Blue Screens of Death while playing (rtkhdaud.sys)

[Guest saschaf1]

Hi all,

since I installed wwiionline on my new PC I have trouble with permanently crashes resulting in blue screens.

For my Mainboard with an onboard Realtek audio chip I needed to install a PCI chipset driver and a high definition audio driver

,I used the latest of each and the correct ones.

The last one installs a rtkhdaud.sys file.

This one seems to be the troublemaker.

Are there any known issues regarding this driver?

My configuration:

Mainboard: GA-965P-DS4(rev. 1.0)

--------------------------

M/B-Revision : 1.0

BIOS-Version : F6

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphiccard : Gainward, Bliss 8800 GTX

CPU-Marke : Intel E6600 2x2,4 GHz

OS: Win XP SP: 2

RAM: A-Data, DDRII,2x1024MB, 800 MHz CL4-4-4-12

Power Supply : 530 W (be quiet)

I analyzed 3 crashdumps and heres one of them:

Loading Dump File [C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini120406-01.dmp]

Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*C:\Symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

Executable search path is:

Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible

Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS

Built by: 2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158

Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x8055c700

Debug session time: Mon Dec 4 23:08:05.171 2006 (GMT+1)

System Uptime: 0 days 1:20:11.906

Loading Kernel Symbols

........................................................................................................

Loading User Symbols

Loading unloaded module list

................

Unable to load image RtkHDAud.sys, Win32 error 2

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for RtkHDAud.sys

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for RtkHDAud.sys

*******************************************************************************

* *

* Bugcheck Analysis *

* *

*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 1000007F, {8, 80042000, 0, 0}

Probably caused by : RtkHDAud.sys ( RtkHDAud+1a8e23 )

Followup: MachineOwner

---------

0: kd> !analyze -v

*******************************************************************************

* *

* Bugcheck Analysis *

* *

*******************************************************************************

UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP_M (1000007f)

This means a trap occurred in kernel mode, and it's a trap of a kind

that the kernel isn't allowed to have/catch (bound trap) or that

is always instant death (double fault). The first number in the

bugcheck params is the number of the trap (8 = double fault, etc)

Consult an Intel x86 family manual to learn more about what these

traps are. Here is a *portion* of those codes:

If kv shows a taskGate

use .tss on the part before the colon, then kv.

Else if kv shows a trapframe

use .trap on that value

Else

.trap on the appropriate frame will show where the trap was taken

(on x86, this will be the ebp that goes with the procedure KiTrap)

Endif

kb will then show the corrected stack.

Arguments:

Arg1: 00000008, EXCEPTION_DOUBLE_FAULT

Arg2: 80042000

Arg3: 00000000

Arg4: 00000000

Debugging Details:

------------------

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x7f_8

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME: WW2_x86.exe

UNALIGNED_STACK_POINTER: baccffff

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from 00000000 to b6acde23

STACK_TEXT:

bacc7b20 00000000 88fbe040 88fbe140 8906e8c0 RtkHDAud+0x1a8e23

STACK_COMMAND: kb

FOLLOWUP_IP:

RtkHDAud+1a8e23

b6acde23 668b0431 mov ax,word ptr [ecx+esi]

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 0

SYMBOL_NAME: RtkHDAud+1a8e23

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: RtkHDAud

IMAGE_NAME: RtkHDAud.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 44e16c86

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: 0x7f_8_RtkHDAud+1a8e23

BUCKET_ID: 0x7f_8_RtkHDAud+1a8e23

Any suggestions are very appreciated!

Greetz and thanks

Sascha (homann)

[fuze 0]

Thats new on me, but I've found that the onboard soundchips are limited in the amount of sounds they can produce at one time and can significantly impact FPS.

I recommend an Audigy2. They are cheap and perform great.

But you could try this: Limit sounds to 16-32 and/or disable 3D sounds.

[Guest saschaf1]

Hi FuZe,

thanks for your advice.

I'll check this out. But I would say this should be a quiet good Sound Chip. It's described as 8-1 high definition chip.

Greetz

Sascha (homann)

[actrade 8]

Hmm...I just posted a very similar event regarding my new soundcard as well...getting BSOD just in WW2 thus far. I wonder if they're related? BTW, where did you find the crashlog at so I can look at mine? EDIT: I just got off the phone with customer support for my Razer AC-1 Barracuda audio card and they told me it could be a problem with them, could be WW2 problem. In either case, I wonder if it doesn't have something to do with uncommon/new sound cards such as ours?

[Guest saschaf1]

Didn't manage to try it yet, sorry.

But heres how to open your crashdump:

Pick the Windbg Tool for your Windows version:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx

Configurate the symbolfile store path to:

SRV*C:Symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols eintragen und statt

In this example it will be stored in C:\Symbols

You can find this option by pressing Ctrl+S. just put the path in the box.

After that open your crashdump file by pressing Ctrl+D. Its stored in your Windows directory and \minidumps.

Don't forget to turn of that the computer reboots after critical failures.

Turn of by pressing Win+break>Advanced>Starting and ??? (i have a german XP version )>Checkbox Autorestart on failures

Unfortunately it is not possible to read the dumps without the tool.

greetz

sascha

[caber 0]

Sascha and Arctrade, you can turn sounds off in your WWIIOL settings program. With sound off, if the game runs fine that any problem you are having is definitely related to the sound card or driver. Please try that and let us know what happens.

Edit

For people reading this in 2007, there is no longer a spot in the Settings program to turn off sounds. If you need to turn off sounds for testing purposes, send me a PM and I'll tell you how to do it.

[actrade 8]

Caber,

With 2d or no sound, no crashes. As for the error, I keep getting PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA

It says that cmudaxp.sys is the file causing it, which is one of my graphics card drivers. If any more info would be helpful from the crash log, let me know.

[actrade 8]

May have solved my issue. I reinstalled my soundcard drivers, this time without NIS 2006 enabled, and haven't crashed in two missions. While it's premature to say it was the cause, I crashed every other time prior to this reinstall. Your milage may vary

[KFS1 0]

8-1 isn't an indication of quality, 8-1 is a speaker setup (8 speakers 1 subwoofer).

The key word is "onboard". Mobo manufacturers choose Realtek sound because its cheap. Its cheap because it uses minimum silicon. It uses minimum silicon by offloading most of the work onto your CPU.

I can assure you, your realtek audio "device" consists of a chip and possibly some capacitors. Either they have achieved impressive miniturisation or they are a card short of a soundblaster 16. Hint: Miniturisation is expensive.

I've not yet come across a realtek or AC97 configuration yet has better quality or performance than a Soundblaster 64.

[jwilly 1,563]

Would it be worth adding to the Minimum Machine Recommendations:

Because integrated (on-motherboard) sound solutions utilize the main CPU to do most of the work, players using a computer with such a sound solution should confugure the game using Setup.exe for no more than 32 sound sources for a fast CPU, and 16 sound sources if the system has performance issues.

Generally, newer separate (internal slot plug-in) sound cards have adequate processing power for 64 simultaneous sounds. Older sound cards generally should start at 32 simultaneous sounds. Drop back one step in the Setup-exe "Number of Sound Sources" configuration if the system has performance issues.

Most presently available sound cards can support a maximum of 64 simultaneous sounds in hardware, thus minimally impacting the CPU cycles available to manage the rest of the game. A few advanced sound cards, such as the Creative "X-Fi" and possibly others, have support for 128 simultaneous sounds in hardware, plus a small CPU onboard to avoid impacting the main CPU.

[Guest saschaf1]

Hi all,

I tried with 2D sounds and 16 simultanous voices bot got another blue screen. I also tried another game and got blue screens. I played without sound, and didn't get another one.

A good friend has the same system configuration without any problems (bought our PCs together).

Now I put in my old sound card (Life Player 1024, 6 years old one ), and everything is running fine.

I will run this for a while. At least it works.

Thanks alot for your help!

Greetz

Sascha

[brivers 0]

Audigy 2ZS Platinum for $50 after rebates and Google Checkout

[dltsman 0]

I've got exactly the same problem with a Realtek card, but as I'm playing on my laptot, I can't really change of audio card.

[meathed 0]

cmudaxp.sys is not a vid card driver........it's from C-Media sound setup. You are using an Auzintech X-Meridian sound card?? From postings about that card,their support suks......C-Media supplies them with drivers......go into DXDIAG & turn hardware acceleration OFF..........try that first & see if it helps your BSOD's. Here's a listing for some new drivers that maybe will help as you are not alone with people running that sound card......

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=83295

[lutorm 0]

RtkHDAud.sys = Realtek HD Audio, right?

That will crash many people's systems when running WWIIOL. Realtek is apparently known among the OpenAL developers as having notoriously buggy drivers. They also claim they support EAX effects, but they don't. (Try the sound survey in my sig and compare "hardware" against "software".)

It seems a workaround may be to select "software" instead of "hardware" in the WWIIOL sound settings. Like KFS1 said, "hardware" for this chip just means it's done by the Realtek driver, as opposed to the OpenAL library. Both are software, so there should be no FPS impact. Try it and report back if it worked.

Mods -- we really need a sticky about this, there are several posts per day now from people with Realtek audio that have crashes.