Frequent IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL BSODs

I am at my wits' end, and I need someone with more experience to please look at my info/dumps and hopefully at least nudge me in a direction to start looking at causes. Many and much thanks in advance.

I have developed consistent but not replicable BSOD crashes, mostly (but not always) with an IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL error in ntoskrnl.exe and ntkrnlmp.exe. (I don't know how much info you want on already taken steps, so I'll summarize what I have done and can provide more detail if asked.)

Developed, because my system was unchanged and this problem has become progressively worse, even as I have gotten more aggressive with troubleshooting.

Not replicable, because the crashes have occurred while I was: playing a game, browsing the web, watching video content through a media player, opening a file explorer window, while just sitting at the desktop while the system was doing nothing, etc. Longest time between crashes was something like four or five days, shortest about 30 minutes. After reboot, I can go right back to doing what I was doing and have no issues for some unknown period of time before crashing again while doing something else.

"Mostly" because I have gotten other stop codes, but not really since reinstalling Windows (which I did about a month ago).

Windows version: 20H2 (Build 19042.662)

Here is the archive created by the V2 log collector.

All drives pass the SeaTools "Long Generic" tests (no screenshots, sorry -- you'll have to take my word).

Driver verifier is running, but has not generated any useful info that I can determine.

I have run this forum's Tuneup.bat, and will paste the output below in a separate post.

Other steps taken:

• Updated all device and system drivers to most current versions
• Flashed all BIOS and firmware to newest versions
• Rolled back both the system and device drivers to various historic restore points
• Run memory checks (all passed)
• Replaced memory modules with new
• Monitors: removed/swapped, changed ports, changed cabling
• Uninstalled PCI audio device (my only expansion card apart from my GPU)
• Disassembled AMD graphics card and re-applied thermal compound (there was some notion on forum posts that the factory-applied thermal compound for my card might be prone to being insufficient/of poor quality and drying/cracking over time)
• Replaced AMD graphics card with a new NVIDIA graphics card
• Clean install of Windows 10 Pro N on a NEW SSD
• Targeted disabling/uninstalling of various devices via device manager

Next steps? And again, thank you in advance for your assistance.

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Tuneup.bat output:

Code:

###########################################################
# The following commands will be run in sequence.         #
# The first 5 will take quite a while to run, be patient. #
###########################################################

sfc /scannow
dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
sfc /scannow

chkdsk /scan

wmic recoveros get autoreboot
wmic recoveros set autoreboot = false
wmic recoveros get autoreboot
wmic recoveros get DebugInfoType
wmic recoveros set DebugInfoType = 7
wmic recoveros get DebugInfoType

wmic pagefile list /format:list
wmic Computersystem where name="VELKOR" get AutomaticManagedPagefile
wmic Computersystem where name="VELKOR" set AutomaticManagedPagefile=True
wmic Computersystem where name="VELKOR" get AutomaticManagedPagefile

bcdedit /enum {badmemory}


C:\Temp>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at
windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline
repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.

C:\Temp>dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.19041.572

Image Version: 10.0.19042.662

[==========================100.0%==========================] No component store corruption detected.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\Temp>dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.19041.572

Image Version: 10.0.19042.662

[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\Temp>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

C:\Temp>chkdsk /scan
The type of the file system is NTFS.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
  320768 file records processed.
File verification completed.
 Phase duration (File record verification): 1.86 seconds.
  3612 large file records processed.
 Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
  0 bad file records processed.
 Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 6.35 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
  203 reparse records processed.
  458080 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
 Phase duration (Index verification): 4.90 seconds.
  0 unindexed files scanned.
 Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 302.14 milliseconds.
  0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
 Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 1.45 milliseconds.
  203 reparse records processed.
 Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 4.42 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
 Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 48.54 milliseconds.
  68657 data files processed.
 Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 1.76 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  34202200 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
 Phase duration (USN journal verification): 115.11 milliseconds.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

 976131042 KB total disk space.
 163629012 KB in 246478 files.
    153264 KB in 68658 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    452938 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
 811895828 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
 244032760 total allocation units on disk.
 202973957 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 7.26 seconds (7263 ms).

C:\Temp>wmic recoveros get autoreboot
AutoReboot
TRUE


C:\Temp>wmic recoveros set autoreboot = false
Updating property(s) of '\\VELKOR\ROOT\CIMV2:Win32_OSRecoveryConfiguration.Name="Microsoft Windows 10 Pro N|C:\\Windows|\\Device\\Harddisk4\\Partition3"'
Property(s) update successful.

C:\Temp>wmic recoveros get autoreboot
AutoReboot
FALSE


C:\Temp>wmic recoveros get DebugInfoType
DebugInfoType
1


C:\Temp>wmic recoveros set DebugInfoType = 7
Updating property(s) of '\\VELKOR\ROOT\CIMV2:Win32_OSRecoveryConfiguration.Name="Microsoft Windows 10 Pro N|C:\\Windows|\\Device\\Harddisk4\\Partition3"'
Property(s) update successful.

C:\Temp>wmic recoveros get DebugInfoType
DebugInfoType
7


C:\Temp>wmic pagefile list /format:list


AllocatedBaseSize=34816
CurrentUsage=0
Description=C:\pagefile.sys
InstallDate=20201109231058.856358-480
Name=C:\pagefile.sys
PeakUsage=1
Status=
TempPageFile=FALSE




C:\Temp>wmic Computersystem where name="VELKOR" get AutomaticManagedPagefile
AutomaticManagedPagefile
TRUE


C:\Temp>wmic Computersystem where name="VELKOR" set AutomaticManagedPagefile=True
Updating property(s) of '\\VELKOR\ROOT\CIMV2:Win32_ComputerSystem.Name="VELKOR"'
Property(s) update successful.

C:\Temp>wmic Computersystem where name="VELKOR" get AutomaticManagedPagefile
AutomaticManagedPagefile
TRUE


C:\Temp>bcdedit /enum {badmemory}

RAM Defects
-----------
identifier              {badmemory}
Press any key to continue . . .

- - - Updated - - -

Three more BSODs since my initial post:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/...32%29.zip?dl=0

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/...00%29.zip?dl=0

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/...08%29.zip?dl=0

On the last two the system hung on the blue screen when the reporting percentage reached 100% -- I had to manually power off and back on...this is new behavior, but I haven't made any changes.

Test CPU with Prime95, OCCT and Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool - Prime95 - Stress Test Your CPU OCCT With Four Options - How We Stress Test CPUs Intel CPU - Diagnose - Windows 7 Help Forums
Test RAM with memtest86 (without +) - MemTest86+ - Test RAM
Test disks with SeaTools and check their S.M.A.R.T with CrystalDiskInfo - SeaTools for DOS - Hard Drive Diagnostic How to See If Your Hard Drive Is Dying with S.M.A.R.T.
Test GPU with FurMark - FurMark - GPU Stress Test

Ztruker said:

What drivers are you monitoring? Can you post a screen capture of the monitored drivers?

I'd say turn off Driver Verifier since it's not providing any useful data.

I turned off Driver Verifier after the last BSOD as I couldn't see it was doing any good. It had been set to monitor all non-Microsoft drivers.

MrPepka said:

Test CPU with Prime95, OCCT and Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool - Prime95 - Stress Test Your CPU OCCT With Four Options - How We Stress Test CPUs Intel CPU - Diagnose - Windows 7 Help Forums
Test RAM with memtest86 (without +) - MemTest86+ - Test RAM
Test disks with SeaTools and check their S.M.A.R.T with CrystalDiskInfo - SeaTools for DOS - Hard Drive Diagnostic How to See If Your Hard Drive Is Dying with S.M.A.R.T.
Test GPU with FurMark - FurMark - GPU Stress Test

I am in the process of completing these tests -- even the ones I already performed, in the interest of covering all bases -- but it certainly isn't quick.

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All tests not yet complete, but I had a BSOD, so reporting in.

• MemTest86 -- ran a full suite of tests, the max four passes allowed with the trial version. All passed.
• FurMark -- ran the tests as described in the linked post for 45 mins, no errors, no spiked temps or graphical artifacts.
• Prime95 -- ran the small FFTs torture test, no errors.
• CrystalDiskInfo reports no SMART errors and all drives in good health.
• SeaTools -- I had planned to run overnight...I was leaving this until last because it takes so long and I already did it once.

Next I ran an OCCT small data set for 30 minutes...I watched the entire time, until there was just two minutes left and I had to get up and let out the cat. I returned to a BSOD, again hung at the 100% mark of collecting data. I had to power off the system manually.

Here are the V2 logs.

OCCT dropped a file called hwinfo64a_152.sys into my AppData\Local\Temp folder and that was one culprit. Is this a problem with OCCT, or is this indicative of CPU problems? I am not good enough at parsing these dump files to make a determination.

I think I will run SeaTools over night and wait for feedback on how else to proceed with the CPU tests and what the latest BSOD might indicate.

Much thanks.

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SeaTools results: all passed.

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Two more BSODs this evening, within an hour of each other:

V2 Logs 01

V2 Logs 02

Still at a total loss -- any insight?

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Sigh.

And again. I'm also uploading the Memory.dmp crash dump in case that helps.

V2 log

Memory.dmp

At this point I'm going to stop posting logs until I can actually get some guidance.

I believe your problem is due to incorrect settings in the BIOS for your memory. Please remove all overclocking for the RAM and ensure the clock speed is no greater than 2133MHz.

Hello Krieger,

I think there is progress. The recent dumps have a slightly different pattern.

Please try updating your Intel Ethernet Network driver. Here are the details of the current one:
e1d65x64.sys Sun Mar 19 14:46:33 2017

You will need to go to the Intel Downloads webpage to find a newer driver - use the online update tool.

Back on 9th November this network driver was updated probably by Windows Update unless you can remember doing it yourself. Your first BSOD shows up on the 10th November.

If you can't find a newer driver you can roll back to the previous driver and see if this helps.

philc43 said:

Please try updating your Intel Ethernet Network driver.

Back on 9th November this network driver was updated probably by Windows Update unless you can remember doing it yourself. Your first BSOD shows up on the 10th November.

philc43 --

First, thank you very much for following up and digging through my mess of posted files, I really appreciate you taking the time.

Second, my problem dates back many months, to at least May. My dumps only go back to November because that's when I did a clean install of Windows on a new drive in an effort to address this problem. As I mentioned in my original post, I have updated and rolled back all of my drivers during my own troubleshooting...in the case of the network driver, I have just let Windows handle it since the re-install, but if I look through my history, I was running a much newer version of the driver up until then.

Regardless, I have updated the driver from Intel's site and will report back when the next BSOD hits.

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And the inevitable crash.

I think the only way of sorting out if there is a driver causing this is to operate a clean boot and see if the crash happens. If the clean boot is fine you can start adding in the non-Microsoft processes and drivers until you find the one which causes the problem. This is time consuming but the following tutorial will show you a way of doing it efficiently.

Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts | Tutorials (tenforums.com)