G73JW keeps locking up

[DJSirMatthew]

Hey all,

Been having this problem for a while and have been lurking for a while too, trying out the possible solutions handed by members. Basically my G73JW started locking up at completely random moments, sometimes while playing Football Manager (steam controlled game) or just when surfing the net with Google Chrome.

I did clean install, full driver update (especially the chipset one), and have throttlestop 4.00 running with C1E disabled and with other C-states at C1. But still the locks keep coming and going. Sometimes after restarting I get a message saying Windows recovered from a serious error and if I want to check online for a solution (in vain). Administrative events are riddled with the WHEA logger Event ID:17 Express PCI Root Port which seems to indicate a problem with the chipset right?

Anyone having similar issues but with a novel solution? I prefer not to RMA it.

O, the only hardware change is swapping one of the HDD (I have the non-SSD ones) with an SSD of Corsair Series 3 (Sandforce).

[dstrakele]

@DJSirMatthew - Are there any new Errors or Warnings in the System or Application Event Logs from the recent startup failures and fan speedups after reinstalling the Intel Chipset drivers with -overall switch?

[DJSirMatthew]

dstrakele wrote:
@DJSirMatthew - Are there any new Errors or Warnings in the System or Application Event Logs from the recent startup failures and fan speedups after reinstalling the Intel Chipset drivers with -overall switch?

@dstrakele - No new errors or warnings, it stays the same list. Had another lockup when I wanted to shut down the machine yesterday just when I closed Chrome. I looked @ administrative events, WHEA logger was more active again last night but not 100's per seconds, more 100 per hour. Of course with every hard shut down I do get a critical Kernel-Power error and some other errors (previous shutdown unexpected error, Security Client OOBE stopped, audit events dropped 0, WMI query and Microsoft Antimalware failure)...

I just got one WHEA logger event ID 17 again and instantly the right fan started speeding up...

[DJSirMatthew]

Just a wild goose guess: is it possible my 2nd HDD is causing these problems? I'm asking 'cause the lock-ups generally happen when I do someting in Chrome (opening/closing tabs, closing Chrome, ...) or I'm playing Football Manager. Now, the game is installed on the 2nd HDD and as a SSD doesn't like many write/delete's , I moved the temp folder of Chrome to the 2nd HDD as well... How can I diagnose that this HDD might be the cause of things?

--> scratch that. Just figured out by looking more closely to the WHEA logger error message:

Bus:Device:Function: 0x0:0x3:0x0
Vendor ID:Device ID: 0x8086:0xd138
Class Code: 0x30400

and looking at device manager (view by connection):

Intel(R) processor PCI Express Root Port 1 - D138

that the culprit is or the chipset, or the device connected to that root port (which is the GPU) or the connection between both... I also just looked at throttlestop log and while the GPU temp is quite low at the moment of the lock-ups, it sometimes goes as high as 90 degrees Celsius.

Now, I've just started my computer and while there is only Skype and Chrome running, no other "heavy" programs, my GPU is running at 81 degrees Celsius which seems a bit excessive. And I've looked at the throttlestop log again and saw that yesterday afternoon when everything was fine, the GPU was at 40 degress but at a certain moment just started to raise with a degree every 5 minutes orso untill he reached 93 degrees celsius.

GPU driver?

[DJSirMatthew]

DJSirMatthew wrote:

Now, I've just started my computer and while there is only Skype and Chrome running, no other "heavy" programs, my GPU is running at 81 degrees Celsius which seems a bit excessive. And I've looked at the throttlestop log again and saw that yesterday afternoon when everything was fine, the GPU was at 40 degress but at a certain moment just started to raise with a degree every 5 minutes orso untill he reached 93 degrees celsius.

GPU driver?

Ok, figured out why the GPU was running at 81 degrees, I had my external monitor connected (not turned on though) through the HDMI port. Apparently even connecting it is enough to make the GPU turn on full speed.

Now, my brother in law has the exact same computer, save different keyboard layout and he has 2x Hybrid HDD where I have SSD+regular HDD... He never has lock-ups so I wonder if it would be wise to set-up my machine with the exact same drivers as he has (actually he never updated any driver nor the BIOS)...

Can I even revert the BIOS back to where it was? Downgrade BIOS as such?

[DJSirMatthew]

Ok,I've found something misterously now. I installed the chipset driver with the -overall switch again and then I noticed the WHEA logger Event ID 17 events stopped. I rebooted and the WHEA logger events were back in full force, 100's per second. So I installed the chipset driver again and keeping the event viewer open to see when the events stop. They stop when the screen goes black for a moment, apparently when the driver is installing the Intel processor Integrated Memory Controller Target Address Decoder - 2C99. So probably (as a reboot is normally needed after installing the drivers) the installation disables some functionality or something which makes the WHEA logger event ID 17 events stop...

[BrodyBoy]

I do think it's important to completely set up a machine before installing programs and stressing it. All the basic equipment should be fully functional before using it.

A complete installation means Windows + all essential drivers. I find the following order is always successful:

• Windows
  
• Intel chipset driver
  
• Intel RST
  
• Intel MEI
  
• Graphics controller driver
  
• ...other component drivers, in no particular order (WLAN, LAN, audio, BT, cardreader, etc)
  
• ATK PAckage
  

[Retired]

Hmm i got some random lockups on my G73JW also now. started like 3 days ago. it just frezze find no error logs or annything. i hit the power button for about 10 sec and then turn it on and all i find out is that i got to start the computer in normal mode (safe mode) optional. im using Prevex scaner, superantispyware and zonealarm. couldnt instal avg i just lost my internet wen trying lolz. maybe some leftovers from trend micro is in the computer messing things up? (trend micro is instaled true the windows restore partition). using the latest skyrim gfx drivers btw. a solution would be realy plesent 🙂

[BrodyBoy]

For some reason....I'm unable to "reply with quote" for the past few hours....:confused:

Anyway...
@Kaellen: I'm not necessarily suggesting it's the cause of these freeze-ups, but in general, I think running multiple security programs is not a good idea. Whether it's these freeze-ups or something else, they tend to conflict somewhere along the line and cause problems.

As you hinted with Trend Micro, security software can also be kind of hard to get rid of completely. But I would suggest you try to uninstall all those programs and opt for a single solution. MS Security Essentials is free, and a very effective program. Might be worth trying that for awhile to see whether a "smaller security footprint "helps.

[dstrakele]

@Kaellan - If your lockups started just 3 days ago, using Windows System Restore to restore your system to a point BEFORE that time is your first step in troubleshooting.

[DJSirMatthew]

Ok, guess I'll use that strategy once I get my new laptop for my business (getting a Zenbook, and as I gave my wife a Eee Pad Transformer as a gift, it's getting a small ASUS fan base kinda here), 'cause then I can afford to have this G73JW being busy with all kinda of installations/tests.

In meantime, what components are "connected" through that PCI Express Root Port? I just looked at the administrative events again and while there was a whole list of WHEA logger Event ID 17's before the previous crash (now 7 hours ago), I only got 3 warnings since...