windows 8.1 hal.sys machine check exception (Network Steve Forum)

windows 8.1 hal.sys machine check exception

Recently, a computer at my workplace has begun to give bluescreen errors of various kinds. It fails to start windows - BIOS boots up, the Windows Loading Screen appears, then - darkness. It then bluescreens and restarts, or sometimes it just restarts.

Safemode works fine. The BIOS was updated a year ago - no further bios updates have been released for this motherboard. MEMTEST checks out okay. CHKDSK checks out okay.

The PC has never been overclocked.

Nothing was done to it prior to these errors - no new installations of drivers, no new hardware. It abruptly began doing this. I suspect the CPU is on the blink, or the GPU. Anyway, I sure could use a little assistance.

I can rescue the dump files if someone tells me how to do so.

System Information (local)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

computer name: FIREBALL
windows version: Windows 8.1 , 6.3, build: 9600
windows dir: C:\Windows
Hardware: ASUSTeK Computer INC., P5L-VM 1394
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz Intel586, level: 15
2 logical processors, active mask: 3
RAM: 3220365312 total

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crash Dump Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.

On Fri 1/23/2015 6:30:58 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.sys (hal!HalBugCheckSystem+0x58A)
Bugcheck code: 0x9C (0x0, 0xFFFFFFFF829F6CE8, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: hal.sys .
Google query: hal.sys MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION

On Tue 1/20/2015 7:17:52 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\012015-44953-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: Unknown ()
Bugcheck code: 0x0 (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: CUSTOM_ERROR
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error.
Google query: CUSTOM_ERROR

Edited by Arvakr Friday, January 23, 2015 10:33 PM

January 24th, 2015 1:25am

Hi,

In order to assist you, we will need the .DMP files to analyze what exactly occurred at the time of the crash, etc.

If you don't know where .DMP files are located, here's how to get to them:

1. Navigate to the %systemroot%\Minidump folder.

-- %systemroot% is the environment variable for your Windows directory. For example, C:\Windows.

2. Copy any and all .DMP files in the Minidump folder to your Desktop, create a new folder on the Desktop to put these .DMP files in, and then zip the folder. You can then either use a 3rd party tool such as 7-Zip/Winrar, or you can use Windows' default method of zipping folders.

Compress and uncompress files (zip files).

Please note that any "cleaner" programs such as TuneUpUtilities, CCleaner, etc, by default will delete .DMP files upon use. With this said, if you've run such software, and your Minidump folder is empty, you will need to allow the system to crash once again to generate a crash dump.

3. Upload the .ZIP containing the .DMP files to Onedrive or a hosting site of your choice and paste in your reply.

Preferred sites: Onedrive, Mediafire, Dropbox, etc. Nothing with wait-timers, download managers, etc.

4 (optional): The type of .DMP files located in the Minidump folder are known as Small Memory Dumps. In %systemroot% there will be what is known as a Kernel Memory Dump (if your system is set to generate). It is labeled MEMORY.DMP. The difference between Small Memory Dumps and Kernel Memory Dumps in the simplest definition is a Kernel Memory Dump contains much more information at the time of the crash, therefore allowing further debugging of your issue. If your upload speed permits it, and you aren't going against any strict bandwidth and/or usage caps, etc, the Kernel Memory Dump is the best choice. Do note that Kernel Memory Dumps are much larger in size due to containing much more info, which is why I mentioned upload speed, etc.

If you are going to use Onedrive but don't know how to upload to it, please visit the following:

Upload photos and files to Onedrive.

After doing that, to learn how to share the link to the file if you are unaware, please visit the following link - Share files and folders and change permissions and view 'Get a link'.

If your computer is not generating .DMP files, please do the following:

1. Start > type %systemroot% which should show the Windows folder, click on it. Once inside that folder, ensure there is a Minidump folder created. If not, CTRL-SHIFT-N to make a New Folder and name it Minidump.

2. Windows key + Pause key. This should bring up System. Click Advanced System Settings on the left > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Ensure there's a check-mark for 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives'.

3. Windows key + Pause key. This should bring up System. Click Advanced System Settings on the left > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings > System Failure > ensure there is a check mark next to 'Write an event to the system log'.

Ensure Small Memory Dump is selected and ensure the path is %systemroot%\Minidump.

4. Double check that the WERS is ENABLED:

Start > Search > type services.msc > Under the name tab, find Windows Error Reporting Service > If the status of the service is not Started then right click it and select Start. Also ensure that under Startup Type it is set to Automatic rather than Manual. You can do this by right clicking it, selecting properties, and under General selecting startup type to 'Automatic', and then click Apply.

If you cannot get into normal mode to do any of this, please do this via Safe Mode.

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January 24th, 2015 11:41pm

All done!

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=F5628D2EA29274B8%21191

Thanks for the reminder. I'm still a little new to Windows 8. Shocking, I know - especially with 10 just around the corner.

January 25th, 2015 7:29am

Hello Arvakr,

I download the dump file, but its size is only 0 size. Please check and upload the right dump file for better analyzation.

Please take a look at the following article about resolving Blue Screen errors in Windows 8.1.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/resolve-windows-blue-screen-errors

Safe mode starts Windows with a limited set of files and drivers.
As it is normal when you use safe mode, this issue may be related to the driver.
Please go to the manufacturer website and update the drivers.

Best regards,
Fangzhou CHEN

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January 27th, 2015 10:33am

It's unfortunately a corrupt dump. Do you have another/latest one?

January 29th, 2015 2:00am

It's unfortunately a corrupt dump. Do you have another/l

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January 29th, 2015 8:02am

MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION (9C)

This bug check indicates that a fatal machine check exception has occurred.

1: kd> vertarget
Windows 8 Kernel Version 9600 MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 9600.17031.x86fre.winblue_gdr.140221-1952

The fact alone that you're getting this bug check on a Windows 8 box tells me that your CPU is likely bad, however given the stack at the time of the crash, your video card may be the culprit/faulty motherboard that's causing a bus error bug check. This is due to the fact that 0x9C is thrown instead of 0x124 mainly when the WHEA isn't fully initialized. Also, all of your parameters minus the address of the exception structure are zeroed out:

1: kd> .bugcheck
Bugcheck code 0000009C
Arguments 00000000 829f6ce8 00000000 00000000

There's also no error code:

   Concatenated Error Code:
   --------------------------

1: kd> kC

nt!KeBugCheckEx
hal!HalpMcaReportError
hal!HalpMceHandlerWithRendezvous
hal!HalpHandleMachineCheck
hal!HalpMcaExceptionHandler
hal!HalpMcaExceptionHandlerWrapper
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm!nvDumpConfig
nvlddmkm!nvDumpConfig
nvlddmkm!nvDumpConfig
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm
nvlddmkm!nvDumpConfig
dxgkrnl!DpiDxgkDdiStartDevice
dxgkrnl!DpiFdoStartAdapter
dxgkrnl!DpiFdoStartAdapterThread
dxgkrnl!DpiSessionCreateCallback
dxgkrnl!DxgkNotifySessionStateChange
watchdog!SMgrNotifySessionChange
win32k!DrvNotifySessionStateChange
win32k!InitializeGreCSRSS
nt!KiSystemServicePostCall
0x0

We can see various Direct X kernel stuff and then dumping config from nVidia's video driver as we transition to the bug check from interrupt 18h.

Overall, I would first remove the GPU if possible. If it's actually an intergated GPU, then this will be relatively hard to troubleshoot without installing a secondary PCI/e GPU and disabling integrated video. Either way, if you bug check again after ruling out the GPU as the issue, then your motherboard or CPU are at fault. At that point I would just consider replacing the system as it'd most likely be cheaper provided it's no longer under warranty.

January 29th, 2015 11:41pm

My GPU is an Nvidia 8800 GTS, so removing it shouldn't be a problem.

I'll try using the integrated graphics board. It's a home-built rig, so refitting it shouldn't be an issue either - I just wanted to pin down EXACTLY what was the problem, before I went and bought components unnecessarily.

Thank you very much for untangling my BSOD. I will report back with what happened.

Edited by Arvakr Friday, January 30, 2015 6:35 AM

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January 30th, 2015 9:35am

Let me know how everything goes.

January 31st, 2015 5:35am

Will do. Again, thank you very much for the assist. Oh, by the way, while I was restarting my box, it said "BIOS CHECK ERROR" and requested a floppy or cd. I shut off the power supply, switched it on, started the box, and it calmly went to safe mode without further issue. I'm addressing you from the box right now

Even if it's just the GPU that's failing - and I suspected it as the culprit since it began to run at 75c temperatures - I think the motherboard has probably had it, as well. The CPU is nice and cool at 38c, though, and not just three months ago, I applied some fresh paste to it. D'oh.

It really does need new components, though.

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January 31st, 2015 10:53am

Follow this article that may help you resolve your problem

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff559323(v=vs.85).aspx

This is parameter dependent. Compare your parameters in stop message with those in the article.

Rgds

Milos

January 31st, 2015 10:59am

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