WHEA uncorrectable error Win 10, bugcheck 124, ASUS laptop Eee VX6S

dreamt12 · 30 Dec 2016

Hi, All,
I know it's a frequent topic here, but so far the answers I've seen didn't help me (I didn't apply all of them yet).
Need the community's help analyzing the minidumps. Which are attached.
But let me review the issue and what I've done already: I have the above laptop which one day automatically upgraded to win10. (by one of the suggestions that popped up and was not declined).
After a while it started shutting down with the WHEA error. It can happen after 5 / 10 /1h /2h etc. Quite random.
Since then I've watched the temperatures, and it seemed it was running high. Updated the AMD drivers the latest crimson something and the GPU temperatures dropped nicely, and the CPU is also running around 56-67C.
Scanned Hard drive for errors. Scanned 15passes extended memory scan via microsoft mdsched.exe and all was clean.
Uninstalled most of the ASUS utilities (Which were working fine on Win7), after I saw such a suggestion either here or on another forum.
Last time I've seen the error there were no devices attached to USB or any other ports.
The PC has a dead battery that doesn't charge so it's always connected to a power source.

I've also loaded from a multi-boot HIRENBOOTCD style usb, and tried to backup the entire C: drive to try and format the PC then, but it froze / hanged during the backup.
I've tried running sfc /scannow but usually the PC crashes with WHEA error before it finishes. I may have completed it once and it didn't detect any errors (I don't remember for sure since I tried it many times).
I've also updated the BIOS via Asus LIVEUPDATE and it's the latest version (released in 2012).
I haven't reset the bios though.
There's no overclocking running and the computer is mostly used to browse internet and watch movies.
Malwarebytes installed with free licence, and also AVG Free.
Here's the main text from BlueScreenView:122916-55656-01.dmp 29/12/2016 11:07:47Bug Check Code: 0x00000124
P1: 00000000`00000000
P2: ffff9601`f682d028
P3: 00000000`b6000400
P4: 00000000`04e00800
Caused by Driver: hal.dll
Caused by Address: hal.dll+3627f
Processor: x64
Crash Address: ntoskrnl.exe+14a6f0Proc.
Count: 4
Major version: 15
Minor Version: 14393

Also in the detailed view: hal.dll hal.dll+3627f fffff803`f800f000 fffff803`f8084000 0x00075000 0x57dac91a 15/09/2016 18:15:22
ntoskrnl.exe ntoskrnl.exe+22b33c fffff803`f8084000 fffff803`f88a4000 0x00820000 0x584a77f6 09/12/2016 11:23:02

I've since then ran some tests with IPDT (Download Intel(R) Processor Diagnostic Tool)
But except for a very first error: in Module Executable = SPBC.exe
The purpose of spbc.exe is to determine if the processor under test is either a sample or production processor

All the rest of tests seemed fine. Tried also to run a burn-in test with this tool and it worked fine.

I've ran the dm reporting tool per the instructions in the sticky note and attached the file. surprised it's 22byres only, but I guess you guys know better.

Appreciate your help!

Ztruker · 31 Dec 2016

Please read and follow the instructions here: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

dreamt12 · 01 Jan 2017

hi, Ztrucker.
i've updated the post and attached the file as generated by your tool per the instructions.
is it ok now? can someone help me with the analysis of possible root cause?
Appreciate it.

Ztruker said:

Please read and follow the instructions here: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

Ztruker · 01 Jan 2017

Sorry, the zip you uploaded is empty. Please try again and check the zip before uploading.

I'll look at the two dumps you upload now.

Ztruker · 01 Jan 2017

Code:

BugCheck 124, {0, ffffc7877baa8028, b6000400, 4e00800}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmdag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
Probably caused by : GenuineIntel

Here is identical failure on a Win 7 system. [SOLVED] Windows 7 x86 BSOD - please help

I found several other threads with the same problem and all pointed to this thread for reference. You need to check CPU temps while running. Also check for a BIOS update for your system since what you have is pretty old: BIOS Release Date 03/05/2012

How to fill out System Specs for tenforums.

See here: System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums

Of major interest is the Manufacture and full model number of the computer if purchased or the system board if custom built.

dreamt12 · 02 Jan 2017

Hi, Rich,
Thanks for the info. I've already updated to the latest available bios - before posting this thread. It's an old laptop, thus no newer BIOS releases since 2012.
So if I understand correctly, also the linked post it all comes down to:
BUSL0_SRC_ERR_M_NOTIMEOUT_ERR (Proc 0 Bank 0) means that your processor is sending out a request to read data from the L0 Cache, and there was a delay (invalid data in cache, miss, etc). Try updating your BIOS from Asus' website. I could not check to see what version you were because msmmbios.sys wasn't loaded in the dumps. If a BIOS update does not help, and temperatures are not a problem (ensure you are not overheating) your CPU is faulty and will need to be replaced.

The laptop usually runs 56-65C for CPU temps, and slightly higher GPU temps. It shouldn't cause overheating problems at this temp level to my knowledge.

I haven't tried resetting the bios yet, so maybe that's a first thing that has to be done.
Then I don't know perhaps it's worth running some CPU testing software?
Any suggestions?
I can also try attaching a cooling pad for the laptop - we'll see if it will help.
I hope that there wouldn't be a need to replace a notebook processor, as it's usually not worth the effort/investment.

If you have any other thoughts on the issue please let me know.

Thanks a lot,
Vlad

Ztruker said:

Code:

BugCheck 124, {0, ffffc7877baa8028, b6000400, 4e00800}

Ztruker said:

Code:

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmdag.sys *** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys Probably caused by : GenuineIntel

Here is identical failure on a Win 7 system. [SOLVED] Windows 7 x86 BSOD - please help

I found several other threads with the same problem and all pointed to this thread for reference. You need to check CPU temps while running. Also check for a BIOS update for your system since what you have is pretty old: BIOS Release Date 03/05/2012

How to fill out System Specs for tenforums.

See here: System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums

Of major interest is the Manufacture and full model number of the computer if purchased or the system board if custom built.

Ztruker · 02 Jan 2017

Try running DM_Log_collector again, see if you can get a zip file that is not empty.

Also, please fill in your System Specs as I showed.

dreamt12 · 04 Jan 2017

Hi, Rich,
I've updated the sys info in my profile. Not sure how that helps.
I've ran the DM log collector 2 more times, with Admin permissions, still it's 22 bytes. Not sure what are the prerequisites to running this tool. maybe it needs rar/zip installed or what not, or if the file is bigger than X it just doesn't cut it.

Anyhow appreciate any more tips on what I can do to verify which part is faulty. If it's a driver or CPU or etc. And any recommendation for software for testing the CPU is welcome.

Ztruker said:

Try running DM_Log_collector again, see if you can get a zip file that is not empty.

Also, please fill in your System Specs as I showed.

Ztruker · 04 Jan 2017

I don't know why you can't access the zip file created by DM_Log_collector. Have you moved you user folders to another partition? If so maybe that is causing some problem.

See here: Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk from KYHI. Boot this and copy the zip file from your Desktop to a flash drive then boot normally and upload here.

Have you tried blowing compressed air through the vents in the laptop, see if that cleans out any accumulated dirt or dust?

Do you have your data backed up? If not, using a program like Macrium Reflect Free to backup your hard drive to an external USB drive would be a really good thing to do now, before doing anything else. At a minimum, you should backup any data you don't want to lose as well as record any license or installation keys.

The I would suggest doing a Clean Install of Windows 10, which includes formatting the hard drive or delketing all partitions then installing. See here: Windows 10 - Clean Install

dreamt12 · 05 Jan 2017

Hi, Rich,
What can I say, I've installed winrar, and cleared some of the older minidumps. One of these actions helped.
I've attached an archive with the collector's data. it's 1+mb so there you have all the possible info.
Let me know if you can find something interesting in that data.
Thanks for the help!

Ztruker said:

I don't know why you can't access the zip file created by DM_Log_collector. Have you moved you user folders to another partition? If so maybe that is causing some problem.

See here: Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk from KYHI. Boot this and copy the zip file from your Desktop to a flash drive then boot normally and upload here.

Have you tried blowing compressed air through the vents in the laptop, see if that cleans out any accumulated dirt or dust?

Do you have your data backed up? If not, using a program like Macrium Reflect Free to backup your hard drive to an external USB drive would be a really good thing to do now, before doing anything else. At a minimum, you should backup any data you don't want to lose as well as record any license or installation keys.

The I would suggest doing a Clean Install of Windows 10, which includes formatting the hard drive or delketing all partitions then installing. See here: Windows 10 - Clean Install