PC behaviour weird - crash on startup + bsod

[p00se2]

hello !

pc is relatively new - it worked in this config for almost a year and still works fine when gaming for long hours without issues crashes or bluescreens


however

at some point the pc started freezing after i woke it up from sleep mode (bsod seconds after wake from sleep mode also happened multiple times )

restarting worked fine and pc didnt crash again after that initial reboot

pc continues to crash / bsod regularly (not every time ) after waking it up from sleep mode or doing a clean regular startup boot


today
the pc woke up from sleep mode - froze dead while i tried to enter my login data -
mouse courser could still be moved but everything else was frozen


random happenings ->

after pc bluesscreens / crashes and i initiate reboot - pc will stop at bios prompt telling me to f2 if i wanted to enter bios - if i dont press anything pc will not continue to boot into windows
its stuck there - but entering bios works fine

eventually i noticed that bios did not have any boot devices listed anymore (pc has 2 ssd drives ) - cables all fine

cold shut down and restarting the pc will get it to boot into windows just fine - pc works fine again

games work for long hours 10+ without any issues
checkdisk hard disk sentinel report no issues with hard drives installed


analysing crash dumps impossible for now as win10 doesnt dump any even tho it should
dumping is enabled -> kernel memory
and set to not overwrite old dump file
the % progress info showing on the bluescreen kinda doesnt really move and reboot is the better choice



pc stuck in pre bios screen : multiple times
pc crash / bsod on initial boot / sleep wake up : multiple times
pc crash bsod while gaming / high cpu usage : maybe 2 times in 12 month



fix would be great but at the moment id really like to figure out if its hardware issue or just windows being windows


thanks alot in advance

[_I_]

specs?

update bios?

if its a problem waking from hibernate, its a driver problem
get the correct drivers from oem or mobo mfg sites and amd/nvidia/intel
(by default windows 10 uses hibernate instead of shutdown)

[p00se2]

Originally posted by _I_:

specs?

update bios?

bios is latest


r5 3600
gtx 1660 super
16 gig rams
2x 512gig ssd
asus prime a320M-e

not/never overclocked
never overheated - temps are monitored

[p00se2]

updated chipset drivers but had another crash
waited for bsod to go away - no crashdump file was created
even tho its enabled

first boot failed because bios cant find boot drives
cold shut down for a few sec fixed it
and im back into windows

[Illusion of Progress]

Originally posted by p00se2:

analysing crash dumps impossible for now as win10 doesnt dump any even tho it should
dumping is enabled -> kernel memory
and set to not overwrite old dump file

Originally posted by p00se2:

waited for bsod to go away - no crashdump file was created
even tho its enabled

Is your page file either disabled entirely (or set really small), or entirely on your second drive?

Are these M.2drives? If not, entirely disconnect and reconnect all power/data cables at all applicable ends (PSU, motherboard, and drives).

You do have a consistency going though; a cold boot always seems to find the drive, but a reboot or wake from sleep/hibernation seems to not.

[p00se2]

both drives are SATA
page file size 16gig
page file location : C only (winOS drive)


oddity about system drive C ->

even tho windows knows its there and recognises its name / brand and size just fine
using the utility / ssd tool from the manufacturer throws an error stating there is no compatible drive installed

when running read/write benchmarks ->
write speeds tank to 60 - 80 mb while read speeds remain fine at 450 - 500 mb

no issue for drive 2 - write / read 450+mb



no crash since this morning 9 hours ago

[Illusion of Progress]

If page file is too small/not present on the OS drive, dump files might not be recorded. You have it enabled/large enough/present on system drive, but it sounds like the issue is being caused by the drive not being fully recognized as present coming out of a warm boot, hence no dump files.

Wouldn't know where to begin looking with such an issue besides disconnecting/reconnecting all cables pertaining to storage, and taking a look at chipset drivers, but you say you've done that.

Write speed is a bit low on the primary drive. How full is it? Also, which model drive is it? That sort of speed wouldn't be entirely unheard of for sustained writes on some QLC drives once cache is exhausted (more so as drive fills), but typical operations shouldn't see reduced performance (nor would this cause the drive to go unrecognized; just explaining why the write speed result may be like that).

[Carlsberg]

Disable fast startup in bios, it will give system time to prep the drive so windows 'sees' it.

[GOD RAYS ON ULTRA™]

Originally posted by p00se2:

cables all fine

Try a different sata port. Check inside the sata connector make sure the little L-shaped tab is intact.

[p00se2]

Originally posted by Hardware Hero™:

Originally posted by p00se2:

cables all fine

Try a different sata port. Check inside the sata connector make sure the little L-shaped tab is intact.

L shape part looks fine from the outside - cant spot any visible issue / damage
sata connectors on the mainboard also look fine

no crash so far today after initial boot up from sleep mode 5 hours ago - even let it run and download some games while i was outside shopping / errands

Originally posted by Carlsberg:

Disable fast startup in bios, it will give system time to prep the drive so windows 'sees' it.

ill try that !

[p00se2]

pc worked fine for more than a day !

some time after i stopped playing hitman last night - same thing happened

after bsod initial reboot - pc got stuck at bios screen - i pressed F2 but nothing happened (screen gone black )

cold reboot and im back into windows






edit :
20 mins after posting here i had another bsod
browsing firefox / watching twitch wanting to check red dead redemption forums -> and crash

bsod said : critical process died

event viewer reports at least this :

Source: volmgr
Dump file creation failed due to error during dump creation.

[GOD RAYS ON ULTRA™]

Has your pc always done this or is this new behavior? Those are some very weird symptoms. Somethings definitely not right. And you are sure your windows installation is healthy I assume? If you are positive it's not windows then it would definitely be a hardware issue. I've had weird stuff like that drive me nuts before. in these cases you have to really give your pc a good visual inspection.
What you can do:
- reset your cmos/uefi settings via a jumper
- shut the machine off and grab a flashlight
- start removing ram, gpu and look at gold connectors with flashlight and see if there is damage
- look inside ram slots and pcie slots with flashlight and make sure there is no debris like gold flakes or other broken metal/pieces
- look at your cpu cooler and make sure it's indeed seated properly and not pushing on your ram causing it to bend slightly
- reinstall your cpu, but first get a flashlight and look at the pins. Look at the cpu itself and make sure no burn spots or black/brown spots. clear socket of all debris. Shine your bright flashlight to make sure

[p00se2]

pc age : 12month ~
symptoms / weird behaviour happened first time about 2 weeks ago

is there any special thing to check for win10 installation health status ?

i did this ->

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
and
sfc /scannow

it reported no issues


id assume it crash more often and act unpredictable if it was hardware

i can still manage long hours of game sessions without any issue (daily)
from all the crashes i had on this system since i got it - games only forced me to reboot TWICE overall ( red dead redemption once and deus ex mankind once )




so weird

[p00se2]

crashed again after another day of no issues


during the bios screen there was some text saying "repairing" but i wasnt fast enough to read it

while in windows - looks fine and all but my firefox is shot dead
when it opens - its fully blank and says
<menuitem id="spell-no-suggestions"
------^

edit :

had to remove firefox folder and reinstall
but im back in windows
fine for now

[p00se2]

pc been running for 2 days and it has not crashed since ( didnt shut it down
kept it running for testing purpose to see if it would crash when its not a fresh boot/wake up from sleep
i let it idle for many hours (some apps running in the background like firefox steam bnet )
played games for many hours
downloaded 150+ gig on both ssd drives over night
(last crash corrupted my cod warzone install as i was in the progress of updating last crash - also downloaded hitman2 )
both games work fine
harddrives seem fine
NO crash during gameplay




why pc hardware so confuzing

[Carlsberg]

If you have issues with paging file then turn it off, optimise ssd and then reset it.

Windows 10 does not shut down as previous versions did, it hibernates to enable a faster boot. To fully shut down hold left shift when choosing shutdown or as i suggested disable fast start. It would seem that you are having issues with the hibernation file it creates, thats why i suggested the ssd optimisation above.