Computer randomly restarts during gameplay...

[Lacard]

This problem just recently started and I'm not sure what the problem is. After a little while of playing my computer will just restart or sometimes the game will freeze for a sec and just close. I recently got some new RAM but I did a memtest and everything was fine. I downloaded WinDbg and did a minidump and it says the problem is probably caused by ntoskrnl.exe ( nt!KdpStub+4f ). Apparently I am having a BSOD but I haven't actually seen a blue screen. And this only happens when I play FFXIV.

Any ideas on what I should do now?

[Lacard]

Heres the minidump in case anyone wants to see it:


Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.12.0002.633 X86
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini051912-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: C:\WINDOWS\Symbols
Executable search path is:
Unable to load image ntoskrnl.exe, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ntoskrnl.exe
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 3) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x8055d720
Debug session time: Sat May 19 12:38:25.618 2012 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 23:05:13.940
Unable to load image ntoskrnl.exe, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ntoskrnl.exe
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
........................
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 1000000A, {f6c3c9e6, 1c, 1, 80502e02}

Probably caused by : ntoskrnl.exe ( nt!KdpStub+4f )

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

0: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
An attempt was made to access a pageable (or completely invalid) address at an
interrupt request level (IRQL) that is too high. This is usually
caused by drivers using improper addresses.
If a kernel debugger is available get the stack backtrace.
Arguments:
Arg1: f6c3c9e6, memory referenced
Arg2: 0000001c, IRQL
Arg3: 00000001, bitfield :
bit 0 : value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation
bit 3 : value 0 = not an execute operation, 1 = execute operation (only on chips which support this level of status)
Arg4: 80502e02, address which referenced memory

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


WRITE_ADDRESS: f6c3c9e6

CURRENT_IRQL: 1c

FAULTING_IP:
nt!KdpStub+4f
80502e02 8902 mov dword ptr [edx],eax

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0xA

PROCESS_NAME: ffxivgame.exe

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from 80502f4b to 80502e02

STACK_TEXT:
b84cbe68 80502f4b 00000000 b84cbe84 00000000 nt!KdpStub+0x4f
b84cbe94 8050215a 83c4daf4 0000007c b84cbfbc nt!MiDeletePte+0x374
b84cbfa0 80502347 83c4da09 ffdff9c0 ffdff000 nt!RtlpBitsClearTotal+0xda
b84cbfcc 80545eff 8055c4c0 00000000 00512a7c nt!KiFindFirstSetRight+0xb7
ffdff980 00000000 b84cc000 0034333c 00000000 nt!ExpCheckForResource+0x17


STACK_COMMAND: kb

FOLLOWUP_IP:
nt!KdpStub+4f
80502e02 8902 mov dword ptr [edx],eax

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 0

SYMBOL_NAME: nt!KdpStub+4f

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nt

IMAGE_NAME: ntoskrnl.exe

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 4f857c1e

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: 0xA_nt!KdpStub+4f

BUCKET_ID: 0xA_nt!KdpStub+4f

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

[Neekzz]

You said that you recently got new memory, did you replace all the memory units or just add more? I'v seen memory chips pass test but still not play nice together with other chips. I would remove the memory and run it on the old sticks, If the problem goes away i think its safe to say the new memory is the cause.

[Eyn]

I might as well post here too. Thought it was not a major issue.

I was really really surprised and panic when my desktop went BSOD, then auto-reset/restart while I am playing FFXIV (I still remember I was chopping level 1 trees at Black Shroud). First time playing FFXIV gave me such intense moment.

I recently install WhoCrashed software to check what crashed my desktop. Result is as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System Information (local)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

computer name: OEM-PC
windows version: Windows 7 , 6.1, build: 7600
windows dir: C:\Windows
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz Intel586, level: 6
4 logical processors, active mask: 15
RAM: 4252033024 total
VM: 2147352576, free: 1979617280



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crash Dump Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.


On Sat 5/12/2012 9:59:21 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\051212-16317-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x71F00)
Bugcheck code: 0x19 (0x3, 0xFFFFFA800365D520, 0xFFFEFA800365D520, 0xFFFFFA800365D520)
Error: BAD_POOL_HEADER
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a pool header is corrupt.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.


On Sat 5/12/2012 9:59:21 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntfs.sys (Ntfs+0x85118)
Bugcheck code: 0x19 (0x3, 0xFFFFFA800365D520, 0xFFFEFA800365D520, 0xFFFFFA800365D520)
Error: BAD_POOL_HEADER
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ntfs.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT File System Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a pool header is corrupt.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.

[Lacard]

Since the crash dump said somethng about the ntoskrnl.exe file I used my Windows XP disc to replace it. So I will see of that works, if not, I will remove my new and/or old ram to see if that helps. I'll let you guys know whats up.

[Dark_Delacroix]

Try doing a prime95 on your pc, and see how long it can go without restarting, it will push your processor and ram to max, it sounds to me that it could be Power supply too, me sure you do a backup of your data just in case.

[Roaran]

For the past few months ever since the update adding in Aurum Vale and Cutter's Cry, I've been recieving BSODs consistently in FFXIV, either after 30 mins or several hours of gameplay. They tend to time themselves perfectly in order to get my entire party killed.

I've been playing other games that tend to stress my system more than FFXIV, and I've had no issues with them. FFXIV is the only game causing me problems; and, the only thing I can think to do is do a fresh install of the game.

[Pawberry]

You need adequate RAM, a fast enough CPU, and a fast and large enough GPU. Plain. And. Simple.

And that laptop business? Forget it. A game like this will fry it after a while.

You also have to remember, if you're doing stuff like playing music on the computer, or watching YouTube videos, or anything else with sound, you're going to take a huge chunk of your memory away.

Computers are great and all, but they're not built so you can do anything and everything all at the same time with no interruption.

For anyone who's computer is restarting itself, there are only a few reasons in my experience as to why:

1) The CPU is exhausted and overheating -- your MOBO shuts down your PC at this point to keep itself from frying, and potentially catching fire, destroying your machine, blah blah. I have had this happen to someone before on an old Slot 1-A motherboard. Yes, computers can catch fire.

2) The RAM isn't right for your motherboard. You don't need DD5 clocked at 54,000,000 MHZ to play this game. It can be played just fine using DDR2 memory. Besides, if the ram didn't work for your computer, the Motherboard likely wouldn't recognize it and your system probably wouldn't start.

3) Defragging, reformatting, reinstalling, etc., does not help! In fact, it makes things worse. Each time you reinstall the game you're writing to your harddrive disk again, digging deeper into the sectors beneath. Unless this is a Solid State Drive, which I'm sure most of you do not have, regardless of what the box your computer came in, remember that these are physical parts. Touch a HDD after its been on for a while and see if you need to cool your hands down.

Movable parts, that need to be maintained and work well together. Simple rules, right? Most people don't follow them, and they complain its the software's fault. It's not. It's you, or your system.

Get the min specs, and you'll have to play at the min settings.
Get the recommended specs, and you'll be able to play at a okay setting.
Go beyond that, and play to your heart's content at 1080p on three 25" LED screens while you thwart your ability remain focused.

Okay, whatever, I actually don't care.

[Roaran]

And for those of us not having hardware problems...

If there is something wrong with my system, so far, the only time this problem has made itself known is during FFXIV. Nothing is overheating.

[Frein]

It definitely sounds like an overheating problem if the computer actually shuts down on its own.