Multiple daily BSODs on Vista 32-bit

[XnaX]

I'm having at least 2 BSOD's on a daily basis, and I don't have a great deal of experience in this area, so I'd be pleased if someone wanted to guide me through my problem.

 

[B00kWyrm]

We would be glad to help, but need something with which to work.
Did you start HERE ?
What are your system specs?
What security software are you running?
What other software is configured to run at boot?
Do you have minidumps you can attach? (Most recent 5 in a zip would be great).

 

[XnaX]

I did start there yes, but all the things I could figure out how to do, didn't work.

My CPU is an Intel Core2 Duo running @ 3.16 GHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics card
4GB DDR3 ram
ASUS P5QL Pro motherboard
I don't know if that's what you wanted to know, but I'm a dummie, so I'm making guesses here.

I have Bullguard 9.0 Security

List of programs starting up at boot:
Windows Live Messenger
Steam
Bullguard
OpenOffice Quick Start
Steam
and 2 Razer Configurators

Hope that'll help you

 

[B00kWyrm]

At least your dumps are consistent.
The BSODs are all caused by... L1E60x86.sys
And all of the faults are either... 0xD1 or 0xA

• Stop 0xD1 messages can occur after installing faulty drivers or system services.
Recommendation:

If a driver is listed by name, disable, remove, or roll back that driver to confirm that this resolves the error. If so, contact the manufacturer about a possible update. Using updated software is especially important for backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, DVD playback, and CD mastering tools.

• A Stop 0xA message might occur after installing a faulty device driver, system service, or firmware.
Recommendation:

If a Stop message lists a driver by name, disable, remove, or roll back the driver to correct the problem. If disabling or removing drivers resolves the issues, contact the manufacturer about a possible update. Using updated software is especially important for multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, and CD mastering tools.

• A Stop 0xA message might also be due to failing or defective hardware.
Recommendation:

If a Stop message points to a category of devices (video or disk adapters, for example), try removing or replacing the hardware to determine if it is causing the problem.

The driver L1E60x86.sys which is noted in your information is a driver for an Ethernet Network card from Atheros Inc. Many people have had issues with it. I would recommend that you Update your NIC drivers.

You could use Windows Update, look for the optional updates for your hardware.
On the other hand...
Your network card seems likely to be "on board" (not an add on), so probably you should use drivers directly from ASUS - (the maker of your motherboard.)
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=P5QL PRO&SLanguage=en-us

On the other "other hand", if you recently updated drivers, you may wish to roll this one back.
If you need help, let me know and we can chase this rabbit.

 

[XnaX]

Thanks a bunch! I'll try this when i get back from work and i'll let you know if it stops the BSODs.

 

[XnaX]

I have bad news; I just had another BSOD yesterday. So do you want me to link the log or something?

 

[B00kWyrm]

If all you have is one, just attach (do not zip first) it to your next post.
If you have more than one, then zip (up to five- the most recent) and attach the zip.

 

[XnaX]

Here they are

 

[B00kWyrm]

Each of the failures was with the same driver: L1E60x86.sys
Each occured at a different address:
Each produced a list of drivers being unable to load.
One is 0xD1. The other two are 0xA.

So, as before, your dumps are consistent.

I have seen situations where the heat of the graphics card is not adequately dissipated, causing failures in the main-board chipset (seeming getting through the heat shield).

Questions...
Does the fault come at boot with a "cold"machine,
or after the machine has been running / is warm, like at a reboot,
or both/either?

Have you thoroughly checked system temps?
I would use a utility like Everest - a Free Edition is Available, Here
I have not found Speedfan to be consistently reliable, though others seem to like it.

Have you checked your memory settings in BIOS?
Are the voltages and timings set per mfg specs?

Is your Network adapter on the mainboard (likely), or is it an add-on pci card?
It is possible that it is failing, though I would thoroughly check the heat issue first.
If the above suggestions do not pan out, then I would try disabling the on-board NIC, and adding a pci, or even USB NIC device. The USB devices can be for either wired, or wireless lan, and are not expensive.

I am not sure that this will provide any more information, but let's give this a try too...

Please download VEW and save it to your Desktop:

Double-click VEW.exe to run.

• Under Select log to query, select
  • Application
  • System
• Under Select type to list, select:
  • Critical (Vista only, NOT for XP)
  • Error
• Click the radio button for Number of events
  • Type 20 in the 1 to 20 box
• Then click the Run button.
• Notepad will open with the output log.
• In Notepad, click Edit -> Select all
• Then press Edit -> Copy
• Press Ctrl+V on your keyboard to paste the log as text in your next reply.

ADDED NOTE:
Further review of the affected files raises a few other questions:

Is your Agnitum Firewall fully up to date?
Are you running more than one firewall?
Are your bsod events related to file-sharing or torrent downloads?
Are your bsod events taking place at when the machine is either entering or coming out of "sleep mode"?

All of the files affected relate to networking. (Firewall, and NIC related files.) One has been noted in relationship to "sleep modes".

 

[XnaX]

Thanks again, i will try the different solutions and get back to you

 

[XnaX]

Ok, i've taken a look at the different things, but i can't seem to do any of the stuff you mentioned.

The BSOD's occur when i'm in-game and therefore i can't read numbers off something in the background.

As I'm apparently an ***** at this, i have a few problems:
- I can't work out how to use Everest.
- I have no idea how to check the memory settings in the BIOS. (Don't know what to look for.)
- VEW says it's not coded for my language and refuses to run.

My firewall updates automatically with pretty high frequency and I only have the one firewall. I don't download anything when having BSOD's, but my connection almost gets interrupted every time I am and only rebooting reestablishes my connection. I rarely use sleep mode, and when I do it works with no problems.

Edit: I had a BSOD while writing this, eliminating the heating problem, as i hadn't launched anything beside my usual boot setup.

 

[B00kWyrm]

Sorry you are having difficulty with Everest. Though it is a little overwhelming in the amount of data it produces,
in use it is a fairly user friendly program, and is designed to generate a report.
Try Starting, then select the Report dropdown menu, select Quickreport - all Pages then Plain Text.
It will generate a report. Attach that report to your next reply.
This report may help me guide you through checking memory settings, (but I am now skeptical that that is where the problem resides.)
This report will also reveal other critical information, like operating temperatures.
I would run this report immediately after a cold boot (after letting the computer set "off" overnight)
Then I would run it again, after you have been playing the game for a while.

We can get to the Event Viewer information another way.
Sorry it wasn't coded for you. Where are you?
I'll get to that next time.

1. Is your "Steam" fully patched? See if any patches are available.
2. Noticing that your Security Suite is Bullguard, I need to ask if you have its firewall enabled?

The reason I ask...
Your system is trying to load Agnitum Outpost, and two firewalls will conflict.

You need to disable the Bulldog firewall,
OR
You need to completely uninstall the Agnitum Outpost firewall.
See here for instructions for Agnitum

3. I would suggest an experiment
(Do not do this unless you have the keys to reinstall Bullguard, or unless you don't mind losing your investment in it)
The experiment would be this...
Download these programs

• Avira Free Antivirus
• Online Armor Free Firewall.

These should coexist nicely on the same system.

Then, go offline and disable your internet connection.
Then Uninstall completely your existing security software (Agnitum Outpost, and Bullguard Security).
Then install the two programs you just downloaded.

Be sure to re-enable your internet connection, then go on-line and update both products.
See if your conflicts persist with the new software.
It will take a little while for Online Armor to learn all your installed programs, and will require some input from you as to what is safe to allow.

If these do not help, or you do not care for them, you can easily uninstall these, and reinstall what you currently have.

 

[XnaX]

I'm a bit confused now.. What is Agnitum Outpost? I have never heard of that before, so it's sort of worrying me that I supposedly have something installed by that name. I searched for it in a couple of ways but found nothing on either keywords.

By the way, my Steam is up to date and my Bullguard firewall in on.

 

[B00kWyrm]

Okay... I found out the mystery... Re Bullguard vs Agnitum: Agnitum has licensed their technology to Bullguard. (4 years ago)
http://www.agnitum.com/news/Outpost-licensed-to-Bullguard-CAT.php
So the Agnitum drivers I was finding, I am now convinced are for your Bullguard Firewall.
And it was your Bullguard that was failing to load properly.

I still believe you need to get those Everest reports attached here.
I think that we will find that the Temps are high when your system fails
and that your motherboard temps are where the temps are excessive.
(I may be wrong, but we ought to prove it one way or the other!)

I would like you to try again with VEW...
I failed to offer this instruction for you...
Vista users, right-click on VEW.exe and select "Run as Administrator."
If UAC prompts... accept it.

 

[XnaX]

Ah, that explains a lot. I've attached 2 reports, 1 from a fresh boot and 1 after 1½ hrs of gaming.

 

[B00kWyrm]

Ok... if it explains a lot... please interpret, as I don't read Dansk (or Norsk?)
I have been unable to find your Thermal sensors (CPU or HDD) in this report.

Unfortunately, I am about to leave on a week of vacation, and will not have internet access while gone.
I will ask one of my friends to pick up your thread, so that you are not left abandoned until I return.

Update: Route44 has replied that he will look in on you while I am gone.

If you are unable to get VEW (Vino's Event Viewer) to run...

Another Tool: I have been looking for another (easier) way of doing this, but
Let's look at "events" in this way. (This is just much more hand work on your part).

Please go to Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer

On Applications -> View -> Filter -> Uncheck all but ERROR under event types.
Find all events close to the times of the bsods,

• Sat Oct 2 23:43:03.879 2010
• Sun Oct 3 07:57:10.639 2010
• Sun Oct 3 13:53:14.709 2010

Double click the desired event, You should see buttons with an up arrow, a down arrow, and and what look like two pages.
Click this last button and it will copy to your clipboard all information about this event.
Then open notepad and ctrl-v to "paste clipboard" to notepad.
Copy and Paste the same information to notepad for each Application Event that looks applicable,
Then do the same with
System-> View -> Filter -> uncheck all but ERROR under "event types".

Save the notepad file as bsod_events.txt

This may not give any more than we already have in the minidumps... but sometimes there are additional clues.

Then... do the same with your most recent events (Up to 20) on both Application and System.
Save this notepad as All_evetns.txt

Again, we may find additional clues if there are any Error events that are not "fatal" (resulting in BSOD).

Attach these to your next post.

Also... please answer directly...

• Did you start here ... https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic51365.html
• Are you overclocking?
• Will you try the experiment to see if you have the same problem with different security software?
• What exactly does the Everest report say about temps (or were you being sarcastic when you said "Ah, that explains a lot" - I am confused by your post.)
• Were you ever able to run VEW? (if so then my suggestion above re: event viewer will be unneeded... just post VEW's report.)

 

[XnaX]

I can only answer the bottom question now, as i dont have time and I'm going away 'till friday, so I don't know how helpful my response will be.

"Did you start here ... https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic51365.html"
Yes, but found the post very little helpful, as the proposed solutions either didn't work (e.g. my system refused to do it) or didn't help

"Are you overclocking?"
No.

"Will you try the experiment to see if you have the same problem with different security software?"
Yes, when I get back.

"What exactly does the Everest report say about temps (or were you being sarcastic when you said "Ah, that explains a lot" - I am confused by your post.)"
I have no clue, since I cant fint it, and I haven't got time to look again. The "Ah, that explains a lot" referred to the Agnitum thing, but as I read it again that wasn't quite clear.

"Were you ever able to run VEW? (if so then my suggestion above re: event viewer will be unneeded... just post VEW's report.)"
VEW did run, but refused to do anything due to my language being danish.

 

[XnaX]

Crashed without running Bullguard yesterday.

 

[B00kWyrm]

Your dumps are consistent, that's for sure.
Still pointing to your NIC driver.

At this point here is what I recommend...
1. You are still running SP1, per your last mindump, so update to SP2

Vista SP2 Updates
* Fixes Wi-Fi issues when Vista awakes from sleep mode.
* Microsoft says SP2 repairs nearly 700 nagging Vista bugs ...

2. After updating Vista, again update your NIC drivers.
(After doing your high priority updates, MS should also offer you updates for your hardware. Your NIC driver may be among them.)

Further note:
Your security software was also cited in the minidump, so it would seem you had not fully uninstalled Bullguard ,
(or failed otherwise to prevent it from running).

 

[XnaX]

I have twice before tried updating to SP2 but were getting DirectX errors when trying to enter maps in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare2, so both times I restored to a point before the update, afterwards. One thing i don't remember is if I had BSOD's after updating, so i might just do that and observe.

About the security thing; I merely shut down Bullguard, but you're proving that to be inefficient.

I'll try uninstalling before updating to SP2, even though I reckon that's the solution with highest chance of succes.