PC2A & a Blue Screen

I think these are related and am wondering if anyone else has this issue or thoughts on it.
 
I've had my system running & stable for a couple of years.  I upgraded to X1 Expanded and after a few glitches & some getting used to it, have been very happy.  I love the Pro Channel.  I installed the X1d patch and worked for a while - went great.  I downloaded the PC2A, monkeyed around with it a little then shut down.  On the next startup, when I began playing back that same project, I got the blue screen of death and a never-ending cycle of crashes and automatic reboots.  I couldn't even get the computer to work right in safe mode.  (I'm still on Win XP).
 
After consulting at length with a friend who does tech support for a living, I reformatted my hard drive and put in everything fresh.  Right up to X1d and the PC2A.  When I finally went back into X1 and played back that same project: Blue Screen of Death.
 
I managed to start in Safe Mode and uninstall PC2A.  Now I've been working on that same project for a couple of hours making great progress on my mix.  Is this the PC2A or a red herring?
 
Thanks for your thoughts,
Seth

Hey Seth . . . I'm also on Win Xp, running Producer Expanded X1d, and have installed the PC2A Prochannel module, and it's running with no issues. I use the M-Audio Delta 66 audio card.

My only issues with X1d have been outdated plugins + loading older projects, but Cakewalk tech support helped me fix it.
My version of X1d on Win XP actually works quite well, with the obvious limitations of not overloading projects
with too many plugs for the RAM.
No BSD for me.

A bsod is a sign of incompatible hardware. Have you made a note of what code pops up on the blue screen? That will sometimes tell you where the conflict is.

Personally, I think that Cakewalk should stop saying that they support WinXP. I used X1 on XPpro up until X1c, then I switched to Win7pro on the same machine. The change as far as glitches was like night and day. I'm always resistant to change simply because I don't like to mess with what works. But, XP was no longer working for me so I made the decision to move ahead, and so glad that I did.

Hi Lynn,
Consequently, PC2A remains problematic, even on recent system ! Have you deinstalled it ?

Info on my system:
Windows XP
Gigabyte K8U-939 motherboard
Athlon 64 x2 4200+ dual-core processor
1.5 GB ram
Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 i/o firewire interface
Sonar X1d expanded

New happenings: 
After uninstalling PC2A in safe mode last night, I worked on my mix for a couple of hours - no problems.  Got home today booted up, started X1, loaded my project, hit play, listened to about 7 seconds of music - BSOD!  Automatic reboot - BSOD!  Automatic reboot - diverted to safe mode, ran for a bit - BSOD!

I talked to my tech-support friend again, and given my descriptions, I'm wiping the hard drive and doing another fresh install of Windows.  He suggests that I make sure that I'm running the most current BIOS for my mobo, so I'll check for that when I get windows all the way back in sometime tomorrow.

Some thoughts on replies:
- hardware conflict: My system has been stable for a long time - close to 2 years.  I've made no hardware changes.  The only thing that changed was updating to X1d and PC2A.  On two of my BSODs, I was able to get some info.  One referenced the file Win32k.sys.  Another referenced NTFS.sys.

Still open to thoughts about this or advice on bringing my system back up a little bit at a time to at least get effective trouble shooting.

Seth

Are you using asio or Wdm ?
Try with another interface ....

Erase what's in AUD.ini to force Sonar to reprofile audio ....

Read the BSOD dump if there is one. It'll tell you what is causing it.

Have you been working the same project all this time or is it with any project.  You may just have a currupted project file if you don't install the VST plugin and you still have the same problem.  Not sure about the whole XP issue though.

Still working on this a little at a time.  I got the NTLDR problem solved - there was a sneaky little BIOS setting that was causing it.

At this point, I've been installing 1 item testing, installing 1 item testing, etc.  Right now, I have Windows XP, Adobe Reader, & Sonar X1c Expanded, all of my plugins except PC2A & nothing else.  It seems totally stable so far.  (I've been making restore points at every change in the system)

To answer Wave's question: the BSOD only ever started on one project, but once it happened the first time, it kept happening - even when Sonar wasn't running.  As of now, I've played back that project several times and some others.

It's bedtime now, but tomorrow I should be able to go to X1d and test again.

I'm up to X1d now and have run several projects repeatedly including the one that has previously induced my BSOD.  So far so good.  Stable as can be.  I've tried every condition I could think of when previous BSODs came on.

I've got to go to sleep again, but tomorrow I think I risk it and put PC2A back in and see what happens.
 
To Mudgel: the last two times I reinstalled, I did a full format of the C: drive.  I had asked my tech-support friend about this and he said it was always better to take the time and do it that way rather than the quick format.

sethmopod


By the time I read the new responses, I had already wiped and re-installed windows.  I checked on it, and found that there was a newer version of the BIOS for my mobo, so I figured "what the hay" and flashed it.  Now, all I get is the message "NTLDR is missing."  

When you flashed your BIOS, it probably changed the SATA mode to ACHI.  Change it back to legacy mode and you should be able to boot.

I've not used this but someone posts this a lot http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

FBB has a method too. http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.ashx?m=1629677

Chuckebaby: Thanks for that link.  Hard Disk Sentinel says my disk is "Perfect."  It won't do the "extended self test" without a purchased copy, though.

Anyone have any recommendations for a good memory checking program?

Seth
 
 
(edited to correct typo)

http://www.memtest86.com/ http://www.memtest.org/

Cards are seated.  Memory & hard drives are tested.  Everything checks out so far.  Here's where I'm at:

On a given installation, bsod happens for the 1st time only in x1d and only on a specific file.  After it happens the 1st time, it starts happening randomly whether sonar is running or not.  ntoskrnl.exe is implicated as the responsible driver.  I've been told that this is an unusual problem. 

Current suggestions:
I have 2gig of ram across 4 sticks.  The memory is matched pairs of two different brands.  I will be investing in new memory soon with everything of the same brand & batch.

The continues bsods may be from something left in the swap file from the initial event.  Turn off virtual memory.  2gig should be plenty to run the system without needing the virtual stuff.

Restore system to x1c and forget about it.  I was working in it just fine, but x1d has some bug fixes that I'd like to benefit from...

I appreciate all of the thoughts and suggestions so far.  Any comments on the current crop of next things to try?

Seth