Bluescreen / Freezing - MEMTest stall.

Meloco · 9 Oct 2011 at 16:38

Hi,

spec: ASROCK EXtreme 4 Gen 3
i5 2500K @ 4.5ghz
Corsair 8GB (1.65v. 9-9-9-24)
1000W OCZ PSU

I've been running this pc for a few days now, no noticeable problems. Until I had a few bluescreens / freezes under weird circumstances.

I can game on BF3 / Metro 2033 all day long and no bluescreen (touch wood).

But with iTunes (once), PowerIso (once), and sometimes just leaving the pc on over night (once). I get a bluescreen. Plus I just did memtest single core and it freezes at 3% (multi-cpu doesn't even run)..

here's a screenshot:

thanks for any help.

Plec · 9 Oct 2011 at 17:22

Revert the system back to stock - as you need to rule out an ynstable clock first.

Reset the CMOS - and then load optimised defaults and set then set the memory up.

Then test each stick inividually and see if you can isolate the stick/DIMM (if that is the problem) - alternate slots if necessary.

Meloco · 9 Oct 2011 at 17:53

Plec said:
Revert the system back to stock - as you need to rule out an ynstable clock first.

Reset the CMOS - and then load optimised defaults and set then set the memory up.

Then test each stick inividually and see if you can isolate the stick/DIMM (if that is the problem) - alternate slots if necessary.

I've just had another bluescreen which was an ati drive fault. Tbh these faults only just started happening more since a bios update for the motherboard..

Plec · 9 Oct 2011 at 18:00

Meloco said:
I've just had another bluescreen which was an ati drive fault. Tbh these faults only just started happening more since a bios update for the motherboard..

Did you remember to reset the CMOS after the flash?

Meloco · 9 Oct 2011 at 19:07

Plec said:
Did you remember to reset the CMOS after the flash?

No... Is this absaloutely necessary? I hate going in to my case lol.

Also I can't try any of the other slots as my cpu cooler is too big, so can only try in A2 and B2.

tipes · 9 Oct 2011 at 19:58

Meloco said:
No... Is this absaloutely necessary? I hate going in to my case lol.

Also I can't try any of the other slots as my cpu cooler is too big, so can only try in A2 and B2.

Go into bios and load optimised defaults and save, then re boot and set up your bios settings for you drives etc. You should always load bios optimised defaults after flashing the bios to avoid bios problems.

Mark

Plec · 9 Oct 2011 at 20:09

Meloco said:
No... Is this absaloutely necessary? I hate going in to my case lol.

Yes, it's best practiceand then load optimised defaults and then save and exit (don't reintroduce the clock).

Meloco said:
Also I can't try any of the other slots as my cpu cooler is too big, so can only try in A2 and B2.

Then set the memory up manually and test each stick individually and see what results you get - if one stick/or both fail in one slot test the other etc...

Slackjaw190 · 9 Oct 2011 at 20:11

Meloco said:
No... Is this absaloutely necessary? I hate going in to my case lol.

Also I can't try any of the other slots as my cpu cooler is too big, so can only try in A2 and B2.

Didnt i read somewhere u have a E4G3? if so there's a clear CMOS button on the back so you dont need to go into your case

Meloco · 9 Oct 2011 at 20:22

Slackjaw190 said:
Didnt i read somewhere u have a E4G3? if so there's a clear CMOS button on the back so you dont need to go into your case

Thanks for that, I found it on the back next to the usb ports! running tests now.

Meloco · 9 Oct 2011 at 20:58

tried with 1 mem stick, tired with no overclock... Keeps halting at same bit in the screen shots. :/... However performance at the moment seems fine, games run fine. The applications that were crashing don't seem to be now (touch wood). ... Confused.

Plec · 10 Oct 2011 at 12:20

Have you considred you may have a corrupt memtest copy?

I would re-download memtest and burn another bootable ISO - and test again.

EDIT: And make sure you download the latest release - V4.20 as older versions have known issues with SB (which may be your problem as i've just noticed your using v3.5)

Meloco · 10 Oct 2011 at 12:33

Plec said:
Have you considred you may have a corrupt memtest copy?

I would re-download memtest and burn another bootable ISO - and test again.

EDIT: And make sure you download the latest release - V4.20 as older versions have known issues with SB (which may be your problem as i've just noticed your using v3.5)

Thanks I thought that might be the problem, I'll get a new copy today and try again.

Davefran · 10 Oct 2011 at 12:39

How come you updated the bios, did you have a problem with your mouse.
The new bios is ONLY for people who are having mouse problems.
You'd be better off going back to the original bios.

Meloco · 10 Oct 2011 at 14:48

Davefran said:
How come you updated the bios, did you have a problem with your mouse.
The new bios is ONLY for people who are having mouse problems.
You'd be better off going back to the original bios.

Oh... I just updated it because I was on Version 1.00 and there was 1.10 out..

I've run memtest for 2 hours+ now with no errors, all seems to be fine. I had another restart/bluescreen(didnt see) last night, but I wasn't near the computer so not sure what caused it.

But played BF3/Crysis etc fine, no lock ups or anything... Really bizarre.

Plec · 10 Oct 2011 at 14:54

Meloco said:
I've run memtest for 2 hours+ now with no errors, all seems to be fine.

Ideally you need to run memtest overnight.

Meloco said:
I had another restart/bluescreen(didnt see) last night, but I wasn't near the computer so not sure what caused it.

Was the system clocked when it restarted?

Meloco · 10 Oct 2011 at 14:56

Plec said:
Ideally you need to run memtest overnight.

Was the system clocked when it restarted?

Nope, I was running it unclocked last night. For memtest I was running at turbo 4.4ghz. I'll run it overnight tonight and see what happens. The only other thing it may be (as it seems to crash on desktop) is pagefile perhaps? I changed that to 1gb for my SSD... I don't know if that would have something to do with it?

tipes · 10 Oct 2011 at 15:22

Meloco said:
Nope, I was running it unclocked last night. For memtest I was running at turbo 4.4ghz. I'll run it overnight tonight and see what happens. The only other thing it may be (as it seems to crash on desktop) is pagefile perhaps? I changed that to 1gb for my SSD... I don't know if that would have something to do with it?

You could try moving the pagefile to another hdd, but most say it is better left on the ssd afaik because of faster performance. The general rule of thumb with pagefiles used to be set to 1.5x the amount of ram - but I don't think that apllies so much these days with people running large amounts of ram.You could try increasing the size of the pagefile to perhaps 1.5 Gb and see how that goes?

Mark

Meloco · 10 Oct 2011 at 15:34

tipes said:
You could try moving the pagefile to another hdd, but most say it is better left on the ssd afaik because of faster performance. The general rule of thumb with pagefiles used to be set to 1.5x the amount of ram - but I don't think that apllies so much these days with people running large amounts of ram.You could try increasing the size of the pagefile to perhaps 1.5 Gb and see how that goes?

Mark

I've just set Windows to manage it, not pushed for space atm so i will see how it goes..

tipes · 10 Oct 2011 at 15:51

Meloco said:
I've just set Windows to manage it, not pushed for space atm so i will see how it goes..

Didn't like to suggest that - but I think probably a good idea.Will await updates,hopefully good ones.

Mark

Meloco · 10 Oct 2011 at 19:17

Think I may have narrowed it down... Tried the furball test on MSI graphics application programme and got this bluescreen after the warmup:

STOP: 0x00000116

virtuwddm.sys

edit: nevermind I think it's conflicting with Media player classic and bluescreening, as the ffdshow plugin keeps making the tester hang.

I Will run it overnight and see if I get a system restart/bluescreen.