Crashes when gaming (crash dumps included)

[Tor77]

Hi all,

I've been having some problems and just wanted to see if any of you guys have experienced any similar or might be able to help me out in any way at all.

Problem

- When playing (Call of Duty 4) my game often freezes and most of the time the only solution is to reboot the computer

- What happens is the image freezes and the sound stops. Some times I can ctrl-alt-del myself out, open the task manager and simply close COD4. Other times - when trying to start task manager - it won't work. However, if I'm able to C-A-D myself out I can hear the sound in game suddenly start again. But if I attempt to go back in, the sound stops and the image is still frozen.

I have been to the developers website looking for solutions and discussed back-and-forth with other people having the same problem, but no solution yet. Before any of you ask, I can tell you that I have tried all the "standard" solutions like updating GPU driver (both from NVIDIA and also tweaked drivers from Tweaks 'R Us), installed new sound drivers, disabled sound all together, turned down resolution in both Vista and ingame, exited any process/program running in the background that I didn't need etc. All the usual stuff people have tried and I have tried.

Setup

Striker Extreme mainboard

Intel Core Dual 2 E6600 CPU

8800 Ultra video card (overclocked from factory) (FYI: not two running SLI)

Seagate 500GB S-ATA

8GB of OCZ Platinum 6400 memory modules (2 pairs of 4GB (2x2x2x2))

Vista Business 64-bit

The times I am able to get out of the game and exit it thru task manager, the most usual errors I get is "NVLDDMKM has stopped responding" or "The display driver has stopped working and has been recovered". A couple of times I have gotten the BSOD as well, and since I work in hardware sales and didn't want to run any memtest program I simply got myself new memory sticks (I used to run Kingston HyperX 4GB 6200 modules). But the problem still exist (although BSOD hasn't occured yet).

I'm a keen gamer and you might understand the levels of frustration when I'm in a game and the f'cker suddenly freezes after 1 minute of gaming...or 30 minutes of gaming...or 2 hours of gaming (it's not consistent on when it stops either).

Please have a look at these different crashdumps (mini dumps):

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* Bugcheck Analysis *

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 1000007E, {ffffffffc000001d, fffff98004a372cd, fffff98000aa66b8, fffff98000aa6090}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys

Probably caused by : memory_corruption

Followup: memory_corruption

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* *

* Bugcheck Analysis *

* *

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 24, {1904ab, fffff9801c4f50d8, fffff9801c4f4ab0, fffff80002087756}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\SiWinAcc.sys, Win32 error 0n2

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for SiWinAcc.sys

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for SiWinAcc.sys

Probably caused by : Unknown_Image ( PAGE_NOT_ZERO_VISTA )

Followup: MachineOwner

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*** Memory manager detected 3 instance(s) of page corruption, target is likely to have memory corruption.

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* *

* Bugcheck Analysis *

* *

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck A, {fffffa8c025de3fa, 2, 0, fffff80002026c8b}

Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+9bbe )

Followup: MachineOwner

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* *

* Bugcheck Analysis *

* *

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 116, {fffffa800548a310, fffff98004c5a3a0, 0, d}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys, Win32 error 0n2

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys

Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+83a0 )

Followup: MachineOwner

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(the latter is probably the error I get the most - "nvlddmkm has stopped working")

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* *

* Bugcheck Analysis *

* *

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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck A, {2f, 2, 0, fffff800018d5631}

Probably caused by : memory_corruption ( nt!MiIdentifyPfn+63e )

Followup: MachineOwner

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Anyone got any ideas what to do? Like I said, BSOD only happens like 1 of the 20 times it crashes so I'm a bit baffled about the "memory_corruption" message. But what do I know? Maybe it's not talking about physical memory.

Anyways, I would really appreciate some inputs or advice. This is driving me insane and it's extremly annoying having a top-notch rig and you can't even use it.

Thanks in advance!

PS! Almost forgot. This should be some interessting info. When buying and building the PC I bought double the components to build the same PC for a colleague of mine who's a gamer as well. And I'm not talking "similar" PC; I'm talking the EXACT same components; a blue-print of mine; bought at the same time on the same purchase order. They were put together buy a config team doing this for a living. Anyway, he also plays COD4 and has had NO problems whatsover! Exact same hardware, drivers, builds, OS etc but no problems whatsoever. It's like cloning myself and suddenly Mini-Me gets cancer. DS

[cluberti]

Well, a kernel issue, an nvidia driver issue, a Silicon Image driver crash, and a win32k.sys driver crash. The only thing they all appear to have in common (according to the very basic output) is memory corruption (and not RAM corruption before someone yells out "check your RAM!!!" <sigh>), I mean virtual address space or page frame corruption.

The first thing I'd do is upgrade every video, audio, disk/chipset, and antivirus driver you've got on the box, and then go from there. If it's page frame or memory corruption when gaming I usually blame the video card (especially with 50% of the crashes related to the Nvidia card or graphics subsystem).

[eyeball]

yeah nvidias drivers in vista are terrible they account for 70% of the BSODs i see nowadays

[cluberti]

I believe Microsoft even announced recently that most of the Vista crashes uploaded by WER were caused by Nvidia drivers, and that particular one you have was one of the worst of that lot...

[Tor77]

Hi again guys, thanks for your answers! I've been looking further into this and also suspect this to be a driver problem.

However, I waited a couple of days before getting back to you because I just installed other memory modules. I tried playing BF2 - which should be no sweat - and then a couple of things happened. First of all, the game crashed to desktop several times. I tried uninstalling the latest Windows updated - which partially solved THAT problem - but then I got another BSOD.

Please have a look at this crashdump (tad bit more info this time:)

1: kd> !analyze -v

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* Bugcheck Analysis *

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MEMORY_MANAGEMENT (1a)

# Any other values for parameter 1 must be individually examined.

Arguments:

Arg1: 0000000000041201, The subtype of the bugcheck.

Arg2: fffff6800000bc18

Arg3: f8a0000194127847

Arg4: fffffa8009da1230

Debugging Details:

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BUGCHECK_STR: 0x1a_41201

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME: BF2.exe

CURRENT_IRQL: 0

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from fffff8000209de1d to fffff8000204dc90

STACK_TEXT:

fffff980`14f1b988 fffff800`0209de1d : 00000000`0000001a 00000000`00041201 fffff680`0000bc18 f8a00001`94127847 : nt!KeBugCheckEx

fffff980`14f1b990 fffff800`0207f830 : 00000000`00000000 fffff800`022c7bcf 00000000`000005ac fffff800`0228dff1 : nt!MiGetPageProtection+0x1dd

fffff980`14f1b9e0 fffff800`0207fcaa : fffffa80`09da1230 00000000`0007e598 fffffa80`08791170 fffff980`14f1bab0 : nt!MiQueryAddressState+0x2d0

fffff980`14f1ba40 fffff800`022c4bff : 00000000`00000000 00000000`01784000 fffffa80`0a9d3060 00000000`00000003 : nt!MiQueryAddressSpan+0xaa

fffff980`14f1bab0 fffff800`0204d733 : 00000000`000005ac fffffa80`0a9d3060 00000000`00000000 00000000`0007e538 : nt!NtQueryVirtualMemory+0x6dd

fffff980`14f1bbb0 00000000`773d04aa : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x13

00000000`0007e518 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x773d04aa

STACK_COMMAND: kb

FOLLOWUP_IP:

nt!MiGetPageProtection+1dd

fffff800`0209de1d cc int 3

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 1

SYMBOL_NAME: nt!MiGetPageProtection+1dd

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nt

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 471ea8dd

IMAGE_NAME: memory_corruption

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x1a_41201_nt!MiGetPageProtection+1dd

BUCKET_ID: X64_0x1a_41201_nt!MiGetPageProtection+1dd

Followup: MachineOwner

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I also got this a couple of days back:

0: kd> !analyze -v

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* Bugcheck Analysis *

* *

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SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (3b)

An exception happened while executing a system service routine.

Arguments:

Arg1: 00000000c0000005, Exception code that caused the bugcheck

Arg2: fffff8000229d2a2, Address of the exception record for the exception that caused the bugcheck

Arg3: fffff980041cdda0, Address of the context record for the exception that caused the bugcheck

Arg4: 0000000000000000, zero.

Debugging Details:

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EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - Instruksjonen i 0x%08lx refererte minne ved adressen 0x%08lx. Minnet kunne ikke v re %s.

FAULTING_IP:

nt!RtlpNewSecurityObject+ee2

fffff800`0229d2a2 09842494000000 or dword ptr [rsp+94h],eax

CONTEXT: fffff980041cdda0 -- (.cxr 0xfffff980041cdda0)

rax=0000000000000810 rbx=fffff88008647060 rcx=0000000000000800

rdx=0000000000000000 rsi=fffff88005a7e5bc rdi=fffff88008647060

rip=fffff8000229d2a2 rsp=fffff980041ce600 rbp=0000000000000000

r8=0000000000000000 r9=0000000000000000 r10=fffffa800691b000

r11=fffff88008647068 r12=fffffa800698ebf4 r13=fffff8800790da60

r14=00000000028bf800 r15=fffff980041ceb48

iopl=0 nv up ei pl nz na pe nc

cs=0010 ss=0018 ds=002b es=002b fs=0053 gs=002b efl=00010202

nt!RtlpNewSecurityObject+0xee2:

fffff800`0229d2a2 09842494000000 or dword ptr [rsp+94h],eax ss:0018:fffff980`041ce694=00008000

Resetting default scope

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x3B

PROCESS_NAME: svchost.exe

CURRENT_IRQL: 0

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from fffff80002279d4e to fffff8000229d2a2

STACK_TEXT:

fffff980`041ce600 fffff800`02279d4e : 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`0698eb40 00000000`00000000 fffff980`041ce9c0 : nt!RtlpNewSecurityObject+0xee2

fffff980`041ce870 fffff800`0229fca2 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`000005a8 00000000`00000000 : nt!ObAssignSecurity+0x7e

fffff980`041ce8f0 fffff800`0227b035 : fffff880`023ff060 fffff980`041ceca0 00000000`00000001 fffff980`041ceb58 : nt!ObInsertObject+0x6f2

fffff980`041ceaf0 fffff800`0204d733 : fffffa80`08845bb0 00000000`028bf758 fffff980`041cebd8 00000000`00000000 : nt!NtDuplicateToken+0x175

fffff980`041cebb0 00000000`77ba069a : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x13

00000000`028bf738 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x77ba069a

FOLLOWUP_IP:

nt!RtlpNewSecurityObject+ee2

fffff800`0229d2a2 09842494000000 or dword ptr [rsp+94h],eax

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 0

SYMBOL_NAME: nt!RtlpNewSecurityObject+ee2

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nt

IMAGE_NAME: ntkrnlmp.exe

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 471ea8dd

STACK_COMMAND: .cxr 0xfffff980041cdda0 ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x3B_nt!RtlpNewSecurityObject+ee2

BUCKET_ID: X64_0x3B_nt!RtlpNewSecurityObject+ee2

Followup: MachineOwner

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Any clues as to what to do regarding the "memory_corruption"?

Edited April 13, 2008 by Tor77

[Tor77]

The first thing I'd do is upgrade every video, audio, disk/chipset, and antivirus driver you've got on the box, and then go from there. If it's page frame or memory corruption when gaming I usually blame the video card (especially with 50% of the crashes related to the Nvidia card or graphics subsystem).

Check, check and check. Still no difference in performance...

[cluberti]

The first thing I'd do is upgrade every video, audio, disk/chipset, and antivirus driver you've got on the box, and then go from there. If it's page frame or memory corruption when gaming I usually blame the video card (especially with 50% of the crashes related to the Nvidia card or graphics subsystem).

Check, check and check. Still no difference in performance...

Memory management bugchecks mean you've got a misbehaving driver, that makes kernel calls (thus the nt! calls...). That doesn't leave many options, just video, audio, and potentially firewall and antivirus...

[Tor77]

Thanks for your feedback guys. What I'm gonna do now is try a different video card with new drivers all together. I think that were the problem might be. One of Norway's largest e-tailers actually dropped the MSI brand (my graphicscard) because of all the problems people kept getting with it.

I'll keep you posted mates.