BSOD infinite loop

Hello there, I hope this is the right thread to post about my problem. First I will explain what happens. While I watch a video, the screen freezes, I can move the mouse, try ctrl-alt-del etc, after a while when i click with the mouse pc beeps and a few seconds later a blue screen may appear saying that my ati driver got in an infinite loop. When ? It happens ONLY (I emphasize on that) while I watch a video at fullscreen from a site, happened in different sites with different players. A BSOD may not appear and the pc might freeze completely. The thing is I have absolutely no problems while I play video games. ANd may I add that I spend more time playing a video game than watching a video fo example. I thought that the video card driver might conflict with adobe flash. So I updated both drivers and programs at the latest versions. The problem still persist. What is it ? Also, when I encounter the problem sometimes I manage to close the firefox but the flash player (where the fullscreen comes from) is not responding. If I try to terminate with task manager pc freezes again. The likely culprit must be the flash but with updates or not nothing is getting better. What do you think should I do next?

I guess I should give some system specifications, so here they are:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
Ram: 2GB
GPU: ATI Radeon 4800 series
MB: ASUS P5KPL-CM
I use Windows XP Pro SP3 and is genuine, thanks in advance

 

Graphics card drivers, DirectX, mouse driver, Flash, browser and add-ons/plugins, Flash, website hosting the videos, ... could be any combo of those and some others I can't think of right now.

The latest Flash version does have issues with Firefox-based browsers on Vista and W7 but, as far as I'm aware, there's not an issue like yours that's attributable to it. But ... I'm not convinced that Flash 11.3 actually has anything for XP anyway.

Please copy your recent memory dumps from C:\Windows\Minidump to your Desktop, zip and upload/attach them to a reply, I'll try to see what might have been going on.

 

satrow, thanks for the reply, for some reason the minidump folder is empty. Maybe ccleaner emptied it. Anyway I'll try to force the problem again later when I have time. (It doesn't happen all the time so I may need to w8 a few minutes before an error appears).

 

So, I manaed to reproduce the problem. I watched an online video, screen froze, but nothing happened. I tried to terminate adobe flash from task manager because it wasn't responding, then the computer froze completely. And it restarted, unfortunately I didn't get a BSOD, just a restart. At the next login I got a message that the system had encountered a serious error. Now the Minidump folder has a file in it, I zipped and attached.

 

Ouch, it's a 0x8E, it might be a long job trying to fix it with only 1 dump:

Which browser were you using and which Flash version do you have? Can you check if these are set to run inside Avast!'s sandbox?

It looks like you also have Comodo Firewall installed, it could be that the 2x sandboxing features are causing this. I'd uninstall Comodo fully (you may need some help from their forum for this) and install PrivateFirewall instead during testing.

I would also update the Ethernet controller drivers, yours is from 2008, there's a 2010 version here.

Code:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M (1000008e)
This is a very common bugcheck.  Usually the exception address pinpoints
the driver/function that caused the problem.  Always note this address
as well as the link date of the driver/image that contains this address.
Some common problems are exception code 0x80000003.  This means a hard
coded breakpoint or assertion was hit, but this system was booted
/NODEBUG.  This is not supposed to happen as developers should never have
hardcoded breakpoints in retail code, but ...
If this happens, make sure a debugger gets connected, and the
system is booted /DEBUG.  This will let us see why this breakpoint is
happening.
Arguments:
Arg1: e0000001, The exception code that was not handled
Arg2: f7867925, The address that the exception occurred at
Arg3: aab4ffa8, Trap Frame
Arg4: 00000000

Debugging Details:
------------------


OVERLAPPED_MODULE: Address regions for 'kmixer' and 'kmixer.sys' overlap

EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xe0000001 - <Unable to get error code text>

FAULTING_IP: 
watchdog!RaiseExceptionInThread+b
f7867925 c3              ret

TRAP_FRAME:  aab4ffa8 -- (.trap 0xffffffffaab4ffa8)
.trap 0xffffffffaab4ffa8
Unable to read trap frame at aab4ffa8
.trap

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x8E

PROCESS_NAME:  plugin-containe

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from e0000001 to f7867925

STACK_TEXT:  
aab50354 e0000001 00000064 bf0a58da 00000002 watchdog!RaiseExceptionInThread+0xb
WARNING: Frame IP not in any known module. Following frames may be wrong.
aab50358 00000000 bf0a58da 00000002 aab503e4 0xe0000001


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
watchdog!RaiseExceptionInThread+b
f7867925 c3              ret

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  0

SYMBOL_NAME:  watchdog!RaiseExceptionInThread+b

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: watchdog

IMAGE_NAME:  watchdog.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  480254ab

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0x8E_watchdog!RaiseExceptionInThread+b

BUCKET_ID:  0x8E_watchdog!RaiseExceptionInThread+b

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

 

First of all, I must that say I don't understand these exceptions and numbers at all :-o Anyway, to answer your questions.

I am using the Mozilla Firefox browser v13.0.1.

In Flash Player settings
ActiveX version: 10.3.181.26
Plug-in version: 11.3.300.257
Also I have Adobe Shockwave Player v11.5

About the sandbox features. I had them already disabled. Both the Avast AutoSandbox feature is off and the Comodo Sandbox Security level is disabled.
Should I enable any of them, is it really necessary to replace the firewalls?

Thank you so much for helping me btw.

PS. I will download and install the ethernet drivers any minute now.

 

I'm just trying to rule in or out anything that 'feels' like it's related to the issue you're describing. If we can minimise any 'overlap' in the security software, we may see an improvement or change in the crashes which might enable us to pinpoint the culprit. Disabling features within security software doesn't automatically mean they're really disabled - often we need to do a full uninstall to do that.

Flash 11.3 is currently causing some Firefox users grief - but only, afaik with Vista and W7 - plugin crashes, videos not working, etc. There are recommended 2 ways to 'fix' this (if you don't have Real Player running interference as well), the first is to revert to Flash 11.2 (an insecure version), the second is to add the line ProtectedMode=0 to the mms.cfg file in C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash (which blocks the sandboxing security feature <-- I don't know if this feature is activated on XP, I doubt it). You could try one of these methods, it might just work for you.

 

Ok, I'll install the previous version of Flash player and I'll change my firewall to the one you recommended, I'll reply again when I have news and any new minidumps if they come up. Anyway about the avast sandmox mode, should I enable it or leave it disabled?

 

Better to change only 1 thing at a time, test in between reboots/changes.

I'd set Avast!'s sandbox to active but ask - that way, you should get some warning - do not allow it to sandbox your browser or plugincontainer.

 

Damn it man, I don't know whats going on. I completely removed comodo the way they said at their forums and I installed Private firewall. I didn't know how to revert to the previously flash version. So I took the liberty to uninstall everything flash-like on my computer and install google chrome which was intergrated with the latest version of flash. I tried with google chrome to watch a video (fullscreen again) but after a few minutes the whole pc got frozen. I couldnt open the task manager or get to the start bar and turn off the computer. It didnt restart by itself so no bsod or error. I had to reset it manually. Minidump is empty too. Im totally confused :s


ps. While the screen was frozen I also tried to click with mouse, I hear a beep from the computer, then it was really dead, no response whatsoever.

 

First, use the forum method to check for the existence of any remnants of Comodo, until we're sure they're all gone, it could still trigger BSOD's. Then reboot and test again - in Chrome would be fine.

If it still fails, uninstall PF and reboot, test again.

If no different, reinstall PF, reboot again, uninstall Avast!, reboot once more, use aswClear, reboot and then test again.

 

Comodo was uninstalled successfully, I am sure of it. I followed exactly a forum post, rebooted when needed, used a certain exe script 2 times. There is no trace of comodo at all.

I wanted to uninstall PF but I decided to terminate it first, I right clicked at the PF icon near the clock and pressed exit/shutdown/something like that. It seemed that it uninstalled completely though, I don't know why. I can't find it at add/remove programs, nor at program files folder and ccleaner registry told me to remove the remaining keys. So i guess it was removed by itself right?

Tried to watch a video again, first video of 10 min had no problem. Second one froze screen after a few minutes. I went to task manager, tried to close chrome.exe, pc crashed, got a bsod saying that ati driver got in an infinite loop. Minidump is empty.

I have 2 questions now: Should i pretend that PF was removed, install it again and procceed with the avast test??
Also why the BSOD gave no minidump results? Should I write down all the blue screen and send it?
THanks in advance.

 

PF is usually well-behaved on uninstall, until we see proof that it wasn't, we'll assume it's all gone.

A screenshot (cellphone?) or dump type (0xXXXXXXXX) + any file 'blamed' is better than nothing. Check that CCleaner isn't set to clean on boot too.

If you're behind a NAT router, you can probably safely test without any firewall or antivirus for a short time - be very careful where you visit to test though.

 

I removed avast completely. I managed to see a 20 min video fullscreen without any problems. But it could be just luck. In a few hours or maybe tomorrow I'll do some further tests either to ensure everything is fine(which somewhere inside me I doubt) or post anything that will come up(stop errors minidumps etc). Thank you very much for being here all this time, I'll post as soon as I can.

 

Anyways the problem still persists, but I really can't give you any error, the pc just freezes, it never restarts or throws a bsod. 3 times in a row, just freeze no results. Im sorry. If I get anything I'll inform you.

 

6 times in a row, pc just freezes, I cant get it to show an error or bsod. Is there another way to check what is going on?

 

A description of the lead up to the freeze might help, screenshots of running processes at boot up, programs started, up time before freeze - be as descriptive as you can, there may be more clue.

You can use the jcgriff2 method to collect a good deal of background info that might help, attach the logs requested in a zip (or 2) here once you've finished.

 

I don't understand exactly what are you asking about. The freeze might happen at random times while I watch a video at fullscreen. Never seen it when not at fullscreen. What programs do you want to know about, those running at task manager? Those which load at startup? Will msconfig or hijackthis be of any help?

As for the jcgriff2 method, it doesn't work at XP. The programs are running only at windows vista/7. The "perfmon /report" gives garbage when I save it at html file.

Finally, I found that disabling hardware accelaration (flash video -> right click -> settings) might solve my problem. I gave it a try, so far so good. I'll test it some more and reply again.

 

Flash, eh - that has a lot to answer for.

Autoruns will work, try running MSinfo32 and saving it as the default type before zipping and attaching.

 

Here it is.

 

I've scanned through those logs several times today but I really can't decide where the blame might lie.

Let's check the dates of the 3rd party drivers installed, there may be some clues there.

Download and run DriverView, set View to hide Microsoft/Windows entries and set the columns view so that only the Driver name, File type, Description, Product name, Modified date and File name are checked. Either take a screenshot and attach it or Select all and Copy selected items then paste the results into a code box in your reply please.


I'm still wondering about the Flash/ATI drivers possibly conflicting, I did read a comment from someone about a week ago who claimed just that, there was no corroboration or details of Win versions involved and a quick search yesterday came up with nothing for me. Perhaps reverting to Flash 11.2 is next to try?

 

Code:

ASACPI.sys	System Driver	ATK0110 ACPI Utility	ATK0110 ACPI Utility	13/8/2004 1:56:20 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\ASACPI.sys	
ati2cqag.dll	Display Driver	Central Memory Manager / Queue Server Module	ATI Radeon Family	6/4/2012 5:43:36 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\System32\ati2cqag.dll	
ati2dvag.dll	Display Driver	ATI Radeon WindowsNT Display Driver	ATI Radeon WindowsNT Display Driver	6/4/2012 6:20:02 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\System32\ati2dvag.dll	
ati2mtag.sys	Display Driver	ATI Radeon WindowsNT Miniport Driver	ATI Radeon WindowsNT Miniport Driver	6/4/2012 8:16:18 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\ati2mtag.sys	
ati3duag.dll	Dynamic Link Library	ati3duag.dll	Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Radeon DirectX Universal Driver	6/4/2012 5:36:28 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\System32\ati3duag.dll	
AtihdXP3.sys	Sound Driver	AMD High Definition Audio Function Driver	AMD HD Audio Driver	23/2/2012 3:31:22 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\AtihdXP3.sys	
atikvmag.dll	Dynamic Link Library	Virtual Command And Memory Manager	Virtual Command And Memory Manager	6/4/2012 5:52:32 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\System32\atikvmag.dll	
atiok3x2.dll	Dynamic Link Library	Ring 0 x2 component	Ring 0 x2 Component	6/4/2012 5:42:10 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\System32\atiok3x2.dll	
ativvaxx.dll	Dynamic Link Library	Radeon Video Acceleration Universal Driver	Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Radeon Video Acceleration Universal Driver	6/4/2012 5:11:58 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\System32\ativvaxx.dll	
ATMFD.DLL	Driver	Windows NT OpenType/Type 1 Font Driver	Adobe Type Manager	15/2/2011 3:56:39 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\System32\ATMFD.DLL	
dmio.sys	System Driver	NT Disk Manager I/O Driver	VERITAS® NT Disk Manager	14/4/2008 3:00:00 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dmio.sys	
dmload.sys	System Driver	NT Disk Manager Startup Driver	Logical Disk Manager for Windows NT	14/4/2008 3:00:00 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dmload.sys	
dump_atapi.sys	Unknown			N/A	C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\dump_atapi.sys	
dump_WMILIB.SYS	Unknown			N/A	C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\dump_WMILIB.SYS	
HDAudBus.sys	Sound Driver	High Definition Audio Bus Driver v1.0a	Microsoft® Windows® Operating System	14/4/2008 3:00:00 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\HDAudBus.sys	
l1e51x86.sys	Network Driver	Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Controller ndis miniport driver	Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Controller	19/3/2010 5:15:48 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\l1e51x86.sys	
L8042Kbd.sys	Network Driver	Logitech PS2 Keyboard Filter Driver.	Logitech SetPoint	29/2/2008 3:12:48 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\L8042Kbd.sys	
L8042mou.Sys	Network Driver	Logitech PS/2 Mouse Filter Driver.	Logitech SetPoint	29/2/2008 3:12:56 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\L8042mou.Sys	
LHidFilt.Sys	Network Driver	Logitech HID Filter Driver.	Logitech SetPoint(TM)	29/2/2008 3:13:16 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\LHidFilt.Sys	
LMouFilt.Sys	Network Driver	Logitech Mouse Filter Driver.	Logitech SetPoint(TM)	29/2/2008 3:13:24 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\LMouFilt.Sys	
LMouKE.Sys	Network Driver	Logitech Filter Driver for Mouse Class.	Logitech SetPoint	29/2/2008 3:13:36 ðì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\LMouKE.Sys	
ptilink.sys	System Driver	Parallel Technologies DirectParallel IO Library	Microsoft® Windows® Operating System	14/4/2008 3:00:00 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\ptilink.sys	
pwipf6.sys	Network Driver	pwipf6	Privacyware Filter Driver	25/5/2012 6:34:42 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\pwipf6.sys	
PxHelp20.sys	Dynamic Link Library	Px Engine Device Driver for Windows 2000/XP	PxHelp20	4/3/2011 10:44:14 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\PxHelp20.sys	
viahduaa.sys	Sound Driver	VIA High Definition Audio Function Driver	VIA High Definition Audio Driver	4/8/2010 9:16:54 ìì	C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\viahduaa.sys	

Btw I tried to watch a 10min video again today with hardware accelaration off. I didn't have any problems.

Is there a way to revert flash at chrome?

 

I don't see any likely driver jumping out of that list.

Downgrading chrome is the only way, as far as I know. There is another Flash update out for non-IE browsers, it is claimed to 'fix' some Flash issue(s) with Firefox but it still crashes mine.

Disabling hardware acceleration in Flash is being touted as the current workaround - that's partially successful for me, it does have other bugs that show up though. Others that have installed this latest Flash are now reporting Flash crashes for the first time.

 

I think I'm going to stick with acceleration off as long as I don't freeze. I'll be off for the next months anyway, so when I get back hopefully there will be new updates available. I'll test it again at that time. Many thanks for your patience and your help