Blue Screen Total Restart

Bistromaths · 2006-05-22, 00:07

Area: Media Portal Program
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.0.0 RC4 (2006-04-18)
MediaPortal Skin: MCE
Windows Version: Windows XP (SP2)
.NET CLR Version: 2.0.50727
DirectX Version: 4.09.00.0904 (9.0c)
Audio Codec: MPEG/AC3/DTS/LPCM Audio Decoder
Video Codec: Mpeg2Dec Filter
CPU Type: AMD Athlon XP 1700+
Memory: 1 GB
Motherboard: AK38
TV Card Model: WinTV-NOVA-T-USB2
TV Card Type: DVB
TV Card Driver: -
Video Card Model: Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 (128 MB)
Video Card Driver: -
Video Card Resolution: 2048x768
Video Render Type: -
Audio Card Model: Creative AudioPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM)
Audio Card Driver: -
Synopsis::

Well, what it is very simply is at some point during the watching of a tv program (maybe around a few minutes into it) the computer will stop...well working. It will flash briefly (maybe 2 seconds) a blue screen with some white text on it, and restart. This is obviously not an ideal result.

Now, a bit more detail. I have once or twice had the same symptoms so I'm not *really* blaming the software. However, before it has only ever happened randomly, whereas here it is happening each time I want to view a tv program. However, I was initially able to watch TV normally. The first time it happened was when I was setting up the TV guide information download thing. It had downloaded about 1meg of info before - beep - it crashed, well, restarted more like. Since that point it has not been allowing me to watch more than a few minutes of TV without restarting.

I have a feeling it may well be a conflict or power issue, but am not too sure. I really really would like some help because I do like this program in comparison to WinTV.

I will update this if anything changes.

PS If anyone knows what the limit on RAM is on my motherboard is I would very much like to know. I am concerned I have too much because there was some website I found that told me that 3/4GB is most it can handle.

chrisben · 2006-05-22, 03:36

I've been having the same problem, it was caused by a bad stick of ram. test your ram with Memtest (http://www.memtest86.com/) It's a bootable CD image, you reboot, and it begins testing your ram automaticaly. Watch for the number of passes completed. 1 pass = one full scan. it'll keep looping indefinely. you may want to check one stick at a time, to know which stick is bad. (you may be able to get by on just one stick, if you have two, untill the new stick arives.)

PS, get name brand ram. Only place I'll buy ram from anymore is direct from Crucial. Lifetime warrantys provided by solid companys rule ... Free shipping is pretty sweet too ...

Jetboy · 2006-05-22, 07:59

You might want to tell windows not to restart on errors, that way you get the time to read the error message on the blue screen and get to the bottom of the problem. I'm on a Swedish windows right now so I'll have to guess translations but I'll have a try:

1. Right click My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Go to the Advanced tab
4. Press the Settings button (under "Startup and recovery")
5. Uncheck "Automatic restart" (under "System errors")

The next time you get a blue screen, take note of the stop message (usually something like 0x0000007A) and google it. Or post it here and cross your fingers that someone knows about it.

Bistromaths · 2006-05-22, 16:51

Firstly, I don't yet like the sound of memtest. It sounds too DOS like. If you could give me a description of how it worked when you used it that would be good.

Secondly, I have done that, and next time I feel brave enough to try and get the blue screen, I will read what it says. That could be really useful.

PS I do buy name brand, but I think my computer is generally a bit crap. So many things have gone wrong or caused conflicts (or even burnt out) that soon (months) I will be getting a new one, or maybe a laptop when i found more out about them. Um, yeah, name brand...

Bistromaths · 2006-05-24, 19:57

This is the exact message I get on the error screen (blue screen)

--------------------------------------------------------
A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

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 shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

***STOP: 0X0000000A (0X08008094, 0X000000FF, 0X00000000, 0X804E35E9)

Beginning dump of physical memory.
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.
-----------------------------------------------

Now I would love to have a system administrator, but seeing as I am not a company, then I will ask you guys what to do, because it really is messing up my TV watching and recording abilities.

mdsflyer · 2006-05-24, 23:43

Have a read of -

http://www.tweaksforgeeks.com/IRQL_N..._OR_EQUAL.html

From the sound of this article, the advice above from the other guys is very pertinent.

Why not try individual sticks of RAM, run the computer as you normally would when you experience the crash. If it doesn't crash with one stick of RAM but does with another then you've found the culprit. If that doesn't help you solve the problem i wonder what other people think about the resolution you running the graphics card at, it seems awfully high to me. Have you tried it at something less like around half of your current resolution. I use an XP1800 with a DVB-S card so i believe your processor should cope comfortably.

markus_g · 2006-08-12, 06:11

Hello,

I have tried a number of versions of MediaPortal. It is the only program that cases a blue screen with irql_not_less_or_equal. It is a shame as the program looks good. Seems to me that MediaPortal is causing the problem.
I have checked my memory and have increased it recently from 512Meg. I also tried using only the new memory.
I supect MediaPortal isn't fully compatable with my V-Stream DTV-DVB-T PCI card

I am running the following.
P4 3.2
1.5Gig memory Corsair 5400C4
Abit AA8 3rd Eye motherboard
PX6600 GT TDH video card with Nivada video drivers (Tried many different version drivers)
V-Stream Expert DTV-DVB-T PCI TV Card. (lastest BDA Drivers)

mPod · 2006-08-12, 06:22

Sorry to tell you that this is not really an MP issue. It can be various things:

- driver problem (of some hardware that gets addressed in MP, don't necessarily have to be GPU or TV card drivers! could even be bad coded drivers for some mainboard components, the list is endless)
- hardware conflict (which doesn't show up critical with other apps)
- other xp problem (well...)

To sum it up: IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is not caused by MP, it's just raising it by addressing some of your hardware.

TIP: If possible, try to install your XP from scratch, only using (latest) basic stuff at the beginning to get MP running. Usually everything will be ok again after that.

jawbroken · 2006-08-12, 07:42

I think you should at least run MEMTEST before dismissing it as "too DOS like". All the instructions will be on the memtest webpage. It is fairly simple and will come up with big red highlighted lines if it finds an issue (if I recall correctly). I believe when you burn the boot CD you simply need to boot from the CD and it will automatically run with the most common settings. Then you just need to wait and read.

2006-05-22, 00:07	#1 (permalink)
Bistromaths Portal User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Blue Screen Total Restart Area: Media Portal Program MediaPortal Version: 0.2.0.0 RC4 (2006-04-18) MediaPortal Skin: MCE Windows Version: Windows XP (SP2) .NET CLR Version: 2.0.50727 DirectX Version: 4.09.00.0904 (9.0c) Audio Codec: MPEG/AC3/DTS/LPCM Audio Decoder Video Codec: Mpeg2Dec Filter CPU Type: AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Memory: 1 GB Motherboard: AK38 TV Card Model: WinTV-NOVA-T-USB2 TV Card Type: DVB TV Card Driver: - Video Card Model: Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 (128 MB) Video Card Driver: - Video Card Resolution: 2048x768 Video Render Type: - Audio Card Model: Creative AudioPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM) Audio Card Driver: - Synopsis:: Well, what it is very simply is at some point during the watching of a tv program (maybe around a few minutes into it) the computer will stop...well working. It will flash briefly (maybe 2 seconds) a blue screen with some white text on it, and restart. This is obviously not an ideal result. Now, a bit more detail. I have once or twice had the same symptoms so I'm not really blaming the software. However, before it has only ever happened randomly, whereas here it is happening each time I want to view a tv program. However, I was initially able to watch TV normally. The first time it happened was when I was setting up the TV guide information download thing. It had downloaded about 1meg of info before - beep - it crashed, well, restarted more like. Since that point it has not been allowing me to watch more than a few minutes of TV without restarting. I have a feeling it may well be a conflict or power issue, but am not too sure. I really really would like some help because I do like this program in comparison to WinTV. I will update this if anything changes. PS If anyone knows what the limit on RAM is on my motherboard is I would very much like to know. I am concerned I have too much because there was some website I found that told me that 3/4GB is most it can handle.

2006-08-12, 06:11	#7 (permalink)
markus_g Portal User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	irql_not_less_or_equal Hello, I have tried a number of versions of MediaPortal. It is the only program that cases a blue screen with irql_not_less_or_equal. It is a shame as the program looks good. Seems to me that MediaPortal is causing the problem. I have checked my memory and have increased it recently from 512Meg. I also tried using only the new memory. I supect MediaPortal isn't fully compatable with my V-Stream DTV-DVB-T PCI card I am running the following. P4 3.2 1.5Gig memory Corsair 5400C4 Abit AA8 3rd Eye motherboard PX6600 GT TDH video card with Nivada video drivers (Tried many different version drivers) V-Stream Expert DTV-DVB-T PCI TV Card. (lastest BDA Drivers)

2006-08-12, 06:22	#8 (permalink)
mPod Retired Team Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Berlin Age: 33 Posts: 2,086 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Country: My System	Sorry to tell you that this is not really an MP issue. It can be various things: - driver problem (of some hardware that gets addressed in MP, don't necessarily have to be GPU or TV card drivers! could even be bad coded drivers for some mainboard components, the list is endless) - hardware conflict (which doesn't show up critical with other apps) - other xp problem (well...) To sum it up: IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is not caused by MP, it's just raising it by addressing some of your hardware. TIP: If possible, try to install your XP from scratch, only using (latest) basic stuff at the beginning to get MP running. Usually everything will be ok again after that. __________________ Bad news from the stars... We cannot give any support without a properly filled support template and a full mediaportal.log pasted here. Before you ask...

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2006-05-22, 03:36	#2 (permalink)
chrisben Portal User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I've been having the same problem, it was caused by a bad stick of ram. test your ram with Memtest (http://www.memtest86.com/) It's a bootable CD image, you reboot, and it begins testing your ram automaticaly. Watch for the number of passes completed. 1 pass = one full scan. it'll keep looping indefinely. you may want to check one stick at a time, to know which stick is bad. (you may be able to get by on just one stick, if you have two, untill the new stick arives.) PS, get name brand ram. Only place I'll buy ram from anymore is direct from Crucial. Lifetime warrantys provided by solid companys rule ... Free shipping is pretty sweet too ...

2006-05-22, 07:59	#3 (permalink)
Jetboy Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Stockholm Age: 31 Posts: 187 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Country: My System	You might want to tell windows not to restart on errors, that way you get the time to read the error message on the blue screen and get to the bottom of the problem. I'm on a Swedish windows right now so I'll have to guess translations but I'll have a try: 1. Right click My Computer 2. Select Properties 3. Go to the Advanced tab 4. Press the Settings button (under "Startup and recovery") 5. Uncheck "Automatic restart" (under "System errors") The next time you get a blue screen, take note of the stop message (usually something like 0x0000007A) and google it. Or post it here and cross your fingers that someone knows about it.

2006-05-22, 16:51	#4 (permalink)
Bistromaths Portal User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Firstly, I don't yet like the sound of memtest. It sounds too DOS like. If you could give me a description of how it worked when you used it that would be good. Secondly, I have done that, and next time I feel brave enough to try and get the blue screen, I will read what it says. That could be really useful. PS I do buy name brand, but I think my computer is generally a bit crap. So many things have gone wrong or caused conflicts (or even burnt out) that soon (months) I will be getting a new one, or maybe a laptop when i found more out about them. Um, yeah, name brand...

2006-05-24, 19:57	#5 (permalink)
Bistromaths Portal User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	This is the exact message I get on the error screen (blue screen) -------------------------------------------------------- A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps: 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 shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode. Technical Information: ***STOP: 0X0000000A (0X08008094, 0X000000FF, 0X00000000, 0X804E35E9) Beginning dump of physical memory. Physical memory dump complete. Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance. ----------------------------------------------- Now I would love to have a system administrator, but seeing as I am not a company, then I will ask you guys what to do, because it really is messing up my TV watching and recording abilities.

2006-05-24, 23:43	#6 (permalink)
mdsflyer Portal Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 220 Thanks: 1 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Country: My System	Have a read of - http://www.tweaksforgeeks.com/IRQL_N..._OR_EQUAL.html From the sound of this article, the advice above from the other guys is very pertinent. Why not try individual sticks of RAM, run the computer as you normally would when you experience the crash. If it doesn't crash with one stick of RAM but does with another then you've found the culprit. If that doesn't help you solve the problem i wonder what other people think about the resolution you running the graphics card at, it seems awfully high to me. Have you tried it at something less like around half of your current resolution. I use an XP1800 with a DVB-S card so i believe your processor should cope comfortably.

2006-08-12, 07:42	#9 (permalink)
jawbroken Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 22 Posts: 707 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My System	I think you should at least run MEMTEST before dismissing it as "too DOS like". All the instructions will be on the memtest webpage. It is fairly simple and will come up with big red highlighted lines if it finds an issue (if I recall correctly). I believe when you burn the boot CD you simply need to boot from the CD and it will automatically run with the most common settings. Then you just need to wait and read.