Solved ASUS laptop started crashing randomly 2 weeks ago

MisterEd · Nov 27, 2023

Back in October my laptop had power problems so I RMA'd it to ASUS. They replaced the motherboard and power adapter. After I got it back I still had some problems so I reinstalled Windows 11 Pro around Nov 11. By the end of the day I was offered 23H2 so I updated to it. A couple weeks ago my computer started to get BSOD randomly. It was mostly after sleep but a couple times when I using it.

BTW, I had been using my computer on battery all morning. The battery was low at the end so I plugged it in and did something else for a few hours. I then woke it and after only a minute or two it got a BSOD. That was just 20 minutes before this post.

ubuysa · Nov 28, 2023

There are no dump files. PLease check that your system is setup to save dumps...

The page file must be on the same drive as your operating system
Set page file to "system managed"
Set system crash/recovery options to "Automatic memory dump"
Windows Error Reporting (WER) system service should be set to MANUAL
User account control must be running
Any disk cleanup tools are disabled or set to exclude deleting dump files

Looking at your storage drive layout you look as though both drives may have Windows installed on them - both have a WIndows-like partition structure. Do you have two Windows systems installed?

I see you have CoreTemp installed, so what CPU temperatures do you see at idle and at full load?

I can see you have PunkBuster anti-cheat installed? ALL anti-cheat products cause BSODs on many systems. Only a dump can tell us whether PunkBuster is involved in your BSODs however. If you can do without PunkBuster then uninstall it.

There are also a great many hardware error messages for your LAN adapter in the System log...

Code:

Event[14016]
  Log Name: System
  Source: rtcx21
  Date: 2023-11-27T11:36:54.2930000Z
  Event ID: 2
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic,
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: Starship
  Description:
Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller has a Hardware IO error.

This is definitely something that could be causing BSODs and you need to investigate. First visit the Asus driver download site for your model of laptop and look for an updated LAN driver, also check for updated chipset drivers and also a possible updated BIOS. Don't update the BIOS just yet, but do install any updated LAN and chipset drivers.

If it still BSODs after all the above then upload another V2 log output.

MisterEd · Nov 28, 2023

ubuysa said:
There are no dump files. PLease check that your system is setup to save dumps...

The page file must be on the same drive as your operating system

Set page file to "system managed"

Set system crash/recovery options to "Automatic memory dump"

Windows Error Reporting (WER) system service should be set to MANUAL

User account control must be running

Any disk cleanup tools are disabled or set to exclude deleting dump files

Everything in list was already set except dump files which I have enabled. I got two black screens yesterday while in sleep but no problems so far today. I will run V2 again if my computer crashes.

ubuysa said:
Looking at your storage drive layout you look as though both drives may have Windows installed on them - both have a WIndows-like partition structure. Do you have two Windows systems installed?

I see you have CoreTemp installed, so what CPU temperatures do you see at idle and at full load?

I can see you have PunkBuster anti-cheat installed? ALL anti-cheat products cause BSODs on many systems. Only a dump can tell us whether PunkBuster is involved in your BSODs however. If you can do without PunkBuster then uninstall it.

Windows 11 is on C: while there is only data on D:. Note D: does have some VMs. Is there a problem with that?
BTW, I have C: on Disk 1 instead of Disk 0 because that is the only slot that has a built-in heatsink. I thought it more important to give the boot drive better cooling.

I ran Prime95 for 5 minutes. Here are the results:

I only have a few games installed. I uninstalled a game I installed a week ago which may have BunkBuster. I don't know if any of the rest have PunkBuster. I don't know how to tell if they do.

ubuysa said:
There are also a great many hardware error messages for your LAN adapter in the System log...

Code:

Event[14016] Log Name: System Source: rtcx21 Date: 2023-11-27T11:36:54.2930000Z Event ID: 2 Task: N/A Level: Error Opcode: N/A Keyword: Classic, User: N/A User Name: N/A Computer: Starship Description: Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller has a Hardware IO error.

This is definitely something that could be causing BSODs and you need to investigate. First visit the Asus driver download site for your model of laptop and look for an updated LAN driver, also check for updated chipset drivers and also a possible updated BIOS. Don't update the BIOS just yet, but do install any updated LAN and chipset drivers.

If it still BSODs after all the above then upload another V2 log output.

I updated the LAN driver today. I already have the latest BIOS (315) and the latest chipset driver from ASUS.

Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller (update).jpg

ubuysa · Nov 29, 2023

Ok then. Monitor it for now and upload another V2 log if it BSODs again.

Note: RAM problems can prevent dumps being stored properly. It might be worth running Memtest86 (free) on your RAM just to check. Also some SSDs with out of date firmware can prevent dumps being stored properly. It might be worth downloading Samsung Magician and using that to check for firmware updates for your two 980 NVMe SSDs - just to check whether either of these is the reason you're not writing dumps.

MisterEd · Nov 29, 2023

ubuysa said:
Ok then. Monitor it for now and upload another V2 log if it BSODs again.

Note: RAM problems can prevent dumps being stored properly. It might be worth running Memtest86 (free) on your RAM just to check. Also some SSDs with out of date firmware can prevent dumps being stored properly. It might be worth downloading Samsung Magician and using that to check for firmware updates for your two 980 NVMe SSDs - just to check whether either of these is the reason you're not writing dumps.

Dumps weren't being written because they were disabled. Like I said they are enabled now.

MisterEd · Nov 30, 2023

Thanks @ubuysa. Two days now with no crashes. Hopefully the problem is solved.

BTW, I reinstalled Windows 11 a few weeks ago. Normally after the first boot I install the OEM drivers. This time I didn't. I kept checking for Windows Updates until no more were found. When I checked the Device Manager all the hardware had drivers. I meant to go back and make sure all the devices had the latest OEM drivers but forgot. I guess I got bit by not doing that.