# [SOLVED] c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)



## RolodeX

Hey guys,

I`m new to these forums, and a bit of a noob myself (but can do format and reinstall operations without any embarrassment). 

My problem is, I`m on Vista for a few days (months?) and am having issues with a few softwares that lead to a BSOD or a complete, fully-featured, System Hang. Apparently, nothing evil happens when I`m only surfing the web, but playing games became a painful odyssey (even though I see a Close or Debug program everyday for the Windows Media Center Update Whatever that seems to run at night). 
The most noticeable event is playing Neverwinter nights, which leads to a blue screen after 1 and 1/2 hours usually (sometimes earlier, sometimes later). The most common message of the BSOD is the "c000021a {Fatal System Error} Windows subsystem terminated unexpectedly".

Since I have at least 3 Hard Drives involved in any gaming session, it`s hard to diagnose if any is having problems. One has the OS, the other has the game installed, and the latter has the swap file.

Any help would be very appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
RolodeX.


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## RolodeX

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

Sorry to double post, but I forgot to add that I've already done the basic tests, like disabling each of the hard drives (except for the one with the OS), checked for errors using HDTune, tried to clean up the registry with TuneUp Utlities 2007, and bla bla bla.
One thing that I've noticed is that, even though I've tried this with the swap file on the same partition as the OS and enabled the full memory dumb, the system is not dumping the MEMORY.DMP file.


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## dai

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

run
chkdsk /r 
on the drives
could be a corrupt driver
what is the full error code you receive


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## RolodeX

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

Thanks for replying!

So, I've already tried chkdsk /r on all hds. No errors found.
About the drivers, well... my motherboard is an asus K8VSe-Deluxe, and there are no Vista drivers on their website. I've downloaded the chipset driver from VIA Arena; I don't remember correctly, but I think the Promise controller was also installed from this VIA pack; 

The only driver I was in doubt was the soundcard driver. When I was on XP, I remember using the Analog Devices Soundmax drivers, but they are not compatible with Vista. I actually managed to install one of the XP versions on vista, but since the BSOD thing started on the same week, I thought this could be the reason. In order to check if that was the cause, I tried installing the VIA Vinyl driver. The sound card worked, but I've noticed some stuttering since then. I'm still with these drivers, though.

As for the error codes, they vary a lot, but the most recent was:

c000021a {Fatal System Error}

The windows subsytem system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0x0000006 (0x771318d9 0x003af684).

I don't know what else to do. I can post anything you guys think that could be useful, like events and system info. The event viewer doesn't show anything weird around the times of the BSODs. Sometimes I see a "hard disk x was not ready" event, but it's never at the same time of the crash.

One other thing is that HDTune shows a 'failed' status for one of my hds. Apparently the 'spin up time' is too low (or high, I don't understand those numbers...)


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## dai

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

http://www.alphadownloads.com/drive...ers/asus-sound-max-audio-driver-v--a-860.html
do you have s.m.a.r.t enabled in the bios
run the h/d makers diognostic on the h/d's


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## RolodeX

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

Dai,

Thanks for the response, but the link you've posted is for a different soundchip (AD1988, mine is AD1980). Also, one of the files necessary for the proper installation is missing.

You asked if I have SMART enabled. Yes, I do. Is there anyway to use it to try to find out what the problem is?

About the maker soft, you're talking about those maintenance boot disks, right? well, that will take a while since I don't have any recordable cds at the moment and tomorrow (and friday) are commercial holidays here.


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## dai

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

smart works in the background automatically to give you advanced warning of a hard drive problem
http://members.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=396897


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## RolodeX

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

I've done some reading about SMART in the past, but didn't understand how it works... So, it runs on the background monitoring hd's activity, but how do I see this info it is collecting? 
Anyway, thanks for the sound driver, will post later if it works or solve the issue... 
Oh, I already downloaded those hd utilities from the manufacturers site (seagate and western digital), but will have to wait to wait to be able to buy recordable media. Will post my results soon.

Just one more question: do you think I should move (I don't even know if I actually can do such thing...) my question to the hardware support section?


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## dai

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

a smart box will pop up if something alerts it ,you don't need to do anything
no we will leave it where it is for the time being
you can check the event viewer to see if that gives a better indication


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## RolodeX

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

Dai,

still without recordable media to make the boot disc with those tools. But got myself a brand new error (yay!):

A process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been terminated

stop: 0x000000f4 (0x00000003, 0x86c28edc, 0x81eaa4a0)


I've looked (again) at the event viewer and there's nothing wrong going on around the times of these crashes. The only error listed is the "the last shutdown was not expected" event. The thing I'm curious about is why isn't the memory being dumped... I think I could gather some much more accurate info with the bump, couldn't I?


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## dai

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330100
what
cpu
video card
power supply
do you have


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## RolodeX

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

My specs are:

AMD Athlon64 3000+ (2.0GHz)
ASUS K8VSE-Deluxe Motherboard
2560 Mb RAM DDR400
ATi Sapphire Radeon x1600 Pro AGP 256Mb
Thermaltake 580W PSU
2x Seagate 80gb 7200rpm Hds (IDE, connected to Promise controller in ATA Mode)
1x Seagate 40gb 5400rpm Hd (IDE, connected to VIA primary controller)
1x Western Digital 250gb 7200rpm Hd (SATA, connected to Promise controller in ATA Mode)

All drives have no jumpers. I think it means they`re all in Cable Select mode.


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## dai

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

the ide drives should have jumpers on them
using 80 wire ide cables
master on the end black plug
slave on the middle grey plug
even cable select requires a jumper but use master and slave


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## JMSteele

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

RolodeX, did you solve your problem? And if so, how? Thanks.


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## RolodeX

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

Actually, I did!


After searching for weeks, I found someone on another forum (can't remember where...) who was having the same exact issue and solved it.

The answer is pretty simple, although I don't think it makes much sense. But it worked, so...

Those crashes seemed to occur when I was running 3D games or whatever else that stressed my video card a little bit. But the blue screen messages were all about hard drive errors. The solution provided by the author of the mentioned post was to check if there was a hard drive connected to the same power plug that was connected to the video card. If so, I was supposed to disconnect it and plug the HD to a different one.

I had one of my HDs connected to that power cord, so I simply unplugged it and used another free plug and never saw a BSOD like that again. I don't know why it was an issue, since my Thermaltake 580W PSU seemed to be more than enough for the job. But, again, it solved my problem and no more BSOD's to talk about.


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## JMSteele

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

Good news. Thanks for responding with your solution. I found this thread via Google while tracking down the same error codes you were having , so hopefully your response will in the future help provide some other poor frustated computer users with a solution.

Take care.

PS -Also for the benefit of Googlers, I had same errors as you, but it turns out my BSOD blues were resolved by running my 4gb of 800mhz DDR2 RAM at 667mhz. Running very smooth now.


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## dai

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*

any thermaltake before the toughpower were not a quality psu,glad you are up and running ok


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## JMSteele

*Re: c000021a Unknown Hard Error (and many more)*



JMSteele said:


> Good news. Thanks for responding with your solution. I found this thread via Google while tracking down the same error codes you were having , so hopefully your response will in the future help provide some other poor frustated computer users with a solution.
> 
> Take care.
> 
> PS -Also for the benefit of Googlers, I had same errors as you, but it turns out my BSOD blues were resolved by running my 4gb of 800mhz DDR2 RAM at 667mhz. Running very smooth now.


A followup: All looked well for a while on my system; but within two weeks the random BSODs and lockups returned, growing in frequency. As Dai suggested, the power supply was the source of the problem. Since upgrading to a Thermaltake Thoughpower 750w the machine is reborn. I've run it through every stress test I could find and generally put this system through the ringer 24/7. The difference is night and day. I can run RAM and CPU at rated and even overclocked speeds and all is still well. If I'd replaced the PSU long ago it would have saved me months of frustration. 

Thanks for the advice, Dai.:wave:

take care


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