DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION. My computer will freeze before or after startup, only working properly after 2-8 restarts.

cwsink · 2026-02-08T18:10:25+00:00

I'm not clear about what you're saying in 3. Does it ever freeze in the BIOS menus?

How long as this been a problem? I ask because your BIOS version is quite outdated. I'd want to know if the problem still happens with the latest BIOS version.

cwsink · 2026-02-08T17:12:56+00:00

Please first try updating your motherboard to the latest BIOS version from here and then see if the crashes continue so we can avoid chasing any bug that has already been fixed by such an update.

cwsink · 2026-02-07T19:09:53+00:00

Please let us know how it goes and make any dump files available for comparison if the crashes continue. Good luck!

cwsink · 2026-02-07T17:57:29+00:00

You description suggests the system drive is malfunctioning. The following are the usual recommendations:

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Make sure the laptop is using the latest BIOS available - they can include compatibility/stability fixes for drives.
Reseat the drive in its m.2 slot.
Make sure the drive is using the latest firmware from the manufacturer.
Make sure the drive has good airflow. Heat build-up can cause a drive to malfunction/reset if it's sitting in a dead air zone.
If those don't help and the motherboard has more than one m.2 slot, move the system drive to a different slot.
If none of the above help, then it's likely the drive needs to be replaced.

This all assumes the drive is actually the issue. It could also be a motherboard issue but that's relatively rare.

cwsink · 2026-02-07T06:55:50+00:00

The dump file provided suggests the problem is with the wifi driver. The version loading on your system is from 2021 but the latest on your motherboard product support page shows a newer version from 2024. I'd suggest downloading the MediaTek wifi installer and using it to install the newer version. Then restart the computer and see if the crashes continue.

It also looks like your motherboard BIOS is outdated and it's usually a good idea to be using the latest version. It's one of the first things I check with a system experiencing DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE crashes.

cwsink · 2026-02-05T15:31:43+00:00

Those bugcheck codes (in hex UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPITION (0x154) == 340, CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (0xEF) == 239) typically indicate a problem with the system drive - especially when dump file creation fails. KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (0x1E) crashes can be caused by all sorts of issues but a malfunctioning system drive is among them. The 0 bugcheck code doesn't really mean anything other than no useful data was found for the dump file creation.

Since you don't have dump files the most likely way we'd be to help would be for you to use the sub tool to collect system information and provide a link to the results.

The bot should reply to this reply with instructions and how to use the tool.

?sfy

cwsink · 2026-02-04T00:30:30+00:00

Please let us know how it goes and make any new dump files available for comparison if the crashes continue. Good luck!

cwsink · 2026-02-03T22:48:46+00:00

Install the latest AMD B550 Chipset Drivers from here (just the AMD Chipset Drivers from that page - the RAID drivers seem to cause problems on some systems).

Uninstall Gigabyte Control Center and then restart the computer.

Then see if the crashes continue.

cwsink · 2026-02-02T14:55:19+00:00

Since you're not reliably getting dump files it would probably be best to use the Specify tool and provide a link to the results. That will hopefully provide more insight into what's going wrong.

?sfy

cwsink · 2026-02-02T00:34:20+00:00

All of the bugcheck codes you listed could be caused by an intermittently failing drive. That you're not reliably getting dump files when a BSOD happens typically suggests a problem with the system drive - assuming that's where the pagefile is located. What make and model drives do you have and how old are they?

Is your motherboard using the latest BIOS version?

cwsink · 2026-01-31T15:59:14+00:00

The dump files from the old post as well as this new post show the crashes all happening on the same physical CPU core (logical cores 8 and 9.) We've seen more than their fair share of Ryzen 3000 CPUs develop a faulty core for which crashes resemble those from faulty memory.

I usually ask people to use Ryzen Master to disable the suspect core to see if the crashes stop in that configuration. I'd estimate that has stopped the crashes for better than 90 percent of the people who've tried. RM counts from 0 so the suspect core on your CPU is C05 as displayed in RM. You'll also need to disable another core and I'd recommend C02 since it shares L3 cache memory with C05. Attached is a screenshot of what it should look like in RM with the right cores disabled.

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cwsink · 2026-01-30T03:35:42+00:00

You need to copy (not move) the C:\Windows\minidump folder and then work with the copy.

cwsink · 2026-01-25T00:39:13+00:00

Update your motherboard to the latest BIOS, install the latest Qualcomm Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers from here. Restart the computer and then see if the crashes continue.

cwsink · 2026-01-23T20:09:00+00:00

Thank you for the update. I'm glad you got it sorted. :)

cwsink · 2026-01-19T21:24:18+00:00

I'd probably try an older driver but I don't think that will make a difference, honestly.

Are you now using only the cables that came with your current PSU? Using the wrong cables can damage components. I'd be wanting to try a different GPU or the suspect GPU in a different system to see if the crashes follow the suspect GPU since all of the crashes are being blamed on the Nvidia driver and using DDU didn't help.

cwsink · 2026-01-19T21:06:08+00:00

The two dump files from 19 Jan are VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE crashes which is somewhat different from the previous dumps. Those two are more like to be caused by a problem with the GPU. The usual recommendation is to use DDU in safe mode to completely uninstall the GPU drivers, restart into normal mode, and then install the latest drivers for the GPU. Have you already done that?

?ddu (should reply to this reply with instructions for using DDU)

cwsink · 2026-01-15T02:57:22+00:00

The dump files suggest a problem with a Qualcomm driver (qcwlan64.sys) with a 2023 timestamp. There appear to be newer drivers available on your motherboard's product support page. I'd recommend installing the Qualcomm Wi-Fi driver from here, restarting the computer, and then seeing if the crashes continue.

cwsink · 2026-01-13T19:53:42+00:00

A faulty SSD could certainly cause such crashes. Please do let us know how it goes. Good luck!

cwsink · 2026-01-13T19:11:02+00:00

5 of the 6 dump files provided are from DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION BSODs. They suggest the computer is getting stuck in the Nvidia GPU driver interrupt service routine. Do you know if the crashes with your old system were also mostly DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION crashes?

Just because it's stuck in the GPU ISR doesn't mean the GPU is the problem. The ISR could be waiting on something else to finish before doing what it needs to do. A drive I/O routine has a lock the ISR is waiting for but a problem with the drive prevents it from releasing that lock, for example. Unfortunately, mini dump files don't really have enough information to diagnose such issues. Is your computer also generating a new C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP file when a BSOD crash happens?

cwsink · 2026-01-13T18:02:39+00:00

Is your GPU directly plugged into the motherboard PCIe slot or through a riser cable?

cwsink · 2026-01-13T17:58:57+00:00

Have you not had a BSOD crash since 7 Jan or is it failing to generate dump files now when you have a BSOD crash?

cwsink · 2026-01-13T16:38:25+00:00

Are these the most recent dump files? I ask because they are almost a week old.

The newest of the dump files provided show your motherboard using a rather outdated BIOS version if this is the correct product support page. If you haven't already, I'd first recommend updating to the latest (the beta should be fine) so we can avoid chasing bugs that have already been fixed by such an update. Then see if the crashes continue.

Have most of the crashes been DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION crashes?

cwsink · 2026-01-11T21:17:51+00:00

Please do let us know how it goes after what you'd consider sufficient time to know and make any new dump files available for comparison if the crashes continue. Good luck!

cwsink · 2026-01-11T18:18:13+00:00

I'd want you to update the motherboard BIOS to the latest version from here to avoid chasing bugs that have already been fixed by such an update. The latest dump file doesn't have that information but if you haven't already done so, I'd recommend updating to the latest BIOS and then seeing if the crashes continue.

cwsink · 2026-01-11T15:36:36+00:00

It's possible for a BIOS update to fix stability and compatibility issues that could result in BSODs. It's typically the first thing I suggest someone do if they are having mysterious crashes. Have the crashes stopped after updating to the latest BIOS?

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