IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0x0A)

[jade1001]

Fellow Geeks,

I am tired of seeing the above BSoD every time I reboot my machine. I have decided to put an end to it... well hopefully .

Ok, here's the break down. I just recently formatted in hopes I wouldn't have to see that phreaking blue screen. I installed all of my drivers, service packs, and updates in this order:

1. Win2k Professional
2. VIA 4in1 chipset update
3. Win2k Service Pack 2
4. Locked down my security policies
5. Configured Network card and installed all the latest drivers for my video, Sound, and network card.
6. Installed all of Microsoft's patches and hotfixed that are needed for Win2k.

Everything goes fine. So I'm think coolios... I killed the BSoD. Then after installing some apps like Photoshop or Nero anything that requires a reboot guess what! BSoD!

The consistent part about this problem is the BSoD happens on the way up. It happens every time my machine is at the Splash screen with the white background with the blue indicator bar at the bottom. When the indicator bar is about 3/4 ways through -- **BSoD**! Three or four reboots usually gets me back into Windows allowing me to type this post.

The inconsistent part about this problem is the BSoD's don't occur every time. Maybe once out of 20 reboots I won't get a BSoD.

The other inconsistent thing is when I'm in Windows sometimes I am unable to access my drive letters. I double click on My Computer and the thing will churn till eternity. If I'm in Word or something and try to do a File --> Save As guess what... (not a BSoD ) ... it will take till eternity. No hard drive activity or anything. It acts like its trying to access a networked drive on a 56k connection but I don't have any networked drives. And check this out, I'll control + Alt + Del and do a shutdown and the thing will hang at the final blue screen till eternity to shut down. Its like some phreaking device isn't shutting down and its keeping Windows from going down.

Things I've done so far:

1. Checked the device manager. Everything looks A-Okay. No exclamation marks or weird stuff like that.
2. made sure I have the latest and greatest drivers for everything.
3. Checked the event log--
Nothing in the event log pointing to a device. Event log looks clean -- contains usual things like master browser election wars. In fact, it doesn't even log the BSoD's when environmental variables are set for it to log them. (I guess one has to crash in Windows for it to get logged) However, there is a minidump folder with the minidump contained within.
4. Checked IRQ's--
Everything is on its own. USB is sharing 9 twice which is normal for USB. Ports I'm not using are turned off in the BIOS.
1. Keyboard
2. None
3. MS ACPI...
4. COM1
5. None
6. FDD
7. None
8. System CMOS/real time clock
9. VIA USB Univ. Host Contr
9. " "
10. None
11. None
12. None
13. Numeric data processor
14. Prim IDE Channel
15. Secondary IDE Channel
16. 3D Prophet 2
17. 3Com 905B-TX
18. None
19. Santa Cruz
5. And Researched the problem.

http://www.microsoft.com/WINDOWS2000/techinfo/reskit/en/ProRK/prhd_exe_igcc.htm

<--I Went there.
My BSoD has this:
1. 0x04
2. 0x02
3. 0x00 (0 for read operation?)
4. 0x29
804a7829@80400000 ... ... 3ad77869 ntoskrnl.exe

My system Specs:
Mobo: Tyan Tiger230 S2507
Memory: 1024MB SDRAM pc133(2 512 sticks)
CPU: 2 Intel Pentium 1 GHz pc133
IDE:
PM-80 GB Western Digital 7200 rpm EIDE
PS-80 GB Western Digital 7200 rpm EIDE
SM-Plexwriter 24/10/40 CD-Burner
SS-Plexwriter 24/10/40 CD-Burner
Video: 3D Prophet 2 GTS 64mb
Sound: Santa Cruz
Network: 3C905B-TX (3Com)
External:
IOMEGA parallel 250 zip drive (hardly used)
USB L-Series BUSLink HD (SAMSUNG SV2042H SCSI Disk Device)
USB Microsoft Opti-TrakBall
USB Hub
USB Logitech Web Cam (00)
USB Lexmark Z51 Bubble jet printer (01)
AT gender bended to PS/2 generic keyboard
ViewSonic GS790 Monitor

If anyone has any ideas or advice let me know.

Jade>:O>

 

[KimberTech]

Have you tried taking out one or the other sticks of ram?
I always look at hardware first... I pledge to share any information I have and advise to the best of my knowledge based on the information provided.

 

[jmaurya]

HI JADE,

YOU CHANGE SIMM CARD OF YOUR PC . I THINK AFTER CHANGING SIMM CARD YOU NOT HAVE SUCH TYPES PROBLEMS. I ALSO RECEIVED SAME PROBLEM IN WINDOWS NT 4.0 SERVER . I TRIED A LOT AT LOST I DECIDED TO CHANGE THE SIMM CARD . AFTER CHANGING THE SIMM CARD PROBLEM RECTIFIED.

 

[Raven001]

Go here:

http://www.aumha.org/kbestopz.htm

They probably have the most complete listing of Stop Errors and solutions I've ever seen. I checked and your error is listed there, however there are just too many solutions to post efficiently here.

Raven001
MCSE, A+/Net+,
All around nice guy. ;-)

 

[jade1001]

Thanks everyone for all your input

I think I found the problem after much digging. The URL that I posted above, I realize just now, won't work but this is what the URL said:

Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
This Stop message, also known as Stop 0xA, indicates that a kernel-mode process attempted to access a portion of memory at an Interrupt Request Level (IRQL) that was too high. A kernel-mode process can only access other processes that have an IRQL lesser than or equal to its own.

Interpreting the Message
The four parameters listed in the Stop 0xA message are defined in order of appearance as follows:

Memory address referenced
IRQL
Type of access (0 = read operation, 1 = write operation)
Address that referenced memory in parameter 1
If the third parameter is the same as the first parameter, a special condition exists in which a system worker routine, executed by a worker thread to handle background tasks known as work items, returned at a raised IRQL. In that case, the parameters are defined as follows:

Address of the worker routine
IRQL
Address of the worker routine
Address of the work item
Resolving the Problem
Buggy device driver, system service, or BIOS. The error that generates Stop 0xA usually occurs after the installation of a buggy device driver, system service, or BIOS. To resolve it quickly, restart your computer, and press F8 at the character-mode screen that displays the prompt “For troubleshooting and advanced startup options for Windows 2000, press F8.” On the resulting Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu, choose the Last Known Good Configuration option. This option is most effective when only one driver or service is added at a time.

Incompatible device driver, system service, virus scanner, or backup tool. If you encounter Stop 0xA while upgrading to a newer version of Windows, it might be caused by a device driver, a system service, a virus scanner, or a backup tool that is incompatible with the new version. If possible, remove all third-party device drivers and system services and disable any virus scanners prior to upgrading. Contact the software manufacturers to obtain updates of these tools.

For additional error messages that might help pinpoint the device or driver that is causing the error, check the System Log in Event Viewer. Disabling memory caching of the BIOS might also resolve this error. You also need to run hardware diagnostics supplied by the system manufacturer, especially the memory scanner. For details on these procedures, see the owner’s manual for your computer.

If your system has small computer system interface (SCSI) adapters, contact the adapter manufacturer to obtain updated Windows 2000 drivers. Try disabling sync negotiation in the SCSI BIOS, checking the cabling and the SCSI IDs of each device, and confirming proper termination. For enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) devices, define the onboard EIDE port as Primary only. Also, check each EIDE device for the proper master/slave or stand-alone setting. Try removing all EIDE devices except for hard disks.

If the message appears during an installation of Windows 2000, make sure that the computer and all installed peripherals are listed on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). For more information about the HCL, see “Additional Resources” at the end of this chapter.

Microsoft periodically releases a package of product improvements and problem resolutions called a Service Pack. Because many problems are resolved by installing the latest Service Pack, it is recommended that all users install them as they become available. To check which Service Pack, if any, is installed on your system, click Start, click Run, type winver, and then press ENTER. The About Windows 2000 dialog box displays the Windows version number and the version number of the Service Pack, if one has been installed. For information about installing the latest Service Pack, see “Additional Resources” at the end of this chapter.

Occasionally, remedies to specific problems are developed after the release of a Service Pack. These remedies are called hotfixes. Microsoft does not recommend that you install a post–Service Pack hotfix unless the specific problem it addresses has been encountered. Service Packs include all of the hotfixes released since the release of the previous Service Pack. The status of hotfix installations is not indicated in the About Windows 2000 dialog box. For information about downloading hotfixes and Service Packs, see “Additional Resources” at the end of this chapter.

For more troubleshooting information about the 0xA Stop message, refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base link, using the keywords winnt and 0x0000000A. For information about this resource, see “Additional Resources” at the end of this chapter.



Another place I went to said this :

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Issue:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

Additional Information:

The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or Stop 0x0000000A errors are able to be generated by both software and hardware issues. The message indicates that a kernel mode process or driver attempted to access a memory address that it did not have access to.

These error messages are generally formatted in the following fashion:

STOP: 0x0000000A (0x

http://wwwwwwww,

0xxxxxxxxx, 0xyyyyyyyy, 0xzzzzzzzz)

0x

http://wwwwwwww

The address that was referenced improperly.
0xxxxxxxxx IRQL that was required to access the memory.
0xyyyyyyyy Type of access.
0xzzzzzzzz Address of instruction that attempted to access 0x

http://wwwwwwww.

Cause:

This issue can be caused by any of the following possibilities:

Mcafee VirusScan for Windows NT issue
Windows NT 3.51 upgrade from Windows NT 4.0
Service Pack
Driver issue
Hardware issue
Solution:

Mcafee VirusScan for Windows NT issue

Exact error is as follows:

STOP: 0x0000000A (0x0000015a, 0x0000001c, 0x00000000, 0x80116bf4)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Mcafee VirusScan for Windows NT 2.5.1(9607) and 2.5.2(9609) are not compatible with Windows NT 4.0

Uninstall Mcafee

Windows NT 3.51 upgrade from Windows NT 4.0

Exact error is as follows:

STOP: 0x0000000A (0x0000015a, 0x0000001c, 0x00000000, 0x80116bf4)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If you have upgraded your computer to Windows NT 4.0 from Windows NT 3.51 and have a server with Gateway Services for Netware to Windows NT 4.0 installed remove the Gateway Services for Netware and reinstall the service to resolve this issue.

Service Pack

Exact error is as follows:

STOP 0x0000000a (0x00000006, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, **********) IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

********** - This portion may vary

Earlier service packs may have had issues with the TCP handling and updating the Service Pack will resolve the issue. Ensure you have the latest service pack installed in the computer.

Links to locations to download the latest service packs can be found through our Windows NT download section.

Driver issue

Drivers which have errors of their own can also cause the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error. Consider updating or reinstalling your drivers (more specifically your network and/or SCSI drivers).

For a listing of driver manufacturer company pages see our drivers page.

Hardware issue

In the event that the above information does not help to resolve your issue it is possible that the computer may be encountering a hardware issue. Attempt to exchange or replace hardware in the computer. Our recommendation would be:

RAM / CPU / NIC


I know my memory is good. I've tested it. I have the latest patches, service packs, and hot fixes installed so I'm down to device drivers.

I'm running the latest Detonator driver released March 21 2002 for my GeForce2 card, I'm running version 4142 Turtle Beach driver, and a 3Com driver Microsoft's Windows Update suggested. I also have the latest printer driver for my POS printer and I'm using MS's version 4 mouse driver. So this leaves me with one driver that I over looked-- The external USB hard drive. Check this out:

http://www.buslink.com/serv02.htm#Windows ME

Hopefully that link works.

The drives in these little things are SCSI drives. I do remember occasionally, once in a blue moon I would BSoD opening IE6. It was so rare that I just figured it was just a phreak accident.

I received this drive as a gift from a friend. I just installed it-- Never had problems with it before.

So if anyone is having this problem-- here is my fix. I updated my USB to IDE driver which updated my SCSI driver by first uninstalling the old and installing the new. Haven't had a BSoD since. Silly thing

Thanks everyone for you help ,

jade>:O>