Crash: Kernel-Power 41 - event viewer

Dr Delphi · 3 Aug 2013 at 22:34

My PC has been stable for the last 4 months, and yet now I am having intermittent problems within windows. Programs are crashing (like iExplorer and Steam) causing the machine to become unresponsive, the charm menu to the right hand side will show but I cannot open the settings section which means I can't reboot, and ctrl-alt-del (or ctrl-alt-esc) aren't bringing up the task menu. On reboot the machine hasn't been showing the SSD on SATA 1 and an unplug and replug of the drive within the case causes it to be re-recognised within the BIOS and allows the machine to reboot.

On reboot I have been checking event logs, and I have found that the only critical event types are a Kernel-Power event ID 41. with each crash being logged as the only within the last hour. Event information can be seen below:

Event information said:
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

I have checked my Sandisk SSD with the Sandisk utility and the SMART info is showing that everything is passing - with what I can see there are no problems (although I'm not so sure I'm trusting all this SMART info). The SMART info can be seen below:

Sandisk Utility said:
1 Raw Read Error Rate 100 50 0 Pass
5 Retired Block Count 100 3 0 Pass
9 Power On Hours 100 0 1180 N/A
0C Device Power Cycle Count 100 0 196 N/A
AB Program Fail Count 0 0 0 N/A
AC Erase Fail Count 0 0 0 N/A
AE Unexpected Power Loss Count 0 0 17 N/A
B1 Wear Range Delta 0 0 0 N/A
B5 Program Fail Count 0 0 0 N/A
B6 Erase Fail Count 0 0 0 N/A
BB Reported Uncorrectable Errors 100 0 0 N/A
C2 Temperature 30 0 30 N/A
C3 On-the-Fly ECC Uncorrectable Error Count 100 0 0 N/A
C4 Reallocation Event Count 100 0 0 Pass
E7 SSD Life Left 100 10 0 Pass
F1 Lifetime Writes to Host 0 0 832 N/A
F2 Lifetime Reads from Host 0 0 1408 N/A

My current PC Specs are:

Intel Core i5-3330 3.00GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail
MSI Z77A-G45 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1333C9DC)
SanDisk Ultra SSD 60GB 2.5" SATA-2 Solid State Hard Drive - (SDSSDH-060G-G25)
EVGA 670GTX FTW

Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this further or ways to check the SSD better than using the SMART information?

mickyflinn · 3 Aug 2013 at 22:57

Have you got the latest Bios , Firmware and drivers ?

Dr Delphi · 3 Aug 2013 at 23:07

Good call, I've just gone to check with live update and its told me that there is a new BIOS update, 2.B0 (although no mention of it on the MSI website!). Also a couple of Intel drivers that were missing as well.

I'll install those and update if the problem continues!

Dr Delphi · 4 Aug 2013 at 14:46

Ok updated everything I could and just had another kernel-power event id:41 issue happening. Anyway to deeply check the health of an SSD not using the SMART info?

Also disconnecting and reconnecting the SSD to the SATA cable means BIOS can see the drive and will allow me to reboot - this seems a strange occurrence to me, any ideas?

mogwai · 4 Aug 2013 at 14:50

What model and spec is your PSU? As a quick google of your error inidicates it could be a failing PSU.

Dr Delphi · 4 Aug 2013 at 19:43

I've got a 10 year old corsair 520W (if I remember correctly) anyway to check whether it's that or anything else?

mogwai · 4 Aug 2013 at 20:06

To rule out RAM you could download and run memtest86+. But if you PSU is that old and only 520w it may be worth replacing it. The only way to see if it is the PSU is to try another one. You can get psu testers but I don't know how good they are.

Dr Delphi · 4 Aug 2013 at 20:28

Thanks for your advice - so you don't think its the SSD?

mogwai · 4 Aug 2013 at 20:43

If it was the SSD I would expect you to be seeing disk releated entries in the event viewer. However I have also seen strange issues being down to dodgy sata cable and/or port. So you could try a different SATA cable and if that doesn't help a different SATA port.

Dr Delphi · 4 Aug 2013 at 20:52

Ok thanks ill try that, and report back.

Any thoughts on the corsair GS 2013 600W power supply?

mogwai · 4 Aug 2013 at 21:02

I prefer be quiet Dark power pro's myself. If you look at my signature you can see the spec I am running off a 650w one. But I would try the suggestions I have made to check the RAM, SATA Cable and Sata port first.

Dr Delphi · 5 Aug 2013 at 12:30

Ok have tried new SATA cable and different port, I've run memtest within windows but as I have 16GB it wasn't able to cope so going to find a USB to make a boot drive to test it all. Other than that have ordered a new PSU and CPU cooler to see if they make a difference.

Any other suggestions?

mogwai · 5 Aug 2013 at 17:46

If it is temperature related you could try running with the side of the case off.

Dr Delphi · 5 Aug 2013 at 22:21

I've been tracking temps today, processor isn't going above 45 degrees, and GFX was Sub 80 degrees. New PSU, case and H60 so will soon find out if that fixes it!

Thanks for all your help

mogwai · 6 Aug 2013 at 06:12

It doesn't sound like it is temperature related then. Perhaps it might be worth just installing the new PSU and if this fixes the issue you could send the h60 back if you don't need it. Which PSU did you go for?

mogwai · 10 Aug 2013 at 13:12

Have you had any luck sorting this issue out?

wazza300 · 10 Aug 2013 at 13:16

kernel 41 just means your pc shut down unexpectedly,it doesn't give you the true cause

try to catch the bsod code when it crashes

it will be something like this 000x0000000000000124 it will flash up quickly so try and see what it is

Lemin · 10 Aug 2013 at 17:23

I had lots of this error, a new psu solved it in the end. Also check your ram is at its correct timing and voltage. My money is on the psu.

edit, and theres no bsod.