Specific Website Crashes Pc When Using Firefox But Not Chrome

Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Athlon Phonom II X555
12GB DDR2
Asus M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 motherboard with integrated graphics

Whenever I go to the login page at this site: https://community.ui.com/ using Firefox, my computer blue screens. Sometimes I will see the demo animation in on the right get all garbled and if I close my browser quickly, no blue screen. Other times my whole screen just goes blank before I have a chance to do anything and then the blue screen. This does not happen with Chrome. These are 100% repeatable. ALWAYS with Firefox, NEVER with Chrome. Blue screen logs show errors related to atikmpag.sys (my graphics driver) and dxgkrnl.sys (DirectX). I checked for a graphics driver update; there was none. So I uninstalled and reinstalled using a fresh download from the motherboard manufacturer's website (using embedded graphics, no discreet GPU in this system). Did not solve the issue. I don't recall what version of Firefox I was using, but I updated to the latest. No change. Ran Mozilla's recommended refresh procedure which removes extensions and resets settings. No change. Booted Windows into Safe Mode and the problem does NOT occur. When I booted back into normal mode, I uninstalled the graphics driver again and tried with default settings -- problem doesn't happen! So It seems like it has to be related to the graphics driver, but how can I resolve it if I have already uninstalled and reinstalled the most current version? And why only Firefox, never Chrome?

 

Install this DirectX update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

 

Thanks. Unfortunately that did not resolve the problem.

 

Does Internet Explorer or another browser work?

 

As I mentioned originally, the problem never happens with Chrome, and always happens with Firefox. 100% repeatable.

I do not use IE for anything, but of course since this is a Windows system it is installed. I just tried and the page won't even render! I tried Edge, and no problem there.

 

Firefox Release, or ESR, x86, or x64? Can you try the alt. versions?

 

Sorry I didn't include the version number. 79.0 64 bit. What alternate versions are you referring to? I don't know what ESR means.

 

ESR - stable long term release version, no new tricks/'features' added, 32 and 64-bit links (exit any running Firefox before installing/starting another): https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/mozilla_firefox_esr.html

Latest Release version (full fat), again, both 32 and 64-bit links: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/mozilla_firefox_79.html

 

I tried 78.1.0ESR. No change. How is "ESR" any different than just "a previous version"? I was on a previous version (I did not make a note of the version number) when I first experienced the problem, before I upgraded to 79.0.

I will try the 32 bit version.

 

The page does not render at all in 79.0 32bit.

 

Type/paste in about:crashes to the address bar and hit Enter, copy each of the links into a Reply (might be better to click each one in turn and get those 'secondary' links, been a long time since I used FF long enough to see a crash).

 

No sure what you mean by copy each of the links into a Reply. Next to each report ID and the date is a button that says Submit. I take it that's how you submit the crash report to Mozilla? When I click the Submit button, it immediately says Failed. Happens on multiple reports. Also, the most recent crash report is dated November 2019. I guess that's because the whole computer blue screened and crashed before Firefox could registered the crash.

 

Can you paste the Report ID, there may be a way of digging out some clues.

 

13484b75-484e-400c-bcf7-e693355b9715

That's the most recent one, from last November, so it would not be caused by this issue which was only recently discovered.

 

Was the site only recently discovered?

 

I have only started visiting this site recently, yes.

 

As suspected, nothing relevant from the raw IDs.

Can you zip some minidumps and attach them, please?

 

Sure! Here are the two most recent.

 

ASACPI.sys, an ASUS/Gigabyte 'utility' driver was loaded in both crashes (both 0x116's, graphics throughput choking), it's been a known BSOD trigger for over 10 years, uninstall any ASUS/Gigabyte utility/bloatware packages.

 

I feel like we're getting closer but still not quite there yet.

There is no ASUS or Gigabyte software on this computer. The only thing maybe related to ASUS would be the ATI Radeon software since the board has onboard Radeon graphics. I removed the software and drivers. Back to the standard VGA driver. Issue does not happen. But I cannot select my monitor's native resolution of 1680 x 1050. All of the available resolutions with the default driver are aspect ratio 1.33 so things look squished. No good.

After removing the driver, I was prompted with a windows update for the monitor driver. (Interesting that it was a driver for the monitor, not the integrated graphics.) Acer V223W. I tried to download and install it and it failed. Code 80070005. So I downloaded the update from Microsoft's website. It hate a .cab extension, I guess because it's a driver package and not a standard Windows update. I tried to install it through Device Manager by updating the driver for the monitor and pointing to the folder where I downloaded it, but got a message that the current driver is already installed (or something to that effect). So I had to go back to installing the ATI graphics driver and we are back at square one. Is there a driver for this monitor that I can install that will give me the proper resolution?

 

Okay, so the ASACPI.sys driver must be for a Asus ATK0110 ACPI Utility, found in Device Manager (I had it on an older Asus Core2/4 'board that used a nVidia chipset, BSOD'ed 3x in 8 months before I looked for the cause, saw it immediately, uninstalled it, disabled the 'device' and never looked back until it was retired (overheating Northbridge, common problem) when I built this IvyBridge). I'd advise doing the same, I saw no reason for it to be wasting resources. Uninstall and then disable it.

I'll dig a little deeper into those dumps when I get some free time later.

Driver (hopefully just the .inf file) for the V233W: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/699?b=1

 

I had previously tried that Acer driver and could not install it. The only OS available to select is Vista 32bit. I tried that one anyway, even though I am running Windows 7 64 bit, and got a message "Windows could not find driver software for your device." This was after I uninstall the existing graphics driver. With the existing graphics driver installed, the message was something to the effect of (this isn't an exact quote) 'Windows has determined that you already have the correct driver for this device installed.'

Uninstalling ATK0110 utility did not resolve the problem, nor am I clear on why it should. I can't find much info on what this thing actually is, but it does not appear to be related to graphics and, more significantly, it is not the cause of the crashes in the minidump files that I previously sent. What exactly is it and why should it be removed? Interestingly, after rebooting after removing it, Windows Update prompted me to reinstall it. I hid the update.

 

Was the Acer driver an .inf file or not? Details are everything.

The ATK0110 driver never showed as 'the cause' in any of my 3x crashes either. Never happened again though. Disable it, it does nothing that caused a note in Windows' logs and nothing that I ever saw was 'missing', performance was great, stability excellent.

'the cause', as listed sometimes in BSOD screens and BlueScreenView 'reports' and in WinDBG from a regular 'analyze v', are rarely that. They're simply the last driver listed in the call stack prior to the crash. Your 0x116 is a 'slow-mo' crash - Windows waited too long for a response... and the smoking gun was elsewhere, propping up the logjam.

There are other potential/known bad drivers loaded in those dumps, but you won't be interested in them because they're not listed as 'the cause'.

For those that might have an interest:
ASACPI.sys Wed Jul 15 20:31:29 2009 (4A5E9F11)
Asus ATK0110 ACPI Utility (a known BSOD maker in Win7 and Win8). Also a part of many Asus utilities (Win8 versions available from Windows Update as an Optional Update - but check Asus first!)[br][br]Part of the Asus PCProbe and AISuite Utilities http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=ASACPI.sys

nusb3hub.sys Thu Apr 22 18:34:35 2010 (4BD0F92B)
NEC Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver (previous BSOD issues with 2010 and earlier versions) Try OEM first - Drivers available at the following link require registration and a lot of research: http://www.renesas.com/supp/
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=nusb3hub.sys

nusb3xhc.sys Thu Apr 22 18:34:36 2010 (4BD0F92C)
NEC Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver (previous BSOD issues with 2010 and earlier versions) Try OEM first - Drivers available at the following link require registration and a lot of research: http://www.renesas.com/supp/
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=nusb3xhc.sys

Code:

Debug session time: Sun Aug  2 20:20:00.356 2020 (UTC + 1:00)
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\Me\SysnativeBSODApps\080220-11606-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.24545.amd64fre.win7sp1_ldr_escrow.200102-1707
System Uptime: 0 days 1:24:24.699
BugCheck Info: [url=http://www.carrona.org/bsodindx.html#0x00000116]VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)[/url]
Bugcheck code 00000116
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa800c690010, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff88002dc30a4, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g. owner tag).
Arg3: 0000000000000000, Optional error code (NTSTATUS) of the last failed operation.
Arg4: 0000000000000002, Optional internal context dependent data.
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmpag.sys
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x116
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_FAULT
PROCESS_NAME:  System
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys
BiosVersion = 0305   
BiosReleaseDate = 09/09/2010
SystemManufacturer = System manufacturer
BaseBoardManufacturer = ASUSTeK Computer INC.
SystemProductName = System Product Name
BaseBoardProduct = M4A88T-V EVO/USB3
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Debug session time: Sun Aug  2 18:54:58.405 2020 (UTC + 1:00)
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\Me\SysnativeBSODApps\080220-12074-01.dmp]
Built by: 7601.24545.amd64fre.win7sp1_ldr_escrow.200102-1707
System Uptime: 0 days 0:02:26.763
BugCheck Info: [url=http://www.carrona.org/bsodindx.html#0x00000116]VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)[/url]
Bugcheck code 00000116
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa800cc04010, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff88003d990a4, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g. owner tag).
Arg3: 0000000000000000, Optional error code (NTSTATUS) of the last failed operation.
Arg4: 0000000000000002, Optional internal context dependent data.
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmpag.sys
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x116
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_FAULT
PROCESS_NAME:  System
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x116_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys
BiosVersion = 0305   
BiosReleaseDate = 09/09/2010
SystemManufacturer = System manufacturer
BaseBoardManufacturer = ASUSTeK Computer INC.
SystemProductName = System Product Name
BaseBoardProduct = M4A88T-V EVO/USB3
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``

TDR basics from MS: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/timeout-detection-and-recovery

 

I posted this on the Mozilla forums. The solution ended up being disabling hardware graphics acceleration in FF. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/forum-response-disable-hardware-acceleration

 

Yup, that'll cure all 0x116/7's - NOT.

Mark the Topic as [Solved].

Bye.