Friday 15 May 2020

BugCheck Code 124

Summary

When a system Crashes with this error code 99% of the time it is hardware related.  These are the steps to find out which component is causing the problem

Since this is hardware related if the computer is under warranty check with the maker for return or to see if any of the below would void your warranty. If you are at all hesitant about the procedures ask before doing them.  That is what we are here for.


Details
A "stop 0x124" is different from most other types of bluescreens because it stems from a hardware complaint.

Stop 0x124 minidumps contain very little practical information, and it is therefore necessary to approach the problem as a case of hardware in an unknown state of distress.


 Generic "Stop 0x124" Troubleshooting Steps:

1Ensure that none of the hardware components are overclocked. Overclocking means pushing the components beyond what they were designed for.  If you do not know what that is you probably are not overclocking so go to the next step
2Ensure that the machine is adequately cooled.  If this is a laptop use compressed air to carefully blow out the heat pipe and fan when the computer is turned off.  If a desktop take the side cover off and blow a fan on the components
3Update all hardware-related drivers: video, sound, RAID (if any), etc.  Do not rely on windows when it says the most recent driver is installed. It may be the most recent but it may also be corrupt.
4Update the motherboard BIOS according to the manufacturer's instructions and clear the CMOS. Check with the computer maker for directions on this procedure and as usual it is always a good idea to back up your data.
5) Update ALL OS Windows updates
6)Stress test the major components.  Start with RAM, CPU, HD, etc.  (see other wikis for how to)
For RAM,  use Memtest.  Instructions for which can be found here.

Computers are extremely sensitive to problematic ram so any errors on memtest should be considered an issue and even a clear report for less than 8 passes can give a false negative.

For CPU use Prime95

For hard drives, use CHKDSK /F finds any problems on the drive(s), notably "bad sectors".  You should also go to the HD maker and download and run their HD checking utility

7)-Perform a "vanilla" (clean) re-installation of Windows:  Install nothing that is not from the OS (not even Malware) until you have seen that the computer is not crashing in this state.

  When the vanilla installation has run long enough that you are convinced it is OK, start installing updates and applications a few at a time, and wait until you are again convinced it is OK.  If the crashes resume it is obviously the last group of installations that is the issue and remove them.

8)- Re-seat all connectors, ram modules, etc.  You can use the same can of compressed air to clean out the RAM DIMM sockets as much as possible.

Only attempt this if you are FULLY knowledgeable about the procedures.

9)- If all else fails, start removing items of hardware one-by-one in the hope that the culprit is something non-essential which can be removed.

Should you find yourself in the situation of having performed all of the steps above without a resolution of the symptom, unfortunately the most likely reason is because the error message is literally correct - something is fundamentally wrong with the machine's hardware.


More advanced reading can be found here from a MS MVP IT PRO

http://captaindbg.com/bug-check-0x124-whea_uncorrectable_error-how-to-troubleshoot/

If you continue to crash you need to upload the new DMP files as they are different

No comments:

Post a Comment