storport.sys BSOD headaches

Question

I keep getting intermittent BSODs with storport.sys.

I got the following from bluescreen viewer:

081712-31917-01.dmp 8/17/2012 9:09:03 AM    DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL   0x000000d1  00000000`00000000   00000000`00000002   00000000`00000000   fffff880`011710d2   storport.sys    storport.sys+10d2                   x64 ntoskrnl.exe+7f1c0                  C:\Windows\Minidump\081712-31917-01.dmp 8   15  7601    305,957 

And (only showing those with "Address in stack" attribute):

ntoskrnl.exe    ntoskrnl.exe+7e769  fffff800`06a4c000   fffff800`07034000   0x005e8000  0x4fa390f3  5/4/2012 4:18:59 AM Microsoft® Windows® Operating System    NT Kernel & System  6.1.7601.17835 (win7sp1_gdr.120503-2030)    Microsoft Corporation   C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe    
storport.sys    storport.sys+10d2   fffff880`01170000   fffff880`011d3000   0x00063000  0x4d79a55f  3/11/2011 12:30:23 AM                       

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate (all up to date). Relevant system specs:

Intel Core I7 3820 Quad Core
ASUS P9X79 WS ATX LGA2011 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 Ram (4x4GB)
Galaxy MDT GeForce GTX 580 860MHZ 1536MB x2 (SLI)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA6 x4
ASUS DRW-24B3ST Burner x3
ASUS BW-12B1ST Blu-ray burner
Antec High Current Pro 80 Gold Plus 1200W PSU

Nothing is being overclocked.

Any advice would be appreciated. I have scoured the net before posting here, and could not find an answer.

Thanks!

Solution 1

It's your storage driver crapping out, and from my experience this particular STOP error is usually indicative of a hardware problem (drive, controller, RAM, perhaps power supply, etc.), especially when it's intermittent.

Unless you have external devices (like HDDs or USB sticks) you can disconnect for a while to see if it helps, or your interested in doing some heavy debugging using Windbg and alike, then it's time to try a fresh install of Windows (with the latest storage drivers for you motherboard/HDD controller if available from the manufacturer), or start swapping parts.

You'll probably want to use the same drive for the fresh install test since the disk/storage subsystem appears to be what's in question.

You can avoid losing everything by doing backups first.

Solution 2

Usually a hardware problem? Wrong. The answer is in the BSOD text itself: DRIVER.

Moreover, if you're getting the same type of BSOD, listing the same driver, it's definitely the driver. A hardware problem that gives this BSOD won't always give this BSOD, and always with this driver.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/835166

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff560244(v=vs.85).aspx

The solution, in order of preference, is to:

1. Update the driver version, if possible.
2. Revert the driver version.
3. Try a similar driver from a different vendor, if possible.

Solution 3

I´ve had this BSOD with storport.sys...It was a USB HDD which I put together using an used notebook 500GB HDD and a drive case...Turned out the 500GB was bad with intermittent behavior, resulting in this error, specially when transferring large amount of data to it it would just lock up.

Comments

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

It's your storage driver crapping out. When you say "all up to date" does that include the latest drivers and BIOS from Asus? Has this been happening ever since you got the computer, or is this a new development? Aside from scouring the Internet, and running BSV, what have you tried already?

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

Really though, these are usually indicative of a hardware problem. Often the only way to determine if it's HW or not (especially when kernel level drivers like storport.sys are where the error happening) is to do a fresh (re)install of Windows using the latest drivers. If it fixes it, you had a bad driver. If it doesn't, you have bad hardware and it's time to start testing/swapping parts.

[Kovo]

@techie007 MB drivers are up to date from Asus. I have a BIOS version that is about a month and a half old, but the new versions are turning systems into bricks, so that is not an option for me. Other drivers are updated as well. (at least the ones found on the Asus site).

[Kovo]

@techie007 The issue is new, but the system is only a month old...I want to avoid reinstalling the OS...it takes a lot of time to reconfigure and reinstall everything. Is there any way to re-install this driver without a complete wipe?

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

You can avoid losing everything by doing a backup first.

[Kovo]

@techie007 I suppose I will try to disconnect my external HDD, and see if that changes anything. I only use it in conjunction with Norton ghost to perform daily backups (the BSODs do not occur every day, and do not occur during backups)

[Charles Duffy]

For a storage hardware failure to cause a storage driver failure is not remotely the unthinkable thing you make it out to be. Speaking as someone who's written drivers in the past, one generally doesn't test scenarios where the hardware behaves contrary to its white paper unless there's a specific, known, reproducible failure at development time... And even then, one tests that specific failure only, not every possible failure mode.