Cannot create minidumps

Not sure what has happened, but since January my XP Pro SP2 install has failed to generate minidumps when the PC has had a BSOD.

I have it set to create a 64KB dump and to restart automatically. It also doesn't restart and I have to power it down manually.

Does anyone know possible causes for this? I'm having an issue with a driver, when playing games only, that I'd like to get some minidumps for.

Thanks.

 

Hello mattross and welcome to the Board,

checking the basics.

Do your System Failure options match the attatchment?

 

Yes they are identical. I also read somewhere that to create minidumps you needs part of your swap file on the system drive as well. Just to clarify I have a 3.0GB swap file on my C: drive which is a RAID 0 array.

 

So are there any DLLs I can re-register to try and fix this? Or is my only option to reinstall XP?

 

My page file is entirely on the C: drive currently, set to a static min and max of 3070MB [2GB of RAM]. Until January minidumps were being created normally. The PC was stable for so long I never needed any dumps until recently.

I have run sfc /scannow and I think I may add an additional few hundred MB swap to my D:, not a RAID disk. Then I'll reboot and try and provoke the BSOD.

Unfortunately the driver I suspect is the culprit [cmuda.sys C-Media 8768+ sound] is already the latest release, only a few weeks old. Even if I get a dump it will probably not help much unless Auzentech accept a crash dump or two.

 

That's an interesting tidbit. I wasn't aware of that.

I located a Microsoft WebCast transcript that confirms your statement. I didn't doubt your credibility. (Okay, maybe a little.) I really wanted to learn more.

• Microsoft Windows XP: How to Configure and Use Error Reporting - February 21, 2003
  

I am still confused though (and I haven't yet read the entire transcript carefully). Should Error Reporting be disabled if one wishes to have MEMORY.DMP or Minixxxxxx-xx.dmp files created for BSODs?

Now is one of those times I wish I could provoke a BSOD for my own computer to test. Any ideas about how one could do that (and still be able to recover after testing)?

 

Thanks, Pete!

Works with Windows XP Home too (with PS/2 keyboard anyway).

I'll test further later and report my findings after I have cleared my confusion.

 

We have learned that Microsoft doesn't always write their articles 100% accurately. I have noticed typos and such in KB documents in the past so I thought an unintended omission of "Windows XP Home" from the "Applies to" section might be a possibility. The only time I won't try something that I really want to apply is when there is a warning not to apply. (I also created a System Restore point before the registry edit just in case.)


Arie,

Thanks! I have confirmed (of course) you are correct (and we eliminated my confusion).

The creation of a MEMORY.DMP (Kernel dump anyway) is independent of Error Reporting being on/off. The only difference was the pop-up window that appeared during the boot after the crash asking me whether I want to send a report to Microsoft or not (when Error Reporting was enabled).

I also noticed (with a Kernel dump at least) a C:\Windows\Minidump\Minixxxxxx-xx.dmp file is created along with the C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP and DebugWiz (with its default settings) generates nearly identical reports for both dumps (same contents, just formatted slightly differently).

I expect the MEMORY.DMP can be queried via the Windows Debugging Tools for more information than the Minidump provides. (I'll reserve that experiment for a later date.)

I expect the .DMP file creation results would be the same for a complete memory dump.

I expect a "Minidump" setting in the Startup and Recovery section under the System Properties > Advanced tab will create only a c:\Windows\Minidump\Minixxxxxx-xx.dmp file.


Thanks again, Pete and Arie.

 

(I deleted the contents of this post after I read this thread more carefully and realized mattross already ran sfc /scannow.)

 

OK I did all the stuff I said I would do but it hasn't crashed since then on the usual thing that used to cause it

The next time it does I will know if I can get a minidump but until then I'll keep my fingers crossed.

BTW I have Error Reporting already set to disabled sending but to notify me.

 

Thanks for your follow-up, mattross. I crossed my fingers for you.

 

Oops crossing our fingers didn't work. Two BSODs in quick time. At least something in the recommended things to do on page 1 of this thread worked because now I am getting dumps created again.

According to WinDbg:

BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, ba1f3252, b50aa898, 0}
BugCheck 1000008E, {c0000005, ba1f3252, 8ca1c898, 0}
Probably caused by : cmuda3.sys ( cmuda3+be252 ) [identical in both]

I also have a kernel dump of the latest crash. Apart from the obvious soundcard driver, cmuda3.sys, which is already at its latest version, is there anything useful I can get from the dumps with WinDbg or any other tool?

Thanks.