Blue Screen of Death

I get a blue screen sometimes when I am running Bit Torrent.

It says DRIVER IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL or something like that and then proceeds to dump physical memory or something like that.

Someone told me that my ram might be bad?

it's not ram (could be) it's windows

Every since DOS in the middle ages, when gates designed it, the sad thing is, every windows o/s since has just had a revived code to it. New code+old code=blue screen of death.

That's the cool thing about Mac's, every o/s is a new code. Windows just keeps adding on to it every o/s they put out.
I think XP still has the same base code as 3.1.

But Don't listen to me.
Bit Torrent rocks.

Best way to get a better idea of what to do is to give us the exact error message. Gotta be specific when troubleshooting PC problems. We can help you better that way.

If you're getting an IRQ error while running Bit Torrent it could possibly be your NIC/modem flipping out and crashing the torrent causing Windows to purge the memory. Are you on dialup? Broadband? What version of Windows are you using? And what exactly does the error say?

WinXP, cable modem. . . next time i get the error message i'll write it all down, thanks

okay, here is the message in full...

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shodowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options and then select safe mode.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:

*** STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000011, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x00000011)

Odd - I've never run into that. Here's what I found at Micro$oft:

Stop 0x000000D1 or DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
The Stop 0xD1 message indicates that the system attempted to access pageable memory using a kernel process IRQL that was too high. Drivers that have used improper addresses typically cause this error.

Interpreting the Message
This Stop message has four parameters:

Memory referenced.
IRQL at time of reference.
Type of access (0x00000000 = read operation, 0x00000001 = write operation).
Address that referenced memory.
Resolving the Problem
For additional troubleshooting suggestions that apply to all Stop errors, see "Stop Message Checklist" later in this appendix.

Stop 0xD1 messages can occur after installing faulty drivers or system services. If a driver is listed by name, disable, remove, or roll back that driver to confirm that this resolves the error. If so, contact the manufacturer about a possible update. Using updated software is especially important for backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, DVD playback, and CD mastering tools.
For more information about Stop 0xD1 messages, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base link on the Web Resources page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources. Search using keywords winnt, 0x000000D1, and 0xD1.

Stop message 0x000000D1

Descriptive text: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Usual cause: An attempt was made to touch pageable memory at a process internal request level (IRQL) that was too high. This is usually caused by drivers using improper addresses. Kernel-mode drivers are forbidden to access pageable memory at a high IRQL.

Solution:

Use the Online Crash Analysis tool at the Microsoft Web site. You can use this tool to send error reports to Microsoft and track their status by using your Microsoft Passport information. You can access the Online Crash Analysis Web site by using the Error Reporting service or by using your Web browser. When it is enabled, the Error Reporting service monitors your system for kernel and user mode faults that are related to operating system components and applications. With kernel-mode reporting, you can obtain more information about the problem or condition that caused the Stop error. For more information, see System and program error reporting overview.

Use the File Signature Verification tool, which identifies unsigned drivers unsigned drivers. A driver that is not supported and that is not certified to work with a particular version of Windows.and incompatible system files on your computer. The system files and device driver files that are provided with the Windows Server 2003 family have a Microsoft digital signature digital signature.

A means for originators of a message, file, or other digitally encoded information to bind their identity to the information. The process of digitally signing information entails transforming the information, as well as some secret information held by the sender, into a tag called a signature. Digital signatures are used in public key environments, and they provide nonrepudiation and integrity services., which indicates that the files are original, unaltered system files or that they have been approved by Microsoft for use with Windows. For more information, see Using File Signature Verification.

Use Device Manager to roll back to a previous version of the driver. For more information, see Roll back to the previous version of a driver.

Disable the driver identified in the Stop message or any newly installed drivers.

If the computer will not start normally, try starting it in Last Known Good Configuration Last Known Good Configuration.

A hardware configuration that is available by pressing F8 during startup. If the current hardware settings prevent the computer from starting, Last Known Good Configuration can allow you to start the computer and examine the configuration. When Last Known Good Configuration is used, later configuration changes are lost.or in Safe Mode Safe Mode.

A method of starting Windows using basic files and drivers only, without networking. Safe Mode is available by pressing the F8 key when prompted during startup. This allows you to start your computer when a problem prevents it from starting normally., and then remove or disable newly added programs or drivers. For information about how to start your computer in Safe Mode, see Start the computer in Safe Mode. For more information about how to start your computer in Last Known Good Configuration, see Start the computer using the last known good configuration.

Important

When you use Last Known Good Configuration, system setting changes made after the last successful startup are lost.
Confirm that your hardware is designed for the Windows Server 2003 family by clicking the appropriate link in Support resources.


What brand/model # NIC are you using? Also, I'd check your BIOS to make sure the OS is handling the resources (set all IRQ's, etc. to auto). If the option is there in BIOS, set the Plug 'n Play OS value to "Yes". Also, how much RAM do you have installed on your system? What brand/model # motherboard are you using?

I would also suggest you hit http://www.windowsupdate.com/ and make sure your system is up to date and also run around online and make sure your drivers are current. Based on what their information says, you may have a bad/incompatible driver causing the issue. Updating should help that.

I had the exact same problem, and the solution is on the official BitTorrent website:

http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/FAQ.html

Who woulda thought the program's website would have solutions to the program's problems? :p

Hmm, that is the network card I have. I'm going to go give that a try, thanks alot guys. I'll let you know if it works.

Well..?

No go *cries*

in the middle ages, when gates designed it, the sad thing is, every windows o/s since has just had a revived code to it. New code+old code=blue screen of death.

That's the cool thing about Mac's, every o/s is a new code. Windows just keeps adding on to it every o/s they put out.
I think XP still has the same base code as 3.1.

Wrong, window's NT kernel series are independent of the dos architecture. That's the whole reason to implement the NT kernel and not hte dos based kernel. XP itself is on the NT kernel, and it sure has a lot better management then dos.

Mac os is based on the unix kernel, practically anything which you try to compare to windows will be again a microsoft vs mac vs linux vs unix vs bsd vs anything you want.

Keep this in mind, they're all different and do different things (to a degree) and everything in pc world is a trade-off, you just can't have everything (believe it or not, something has gotta pay).

Now the error messages could be generated because other hardware is in conflict while bit torrent tries to use the hardware. I'm talking about having say two pci cards next to each other or the network card is on the pci slot right next to the agp card/video card. They normally share resources if the slots are adjacent to one another, maybe try a different slot where it is free.

[looks at the back of his tower] *GASP*
They are right next to each other!!!

brb

Now the error messages could be generated because other hardware is in conflict while bit torrent tries to use the hardware. I'm talking about having say two pci cards next to each other or the network card is on the pci slot right next to the agp card/video card. They normally share resources if the slots are adjacent to one another, maybe try a different slot where it is free.

Good call. Didn't think of that one. :)

you know what might do the trick... take off the case and clean out the processor fan. maybe the cpu is getting bogged down and overheating which could cause weird error messages. that's the first thing i always check when i get an error like that. hope that helps!

I had the same problem... does it only occur when your upload or download speed is getting maxed out? It always happened to me when I used eMule, Kazaa, or any other p2p/bandwidth intensive program. I tried switching slots to get the resources to free up, but no go, Windows XP automatically assigns the resources when it is first installed, and it's a major pain in the ass to get everything to work together correctly. (Thank you Plug and Play) I suggest you try using the USB connection on your Cable Modem if you can, and see if that works. If it does, then you probably need a better NIC or you can just stick with the USB connection. Don't worry about speed though, i've gotten up to 300kbps+ downstream over USB, and I don't have that lousy BSOD anymore.

Yeah, that didn't work either. I never got any errors when i used to use kazaa etc., only with bit torrent. Will a new network card help?

USB isn't as reliable as a cabled connection though plus it can bog down your system bus. If you get a new NIC, I would suggest a 3com - that's what I use and it hasn't given me issues yet. I do suggest putting the NIC on PCI slot one or two though since some NIC's take advantage of bus mastering and may help alleviate bottlenecks.

Ok, so getting a new network card seems like the next thing I am going to try. :crossesfingers:

I had the same problem... does it only occur when your upload or download speed is getting maxed out? It always happened to me when I used eMule, Kazaa, or any other p2p/bandwidth intensive program. I tried switching slots to get the resources to free up, but no go, Windows XP automatically assigns the resources when it is first installed, and it's a major pain in the ass to get everything to work together correctly. (Thank you Plug and Play) I suggest you try using the USB connection on your Cable Modem if you can, and see if that works. If it does, then you probably need a better NIC or you can just stick with the USB connection. Don't worry about speed though, i've gotten up to 300kbps+ downstream over USB, and I don't have that lousy BSOD anymore.

That sounds to me like a bad driver/hardware. It takes two to tango. By that I mean either the network is partly rooted, drivers is badly written hence it doesn't provide a universal implementation of the network structure for the application layer, and or not very compatible with the combination of hardware you are running for your pc.

Remember any hardware is as good as its software (like application, os, drivers, etc). So in short its like the concept of "your chain is as strong as the weakest link".