Return of the Insidious BSOD

...just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water...

My wife's computer has been acting a bit strange lately. Sometimes, when she boots, zonealarm will ask if the Spooler Subsystem can access the internet. Before she can respond, the computer will spit out a quick Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) and reboot. She thinks it happens most often when she boots the system before powering on the USB printer...

Now, today during one of her productive periods, the computer spat out a BSOD and finally stayed long enough for me to write down the error:

Quote:

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***STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000015,0x00000002,0x00000000,0xEB6A2B46)
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Address EB6A2B46 base at EB6A0000. DateStamp 3325ba6e - uhcd.sys

Beginning dump of physical memory

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I searched google for 'uhcd.sys' and found articles relating to USB - but mostly on older OS's (like Win95/98). The MS KnowledgeBase didn't seem to have anything that matched...

Any suggestions? I really don't like my wife's computer dumping in front of her... :(
;)

Now the problem is a bit more serious...

We can't get the computer to hold a boot (or so to speak). As soon as she enters her L/P, the computer finishes loading the start-up programs and then promptly spits out a BSOD and reboots. The last error was identical except for the values in parentheses. The most recent was:

Quote:

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(0x004C0061,0x00000002,0x00000000,0xEB6A2B46)

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I have unplugged the printer, and the computer seems to be ok...

I don't think this is a USB issue as my other USB devices seem fine... Later I will try swapping the USB plugs around to see if this makes a difference...

Is this a printer problem? Do I need to reinstall the printer or something?

That particular Stop error is usually a driver problem. This is from the XP Pro Resource Kit:

Quote:

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Stop 0x000000D1 or DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUALThe Stop 0xD1 message indicates that the system attempted to access pageable memory using a kernel process IRQL that was too high. Drivers that have used improper addresses typically cause this error.

Interpreting the Message
This Stop message has four parameters:

Memory referenced.
IRQL at time of reference.
Type of access (0x00000000 = read operation, 0x00000001 = write operation).
Address that referenced memory.
Resolving the Problem
For additional troubleshooting suggestions that apply to all Stop errors, see "Stop Message Checklist" later in this appendix.

Stop 0xD1 messages can occur after installing faulty drivers or system services. If a driver is listed by name, disable, remove, or roll back that driver to confirm that this resolves the error. If so, contact the manufacturer about a possible update. Using updated software is especially important for backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, DVD playback, and CD mastering tools.
For more information about Stop 0xD1 messages, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base link on the Web Resources page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources. Search using keywords winnt, 0x000000D1, and 0xD1.

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It's not mentioned in the Win2000 Reskit, but there's plenty of other Stop error troubleshooting help there:


Windows 2000 Resource Kit

Hey SuperSparks,

We have to stop meeting like this... ;)

If the advice is to roll the driver back, should I just extract (if possible) the uhcd.sys file from my Win2000 CD?

I haven't had the chance to check out your link yet... I will try to get to it this evening. With the printer unplugged, her computer seems to be fine for now...

I just thought of something: Isn't SuperSparks a rather 'interesting' name for an IT/electrical gadget Whiz...?

:p

:D Believe me I've lived up to it a few times.

I would have a good read of the Resource Kit Documentation before you do anything - troubleshooting Stop errors is worth reading up on in it's own right anyway.

You might find the XP Reskit helpful, the two OS's are very similar, at least as far as this sort of problem goes:

XP Pro Resource Kit

A suggestion for your boot problems - I was having the same problems with my puter and HP printer. Would work great when printer wasn't plugged into usb port, otherwise got memory errors, physical dump etc. I finally solved the problem by doing a complete uninstall of the HP printer. HP does have an uninstall file to use which works better than anything from Microsoft. It still did not clean out all the registry entries so I had to edit the registry manually - search and delete - to remove all the crud. Then a complete re-install worked fine and no more problems. You didn't say what the printer was - maybe this will work for you too. HP is not much help.

frums

Hi Frums,

You pegged it right on... It is an HP printer. Sorry, I should have been more clear. It is an HP 6110.

You mentioned exactly what my next step was - a complete uninstall including a registry scrub...

The only problem is that the reg scrub is VERY time consuming... Try and search most registries for 'HP' and you will have 1-3 hours of combing ahead of you.

Any suggestions/hints to make the process less painful?

Hi DanDMan. Do a search from Start, Files looking hp*, which should yield the following: ,hpaio, hpzeng,hpoant, etc. as well as Hewlet Packard by itself and AIO - AIO being another set of folders etc for HP printers. You will also want to go to device manager and uninstall Dot4, Dot4Print and Dot4USB. After you have done this, then use regedit to look for same and delete them. The hpzeng seems to be the main file along with some of the AIO that will keep you from doing a good clean install again. HP has a couple of removal/uninstall tools on their site that may help also. One is called the system cleaner. Also on the install CD in the Setup folder, there is a file called Setup.msi Doubleclick on this to start the uninstaller, select Remove. Hope this helps. Try the CD or uninstaller from HP first, may save some editing. Also make sure you follow the install instructions accurately - don't plug in the printer before you are told to do so.
My HP was 5110.

Please post back to let us know if your problems have been solved.

frums