IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

(Paul) wrote:

Terry - perhaps the problems with your machine are bad enough to
prevent preparing the floppy from that machine? Could you try
preparing the floppy image on another machine? As I understand
the instructions, the program in the zip file creates a floppy with
no file system. In the floppy, there is enough code to boot just the
test program. The whole idea is the memtest86 program has a very small
memory footprint, and the program is sophisticated enough to "lift
itself up and sweep underneath". That isn't something you can do if
there was an OS running at the same time. This program tests the whole
memory...

So, I see your options as:

1) Go to another machine and prepare the floppy.
2) Investigate preparing a CDROM .iso image version of the program
3) Contact the author of memtest86 and see if he has heard of the
problem before.

A search I tried in Google didn't turn up your symptoms, and the
memtest86 program is very popular. It is possible that whatever
the hardware or software problem is on your machine right now,
it might be interfering with your attempt to diagnose it.

Do you have any programs that interfere or intercept file system
calls ? Could there be another program that writes stuff to every
storage device on the machine, and uses a "lock" to do it ? That
might be another way to track down the symptoms of not being able
to access the floppy for a raw device operation.

Hope that helps,
Paul

Thanks Paul, it sure does. Apprecaite your interest andf trouble. In
particular, I'll try making the floppy on my old W98 PC, after copying
the files across.

For further info for you and Michael, here's waht I did:

Went here
http://www.memtest86.com/

Chose
Download
Memtest86 3.0 Release

Chose
Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.0 installable from Windows and
DOS
which gave me the file http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip

Extracted the files to give a folder \memt30
Opened that folder to give folder \memt86
Opened that folder, which contained 4 files:

rawrite.exe
memtest.bin
install.bat
README.txt

Tried d-clicking install.bat, but nothing obvious happened.
Instructions don't say so explicitly but then I realised I probably
had to run it from a DOS prompt. So I opened a command window and ran
it again. All now looked OK. It asked me to insert floppy, so I did.
Then I got the error message I posted.

Perhaps I need to reboot my system to a 'DOS-only' window, (or
whatever it's called these in these post-DOS days!). But instructions
certainly don't make that clear IMO.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 08:10:01 +0100, Terry Pinnell
wrote:

(Paul) wrote:

Terry - perhaps the problems with your machine are bad enough to
prevent preparing the floppy from that machine? Could you try
preparing the floppy image on another machine? As I understand
the instructions, the program in the zip file creates a floppy with
no file system. In the floppy, there is enough code to boot just the
test program. The whole idea is the memtest86 program has a very small
memory footprint, and the program is sophisticated enough to "lift
itself up and sweep underneath". That isn't something you can do if
there was an OS running at the same time. This program tests the whole
memory...

So, I see your options as:

1) Go to another machine and prepare the floppy.
2) Investigate preparing a CDROM .iso image version of the program
3) Contact the author of memtest86 and see if he has heard of the
problem before.

A search I tried in Google didn't turn up your symptoms, and the
memtest86 program is very popular. It is possible that whatever
the hardware or software problem is on your machine right now,
it might be interfering with your attempt to diagnose it.

Do you have any programs that interfere or intercept file system
calls ? Could there be another program that writes stuff to every
storage device on the machine, and uses a "lock" to do it ? That
might be another way to track down the symptoms of not being able
to access the floppy for a raw device operation.

Hope that helps,
Paul

Thanks Paul, it sure does. Apprecaite your interest andf trouble. In
particular, I'll try making the floppy on my old W98 PC, after copying
the files across.

For further info for you and Michael, here's waht I did:

Went here
http://www.memtest86.com/

Chose
Download
Memtest86 3.0 Release

Chose
Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.0 installable from Windows and
DOS
which gave me the file http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip

Extracted the files to give a folder \memt30
Opened that folder to give folder \memt86
Opened that folder, which contained 4 files:

rawrite.exe
memtest.bin
install.bat
README.txt

Tried d-clicking install.bat, but nothing obvious happened.
Instructions don't say so explicitly but then I realised I probably
had to run it from a DOS prompt. So I opened a command window and ran
it again. All now looked OK. It asked me to insert floppy, so I did.
Then I got the error message I posted.

Perhaps I need to reboot my system to a 'DOS-only' window, (or
whatever it's called these in these post-DOS days!). But instructions
certainly don't make that clear IMO.

I burned the memtest bootable ISO image to an old 2X CDRW disc I had
laying around, boots right up and runs no prob. Faster and simpler then
a floppy IMO.

Ed

x-no-archive: yes

Terry Pinnell wrote:

For further info for you and Michael, here's waht I did:

Went here
http://www.memtest86.com/

Chose
Download
Memtest86 3.0 Release

Chose
Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.0 installable from Windows and
DOS
which gave me the file http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip

Extracted the files to give a folder \memt30
Opened that folder to give folder \memt86
Opened that folder, which contained 4 files:

rawrite.exe
memtest.bin
install.bat
README.txt

Tried d-clicking install.bat, but nothing obvious happened.
Instructions don't say so explicitly but then I realised I probably
had to run it from a DOS prompt. So I opened a command window and ran
it again. All now looked OK. It asked me to insert floppy, so I did.
Then I got the error message I posted.

Perhaps I need to reboot my system to a 'DOS-only' window, (or
whatever it's called these in these post-DOS days!). But instructions
certainly don't make that clear IMO.

The download link you say you clicked links to a file named
http://www.memtest86.com/memt30.zip , not
http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip . Make sure you have the latest
version, 3.0, first of all.

To overcome the "cannot open volume for direct access" error (or however
the error was worded), try this trick *before* running install.bat (even
if the procedure seems strange):

* Insert a floppy which has nothing on it you need, or an entirely new
floppy.

* Double click My Computer, right click the Floppy (A drive, and
select Format, then Start. Make sure you don't select "quick format".
Wait for the format to finish.

* In the My Computer window, double click Floppy (A, and make sure you
can browse the contents. There won't be any files there, but you just
want to make sure that you don't get an error trying to get a directory
listing.

* Close all My Computer and Explorer windows, and don't open any more
until you're done with this procedure.

* Open a command window (Start Run cmd OK).

* Enter this command, without quotes: "chkdsk /f a:". If you get a
"cannot open volume for direct access" error, hit the up arrow key and
reissue the command. It should work this time, and give you output
beginning with "The type of the file system is FAT.", followed by
several other lines.

* Making sure that all My Computer and Explorer windows are closed, try
running install.bat again.

--
Indeed I am.
Well, you're right about that.
Because it runs counter to the way we read!
Why do you hate top posting so much?

I say ram as well

"Terry Pinnell" wrote in message
...
I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

Terry Pinnell wrote:

(Paul) wrote:

Terry - perhaps the problems with your machine are bad enough to
prevent preparing the floppy from that machine? Could you try
preparing the floppy image on another machine? As I understand
the instructions, the program in the zip file creates a floppy with
no file system. In the floppy, there is enough code to boot just the
test program. The whole idea is the memtest86 program has a very small
memory footprint, and the program is sophisticated enough to "lift
itself up and sweep underneath". That isn't something you can do if
there was an OS running at the same time. This program tests the whole
memory...

So, I see your options as:

1) Go to another machine and prepare the floppy.
2) Investigate preparing a CDROM .iso image version of the program
3) Contact the author of memtest86 and see if he has heard of the
problem before.

A search I tried in Google didn't turn up your symptoms, and the
memtest86 program is very popular. It is possible that whatever
the hardware or software problem is on your machine right now,
it might be interfering with your attempt to diagnose it.

Do you have any programs that interfere or intercept file system
calls ? Could there be another program that writes stuff to every
storage device on the machine, and uses a "lock" to do it ? That
might be another way to track down the symptoms of not being able
to access the floppy for a raw device operation.

Hope that helps,
Paul

Thanks Paul, it sure does. Apprecaite your interest andf trouble. In
particular, I'll try making the floppy on my old W98 PC, after copying
the files across.

For further info for you and Michael, here's waht I did:

Went here
http://www.memtest86.com/

Chose
Download
Memtest86 3.0 Release

Chose
Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.0 installable from Windows and
DOS
which gave me the file http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip

Extracted the files to give a folder \memt30
Opened that folder to give folder \memt86
Opened that folder, which contained 4 files:

rawrite.exe
memtest.bin
install.bat
README.txt

Tried d-clicking install.bat, but nothing obvious happened.
Instructions don't say so explicitly but then I realised I probably
had to run it from a DOS prompt. So I opened a command window and ran
it again. All now looked OK. It asked me to insert floppy, so I did.
Then I got the error message I posted.

Perhaps I need to reboot my system to a 'DOS-only' window, (or
whatever it's called these in these post-DOS days!). But instructions
certainly don't make that clear IMO.


Interesting. Try instead the link "Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86
v3.0 installable from Windows and DOS" found at
http://www.memtest86.com/#download0

This gives you the memt30.zip file rather than memt29.zip. I tried the
memt30.zip version and it created a working bootable disk under both NT
4.0 and Win 98 using either a direct click on install.bat or running
install.bat from a DOS prompt window.

If your system still chokes, it looks like the floppy creation from
another machine is the only real out...
--
Mike

He "Stop 0x0000000A Irql_Not_Less_or_Equal" Error Message
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];311564

--
-----
Paul
-----
www.paulsxp.com
www.paulsxp.com/forums

"Donald Link" wrote in message
...
You can do a search on Google for just the stop error or irql error but
from
what I have read and saw is that the NVidia is the problem.



"Terry Pinnell" wrote in message
...
I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

x-no-archive: yes

Terry Pinnell wrote:

I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

QUICK! Someone tell Microsoft to update their support documents.
Everyone "KNOWS" what the problem is, so obviously Microsoft doesn't
need to provide multiple scenarios of resolution.

--
Indeed I am.
Well, you're right about that.
Because it runs counter to the way we read!
Why do you hate top posting so much?

"Steve Trussing" wrote:

x-no-archive: yes

Terry Pinnell wrote:

For further info for you and Michael, here's waht I did:

Went here
http://www.memtest86.com/

Chose
Download
Memtest86 3.0 Release

Chose
Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.0 installable from Windows and
DOS
which gave me the file http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip

Extracted the files to give a folder \memt30
Opened that folder to give folder \memt86
Opened that folder, which contained 4 files:

rawrite.exe
memtest.bin
install.bat
README.txt

Tried d-clicking install.bat, but nothing obvious happened.
Instructions don't say so explicitly but then I realised I probably
had to run it from a DOS prompt. So I opened a command window and ran
it again. All now looked OK. It asked me to insert floppy, so I did.
Then I got the error message I posted.

Perhaps I need to reboot my system to a 'DOS-only' window, (or
whatever it's called these in these post-DOS days!). But instructions
certainly don't make that clear IMO.

The download link you say you clicked links to a file named
http://www.memtest86.com/memt30.zip , not
http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip . Make sure you have the latest
version, 3.0, first of all.

My mistake sorry - memt30.zip is what I downloaded. (Reckon I pasted
memt29.zip into that post by r-clicking and looking at Properties of
wrong link.)

To overcome the "cannot open volume for direct access" error (or however
the error was worded), try this trick *before* running install.bat (even
if the procedure seems strange):

* Insert a floppy which has nothing on it you need, or an entirely new
floppy.

* Double click My Computer, right click the Floppy (A drive, and
select Format, then Start. Make sure you don't select "quick format".
Wait for the format to finish.

* In the My Computer window, double click Floppy (A, and make sure you
can browse the contents. There won't be any files there, but you just
want to make sure that you don't get an error trying to get a directory
listing.

* Close all My Computer and Explorer windows, and don't open any more
until you're done with this procedure.

* Open a command window (Start Run cmd OK).

* Enter this command, without quotes: "chkdsk /f a:". If you get a
"cannot open volume for direct access" error, hit the up arrow key and
reissue the command. It should work this time, and give you output
beginning with "The type of the file system is FAT.", followed by
several other lines.

* Making sure that all My Computer and Explorer windows are closed, try
running install.bat again.

Many thanks, Steve, that fresh format solved it.

Duly ran Memtest30 for about 3 hours, with no errors. It was
apparently on its second cycle through the series of tests, because at
the 2 hour point it was showing 'Pass 58% Test#5', and then at 3 hours
was running Test #3. That's when I used Exit, as I have other things
to do on the PC. How long *should* I run it (on 512 MB) to get a
statistically reliable clean bill of health please?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

Michael Richmann wrote:

Interesting. Try instead the link "Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86
v3.0 installable from Windows and DOS" found at
http://www.memtest86.com/#download0

This gives you the memt30.zip file rather than memt29.zip. I tried the
memt30.zip version and it created a working bootable disk under both NT
4.0 and Win 98 using either a direct click on install.bat or running
install.bat from a DOS prompt window.

If your system still chokes, it looks like the floppy creation from
another machine is the only real out...

Thanks. Sorry for the inadvertent confusion by mentioning memt29.zip.
See also my reply to Steve, reporting memetest now running OK.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

Terry Pinnell wrote:

Michael Richmann wrote:

Interesting. Try instead the link "Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86
v3.0 installable from Windows and DOS" found at
http://www.memtest86.com/#download0

This gives you the memt30.zip file rather than memt29.zip. I tried the
memt30.zip version and it created a working bootable disk under both NT
4.0 and Win 98 using either a direct click on install.bat or running
install.bat from a DOS prompt window.

If your system still chokes, it looks like the floppy creation from
another machine is the only real out...

Thanks. Sorry for the inadvertent confusion by mentioning memt29.zip.
See also my reply to Steve, reporting memetest now running OK.


Excellent. And in response to the Steve reply, I recall another posting
saying that running overnight ought to be long enough to get a
statistically reliable clean bill of health.
--
Mike

x-no-archive: yes

Terry Pinnell wrote:

Many thanks, Steve, that fresh format solved it.

Duly ran Memtest30 for about 3 hours, with no errors. It was
apparently on its second cycle through the series of tests, because at
the 2 hour point it was showing 'Pass 58% Test#5', and then at 3 hours
was running Test #3. That's when I used Exit, as I have other things
to do on the PC. How long *should* I run it (on 512 MB) to get a
statistically reliable clean bill of health please?

Usually, bad memory (or a bad board/CPU/cache) will throw errors very
early in the process, as I believe the memtest86 doc points out. I'd
let it run overnight (~10-12 hours) just to be sure, running the "all
tests" option.

But at this point, it *appears* your hardware is not at fault. I'd
suspect a driver. Once again, see this:

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.php#0x0a

--
Indeed I am.
Well, you're right about that.
Because it runs counter to the way we read!
Why do you hate top posting so much?

x-no-archive: yes

Mark Schilberg wrote:

x-no-archive: yes

Terry Pinnell wrote:

Many thanks, Steve, that fresh format solved it.

Duly ran Memtest30 for about 3 hours, with no errors. It was
apparently on its second cycle through the series of tests, because
at the 2 hour point it was showing 'Pass 58% Test#5', and then at 3
hours was running Test #3. That's when I used Exit, as I have other
things to do on the PC. How long *should* I run it (on 512 MB) to
get a statistically reliable clean bill of health please?

Usually, bad memory (or a bad board/CPU/cache) will throw errors very
early in the process, as I believe the memtest86 doc points out. I'd
let it run overnight (~10-12 hours) just to be sure, running the "all
tests" option.

But at this point, it *appears* your hardware is not at fault. I'd
suspect a driver. Once again, see this:

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.php#0x0a

Getting my alter egos messed up now. Thanks again, OE.

In article , Terry Pinnell
wrote:

"Steve Trussing" wrote:

x-no-archive: yes

Terry Pinnell wrote:

For further info for you and Michael, here's waht I did:

Went here
http://www.memtest86.com/

Chose
Download
Memtest86 3.0 Release

Chose
Download - Pre-Compiled Memtest86 v3.0 installable from Windows and
DOS
which gave me the file http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip

Extracted the files to give a folder \memt30
Opened that folder to give folder \memt86
Opened that folder, which contained 4 files:

rawrite.exe
memtest.bin
install.bat
README.txt

Tried d-clicking install.bat, but nothing obvious happened.
Instructions don't say so explicitly but then I realised I probably
had to run it from a DOS prompt. So I opened a command window and ran
it again. All now looked OK. It asked me to insert floppy, so I did.
Then I got the error message I posted.

Perhaps I need to reboot my system to a 'DOS-only' window, (or
whatever it's called these in these post-DOS days!). But instructions
certainly don't make that clear IMO.

The download link you say you clicked links to a file named
http://www.memtest86.com/memt30.zip , not
http://www.memtest86.com/memt29.zip . Make sure you have the latest
version, 3.0, first of all.

My mistake sorry - memt30.zip is what I downloaded. (Reckon I pasted
memt29.zip into that post by r-clicking and looking at Properties of
wrong link.)

To overcome the "cannot open volume for direct access" error (or however
the error was worded), try this trick *before* running install.bat (even
if the procedure seems strange):

* Insert a floppy which has nothing on it you need, or an entirely new
floppy.

* Double click My Computer, right click the Floppy (A drive, and
select Format, then Start. Make sure you don't select "quick format".
Wait for the format to finish.

* In the My Computer window, double click Floppy (A, and make sure you
can browse the contents. There won't be any files there, but you just
want to make sure that you don't get an error trying to get a directory
listing.

* Close all My Computer and Explorer windows, and don't open any more
until you're done with this procedure.

* Open a command window (Start Run cmd OK).

* Enter this command, without quotes: "chkdsk /f a:". If you get a
"cannot open volume for direct access" error, hit the up arrow key and
reissue the command. It should work this time, and give you output
beginning with "The type of the file system is FAT.", followed by
several other lines.

* Making sure that all My Computer and Explorer windows are closed, try
running install.bat again.

Many thanks, Steve, that fresh format solved it.

Duly ran Memtest30 for about 3 hours, with no errors. It was
apparently on its second cycle through the series of tests, because at
the 2 hour point it was showing 'Pass 58% Test#5', and then at 3 hours
was running Test #3. That's when I used Exit, as I have other things
to do on the PC. How long *should* I run it (on 512 MB) to get a
statistically reliable clean bill of health please?

Ok, so the next question is, was the computer EVER stable ? I had a
TUA266 (Ali chipset) that I worked on for three weeks (evenings). While
I managed to improve the reliability to having a crash every four
hours or so, I never could fix it. I tried many versions of video card
drivers, changed video cards, and tried various versions of the Ali
drivers (including that stupid utility that claims to be changing
settings on the AGP interface). That motherboard sits in a cardboard
box now, replaced by a much more stable motherboard. The reason I
suggested testing memory, is my assumption was that you had "tamed"
the initial problems with the machine, and it had later developed
bad habits. Perhaps your motherboard is similar to mine, some kind
of problem with the AGP interface (like a chipset quality control
problem) that no amount of driver twiddling will fix. If that is
the case, I pity you. At some point, it may be hardware swapping
time. No motherboard with an Ali chipset will be entering this
household ever again.

Paul

(Paul) wrote:

Ok, so the next question is, was the computer EVER stable ? I had a
TUA266 (Ali chipset) that I worked on for three weeks (evenings). While
I managed to improve the reliability to having a crash every four
hours or so, I never could fix it. I tried many versions of video card
drivers, changed video cards, and tried various versions of the Ali
drivers (including that stupid utility that claims to be changing
settings on the AGP interface). That motherboard sits in a cardboard
box now, replaced by a much more stable motherboard. The reason I
suggested testing memory, is my assumption was that you had "tamed"
the initial problems with the machine, and it had later developed
bad habits. Perhaps your motherboard is similar to mine, some kind
of problem with the AGP interface (like a chipset quality control
problem) that no amount of driver twiddling will fix. If that is
the case, I pity you. At some point, it may be hardware swapping
time. No motherboard with an Ali chipset will be entering this
household ever again.

It's difficult to say with confidence what 'stability' actually is!
But I certainly never originally had this type of crash 2 or 3 times a
week, which is probably the rate now.

I do hope it is not the m/b ;-(
As mentioned in my OP, it's:
An ASUS A7A266-E (+sound), BIOS = Award Software with ASUS A7A266-E
ACPI BIOS v 1009, System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System
Controller, Buses = AGP/PCI/USB, L2 On-board Cache = 256kB ECC
synchronous write-back.
(I've pasted that without truly understanding whether it's all
relevant...)

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK