How to fix my CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT error

Edited by Grinler, 02 July 2013 - 09:28 AM.

Hi

  to the forum.

CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT is generally considered as a hardware BSOD. Although rare, some faulty drivers can also cause this error. Before jumping to any conclusion, please follow the below instructions to collect some basic info.

1 ) A Speccy snapshot of your system.

 Read the instructions in the below guide and post the web link Speccy gives.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/323892/publish-a-snapshot-using-speccy/

2 ) Open C:\Windows\Minidump folder. If there are any files with .dmp extension, zip the entire folder and upload to any free file hosting site like Mediafire - http://www.mediafire.com/

3 ) Download and run Minitoolbox from http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/minitoolbox/

Edited by Anshad Edavana, 01 July 2013 - 11:36 PM.

Speccy keeps crashing my computer by causing a "AMD RAIDXpert" error. I think I was able to save a snapshot correctly though but I've tried over and over to publish it and it keeps crashing. So I'm attaching a zip with the .speecy file in it that I was able to save.

Also attached is my .dmp file in a zip and my Results.txt.

EDIT: Got it to work without the crash! http://speccy.piriform.com/results/ggOWepKOxhHW3ULfzF4gU8Q

My specific model is a HP p6540y desktop and the crash seems to be totally random. Watching videos, browsing the web or working in photoshop. It happens with pretty much everything I do.

Hope that's enough! x_x

Edited by Grahf, 03 July 2013 - 12:11 PM.

Hi

Here is the MSDN technical article about the Bug check 101

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff557211(v=vs.85).aspx

This stop code is a result of CPU became unresponsive and remains in a deadlock situation. That is CPU is not responding to any interrupts. About 80 % of the time, this issue is caused by a faulty core inside the CPU. On some occasions a faulty device driver can also make the CPU unresponsive and lead to this BSOD. So our first step is to fix known software issues. Please follow the below steps.

1 ) Remove Avast antivirus.

Avast drivers are directly blamed in the crash dump. Please uninstall it from Control Panel --> Programs.  You don't need a third party AV program with Windows 8. Enable built in Windows defender after uninstalling Avast.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/21962-windows-defender-turn-off-windows-8-a.html

Update it and run a full virus scan.

2 ) Uninstall Daemon tools lite.

Virtual CD drivers came with this program is a known BSOD causer. Please uninstall it immediately. After the uninstall completes, download and run the SPTD uninstaller from the below link.

http://www.duplexsecure.com/download/SPTDinst-v183-x64.exe

Run the tool and press Uninstall button to remove the SPTD driver. If that button is grayed out, SPTD is already uninstalled successfully.

You don't need any third party tool to mount ISO files in Win 8. Just right click on the ISO and choose Mount. If you can't see that option, re-enable it by following the simple steps in the below tut.

 http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/12394-how-to-re-enable-iso-mounting-in-windows-8-file-explorer

3 ) Update the system BIOS.

 Your BIOS is dated 2010 and pretty old to run Windows 8. Please download and install the latest BIOS from the below link.

http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software12/COL35711/pv-88054-2/sp49851.exe

I hope this will solve your issue. If not, please post a reply with the latest dumps and we will proceed to the next step. 

Edited by Anshad Edavana, 03 July 2013 - 02:07 PM.

Okay did everything you listed. One problem though, I installed the BIOS update you recommended in step 3 and when I check my motherboard info in speccy it still says the BIOS is from 9/7/2010? Any ideas?

Edit: Attaching the most recent crash. Just happened again so I'm speculating it wasn't Avast or Deamon Tools. I suppose it could still be the BIOS but I can't seem to switch to anything more recent than the one from 2010?

Edited by Grahf, 03 July 2013 - 07:58 PM.

Hi

I would like to clarify something before proceeding to the next step.

How did you installed Windows 8 ? . A clean install or an upgrade ?

Do you have the installation disc for the old OS still in hand ?

From where did you downloaded the Windows 8 drivers for this machine ?

The reason i asked it is there are a lot of Windows 7 and some Vista drivers are in your system and they are not fully compatible with Windows 8. 

Here are the list of old drivers in your system.

ahcix64s.sys        Fri Apr  4 13:26:04 2008           :  AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Controller

ntk_dtv_64.sys      Tue Apr 21 08:27:48 2009      : DirecTV2PC application

usbfilter.sys       Wed Oct  7 13:14:08 2009         :  AMD USB Filter Driver (likely part of the chipset drivers)

AtiPcie64.sys       Wed Mar 10 20:03:45 2010      :  AMD PCIE Filter Driver

AODDriver2.sys      Tue Mar  6 15:25:00 2012     : AMD Overdrive (Well known BSOD causer )

Rt630x64.sys        Tue Jun 12 19:07:53 2012       :  Realtek PCI/PCIe Adapters

atikmpag.sys        Tue Jun 19 02:11:29 2012       : ATI Video driver

Look at the time stamp of all that drivers. They are all made before even Windows 8 is released.

Here is the driver download page of your model. Please note that there are only Win Vista and seven drivers are available. So don't download or update any driver from that site. 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=4063&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=4216284

What message did you get when trying to update the BIOS ? . Is it said it successfully installed the update ? . 

I recommend a clean re-installation of Windows with proper Windows 8 drivers. If you want, we can try to clean the old drivers and install the latest one. I will post the instructions based on your reply.

It was an upgrade to windows 8 from windows 7.

I do not have the old windows 7 disc anymore that came with the computer when I purchased it.

I ran a driver check and it listed a few that needed upgraded, so I found my machine on the HP official site and downloaded them from there.

On that HP page they only have windows Vista and 7 capable drivers. Does that mean there are none that exists for Windows 8 for my hardware?

When updating the BIOS it successfully installed and I restarted the computer as instructed. My BIOS says it's version 6.09 but the date says 9/7/10. On the HP site it says the BIOS update they have is version 6.09 and it's release date is 5/8/13. How is that possible?

Also I wanted to mention that I began having this problem shortly after purchasing the PC, with the original windows 7 software. I don't know if it's a windows 8 problem.

Please let me know what you think is best!

Thanks.

Hi
 
First of all, you made a mistake by installing Windows 7 drivers in Windows 8. They are different operating systems and you shouldn't do that. Now it is very hard to say whether this issue is a driver bug or a faulty hardware. Like i said earlier, most of the time bug check 101 is caused by a defective CPU. Since you had experienced issues with Windows 7 also, a hardware issue is most likely.
 

Can you describe what exact issues are you faced before when Windows 7 installed ?. Is it the same blue screen errors ?

Please follow the below steps. We need to confirm whether it is caused by the hardware or software. Unfortunately, you need to go through several steps as there is no quick way is available to diagnose this stop error (other than directly swapping the CPU ) .
 
1 ) Thoroughly test your RAM with Memtest86+ 
 
As with any other blue screen issue, our first step is to verify the health status of the RAM. Follow the instructions in the below link to know how to properly test memory with Memtest86+.
 
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html
 
You should run at least 7 or more passes with memtest. I recommend at least  10 passes with it. Since it may take a long time to complete, it is better to run it over night.
 
Also watch this nice video about memtest.
 

In some HP systems, there is a built in self test option available to test some hardware parts. I will refer the service manual and post the details if that option is available in your system.

2 ) If memtest can't detect any errors, we need to clean install the Windows 8 to rule out any possibility of a driver issue. I will post the instructions and download link to the drivers after verifying the RAM.  
 
 
Can you remember the last hardware change to the system prior to the starting of blue screens (ie adding RAM, graphics card etc )

Don't worry about the date in BIOS.You got the latest version installed in the system.

Edited by Anshad Edavana, 04 July 2013 - 02:35 PM.

good morning, i cant seem to run the speccy program.. when i open it it gives me error.. i will attach the screenshot of the error.. hope you can help me.. i cant ask for help about my laptop blue screen error if i cant run the speccy.. thanks

Edited by xrisching2875, 22 July 2013 - 11:24 PM.

 

Hi

 

  to the forum.

 

CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT is generally considered as a hardware BSOD. Although rare, some faulty drivers can also cause this error. Before jumping to any conclusion, please follow the below instructions to collect some basic info.

 

1 ) A Speccy snapshot of your system.

 

 Read the instructions in the below guide and post the web link Speccy gives.

 

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/323892/publish-a-snapshot-using-speccy/

 

 

2 ) Open C:\Windows\Minidump folder. If there are any files with .dmp extension, zip the entire folder and upload to any free file hosting site like Mediafire - http://www.mediafire.com/

 

If you are getting a permission error, disable UAC and restart the system.

 

Post the download link to it in next reply. 

 

 

3 ) Download and run Minitoolbox from http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/minitoolbox/

 

    Run the tool and only select the following tick boxes.

 

    -List last 10 Event viewer errors

    -List installed programs

    -List devices

    -List users, partition and memory size

 

Now click "Go" and post the output in next reply  (or upload the result.txt with dump files) 

 

4 ) Also post the exact model number of your system. If you can find specific pattern for the crash, that will also be helpful (ie playing videos, games or a specific app )

 

Hi,

Following are the links to the files that you requested. 

I have an Alienware m15x. It came with windows 7 but i switched to windows earlier this year around february. It ran well until last week when i started getting BSoD with Clock_watchdog_timeout. I noticed it appeared when i play Cricket Revolution, but the thing is i have been playing it since i installed it. So i didnt get it. Please help me, i am worried. What is causing the issue.

Hope to hear from you soon

Regards,

Khizer.

to the Bleeping Computer forum.

Sorry for the late reply (you know, life may intervenes sometime).

Can you please upload a snapshot of your system using Speccy ? . 

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/323892/publish-a-snapshot-using-speccy/

Make sure to run the Speccy after one or more hours of running time.

to the Bleeping Computer forum.

 

 

Sorry for the late reply (you know, life may intervenes sometime).

 

Can you please upload a snapshot of your system using Speccy ? . 

 

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/323892/publish-a-snapshot-using-speccy/

 

Make sure to run the Speccy after one or more hours of running time.

Here you go

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/T8LKDdMlsV4783quZVLmrp2

Hi

Your CPU temperature looks abnormal.

CPU
Intel Core i7 740QM @ 1.73GHz: 64 °C

64 C is not the max temperature of that CPU but it shouldn't be in that temperature when under normal operating condition. BSOD 101 is very common with overheating processors so my first suggestion is to properly clean the laptop interior, remove old CPU thermal paste, Chipset thermal pad and apply new thermal paste and pad. 

Disassembling and cleaning a laptop is no easy. I recommend to do it yourself only if you have previous experience in doing the process. Otherwise, either ask help from a friend or hire the service of a professional.

Hi

 

Your CPU temperature looks abnormal.

CPU
Intel Core i7 740QM @ 1.73GHz: 64 °C

64 C is not the max temperature of that CPU but it shouldn't be in that temperature when under normal operating condition. BSOD 101 is very common with overheating processors so my first suggestion is to properly clean the laptop interior, remove old CPU thermal paste, Chipset thermal pad and apply new thermal paste and pad. 

 

Disassembling and cleaning a laptop is no easy. I recommend to do it yourself only if you have previous experience in doing the process. Otherwise, either ask help from a friend or hire the service of a professional.

Thanks for a quick reply. I'll try to do that, just wanted to mention that my m15x is running since almost 12 hours, and room temperature is around 32 centigrade. But i havent had BSoD since the first time i posted here. Also, it only shows up when i play that game. Can there be other reason causing that issue too?

Hi

 

Your CPU temperature looks abnormal.

CPU
Intel Core i7 740QM @ 1.73GHz: 64 °C

64 C is not the max temperature of that CPU but it shouldn't be in that temperature when under normal operating condition. BSOD 101 is very common with overheating processors so my first suggestion is to properly clean the laptop interior, remove old CPU thermal paste, Chipset thermal pad and apply new thermal paste and pad. 

 

Disassembling and cleaning a laptop is no easy. I recommend to do it yourself only if you have previous experience in doing the process. Otherwise, either ask help from a friend or hire the service of a professional.

What do you think the normal temp for my m15x should be?