IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL message...

[ukdave]

Hi all

The subject title is the message I received when my computer crashed last night.

System is about 1 year old. Motherboard is Asus P4C800 E Deluxe, Windows XP Professional operating system (SP1) P4 3.20 GHz and 1.00GB RAM. Disk is a Maxtor SATA with about 279 GB of space approximately (split into 3 Local disks). Monitor is IIyama 19" Vision Master Pro 454. No problems with any of the system prior to what happened last night.

Whilst surfing the Internet, computer crashed. I was confronted with a BLUE screen and white writing on it. The complete detail I do not have now, sufficient to say there was quite a lot. Small extracts of what I can recall was on the screen follows:

"If this is the first time you have seen this screen, then ...."
"Press F8 if you want to enter safe mode..."
"IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" - this was the error message on the screen.
Then it proceeded with dumping memory to disk with numbers like
-- STOP: 0x000000A (please don't take those entries as correct - I cannot recall what the precise details were)
It made references to whether or not I had recently installed new hardware.
(I HAD NOT DONE SO). Everything has been static in that respect on the computer since installation, there had been no need to touch the hardware at all. All I was doing was surfing the Internet in usual manner when this happened literally out of the blue (and into the BLUE screen!!).

However I pressed the RESTART button and the computer returned to its original state. But I thought I should find out from you if it is just a "one off" sort of occurrence and the type of thing to expect with computers. Or should I be more concerned.

Also I thought it might serve as a small discussion point for others also as to what can occur with a computer using the Windows XP Professional (SP1) operating system. Rare though this could be - it might be useful to know if it is random or the sign of more serious problems to come.

Your kind assistance on the above please, and thanks as usual for the help.

David

[neochivers]

this error hapens when the a program dose not adresss the ram correctly... what program(s) were u running at the time?

[Gizmo]

Memtest

[ukdave]

Originally Posted by neochivers this error hapens when the a program dose not adresss the ram correctly... what program(s) were u running at the time?

Thanks for your reply. Internet Explorer 6.0. Apart from that I suppose in the background Kerio Personal Firewall, AVG anti-virus, and can't think of anything else.

Because all I was doing was surfing the Internet.
David

[ukdave]

Originally Posted by DBG Memtest

Sorry DBG - I do not know how to interpret your reply. Am I meant to do something with MEMTEST. Apologies again but I cannot fathom out what you are saying to me. Perhaps you can help on this one.

I am sure its me and everyone else will appreciate your response. I do not have all that much computer building experience etc.

Thanks.
David

[glc]

The suggestion was to download memtest86+ and test your ram with it.

Here's the official Microsoft article on a stop 0A error.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q314063

[ukdave]

Originally Posted by glc The suggestion was to download memtest86+ and test your ram with it. Here's the official Microsoft article on a stop 0A error. http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q314063

Thanks GLC - understood. Will do. Appreciate also the Microsoft link.
Regards.
David

[ukdave]

GLC - thanks again for that Microsoft link. Visited it and printed it all off for reference. It in its turn led me to other important appropriate links.

Hope I do not have to use it all though! But if necessary at least I have it all to hand.

Kind regards.
David

[ukdave]

Thought I would write back and thank you folks. DBG for the MEMTEST and GLC for explanation and links.

I downloaded Memtest and burned a bootable CD-ROM. It ran immediately on firing up the computer,and because I was not quite sure how many standard tests it performed, after 1 hour and 12 minutes I stopped its operation by pressing ESC. It recorded 4 Passes with no errors and ECC was disabled.

So perhaps another time I should let it run its course without stopping - perhaps it is for many hours, maybe a day. No idea. But I am thankful to have been introduced to this software and have it standing by for use in the future.

Bye for now, and as usual once again it has proved that it is ALWAYS the right thing to do and put your question to this forum. Advice of the highest calibre is available, as is the willingness to respond so quickly and with helpful links into the bargain.

Kind regards to all.

David
(Based in United Kingdom)

[glc]

4 passes are plenty for validating the ram unless you are having an intermittent problem. Memtest86+ will keep running till you kill it, it doesn't ever stop by itself. I'm usually satisfied after one pass.

[Digitalic]

I`ve found this error mostly points to a faulty device driver. If you installed any devices\software or updated any drivers recently that would be most suspect. Check event viewer for any event that coincides with the error. Check device manager for any problems.

You can also try pressing F8 at start up and choose "last known good configuration" which may resolve the issue.

edit: reread your post. "All I was doing was surfing the Internet in usual manner when this happened literally out of the blue (and into the BLUE screen!!)." It could still be a hardware\driver failure and I would focus on video , but I would run some extensive AV and Spyware scans just in case.

[ZYFER]

There is no one particular cause for this issue, sometimes it is software-related while other times it is hardware. It is important to know exactly what you are doing at the time this occurs. Say browsing web pages with IE, this could point you to issues with the motherboard, RAM, or network card.

[RKC]

I have also had this same message lately too, usually when I am playing a game like Diablo 2, but not always. The message can show a secondary piece of information stating what file caused the shutdown and usually it was related to the on-board AC97 soundcard drivers.(I don't remember the file right now)

A couple nights ago I went to my motherboards website (MSI) and downloaded the latest sound drivers and updated them. I haven't any of the problems (yet) so I don't know if it solved the problem. You also might try to update your mouse and video card drivers since apparantly they can give the same type of error.

HTH
Ron

[Treborprime]

I got this message with my Win2000 boot. Happened right at start up.

I found that my PCI SATA raid card was conflicting PCI INT wise with my USB Firewire card. I had to remove the USB card and it stopped happening.

Generally I have found though this problem is not usually caused my bad ram or an overheating computer. Its almost always a device driver or some piece of new hardware.