# dxgkrnl.sys BSOD



## Kriffith (Sep 24, 2009)

Hello all,

Ever since I built my computer (was a personal project of mine) I've had BSODs, and sometimes they are different, but the main recurring one is the one mentioning dxgkrnl.sys. 

Enclosed you can find a screenshot of the BSOD. Would anyone be able to assist me in resolving this issue? Any additional info you would need?

Components are:
pentium IV 3.0ghz extreme
4GB (2x2) G.Skill DDRIII
ATI HD 48070X2
Motherboard Asus Rampage Extreme
Samsung 2 x 1TB F1 harddrive

and I have vista 64bit Home Premium.

Problems may be various as this is the first computer I've built myself. I wanted to have a challenge, but apparently I can't fix it myself...

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

Hi - 

The bugcheck on the BSOD screen you posted = *0xd1*, probable cause = *dxgkrnl.sys*, the Microsoft DirectX Graphics Kernel, timestamp = 0x4893b63f = Fri Aug 01 18:19:59 2008

0xd1 = kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory when it should not have

Are your ATI video drivers up to date? The DirectX Graphics Kernel looks perfectly normal from here and is not the cause of this crash.

To help flush the driver out that is most likely causing this (if software related), run the Driver Verifier - 

http://www.techsupportforum.com/2110308-post3.html

Follow these instructions - http://www.techsupportforum.com/1871981-post2.html

Attach resulting zip(s); send me a PM.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## Kriffith (Sep 24, 2009)

I just got the BSOD again. I noticed it didn't create a minidump though (any reason for this? it said in bluescreen it would...) but I attached one that was there from 2 weeks ago.

In addition, I attached the other files you needed.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

No dump is not a good sign. It means that the system shut down so fast, Windows had to act fast to protect itself instead of using the time to produce a dump. This would mean catastrophic hardware failure.

The other dump is from your newly built system, correct?

No fooling with the page file or system services like wercon or other?

jcgriff2

.

*EDIT:* How old is this new system? 

I found this entry in wercon, which surely looks to me like it is from September 2008 -


```
14/09/2008 13:54	Application Error	Toepassing met fout AssassinsCreed_Dx10.exe, versie 1.0.2.1, tijdstempel 0x48067113, module met fout AssassinsCreed_Dx10.exe, versie 1.0.2.1, tijdstempel 0x48067113, uitzonderingscode 0xc0000005, foutmarge 0x00013830, proces-id 0xa20, starttijd van toepassing 0x01c9166f9a9cbee3.
```
How can that be??

You did install Vista on the new system... i.e., not from an image of the old, correct? I ask about an image b/c I see a security descriptor problem brought down the system a few days after the above wercon entry on 13 September 2008 - 


```
13/09/2008 23:30	Windows Error Reporting	Fault bucket X64_0x3B_nt!Ob[COLOR=Red]DereferenceSecurityDescriptor[/COLOR]+20, type 0
Naam van gebeurtenis: BlueScreen
Antwoord: Geen
Id van CAB-bestand: 0

Handtekening van probleem:
P1: 
P2: 
P3: 
P4: 
P5: 
P6: 
P7: 
P8: 
P9: 
P10: 

Ingevoegde bestanden:
C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini091408-01.dmp
C:\Users\Kenny\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-53742-0.sysdata.xml
C:\Users\Kenny\AppData\Local\Temp\WER3320.tmp.version.txt

Deze bestanden zijn mogelijk hier beschikbaar:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\Report0c0ec3ea
```
`

Please tell me what is going on here with the system. It can only help you to get this current system up & running. 

Thanks. . . jcgriff2

.


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## Kriffith (Sep 24, 2009)

I built the system last year indeed in September 2008, completely from scratch. *All the info I posted is from that same system*.

I installed Vista back then on the empty HDs, and did not reinstall it since then. At the start I had alot more BSODs with various reasons but I fixed those.

Ever since however, I have been experiencing regular crashes. I like to play WoW and the system usually crashes when I'm playing that. The good thing there however is that, once I had my "daily crash", the system runs solid for the entire remainder of the day, until I shut it down for the night. Then the next day, I usually have a crash again (unpredictable when) and usually that same dxgkrnl.sys bsod. As of the crash and reboot, system runs rock solid again. An additional problem though is, when I want to shut down the game for the evening, it takes alot of time for it to shut down and also the computer takes alot of down to shut down.

I've been able to live with the daily BSODs since the start, because I could depend on it that if I had my crash that day it wouldn't happen again.

Thing is, the BSOD always mentions at the bottom that it created a dump (cfr. first post) but then when I go and look under the minidump folder, there is no dump there. The dump I posted is probably one of the first ones then (september 2008) and not september 2009.

so in summary
- created system from scratch sept 08
- daily living with BSODs but dependable if it happens once it doesn't happen again (or so it seems anyway, but has been like that month in month out, no more than 1 crash per day and the crashes are completely random, sometimes they happen after 5min, sometimes like yesterday the system was active for 6hrs by the time I had my crash)
- never reinstalled Vista, but did reinstall ATI drivers on various occasions, also removed them completely and reinstalled etc cause I thought issue was there
- I come here for help 

Perhaps there is a setting I changed which switched off creating minidumps?

Thanks alot for all your efforts!!

btw, I didn't mess around with any of the files, they are all pure files directly zipped.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

Hi - 

"fooling" was a bad choice of words on my part. I should have asked if the "settings were modified". 

I pass no judgment here - just trying to get through a busy weekend like others. You came here for help... it is help that you shall receive - to the best of my ability. Please accept my apologies for my momentary lapse of judgment. 

After your last post, I would highly suggest that you reinstall Vista. The sheer number of BSODs that you have suffered is suggestive of catastrophic hardware failure, I am sorry to say. Only a fresh OS can help pinpoint whether it is actually hardware or software.

The intermittent producing of dumps also points to hardware. I asked about the page file because it is one item that has an effect on dumps. The *initial* page file allocation must be > than installed physical RAM. So if you upgrade RAM from 2 to 4 GB, you should recreate the page file to assure the new initial allocation is now > 4gb as the old would have been ~ 2100mb.

System services can be another factor in producing dumps. Certain system services must be running at the time of the crash like WERCON. If all BSODs were in fact hours after system boot and do not occur until a re-boot -- on the start-up side -- that would indicate to me it may be software related, yet there may be a piece of hardware that gets extremely stressed during boot-up only that may help explain this phenomenon. I am told that a PSU reaches its peak during boot-up.

So.... any particular reason for not wanting to re-install Vista outside of your current comfort level with 1 BSOD per day? You do know that you are in the best place possible to work through this... right? There are many specialists here that know virtually every piece of any system.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## Kriffith (Sep 24, 2009)

No problem, I wasn't upset hehe 

I don't really understand the explanation about the page file, I didn't change anything about it and the system started with 4 GB DDR3 before I installed Vista.

I will install Vista again. I didn't really wanna reinstall, since I then also need to reinstall all programs etc. Perhaps I can create a second partition and install it there, to check whether the issue is hardware related.

My biggest problem for hardware is that I do not have other components lying around to replace some with to check whether they are the problem. the components I put in a year ago were back then the best available and I didn't look into saving money. But indeed, one component could have been flawed, I would like to have a method to determine which one though without having to put another in place of each component.

About the issue not recurring because the stress comes from boot-up on some parts, after a BSOD, the system needs to be shut down with the button. Afterwards I reboot it completely.

Am usually pretty busy here at work but I'll try to find some time to reinstall windows one of the evenings to come.

Could it be there are some settings in BIOS that are wrong? I went there with what I read about the motherboard etc, but not confident it is correct. Most is on auto...


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

Hi - 

I couldn't tell you much about the BIOS settings in relation to the crashes that you are having. I have always let the BIOS be and it has done the same in return. Do you have any specific settings in mind? I don't build systems or get into hardware b/c whenever I take things apart & put them back together, I end up with "spare parts"!

The reason for the re-install of Vista is to isolate any 3rd party program that may be the underlying cause of the BSODs. It is much easier to troubleshoot a system that has nor much more on it other than the OS - which we all know is very stable. 

Did you ever think about trying Windows 7? I believe that the 90-day trial of Windows 7 Enterprise Edition is still available.

jcgriff2

.


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## Kriffith (Sep 24, 2009)

Yes I got the CD for Win 7 this weekend and got an e-mail for the CD key.

I'll make a partition on my drives and install Win7 on it, will only install ATI drivers and WoW and see what that gives.

Thanks thusfar for your very fast feedback. I really appreciate it (but do wonder what you are doing up at the middle of the night, you seem to be available 24/7 haha )


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