still comes up?

If you re-install windows and BSOD still occurs, you can eliminate the crash is casued by software and it is hardware problem.

I have had the same issue with one laptop where I work. The Event ID is 1003 as all the others have posted. This has happened twice on the machine. It is a Dell Latitude C840 with a DIMM 512 MB. All the memory tests passed, but Dell claims that it is the mother board. They replaced it and the problem went away. The problem has re-surfaced. I removed the DIMM from slot a and placed it in DIMM slot B. The problem has dissappeared, so it may be that the DIMM slot is defective in my case.

After yet one more crash, i ran memtest 86+ and left it running for one night, i attach the picture here. With more than 1 million errors after only 5 hours, no wonder i got all those crashes.

Is it safe to assume that i can narrow the suspects to M/B and RAM? Since my RAM modules have been tested on another machine and worked well, then is it safe to say that the M/B is the culprit? I also noticed that the errors always showed up at ffff ffff, what can be said about this?

I'm going to run to the shop and claim the warranty for my M/B. I'm going to be stranded without a PC for a while, but at least i can have some peace of mind after this.

Thanks a lot

PS: I've reinstalled Windows XP maybe 3 or 4 times because of this problem, so i'm pretty sure it's not caused by bad softwares, and the errors are varying widely, last time it said "driver irql not less or equal" and the faulty file is afd.sys, which is very different than the previous errors.

Otmakus,

Your problem may be related to overheat. Are you sure your PC does not have overheat issue?

Actually, yes, my comp has a heat issue. Like i posted previously, my CPU temp is 58 Celcius at idle and can rise to 62 at peak use. But at night, when the air con was on and the temp dropped to 54 or 55, the problem still came up.

I've tried running memtest using only 1 single memory module and it's allright, I'm currently trying to run memtest once more with 2 memory modules in dual channel, but I've already told the shop that i'll come tomorrow to claim the warranty for my M/B. It's still less than 1 year old so i expect a 1 on 1 replacement, and maybe i'll claim the warranty for the memory modules too, since i bought them at the same time with the M/B.

Oh, and i noticed in memtest that in DDR1, my memory ran at CAS 2.5, but in DDR3, it ran at CAS 2, in dual channel (DDR1 and DDR3), it ran at CAS 2.5. Does that mean anything? I can't find how to change the memory latency at BIOS, so I guess that's the default from the M/B.

CPC, why do u think my problem may be related to heat issue? I was told that my CPU's temp is quite high, but it's still acceptable for an AMD socket 462-based system. Do u think i need to buy a new heatsink + fan? My current heatsink is a stock, aluminum one, but my heatsink fan is quite good with 5000rpm (I don't know the brand tho). I don't want to spend $25 or so for a new heatsink and fan, but if that can solve the problem, i'll gladly buy one.

Thank u for the advice tho, as soon as i get the replacement M/B, i'll try it and post the result.