IWill XP333 Occasional BSOD... any suggestions? *** POSTED FOLLOWUP! ***

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:01 pm

IWill XP333, AMD XP 2000+, Win2K SP2. Using ALi 1.41 IDE driver, AGP 1.82 driver. IE 6

I've been getting some mysterious BSODs on my new rig. Not often, but every few days. I've been documenting them and here's what I've got so far:

8/28/02: BSOD DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (twice) - both times doing a LONG server update for Half-Life in Gamespy. (Followup - did an HL server update that night with a lower simultaneous update number of pings - 10 - and competed just fine)

9/1/02: BSOD KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED while clicking on link in IE

9/1/02: BSOD DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL while refreshing DOD servers in Gamespy

9/2/02: BSOD KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED while clicking on link in IE

This NEVER happens when playing a 3D game (and you'd think that would cause more problems than desktop apps).

It seems in all cases there was TCP/IP traffic.

I'm beginning to wonder if I have a PCI IRQ channel sharing problem with the NIC. The NIC (Linksys 10/100) is sharing a PCI channel with the USB controller. I'm probably going to Ghost the Win2K partition and install a better quality 3Com NIC and move it to a different slot to see if it helps.

Just wondering if anyone else has some input - especially fellow XP333 owners.

Thanks.

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:08 pm

Those are the same BSODs I get on my P4R533-N. This one:

STOP: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED while clicking on link in IE

Is the most frequent. I suspect the sound driver, since by default IE plays a "click" sound when you hit a link. Since we both have the same sound chip, it's a good place to start.
I can't speak to INT line sharing since the P4R has an APIC thus listed IRQs are virtual.

Anecdotally, I've heard of complaints about bugs in the CMedia driver causing BSODs. I don't have another soundcard to try it out.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:19 pm

I doubt it's the sound chip - I have all desktop sound effects disabled. Also doesn't explain my BSODs refreshing servers in Gamespy.

I'm still leaning towards the NIC as the root of my problem, and I'll let you know what happens when I change and move it.

I did have a total lockup once with Winamp and several other things running. No idea if that was sound related.

Out of curiosity, what driver are you using? I'm using the 5.12.1.630 dated 11/1/01. I haven't tried the 5.12.01.0639 driver that's available in Windows Update.

Anyone try the new driver yet?

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:21 pm

which chip does your NIC have?

edit: in my case it can't be an INT line sharing problem, the legacy IRQs are different (NIC on 11 and sound on 12). 'sfunny that you and I are bombing in the same ways...

Out of curiosity, what driver are you using?

5.12.1.639

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:28 pm

Only time i've seen that error on my XP333R was when i was overclocking and the ram timings were too fast. Eiter back off the timings a touch or add .1v's to the ram juice... I've got a Linksys Nic in mine v2.1 its on slot 3 and my GTXP is on slot 5 don't know if its sharing anything but i'm sure it is being that WinxP slamms the same IRQ with all the hardware.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:32 pm

JIMZ: It's a Linksys - no idea what chip is on it until I pull it. Do you have any PCI/AGP devices sharing an IRQ in BIOS (during the POST screen)? See if the NIC is sharing with something else.

PRED: I'm not overclocking - using BIOS performance defaults.

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:36 pm

just curious if it's a realtek chip...

See if the NIC is sharing with something else.

nope, NIC's on 11, sound's on 12.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:47 pm

nope, NIC's on 11, sound's on 12.

What about IDE controller, USB controller and Video card?

------
EDIT
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Nope, my NIC isn't Realtek. Looks like Linksys makes their own chipset.

The Linksys NICs are okay, but they are inexpensive and I've had some PCI IRQ Channel sharing issues with them on different systems.

I have a pricier 3Com 10/100 card I salvaged from my old system that I want to put in here anyway. It's a better card.

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:57 pm

Legacy IRQ listing:

IDE Controller 14
Serial Bus Controller (USB) 11
SmBus Controller 9
Display adapter 10
Serial Bus Controller (USB) 5
Multimedia Controller (Sound) 12
Network Controller 11
ACPI Controller 9

USB might have something to do with it, I am using a USB mouse...
edit: mouse is on the port sharing an INT with the NIC. If I bomb it again I'll switch over to the other ports.

APIC vIRQs:

9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
9 Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM SMBus Controller - 2443
16 NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400
18 CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device
19 Realtek RTL8139/810X Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
19 Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442
14 Primary IDE Channel
15 Secondary IDE Channel
23 Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2444
8 System CMOS/real time clock
13 Numeric data processor
6 Standard floppy disk controller
4 Communications Port (COM1)
3 Communications Port (COM2)

I've shown you mine, now show me yours

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 11:31 pm

I know your not OC'n but i've had cases where ram needs more voltage than 2.5. My samsung pc2700 at 166/333 you would think it would run decent timings at default voltage but it won't. I have to run it on slow at default Voltage. Crank the Vmem up to 2.8 and i can run it on Ultra at 166. Go figure. Worth a shot to tweak the ram timings a little or add a little bit of voltage on the mem.

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 11:36 pm

FP I don't think the sound driver is your problem but I would recommend using the newer C-Media 639 driver off of Windows Update. Most people who have used it report big difference in sound quality and some newer features in the CMedia mixer. I am using them on my VIA 266a chipset mobo and they work great. Good Luck with the BSOD problem.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Tue Sep 03, 2002 7:23 am

JimZ: That MAY be the common denominator. Both our systems have the NIC sharing an IRQ with the USB controller. I'll have to reboot to document the BIOS IRQs - I don't know of any way to look them up in Win2K with ACPI enabled.

Well I Ghosted the partition last night and later today I'll install the 3Com in a different slot - I think I'll pull the PCI modem for now (it's only there as a backup and for PcAnywhere) and put the NIC in that slot to avoid any IRQ sharing, then see if it behaves for a week.

If it recurs then I'll try upping the Vmem voltage as Pred suggests. I just have my doubts about that Pred, otherwise people would be reporting problems all over (a search of Newgroups and AMDMB last night didn't turn up any consistent BSOD problems like mine with the XP333).

DADX: I'm running the new C-Media drivers on my LAN party box, and so far no probs. If there's a quality improvement I haven't been able to tell. I'll go ahead and upgrade them once I've sorted this out - I only like to change one thing at a time.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 6:59 am

Okay, now I have my doubts about the NIC. Haven't swapped it yet.

It happened again this morning BUT this time it was when I clicked on the Ultramon icon to disable my secondary monitor.

I did a little newsgroup search and found a lot of references to KMODE BSODs being the result of certain Detonator drivers running in certain hardware configurations.

Could be UltraMon - I'm always suspicious of background apps. Since there's a new update for UltraMon anyway, I think I'll uninstall it for a few days. Since this is consistently happening ever 2 days or so I'll see if that helps.

Maybe I'll go back to the 29.x det drivers (using the 30.x now) and see if that helps.

PRED: Call me an imbecile, but I don't see any setting in the BIOS menu for the memory voltage.

Jim Z · Post by **Jim Z** » Wed Sep 04, 2002 7:40 am

Call me an imbecile, but I don't see any setting in the BIOS menu for the memory voltage.

any board I've seen with voltage settings for memory, it's been with a switch or jumper.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Sep 12, 2002 6:51 pm

Just a followup:

Been 8 days and NO BSOD! It was either UltraMon2 or my WinTV USB adapter.

What I did was disconnect the WinTV box and uninstalled UltraMon2. It seems to have been some kind of interaction between Ultramon2 and the drivers for the Savage4 card I'm using on the 2nd monitor.

What's strange is that this same combination worked fine on the old mobo, so it's something to do with the hardware configuration of the new mobo.

No big deal. I'm using UltraMon1 instead - and only for the convenience of one click toggle of the second monitor.

I can live without the widescreen wallpaper. Actually I turned off the wallpaper and rediscovered how snappy the Windows desktop is (even on a fast system) when you just have a solid background on the desktop.

Crap, I have so many windows open when I work you can't see the wallpaper anyway....

I'm plugging the WinTV adapter back in right now and see if there's any BSODs in the next few days.

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IWill XP333 Occasional BSOD... any suggestions? * POSTED FOLLOWUP! *

IWill XP333 Occasional BSOD... any suggestions? * POSTED FOLLOWUP! *