BSOD 0x000000F4 on new pc

[AdbN192]

Hi

Being on this forums for a while and finding a lot of good ideas here, it has come to the point i have to ask you for help.

I build up a custom pc for a customer. Everything was fine until they called me they get BSODs after two days. The BSODs appeared after installing a HP Printer using HP software. So i uninstalled it and reinstalled it using microsoft drivers. Everything went fine until they called again a week later. The pc wasnt even booting into windows and keeps looping in normal and safeboot. I did a windows starting repair and it booted correctly. Being in windows it did a BSOD again. When rebooting the comp started to beep continiously (various short and long beeps) while booting into sardu menu. I copied the crashdumps and analysed it with windbg (log below). Did testing on ram and hdd everything fine. I cant reproduce the bluescreens, they are sporadic. Do you have any ideas?

Sys Specs:

Intel i3 2105
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 (Bios F11)
4 GB Kingstom Ram
1500 GB WD HDD
450 W PSU
Windows 7 HP 64bit

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.12.0002.633 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [F:\112411-11232-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*c:\websymbols*ht*tp://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols;ht*tp://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: 
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (4 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Built by: 7601.17640.amd64fre.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`02e00000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`03045670
Debug session time: Thu Nov 24 18:05:51.097 2011 (UTC + 1:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:41:29.112
Loading Kernel Symbols
.

Press ctrl-c (cdb, kd, ntsd) or ctrl-break (windbg) to abort symbol loads that take too long.
Run !sym noisy before .reload to track down problems loading symbols.

..............................................................
................................................................
...................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
........
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck F4, {3, fffffa800770eb30, fffffa800770ee10, fffff800031808b0}

Probably caused by : wininit.exe

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

0: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION (f4)
A process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been
terminated.
Several processes and threads are necessary for the operation of the
system; when they are terminated (for any reason), the system can no
longer function.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000003, Process
Arg2: fffffa800770eb30, Terminating object
Arg3: fffffa800770ee10, Process image file name
Arg4: fffff800031808b0, Explanatory message (ascii)

Debugging Details:
------------------


PROCESS_OBJECT: fffffa800770eb30

IMAGE_NAME:  wininit.exe

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  0

MODULE_NAME: wininit

FAULTING_MODULE: 0000000000000000 

PROCESS_NAME:  wininit.exe

EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000006 - Die Anweisung bei "0x%p" verwies auf Speicher bei "0x%p". Die erforderlichen Daten wurden aufgrund eines E/A-Fehlers in "0x%x" nicht an den Arbeitsspeicher  bertragen.
[COLOR="Blue"]Translation:
0xc0000006 - The instructions (guess bad translated) at "0x%p" pointed at memory at "0x%p". The necessary data were not transmitted into ram, due to an I/O error in "0x%x".[/COLOR]

BUGCHECK_STR:  0xF4_IOERR

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff880`028f29c8 fffff800`032075e2 : 00000000`000000f4 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`0770eb30 fffffa80`0770ee10 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`028f29d0 fffff800`031b499b : ffffffff`ffffffff fffffa80`04104660 fffffa80`0770eb30 fffffa80`0770eb30 : nt!PspCatchCriticalBreak+0x92
fffff880`028f2a10 fffff800`03134448 : ffffffff`ffffffff 00000000`00000001 fffffa80`0770eb30 0000007f`00000008 : nt! ?? ::NNGAKEGL::`string'+0x176d6
fffff880`028f2a60 fffff800`02e7bed3 : fffffa80`0770eb30 00000000`c0000006 fffffa80`04104660 00000000`7706c521 : nt!NtTerminateProcess+0xf4
fffff880`028f2ae0 00000000`770915da : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x13
00000000`029ef8a8 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x770915da


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xF4_IOERR_IMAGE_wininit.exe

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xF4_IOERR_IMAGE_wininit.exe

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

Two crashdumps attached.

Sorry for my bad english

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

While the RAM might test fine, it could be incompatible with the board, which I have had happen with gigabyte boards from time to time. I would check for a BIOS upgrade and test stability after installing the latest.

I bet money on RAM. I had a similar issue last year when I built a new computer for myself. As soon as I tried RAM that was on the compatible list, I have never seen another blue screen.

 

[Encrypted Existence]

When rebooting the comp started to beep continiously (various short and long beeps) while booting into sardu menu.

Aside from what Cornerstone said I would try looking into the meaning of those beep codes.

 

[Aescaepulus]

I would un install the HP driver (go into regedit and delete the HP entries as well) and disconnect the printer. Then I'd check the RAM specs against the MOBO's, if good, then reseat the RAM. Then fire the machine up and check RAM parameters (voltage settings, CAS latency, bus speed). If you didn't do it when you built the machine, I would do a burn in if time allows, otherwise at least stress test the RAM and HDD to see if you can break it.

If BSOD appears, then do the RAM circus until it goes away, and add sticks till you get to the bad one and replace it.

If still good and BSOD doesn't reappear, then I would download the driver only (without the crapware HP pushes with all their stuff), plug in printer and see what happens. If BSOD comes back I'd start looking through HP software FAQ's for that particular printer. Only reason I say this is that your post looks like it had a Vista driver fault in there somewhere.

The beep code breakdown would be helpful, some BIOS codes, like the Phoenix can get complicated, but I have found them to be more reliable to troubleshoot hardware issues when dealing with sporadic BSODs...

 

[AdbN192]

thanks for the quick replys.
I guess you were right Cornerstone. I figured out when starting the machine it sometimes "hangs" for about 20 sec at POST and then shows the ram data. Just ordered a compatibel pair of ram as mentioned on gbs website.

The thing with the beep codes is just weired. It only appeared once and while beeping it booted normaly till i shut it down. No halt just continous beeping. The bios is awards and tried to figure out the meanings of the beeps but there was no pattern. 10x long 5x short and so on. Thought award codes were shorter.

I ll try out replacing the memory first, because i dont have the printer here. But this would be my second option. Thanks for the hint.

Did some streesing on the sys today. 7 hours of "Heavy Load" no error. Any suggestions what programm i could use instead?

 

[Cornerstone Technologies]

It is unlikely that the printer is causing an issue. However, HP does have a driver only download that has only the drivers and none of the bullcrap that they include on the distribution CD.

As far as stressing the memory, I think it is pointless at this time until it is replaced. For tests, I use Prime95 and memtest86. Memory is tricky sometimes. It took me about 2 months to finally conclude it was a problem in my instance. It would be stable for a week and be a rash of trouble for days. Then it was okay again. Ive used nearly every major brand, Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, GSkill, GEIL, and mushkin. I have found that Crucial offers the best stability almost universally. I prefer it, even though it was the exact RAM that was incompatible with that board last year.

 

[Mr.Mike]

Also, make sure that you are installing RAM in pairs with the same specs.

+1 for Crucial. Never had a problem with them.

 

[Aescaepulus]

For an all around stress testing software I use SiS Software's Sandra http://www.sisoftware.net, as it allows me to upload test data to compare to peer data (just in case I get some really weird results).

For the beep code issue, if it continues after the RAM issue is figured out, I would reseat the CPU and make sure it's got the heatsink properly installed. It could be that the CPU / heatsink fit isn't "just right" and the CPU warns during boot up, but the partial contact with heatsink may be enough to prevent a shut down. Just my guestimation there. , but it most probably is the BIOS telling you it's not happy with the RAM, but it's trying to run with it. (yes, I'm full of guesses today).

For specific RAM for your board, I would go to the manufacturer website, I use EVGA boards in my gaming builds, and they have the RAM specs right up front, so I copy/paste it in newegg and order it when I order the board.

Hope this helps.

 

[AdbN192]

Today i got the new ram modules. Replaced with the old ones and i am now working on the machine. No BSODs so far. I hope this stays so, as the errors occured a few days after i delivered it to them. I chose corsair ram modules mentioned in the compability list on gigabytes site. So if there will be any errors in the future i can exclude the ram as the error source.

I d like to test crucial but they arent very common in germany and rare to buy.

Anyway thanks alot for your help. You are great

If there will be any errors i ll post again.

Martin

 

[AdbN192]

Just a little feedback:

No errors so far. It was definitly the ram.

Thanks again for your help