Need Help! (WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR)

[javamach]

Hi there,

I've had a beautiful custom PC for about four years now. I future-proofed it then, so it still runs today's games remarkably. However, I've suddenly begun to receive the blue screen of death (WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR) at absolute random times --- times in which my PC would have never been troubled before. For example, breaking the atmosphere on No Man's Sky; entering a cut-scene in Far Cry 5; simply just on the load screen of Grand Theft Auto --- all of these have been moments in which my PC has suddenly froze and crashed, yet I have never had difficulty running these games before. I've been playing them for years.

My computer was a bit dusty, so that's what I targeted first. I cleaned it well and made it look brand new. Certainly, I saw some temperature drops afterward --- but the temperatures beforehand were not concerning in the first place. Then again, my computer had not crashed for a bit since then so I assumed that was the problem after all --- until just now. A day after cleaning, after gaming all day, it crashed again (just loading up a game seconds after launching it on Steam). So I honestly have absolutely no idea what is going on at this point.

I keep my PC extremely healthy; it has a minimalist file system setup. In other words, it essentially only has games and essential software. No miscellaneous files. That said, malware checks out. No viruses. It's entirely clean and up to date. I've checked drivers. Nothing. BIOS all good. Memory good. Nothing is overclocked. I'm just baffled.

The only correlation I've noticed is that this seemed to begin when my roommate acquired a PC, roughly two weeks ago. I built a powerful setup for her and it now resides on the room opposite of mine. Originally, it was plugged into the same outlet as mine --- directly on the opposite wall (the same circuit). I asked her to plug her computer into a more distant outlet to spread out the power, just in case that was of issue. Perhaps her PC psu/hardware was interfering with mine, which is slightly outdated compared to hers. I primarily asked her to do this, not just because the crashes began at the same time she began using her PC, but because my computer only seemed to crash when we were playing games at the same time. Though sadly, she is now asleep. So her computer is off. And yet my computer just crashed.

Now I've practically thrown my theories on her PC interfering with mine out the window because I truly cannot decipher what is at hand here.

If anyone has any familiarity with this issue and/or can offer any advice or solutions, that would be extremely appreciated. I feel as though I've read through every possible walk-through on the internet and its gotten me nowhere. That seems to be the problem with this error --- there is not one definite fix to it.

[まりさ]

And you haven't tried google that error which literally gives ideas to troubleshoot the issue?

[javamach]

Originally posted by まりさ:

And you haven't tried google that error which literally gives ideas to troubleshoot the issue?

I literally said I did that --- "I feel as though I've read through every possible walk-through on the internet... "

So wow, great help.

[kitt]

no error code on the blue screen other than this message?

[javamach]

Originally posted by kitt:

no error code on the blue screen other than this message?

Nope! I really wish that were so.

[javamach]

The worst part is --- there really is no consistency or pattern. I'm just waiting until it crashes again.

[crunchyfrog]

For a start unless you have some seriously messed up wiring in your house (I mean bordering on the illegal) then her PC being in the same outlet isn't going to do anything. It simply does not work like that.

Your electricity supply can supply FAR more than your 2 PCs can draw - you're talking a few hundred watts. Heaters which run fine, can be 1000W and upwards, and they can happily run can't they? And besides, if there was too much draw, you'd simply blow a fuse, and not get a reduction in power available.

But enough of that.

There is one common denominator there which is a good start to go on - you've noted when it happens.

Aside from No Man's Sky, the others seem to be when you change resolution (possibly). I'd say to be more precise they are ALL when the graphics gets a sudden jump in workload. No Man's Sky leaving the atmosphere results in all your preloaded previous textures and data being culled and the new stuff loaded (you see this first hand when the asteroids do a bit of pop in). Same for the transition and loading screens.

A downside here is that the WHEA vague error has lots of things that can be possible causes. It's basically a generic error that means "♥♥♥♥, the system's about to crap itself, I've stopped things as a precaution".

As you've Googled, you'll be aware that overclocking, having boost set on in BIOS, have additional audio devices or have corrupted drivers or updates. These are going to be a bit of work to pin down.

So, I'd start with the obvious - first off check and update/redownload any drivers for everything. I've seen USB hub drivers cause issues like this which was a ♥♥♥♥♥ to track down.

Once you've doen that I'd start doing INTENSIVE memory checking - not just memtest86 (which will probably run for a couple of hours) but others like Prime95 that really give the memory a stress test.

Then do a similarly intensive scan on your hard drives.

Memory and drives being the most obvious result to "preventing data loss shutdown".

If all this comes back as OK, then I'd start thinking if you changed ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING around the time this happened. It could be just a setting in BIOS, or your girlfriends set of speakers being added - anything. That would help identify things.

But try those first and see how you get on, then we can move onto other things.

[javamach]

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

For a start unless you have some seriously messed up wiring in your house (I mean bordering on the illegal) then her PC being in the same outlet isn't going to do anything. It simply does not work like that.

Your electricity supply can supply FAR more than your 2 PCs can draw - you're talking a few hundred watts. Heaters which run fine, can be 1000W and upwards, and they can happily run can't they? And besides, if there was too much draw, you'd simply blow a fuse, and not get a reduction in power available.

But enough of that.

There is one common denominator there which is a good start to go on - you've noted when it happens.

Aside from No Man's Sky, the others seem to be when you change resolution (possibly). I'd say to be more precise they are ALL when the graphics gets a sudden jump in workload. No Man's Sky leaving the atmosphere results in all your preloaded previous textures and data being culled and the new stuff loaded (you see this first hand when the asteroids do a bit of pop in). Same for the transition and loading screens.

A downside here is that the WHEA vague error has lots of things that can be possible causes. It's basically a generic error that means "♥♥♥♥, the system's about to crap itself, I've stopped things as a precaution".

As you've Googled, you'll be aware that overclocking, having boost set on in BIOS, have additional audio devices or have corrupted drivers or updates. These are going to be a bit of work to pin down.

So, I'd start with the obvious - first off check and update/redownload any drivers for everything. I've seen USB hub drivers cause issues like this which was a ♥♥♥♥♥ to track down.

Once you've doen that I'd start doing INTENSIVE memory checking - not just memtest86 (which will probably run for a couple of hours) but others like Prime95 that really give the memory a stress test.

Then do a similarly intensive scan on your hard drives.

Memory and drives being the most obvious result to "preventing data loss shutdown".

If all this comes back as OK, then I'd start thinking if you changed ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING around the time this happened. It could be just a setting in BIOS, or your girlfriends set of speakers being added - anything. That would help identify things.

But try those first and see how you get on, then we can move onto other things.

Thank you! I appreciate you taking your time to explain. I was just about to run Memtest86 when I caught your response. I'll try all of these steps. I'm glad I found someone who knows what they're talking about.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Ry:

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

For a start unless you have some seriously messed up wiring in your house (I mean bordering on the illegal) then her PC being in the same outlet isn't going to do anything. It simply does not work like that.

Your electricity supply can supply FAR more than your 2 PCs can draw - you're talking a few hundred watts. Heaters which run fine, can be 1000W and upwards, and they can happily run can't they? And besides, if there was too much draw, you'd simply blow a fuse, and not get a reduction in power available.

But enough of that.

There is one common denominator there which is a good start to go on - you've noted when it happens.

Aside from No Man's Sky, the others seem to be when you change resolution (possibly). I'd say to be more precise they are ALL when the graphics gets a sudden jump in workload. No Man's Sky leaving the atmosphere results in all your preloaded previous textures and data being culled and the new stuff loaded (you see this first hand when the asteroids do a bit of pop in). Same for the transition and loading screens.

A downside here is that the WHEA vague error has lots of things that can be possible causes. It's basically a generic error that means "♥♥♥♥, the system's about to crap itself, I've stopped things as a precaution".

As you've Googled, you'll be aware that overclocking, having boost set on in BIOS, have additional audio devices or have corrupted drivers or updates. These are going to be a bit of work to pin down.

So, I'd start with the obvious - first off check and update/redownload any drivers for everything. I've seen USB hub drivers cause issues like this which was a ♥♥♥♥♥ to track down.

Once you've doen that I'd start doing INTENSIVE memory checking - not just memtest86 (which will probably run for a couple of hours) but others like Prime95 that really give the memory a stress test.

Then do a similarly intensive scan on your hard drives.

Memory and drives being the most obvious result to "preventing data loss shutdown".

If all this comes back as OK, then I'd start thinking if you changed ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING around the time this happened. It could be just a setting in BIOS, or your girlfriends set of speakers being added - anything. That would help identify things.

But try those first and see how you get on, then we can move onto other things.

Thank you! I appreciate you taking your time to explain. I was just about to run Memtest86 when I caught your response. I'll try all of these steps. I'm glad I found someone who knows what they're talking about.

Lol, never assume I know what I'm talking about - I'm as dumb as a bag of hammers!

Seriously though, my forte is with logic. I can happily help you run through some steps and keep the focus on things. SO it kind of makes up for my lack of certain technical know how.

[javamach]

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Originally posted by Ry:

Thank you! I appreciate you taking your time to explain. I was just about to run Memtest86 when I caught your response. I'll try all of these steps. I'm glad I found someone who knows what they're talking about.

Lol, never assume I know what I'm talking about - I'm as dumb as a bag of hammers!

Seriously though, my forte is with logic. I can happily help you run through some steps and keep the focus on things. SO it kind of makes up for my lack of certain technical know how.

Well regardless, I appreciate the support. I have an update --- I've been encountering an Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) in my drivers. I can't decipher what it belongs to; I haven't installed anything new on my USB hub. I tried uninstalling the Unknown USB Device the other day, since it wasn't affecting any hardware plugged into USB. But every time I uninstall it, it pops back up sooner or later.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Ry:

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Lol, never assume I know what I'm talking about - I'm as dumb as a bag of hammers!

Seriously though, my forte is with logic. I can happily help you run through some steps and keep the focus on things. SO it kind of makes up for my lack of certain technical know how.

Well regardless, I appreciate the support. I have an update --- I've been encountering an Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) in my drivers. I can't decipher what it belongs to; I haven't installed anything new on my USB hub. I tried uninstalling the Unknown USB Device the other day, since it wasn't affecting any hardware plugged into USB. But every time I uninstall it, it pops back up sooner or later.

Funnily enough, I've had USB drivers (and devices) do weird stuff like this recently. It disappeared as soon as it popped up though so I never got to the bottom of it.

But you could be onto something if there's either an issue with the USB drivers or with the USB hub itself. They tend to pick up crap easily (I know you said you keep the PC well maintained), and can EASILY get weakened through usage, and even cause short circuits and worse through use. Horribly designed sockets (I say this as an amateur electronics hobbyist) - I've always hated them as much as SCART sockets.

[Iceira]

Well , you will not like what i have to say, because you already have half solved your own problem dusty pc , and if you never did a cleaning over 4 year. that mean you actual have no clue if static or overheated pc has cause damage on board or graphic card.

lets assum its not that, then you need to well test pc again, because no matter what i say or highend game crash your pc again. you will still suffer from not testing it.

do have temp app . or speccy or what ever.

test cpu first crunch cure cancer get cpu at 100% load and figureout pc and rest of pc work at 100% ( also best to test first so you know fan and cooling is incheck before throw same test on gfx card , and now you test graphic card as last. 3D bencemark or other gpu work

so many pc owner never test 100% work load on CPU and GPU, but what choise do you have then you cant even play a game.

its here i and other disagree , but you need to understand the diffrence in test max load , if pc cant hold a 24hour burn test, then you already have a problem here.

just so you understand this have crunch cancer workunit for more years then you had that pc 24/7/365 ( so dont go there with heat issue , see pc oprating range and understand it.

so yeah you have a issue and yes you can also have a harddisk or ram issue , its simple , you need to test pc over 24hour , and gfx card last, gfx card is easy to replace on desktop
you problem is if this is a laptop, i will say thats the problem here. you forgot system spec and it look like a desktop with dust / clean you did.

---------------

Bonic manager ( add WCG ) this will feed cpu and if you setup to run work 24hour no hibernate no turn off or shut down.

same can be down with @home it can use gfx card , but im not sure it actual use all gpu power to , but bencemark test did that not sure you want to run such with not keep a eye on pc.

and as you said , you did all Driver and Bios update.

and check disk ( ram test ) app or inbios test mode some can do that )
and recheck bios dont have turbo ram enable if that is default use standard settings
dont forget windows sfc/scannow.

[javamach]

Originally posted by Iceira:

Well , you will not like what i have to say, because you already have half solved your own problem dusty pc , and if you never did a cleaning over 4 year. that mean you actual have no clue if static or overheated pc has cause damage on board or graphic card.

lets assum its not that, then you need to well test pc again, because no matter what i say or highend game crash your pc again. you will still suffer from not testing it.

do have temp app . or speccy or what ever.

test cpu first crunch cure cancer get cpu at 100% load and figureout pc and rest of pc work at 100% ( also best to test first so you know fan and cooling is incheck before throw same test on gfx card , and now you test graphic card as last. 3D bencemark or other gpu work

so many pc owner never test 100% work load on CPU and GPU, but what choise do you have then you cant even play a game.

its here i and other disagree , but you need to understand the diffrence in test max load , if pc cant hold a 24hour burn test, then you already have a problem here.

just so you understand this have crunch cancer workunit for more years then you had that pc 24/7/365 ( so dont go there with heat issue , see pc oprating range and understand it.

so yeah you have a issue and yes you can also have a harddisk or ram issue , its simple , you need to test pc over 24hour , and gfx card last, gfx card is easy to replace on desktop
you problem is if this is a laptop, i will say thats the problem here. you forgot system spec and it look like a desktop with dust / clean you did.

---------------

Bonic manager ( add WCG ) this will feed cpu and if you setup to run work 24hour no hibernate no turn off or shut down.

same can be down with @home it can use gfx card , but im not sure it actual use all gpu power to , but bencemark test did that not sure you want to run such with not keep a eye on pc.

and as you said , you did all Driver and Bios update.

and check disk ( ram test ) app or inbios test mode some can do that )
and recheck bios dont have turbo ram enable if that is default use standard settings
dont forget windows sfc/scannow.

Great advice! Thank you very much.

[javamach]

So I've followed up on the Unknown USB failure. I've manually rooted the problem to be my Razer Man O'War headset. When plugged in, it's no longer being recognized even though it still emits sound (guessing it is operating through standard headphone drivers elsewhere). I immediately checked Synapse to see if there was a communication error between the software and my PC. Turns out I have Synapse 2.0, not 3.0. I've just learned that a lot of people have experienced issues with Synapse alone, but especially 2.0, when it comes to BSODs and WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERRORS. I'm currently uninstalling the failed driver and installing the newest version of Synapse. I completely uninstalled all previous Razer-related software, including Synapse 2.0. We'll see if this works --- and perhaps I don't need Synapse at all. From what I hear, it causes great trouble for some. Hopefully, all of this confusion and malfunction is a result of this simple fix. Fingers crossed.

[javamach]

Originally posted by Ry:

So I've followed up on the Unknown USB failure. I've manually rooted the problem to be my Razer Man O'War headset. When plugged in, it's no longer being recognized even though it still emits sound (guessing it is operating through standard headphone drivers elsewhere). I immediately checked Synapse to see if there was a communication error between the software and my PC. Turns out I have Synapse 2.0, not 3.0. I've just learned that a lot of people have experienced issues with Synapse alone, but especially 2.0, when it comes to BSODs and WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERRORS. I'm currently uninstalling the failed driver and installing the newest version of Synapse. I completely uninstalled all previous Razer-related software, including Synapse 2.0. We'll see if this works --- and perhaps I don't need Synapse at all. From what I hear, it causes great trouble for some. Hopefully, all of this confusion and malfunction is a result of this simple fix. Fingers crossed.

Synapse 3.0 is not compatible with my headset nor my Razer DA mouse. So my current move is to just remove all Razer software from my computer and check the driver status.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Ry:

Originally posted by Ry:

So I've followed up on the Unknown USB failure. I've manually rooted the problem to be my Razer Man O'War headset. When plugged in, it's no longer being recognized even though it still emits sound (guessing it is operating through standard headphone drivers elsewhere). I immediately checked Synapse to see if there was a communication error between the software and my PC. Turns out I have Synapse 2.0, not 3.0. I've just learned that a lot of people have experienced issues with Synapse alone, but especially 2.0, when it comes to BSODs and WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERRORS. I'm currently uninstalling the failed driver and installing the newest version of Synapse. I completely uninstalled all previous Razer-related software, including Synapse 2.0. We'll see if this works --- and perhaps I don't need Synapse at all. From what I hear, it causes great trouble for some. Hopefully, all of this confusion and malfunction is a result of this simple fix. Fingers crossed.

Synapse 3.0 is not compatible with my headset nor my Razer DA mouse. So my current move is to just remove all Razer software from my computer and check the driver status.

Sounds like you did some good thorough testing. Nicely done.

Not only is this great practice, but feeding it back here could help others, so thank you.