DPC Watchdog Violation

Thanks!

We have four dumps, two bugchecks.

DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION (133)

This bug check indicates that the DPC watchdog executed, either because it detected a single long-running deferred procedure call (DPC), or because the system spent a prolonged time at an interrupt request level (IRQL) of DISPATCH_LEVEL or above.

DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)

This error occurs if drivers do not handle power state transition requests properly, usually during one of the following procedures: shut down, suspending or resuming from standby, suspending or resuming from hibernation.

Running an !irp on the 4th parameter of the bugcheck (blocked IRP address) shows the following:

3: kd> !irp fffffa8019d21900
Irp is active with 4 stacks 3 is current (= 0xfffffa8019d21a60)
 No Mdl: No System Buffer: Thread 00000000:  Irp stack trace.  Pending has been returned
     cmd  flg cl Device   File     Completion-Context
 [  0, 0]   0  2 00000000 00000000 00000000-00000000   

            Args: 00000000 00000000 00000000 ffffffffc000000e
 [ 16, 0]   0  2 fffffa800519d880 00000000 fffff8801e80baac-fffffa8004b59010   
           \Driver\pci    nvlddmkm
            Args: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
>[ 16, 2]   0 e1 fffffa80135f9140 00000000 fffff80221d427dc-fffffa8010fbf380 Success Error Cancel pending
           \Driver\nvlddmkm    nt!PopRequestCompletion

nvlddmkm = nvlddmkm.sys which is the nVidia video driver.

Ensure you have the latest video card drivers. If you are already on the latest video card drivers, uninstall and install a version or a few versions behind the latest to ensure it's not a latest driver only issue. If you have already experimented with the latest video card driver and many previous versions, please give the beta driver for your card a try.

If the above does not help, please enable Driver Verifier to look for further possible device driver corruption and or conflicts:

Driver Verifier:

What is Driver Verifier?

Driver Verifier is included in Windows 8, 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 to promote stability and reliability; you can use this tool to troubleshoot driver issues. Windows kernel-mode components can cause system corruption or system failures as a result of an improperly written driver, such as an earlier version of a Windows Driver Model (WDM) driver.

Essentially, if there's a 3rd party driver believed to be at issue, enabling Driver Verifier will help flush out the rogue driver if it detects a violation.

Before enabling Driver Verifier, it is recommended to create a System Restore Point:

Vista - START | type rstrui - create a restore point
Windows 7 - START | type create | select "Create a Restore Point"
Windows 8 - http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4690-restore-point-create-windows-8-a.html

How to enable Driver Verifier:

Start > type "verifier" without the quotes > Select the following options -

1. Select - "Create custom settings (for code developers)"
2. Select - "Select individual settings from a full list"
3. Check the following boxes -
- Special Pool
- Pool Tracking
- Force IRQL Checking
- Deadlock Detection
- Security Checks (Windows 7 & 8)
- DDI compliance checking (Windows 8)
- Miscellaneous Checks
4. Select  - "Select driver names from a list"
5. Click on the "Provider" tab. This will sort all of the drivers by the provider.
6. Check EVERY box that is [B]NOT[/B] provided by Microsoft / Microsoft Corporation.
7. Click on Finish.
 8.    Restart.

Important information regarding Driver Verifier:

- If Driver Verifier finds a violation, the system will BSOD.

- After enabling Driver Verifier and restarting the system, depending on the culprit, if for example the driver is on start-up, you may not be able to get back into normal Windows because Driver Verifier will flag it, and as stated above, that will cause / force a BSOD.

If this happens, do not panic, do the following:

- Boot into Safe Mode by repeatedly tapping the F8 key during boot-up.

- Once in Safe Mode - Start > type "system restore" without the quotes.

- Choose the restore point you created earlier.
If you did not set up a restore point, do not worry, you can still disable Driver Verifier to get back into normal Windows:

- Start > Search > type "cmd" without the quotes.

- To turn off Driver Verifier, type in cmd "verifier /reset" without the quotes.
・    Restart and boot into normal Windows.

How long should I keep Driver Verifier enabled for?

It varies, many experts and analysts have different recommendations. Personally, I recommend keeping it enabled for at least 24 hours. If you don't BSOD by then, disable Driver Verifier.

My system BSOD'd, where can I find the crash dumps?

They will be located in %systemroot%\Minidump

Any other questions can most likely be answered by this article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244617

Regards,

Patrick