Purging drivers and DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL crashes

[Gordon Airporte]

I recently had a hardware crisis and I just cannot fully recover.
Everything is perfectly stable in safe mode, networking included.
However. There are several symptoms - most typically the computer will
crash and reboot at or before the login with the above BSOD error. If,
after hours of uninstalling and reinstalling my cards in safe mode, I
can get to the desktop, sometimes everything is okay, and sometimes
heavy network use will crash it again. Even when it's been stable for
hours it has always eventually spontaneously rebooted (at 3 in the
morning when it's asleep), and again it's unable to reach the desktop.

My soundcard - and SB Live! - is now not recognized automatically by
windows, and I've found through trial and error which of the SB Live
drivers to stick it with so that it works properly (I think). My network
card is up to "#3" in the device manager, so I assume that some cruft is
left around from previous installations. Likewise the soundcard drivers
reappeared when I put it back in a slot it had been in before.

This is making my computer unusable. I've researched the error but there
seems to be no single cause. Recreating the swap file does not help. The
soundcard ends up sharing an IRQ with either the video card or the NIC
no matter where I put it. I think it would be good to really start from
scratch somehow with the drivers, blast all of that setup back to where
it is at a fresh install, but I'm just guessing. Please, help.

 

[Guest]

Well, since you're not getting any answers here, let me try...

First, find whom of your hardware vendors you can convince to look at this
issue - netcard or sound blaster, or your IT person at work or somebody else.

Next, locate the minidump folder: %windir%\minidump.
Every time your system crashes, a new minidump file is created. It contains
all info from the blue screen. See if there are files named like
Mini101504-01.dmp created recently (here 101504 is the mm-dd-yy date). If no
such files, go to My Computer - Properties - Startup and recovery, and select
dump type = minidump.

Next, send few (3-4) latest minidumps to this person and wait for their
resolution...

Good luck,
--PA

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Gordon.

Your narrative sounds like mine from a few years ago, when Win2K was new and
there were few drivers for it. And the manual for my motherboard did not
give me any information about which PCI slots used which IRQs. For a long
time, I played card/slot roulette, trying every combination I could think
of, even using pencil and paper to draw a matrix to be sure I tried them
all. :>( Nothing worked until finally I found a "beta" version of the BIOS
and flashed that. Within a day or two, all my PCI cards began playing well
together and I had no more problems; I retired the mobo a year or two later.

My mobo was a DFI P5BV3+, about 1999 vintage; what make and model are you
running? (I'm not likely to recognize it, but there are thousands
(millions?) of readers here and someone just might recognize it and know how
to fix it, or at least point you to a good source of information.)

I think it would be good to really start from scratch somehow with the
drivers, blast all of that setup back to where it is at a fresh install,
but I'm just guessing.

Before doing the full reinstall, it might be worth trying a "repair
installation", also known as an "in-place upgrade". This is not intended as
a timesaver; it will take about as long as a fresh install because it
completely reinstalls WinXP itself, but it leaves your installed
applications and data intact. Microsoft's instructions are here:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

And you might also like to read MVP Michael Steven's version of the
procedure:
How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Before starting this, of course, you'll want to be sure you have the latest
available BIOS for your mobo. The device drivers on the WinXP CD-ROM should
work for all but the newest, the oldest and the most exotic sound cards and
other peripherals you have. It would be a good idea to unplug most of them
until WinXP is actually reinstalled, then add them one at a time, rebooting
as necessary to let WinXP detect each one and install its drivers.
Afterwards, visit each manufacturer's website to see if they have later
drivers that work better or offer more functionality.

Good luck!

RC

 

[Gordon Airporte]

Thanks for jumping in.

Next, send few (3-4) latest minidumps to this person and wait for their
resolution...

I have quite a collection of those. I wish they gave me some clue as to
which driver is causing the problem, but as you say, I might have to
send them off to be interpreted. I have to say I don't like my chances
of getting a response, but perhaps it will be best before buying new
hardware or doing a reinstall.

 

[Gordon Airporte]

Hi, Gordon.

Your narrative sounds like mine from a few years ago, when Win2K was new
and there were few drivers for it. And the manual for my motherboard
did not give me any information about which PCI slots used which IRQs.
For a long time, I played card/slot roulette, trying every combination I
could think of, even using pencil and paper to draw a matrix to be sure
I tried them all. :>( Nothing worked until finally I found a "beta"
version of the BIOS and flashed that. Within a day or two, all my PCI
cards began playing well together and I had no more problems; I retired
the mobo a year or two later.

It's an Epox 8k3A, so it's recent, and it was working fine until up
until recently. I think, and this would be a great excuse to upgrade it
- if I had the money ;-)

Before doing the full reinstall, it might be worth trying a "repair
installation", also known as an "in-place upgrade". This is not
intended as a timesaver; it will take about as long as a fresh install
because it completely reinstalls WinXP itself, but it leaves your
installed applications and data intact. Microsoft's instructions are here:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

And you might also like to read MVP Michael Steven's version of the
procedure:
How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Yeah, this seems like the best option at this point. I was worried that
it would loose all of the windows updates and have to re-download and
install them. I guess that's not a big deal really.

Before starting this, of course, you'll want to be sure you have the
latest available BIOS for your mobo. The device drivers on the WinXP
CD-ROM should work for all but the newest, the oldest and the most
exotic sound cards and other peripherals you have. It would be a good
idea to unplug most of them until WinXP is actually reinstalled, then
add them one at a time, rebooting as necessary to let WinXP detect each
one and install its drivers. Afterwards, visit each manufacturer's
website to see if they have later drivers that work better or offer more
functionality.

I have the latest BIOS, and I've been experimenting with which drivers
(various included drivers, or ones from Creative) to use. I just wish I
knew why the card suddenly isn't recognized - it certainly was before.
Since it's not done automatically there's the chance I'm making a mistake.

Good luck!

RC

I need it - thanks.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Gordon.

It's an Epox 8k3A, so it's recent,

My replacement for the DFI was an 8K3A+. It was my first EPoX (and my first
ATX board), and I loved it! Still do. It's sitting here on my shelf now,
since I got the 8KTA3+ this summer. As soon as I get time to help with any
installation problems, I'll probably hand it down to my son to replace his
older EPoX board. Neither EPoX board has given me any IRQ problems, and the
manual for the new board has a table showing which PCI slots use or share
which IRQs.

Yeah, this seems like the best option at this point. I was worried that it
would loose all of the windows updates and have to re-download and install
them. I guess that's not a big deal really.

Yes, the in-place upgrade will lose all the SPs and other Windows updates.
When I last did this, I had to download SP1 and dozens of hotfixes. Right
now, though, SP2 is still new and there are few later fixes to deal with.
If you have the widely-available (and FREE from Microsoft) WinXP SP2 CD-ROM,
this should be only one extra step in the reinstallation. This should not
be a show-stopper for an in-place upgrade at this point. Of course, if you
can find a new retail copy of WinXP, it should have SP2 already built-in.

I have the latest BIOS,

A pleasant surprise in the new 8KDA3+ is a new program, called Magic Bios,
which searches the EPoX website, finds the latest BIOS for my board,
downloads it, and installs it, all from inside WinXP! All I have to do then
is reboot. I've updated my BIOS this way about 3 times since July; my
current BIOS is dated 10/22/04. I haven't check to see if this program
would work on earlier boards, but it might be worth exploring the EPoX
website.

Please let us know how you solve the problem.

RC

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, again, Gordon.

I forgot to mention the peer-to-peer Usenet newsgroup for EPoX users:

alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox

The NG is not hyperactive, but there are some very knowledgeable EPoX owners
there - and sometimes EPoX tech support jumps in, too.

RC

 

[Gordon Airporte]

My replacement for the DFI was an 8K3A+. It was my first EPoX (and my
first ATX board), and I loved it! Still do. It's sitting here on my
shelf now, since I got the 8KTA3+ this summer. As soon as I get time to
help with any installation problems, I'll probably hand it down to my
son to replace his older EPoX board. Neither EPoX board has given me
any IRQ problems, and the manual for the new board has a table showing
which PCI slots use or share which IRQs.

Sounds good. This is probably my excuse to upgrade to a 64 bit system,
but that means all kinds of agonizing research. I take forever to pick
components.

Yes, the in-place upgrade will lose all the SPs and other Windows
updates. When I last did this, I had to download SP1 and dozens of
hotfixes. Right now, though, SP2 is still new and there are few later
fixes to deal with. If you have the widely-available (and FREE from
Microsoft) WinXP SP2 CD-ROM, this should be only one extra step in the
reinstallation. This should not be a show-stopper for an in-place
upgrade at this point. Of course, if you can find a new retail copy of
WinXP, it should have SP2 already built-in.

May not be necessary - see below

A pleasant surprise in the new 8KDA3+ is a new program, called Magic
Bios, which searches the EPoX website, finds the latest BIOS for my
board, downloads it, and installs it, all from inside WinXP! All I have
to do then is reboot. I've updated my BIOS this way about 3 times since
July; my current BIOS is dated 10/22/04. I haven't check to see if this
program would work on earlier boards, but it might be worth exploring
the EPoX website.

My first reaction is to be paranoid about them sneaking in DRM of some
sort... but I don't know how likely that really is.

Please let us know how you solve the problem.

Well, I borrowed a friends spare system, so I have my drives on his
mobo/CPU/RAM now (an early Soyo Dragon). It looks like it's all hardware
problems, not Windows. Turns out my soundcard is borked. I noticed that
the capacitors on my mobo were leaking too, and the voltages were
swinging around pretty bad. The board is probably done for also, but
there's a slim chance it's the PSU. Anyway, this is working fine for the
moment, so I guess I need to save up and upgrade.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Gordon.

I'm glad you got it diagnosed, and thanks for the report back.

I remember that bad (leaking) capacitors were a big problem several months
back. Apparently the components were supplied to many different mobo
makers. I was just lucky, I guess, because I didn't have that problem. My
mobo did develop another problem (short in a DIMM slot, which fried the
DIMM; my suspicion is that the short was caused by a dustball somehow). A
post to the EPoX newsgroup that I mentioned earlier got a response from
(e-mail address removed) suggesting that I RMA it. The warranty is longer than I
realized! I'm still putting off doing that, but you might want to go to
http://www.epox.com/USA/index.asp, click Support | RMA Request, and see what
you find.

By the way, I had a typo in that long post:
My new board is an 8KDA3+, as I said later in the same post. I don't really
understand their naming/numbering system, but one wrong letter can make a
BIG difference!

Good luck - whichever way you go for a fix.

RC