BSOD Stop Error

[Jo-Anne]

Last night, after playing a Blu-Ray disc in my WinXP computer using VLC
Media Player, I closed the program, opened the drive, and tried to turn off
the computer. I got a BSOD with a Stop Error. Microsoft says this error
indicates a problem with a device driver--caused by either new hardware or
new software. I haven't installed either hardware or software in a while.

Could the BSOD be related to the Blu-Ray disc? As I noted in a previous
post, I didn't know I was playing a Blu-Ray set (a season of a TV series)
until it took 30 seconds for the disc to start playing. I didn't think my
3.5 year old Dell laptop (Precision M4300) would play Blu-Ray discs at all.
The drive properties show HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-T21N.

I'd be grateful for suggestions about why I got the BSOD and what I can do
to prevent it, if I can...

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[MikeS]

Last night, after playing a Blu-Ray disc in my WinXP computer using VLC
Media Player, I closed the program, opened the drive, and tried to turn
off the computer. I got a BSOD with a Stop Error. Microsoft says this
error indicates a problem with a device driver--caused by either new
hardware or new software. I haven't installed either hardware or software
in a while.

Could the BSOD be related to the Blu-Ray disc? As I noted in a previous
post, I didn't know I was playing a Blu-Ray set (a season of a TV series)
until it took 30 seconds for the disc to start playing. I didn't think my
3.5 year old Dell laptop (Precision M4300) would play Blu-Ray discs at
all. The drive properties show HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-T21N.

I'd be grateful for suggestions about why I got the BSOD and what I can do
to prevent it, if I can...

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

The obvious answer is don't try to play Blu-Ray discs in a drive designed
for DVDs and CDROMs.

A common cause of BSOD is when software or firmware encounters a situation
not envisaged by the programmer. Eg excess data overuns a buffer and
corrupts the code. Your situation is a perfect example of creating a
situation not envisaged by the programmer.

 

[Jo-Anne]

The obvious answer is don't try to play Blu-Ray discs in a drive designed
for DVDs and CDROMs.

A common cause of BSOD is when software or firmware encounters a situation
not envisaged by the programmer. Eg excess data overuns a buffer and
corrupts the code. Your situation is a perfect example of creating a
situation not envisaged by the programmer.

Thank you, MikeS! What happened was that I bought what was supposed to be a
regular DVD. I didn't even suspect it was Blu-Ray until it took so long to
start playing. There was no indication anywhere on the Amazon website or the
disc packaging that it was Blu-Ray. I saw the word when I started playing
the disc, and then I looked more closely at the box and found a pocket
insert saying it was Blu-Ray. It appears that there is no other disc version
of this season's programs. The first two discs played OK, and the computer
shut down OK. The BSOD came after I had played the third disc.

Jo-Anne

 

[Char Jackson]

Last night, after playing a Blu-Ray disc in my WinXP computer using VLC
Media Player, I closed the program, opened the drive, and tried to turn off
the computer. I got a BSOD with a Stop Error. Microsoft says this error
indicates a problem with a device driver--caused by either new hardware or
new software. I haven't installed either hardware or software in a while.

Could the BSOD be related to the Blu-Ray disc? As I noted in a previous
post, I didn't know I was playing a Blu-Ray set (a season of a TV series)
until it took 30 seconds for the disc to start playing. I didn't think my
3.5 year old Dell laptop (Precision M4300) would play Blu-Ray discs at all.
The drive properties show HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-T21N.

When I check the specs for your laptop, along with what you posted
above, I don't see any support for playing BluRay discs on that
system. Next, I checked Amazon for Grey's Anatomy on BluRay and didn't
find it. I only see it on DVD. Are you sure you have BluRay discs
there? It would say it on the box and on each disc. If it's a DVD it
will say DVD instead. I suspect you have DVD's.

I'd be grateful for suggestions about why I got the BSOD and what I can do
to prevent it, if I can...

The two most important pieces of information related to a BSOD are the
Stop Code and the name of the file or subsystem that's likely to be at
fault. This information is available when you get the actual BSOD, and
remains available when you examine the file related to the crash. (See
below for BlueScreenView.) There are dozens of different BSOD's and
the fixes are different, depending on the actual problem.

If this is the first and only time you've had this BSOD, you might be
able to ignore it. If it happens again you'll probably want to
investigate deeper. I'd start with a free program called
BlueScreenView from www.nirsoft.net. It gets a bit geeky, so you have
to decide how far you want to go.

<http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html>

 

[Paul]

When I check the specs for your laptop, along with what you posted
above, I don't see any support for playing BluRay discs on that
system. Next, I checked Amazon for Grey's Anatomy on BluRay and didn't
find it. I only see it on DVD. Are you sure you have BluRay discs
there? It would say it on the box and on each disc. If it's a DVD it
will say DVD instead. I suspect you have DVD's.


The two most important pieces of information related to a BSOD are the
Stop Code and the name of the file or subsystem that's likely to be at
fault. This information is available when you get the actual BSOD, and
remains available when you examine the file related to the crash. (See
below for BlueScreenView.) There are dozens of different BSOD's and
the fixes are different, depending on the actual problem.

If this is the first and only time you've had this BSOD, you might be
able to ignore it. If it happens again you'll probably want to
investigate deeper. I'd start with a free program called
BlueScreenView from www.nirsoft.net. It gets a bit geeky, so you have
to decide how far you want to go.

<http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html>

With regard to media and drive, there is Nero Infotool, free for downloading.

ftp://ftp6.nero.com/tools/InfoTool.zip

In the main window of that program, are tick boxes showing capabilities.
Reading and writing capabilities will be listed.

If you then open the tray of the drive, and insert a (presumed) Blu Ray
disc, there is a tab in the InfoTool, which will list the properties of
the media. In there, it may say "this slab of plastic is a DVD", or
"I smell Blu-Ray" and so on.

Between the main window, and the info presented for media, you can
get a good idea of both the capabilities of the optical drive,
as well as the properties of the currently inserted disk.

I haven't tried the latest version (the one in the ZIP above), so I cannot
tell you whether the interface has changed from the years-old version
I've got installed.

Paul

 

[Jo-Anne]

When I check the specs for your laptop, along with what you posted
above, I don't see any support for playing BluRay discs on that
system. Next, I checked Amazon for Grey's Anatomy on BluRay and didn't
find it. I only see it on DVD. Are you sure you have BluRay discs
there? It would say it on the box and on each disc. If it's a DVD it
will say DVD instead. I suspect you have DVD's.


The two most important pieces of information related to a BSOD are the
Stop Code and the name of the file or subsystem that's likely to be at
fault. This information is available when you get the actual BSOD, and
remains available when you examine the file related to the crash. (See
below for BlueScreenView.) There are dozens of different BSOD's and
the fixes are different, depending on the actual problem.

If this is the first and only time you've had this BSOD, you might be
able to ignore it. If it happens again you'll probably want to
investigate deeper. I'd start with a free program called
BlueScreenView from www.nirsoft.net. It gets a bit geeky, so you have
to decide how far you want to go.

<http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html>

Hi, Char,

Thank you for the info about checking with BlueScreenView. According to
Microsoft, the fix is to uninstall whatever device driver is causing the
problem. Not really helpful for me now.

As I mentioned in the post about how long it was taking to start the discs,
this boxed set is supposed to be DVDs, not Blu-Ray; however, when you start
the disc, it clearly says Blu-Ray on it--and it takes 30 seconds to begin
playing, which none of the DVDs do.

Maybe I should try to find a forum for the TV show to see if anyone else has
encountered this problem.

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

With regard to media and drive, there is Nero Infotool, free for
downloading.

ftp://ftp6.nero.com/tools/InfoTool.zip

In the main window of that program, are tick boxes showing capabilities.
Reading and writing capabilities will be listed.

If you then open the tray of the drive, and insert a (presumed) Blu Ray
disc, there is a tab in the InfoTool, which will list the properties of
the media. In there, it may say "this slab of plastic is a DVD", or
"I smell Blu-Ray" and so on.

Between the main window, and the info presented for media, you can
get a good idea of both the capabilities of the optical drive,
as well as the properties of the currently inserted disk.

I haven't tried the latest version (the one in the ZIP above), so I cannot
tell you whether the interface has changed from the years-old version
I've got installed.

Paul

Thank you, Paul! I'll try the Nero Infotool and will report back on what it
says.

 

[Char Jackson]

Thank you for the info about checking with BlueScreenView. According to
Microsoft, the fix is to uninstall whatever device driver is causing the
problem. Not really helpful for me now.

I know, that's why a program like BlueScreenView is handy. It reads
the file created by the BSOD and hopefully then gives you some
information on which to base a repair. The advice you mention, to
uninstall some unknown driver, is too vague to be of use.

As I mentioned in the post about how long it was taking to start the discs,
this boxed set is supposed to be DVDs, not Blu-Ray; however, when you start
the disc, it clearly says Blu-Ray on it--and it takes 30 seconds to begin
playing, which none of the DVDs do.

I've not yet seen a commercial DVD that didn't have the official DVD
logo on it, and likewise I've not yet seen a BluRay that didn't have
that logo on it. Actually, it should be fairly prominent and obvious
on both the media and the packaging. I wouldn't pay any attention to
startup time when trying to determine disc type.