Another blue screen of death; 0x0000009c

[ACowWithNoLegs]

Ookay... I've been looking around on this site and noted that this is the best place to attempt to find the answer to this damnable problem...

Your usual blue screen of death...

Machine_Check_Exception
with the following chain:

0x0000009c (0x00000000, 0x80540770, 0xc4584000, 0x00000833)

New computer, personally built, with the following specs:

AMD FX-53 2.4 CPU
ASUS A8V Deluxe nForce4 SLI mobo
SATA 120gig hard drive,
PATA 200gig hard drive,
512mb Corsair RAM (exact type can be found if needed)
Chaintech GeForce 6600GT video card

The problem has been going on with nearly any operating system I install on it, and seemed to have cut down after I installed the latest driver for the AMD CPU.
Another string of continuity in these problems i've noticed is that me along with the two others on this forum who had this problem only have 512mb of ram; q: is there a possibility I simply don't have enough ram and with the MCE it's having to overwrite something it shouldn't?

I'm thinking it's my graphics card, because the situation occurs most commonly with gaming and other equally graphics-intensive programs.

Any help or comments on this problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mikeguava]

Is your memory 2 sticks of 256 or a single stick of 512mb?
What games are you playing - some of the newer games do need more than 512 MB memory?

Cheers

Mike

 

[ACowWithNoLegs]

Single stick of memory; it commonly occurs with games like Half-Life 2, Dawn of War, Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault, and USAF Flight Simulator.

All of these games have a minimum requirement of 256 mb of ram, with Half Life 2 recommended for 512mb...

This could possibly be a heat-problem because i've been able to play enough of HL:2 to beat the entire game, and then at other times it gives me the virtual middle finger right when it starts up (like in Dawn of War)

 

[mikeguava]

I don't know the details of your motherboard - but I am assuming that it prefer dual channel memory. This is certainly one thing to look at - even if that might not be the cause - it will certainly make you PC run a bit faster.

You would need two sticks of the same type - either in slot 1 and 3 or slot 2 and 4.

Minimum requirenments of games change especially when you use higher resolutions - since you have a powerful videocard - I assume you are using high resolutions - memory might really be the culprit here - or that you are using too high resolutions for your videocard.

The fact that sometimes it loads - sometimes it doesn't probably doesn't have to do anything with overheating. To rule that out - does the BSOD ever happen when the system is "cold"? If so - not enough memory or faulty memory is most likely the cause.

Cheers


Mike

 

[orypecos]

At my last employer we had alot of trouble with Goback software that caused the 'blue screen of death'. Are u using goback? Usually it happened during reboot though, not when using the computer. We took Goback off and it quit doing it.

 

[ACowWithNoLegs]

No goback... this problem has occured even when i've jumped it up for the sole purpose to play dawn of war, lol. Drivers have been updated, and the problem is a lot more rare than usual... but it's still a pain to have to see it.

I'll probably be getting some more ram soon; another 512 to keep the system a bit more stable... I'll be posting my results after that.

 

[bcastner]

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=329284&sd=RMVP

 

[ACowWithNoLegs]

Wooo... finally found the root of the problem.
A few days ago i installed windows x64 beta to see how it was, and amazingly didn't crash with the machine check errors; merely popped up a warning that i should check the eventlog for additional information, which it never gives.
Another thing is that in x64 the problem occurs a LOT more often; so it's an operating system perfect to be used as a test-subject for this ever-annoying problem

I checked my ram; 512MB-3200LL, not the problem.
Wasn't the fact that i didn't have enough either.

In my bios; i noticed something called 'Master ECC' was enabled; disabling it stopped this problem almost* entirely.
*-I only say almost because its been an hour on the x64 OS and I haven't seen a single MCE.

I'm writing this reply simply to ask, what in the world is the 'Master ECC' function on the Asus A8V-Deluxe SLI motherboard BIOS? So at least I can understand WHY disabling this function seems to fix the problem so easily.

Thanks for all the replies,
---A Cow With No Legs

 

[Freestone]

ECC stands for Error Correction Code, and it is a type of memory which corrects detected single-bit errors. See

http://www.infohq.com/Computer/ecc-dram.htm

Since your board supports ECC or non-ECC memory (not a mixture), whether the Master ECC setting should be enabled or not depends on what type of memory is installed. You mention 512MB of Corsair, but no type or Corsair part number, so no further advice about this setting can be given until this information is known.

 

[ACowWithNoLegs]

Oy... more problems with this ram( or at least i hope).
An error occured during (believe it or not) an accidental overclocking, and the computer has become so instable that it can't install an operating system (let alone run one) without an irql_not_less_or_equal and an page_fault_in_nonpaging_area (not exact stop messages, but i'm not taking the chance to rechecking them at the moment.)

The exact type of ram is:
CMX512RE-3200LL

It should be noted that this is actually supposed to be ECC RAM, so, for obvious reasons even aside from the one at the top of this list, an RMA request will be sent in.

 

[Freestone]

The memory you list is ECC memory:

http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/products/specs/cmx512re-3200ll.pdf

Your board's manual doesn't include this module on its compatability list, but does have:

http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/products/specs/cmx512-3200c2.pdf

Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[ACowWithNoLegs]

Okay... been trying to look for it and have yet to find it (otherwise still waiting on the RMA for the RAM stick...)

Anybody know where I can find a compatability list for various hardwares? I've seen it SOMEWHERE in these forums, but have yet to be able to find it again; it's set up dynamically so you can view a list on the left, find your hardware piece, and view the list on the right to see what it's compatible with... PLEASE HELP!!

 

[ACowWithNoLegs]

Better question**
(found the HCL btw)

Why is it when I check compatibility for the AMD64 FX series it states for unbuffered ram?

Rather... anybody know a good cheap ram I should use for my system... as I am currently in the market for something to run this thing on now...

AMD64 FX-53 939-pin,
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe,
SATA 120gig hard drive,
PATA 200gig hard drive,
Chaintech GeForce 6600GT video card...

Also... anybody know where I can SELL used hardware parts? (i'm sure its a rare thing...)
Or if anyone is interested in an
RMA Repaired Corsiar XMS 512mb RAM stick
---(exact model:CMX512RE-3200LL)
and possibly a
Chaintech GeForce 6600GT PCI-Express graphics card...(( all initial software& box included))
Simply reply to this with your interest ^.^;;;;

 

[Freestone]

Kingston memory has these two modules listed that are also in your motherboards compatibility list: KVR400X64C3A/256 and KVR400X64C3A/512

http://www.ec.kingston.com/shop/mod...SUS&model=A8V+Deluxe+Motherboard&SUBMIT1=Find

Cruial Memory would probably work too as it is really Micron memory:

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...s&mfr=ASUS&cat=RAM&model=A8V+Deluxe&submit=Go

 

[phatpenguin]

An interesting read since I am looking for answers about the stop error, and have almost the exact hardware you do. I am using the A8N-SLI with an Athlon64 3200+ and ASUS GeForce 6600GT. The memory I use is a gig of TwinMOS TMII400 in dual channel configuration. It is budget ram for sure, but it works in my system. I think my stop errors are related to a hard drive. I would get the stop errors each time I tried to access data from the drive, run a virus scan or even run CHKDSK. I know this error is not really one I should get from just bad sectors on the drive or a bad cable. I am starting to wonder if maybe the real issue is the power supply. Right now I just have a 400W ATX12V power supply. Its a nice unit, but I wonder if my machines requires more power. When I diconnect the offending disk drive I get no errors at all.

At any rate, the real value to my post is that the TwinMOS TMII400 is good cheap ram for this system. You can buy a gig of it for <140$ at newwegg.com.

I would be interested to know though if you think it possible that the power cupply may be partially to blame for your problem (and mine).

 

[ACowWithNoLegs]

Q: Are you sure you're using a BTX form-factor powersupply?

Sounds a bit odd... but the BTX form-factor is simply a 24-pin ATX power cord.
I bought a Janus ATX case by Logisys (from newegg, of course) with a 480w powersupply only to realize i had to go out and get another type.

Right now I'm running a Mad*Dog SurePower 500w PSU, and honestly never thought of it as being the problem as it was definitely the RAM which had caused it.

I would be getting that type of ram were it not for the requirements of the CPU.

Thanks for the help though, hope you find the problem.