Secure peripheral connection and diagnostic tools
Secure peripheral connection and diagnostic tools
Original Problem: The machine would unexpectedly go black, without any BSOD or memory errors. The CPU diagnostic indicator stayed lit. PSU was replaced, GPU and motherboard upgraded. The problem continued. CPU was returned for replacement, but the issue remained. RAM and operating system were tested on fresh units, yet the problem stayed. During shutdowns, I couldn't access hex debugging tools. I enabled HWinfo to log sensor data until the machine stopped overheating—never exceeded 80°C. However, when matching shutdown timestamps with Event Viewer and HWinfo, a DMP file appeared. This suggested possible corrupted video drivers. I performed a clean install using ddu and NVIDIA's tool. New drivers were applied, and no shutdowns occurred afterward. I also ran a Windows recovery reset. I’m considering a full reinstall and adding Proxmox if I get bored enough. My initial suspicion was GPU or CPU failure, but it turned out to be corrupted GPU drivers mimicking the shutdown issue. I'm sharing this in case it helps, as I've been trying to fix this for nearly six months now.
Current Situation: The shutdowns are less common but still happen occasionally, showing black screens similar to shadowplay artifacts with shadowplay capture images. These appear consistently after the GPU replacement, though not as disruptive. Recently, my keyboard and mouse stopped working, forcing a forced shutdown. After restarting, they functioned normally. That full lockup occurred only once—previously it might have been less severe, but my mouse would lag or freeze. I think this was due to driver verification left active. The softer freezes ceased after disabling that feature. The complete lockup happened afterward. My keyboard is wired, the mouse wireless, and batteries were swapped.
Hardware:
- ASRock Z490 PG Velocita (BIOS v1.70)
- Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
- Intel Core i5-11600k (no overclocking)
- Noctua NH-D9L Corsair RM750e (750W)
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB @ 3200MHz (XMP enabled)
- Crucial Pro RAM 32GB (2x16GB, DDR4 3200)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 XC 12GB
- Crucial P5 Plus 1TB NVMe SSD (OS & apps)
- Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB HDD with 3 Misc. Fans
- Keychron v5 / Logitech G604
I've replaced the OS drive to Theseus due to this change. Update: RAM upgrade is complete. I'll monitor further changes. I also shared a screenshot of an unusual lag when resizing a chat window—seems unrelated to normal behavior, but my eyes felt off afterward. This issue affected all apps except windows, and everything was installed on the main drive.
Last edited: December 2, 2023 – TylerOfTrade
Do you still have this dump file for us to check? If you have more dump files, I want all of them. The black boxes annoy me. If it was GPU it should overwrite everything and not care about context, but the first screenshot shows that it changes color based on context. If it was RAM it shouldn't cross over into the video, it should always be like the last screenshot of the YT shorts video (If hardware acceleration is enabled in the browser). And right after typing that I did some googling and found a thread on Guru3D about a bug in Chromium browsers that cause this (Root cause might be Windows). There are listed fixes (From september so not even that old), but recent comments suggest that they are no longer working. Link to the thread here . Some of the screenshots don't really look like what you have, but this one looks just like it. You could test Firefox for a while to confirm. Freezes are a pain in the ass to track down as it can be anything, but at least (hopefully) the checkerboard issue is figured out. And please give me those dump files if you have them.
If my computer shuts down once more I'll submit the dmp file. After reformatting several times I'm not sure the previous backups were saved. I'll review my Nextcloud server and check my emails with support to see if it was sent or uploaded. Amazon delivered early so I now have fresh RAM installed. I'm a bit confused about whether the mouse and keyboard froze again after the new RAM, but my memory isn't clear on that. If it happens I'll confirm. I've also attached additional screenshots of another issue I observed that might be connected, which I hadn't mentioned before. What should I do if the mouse and keyboard freeze again? I usually just press the power button since nothing else works.
Looking for help here is welcome. The black boxes came from Chrome’s hardware acceleration, as Bjoolz mentioned—disable it in settings > system. The crashes didn’t point to memory issues, and no dumps were taken. I finished with a fresh install using ddu on the GPU and a complete Windows setup, and so far there have been no freezes.