BSOD crash w/ Chrome hardware acceleration enabled (Iris Xe gpu)

[gubbins]

Hello - looking for some help and insight. Bought a new Razer Book 13 laptop and immediately started getting display glitches (screen flicker, distortion) and BSOD crashes out of the box (DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL).

Using the Intel tool, I updated everything I could - I'm currently on Iris Xe driver 27.20.100.9168. After updating, my graphic problems have stopped... so that's good!

Still getting BSOD errors while using Chrome though, and only when browsing in Chrome. Last night, I disabled hardware acceleration from the Chrome system settings and haven't had a BSOD in a full day (where I was getting them once every 10 or 15 mins).

Would someone from Intel help me diagnose the problem? I'm wondering if a future driver update could help? Razer is useless for support. Thanks!

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello @gubbins

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

In order to check this further, could you please provide the following information?

1- Just to make sure, did the issues happened even with the customized graphics drivers provided by the laptop manufacturer? (considering this is a new laptop...)

2- Since the issue is happening only with the Google* Chrome* browser, have you checked with them for more details and debugging regarding this behavior? If yes, has they provide any information?

3- As per Microsoft's website, this error could be also related to the device's memory or antivirus software. Please refer to How to fix Error 0xA: IRQL_not_less_or_equal*.

Have you checked with your antivirus software or run a test for the memory? For instance Windows Memory Diagnostic tool or a free memory testing program like Memtest86+*?

To launch the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool, open the Start menu, type “Windows Memory Diagnostic”, and press Enter.

4- What is the Google* Chrome* browser version installed on the system?

5- Do you have any plugins/extensions? If yes, have you tested with those disabled?

6- For replication purposes, could you please share some of the links/websites when you were browsing and had the issue?

7- Please run the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool to verify that both the processor and the GPU (Graphics Processing Unite) are working fine. Please make sure that you download the proper version of the tool (e.g. 64-bit version).

To save the report of the test, once the test is done, click on "File >> View Results File" and attach the .txt file to your reply.

8- Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) and attach the report to this thread to gather more details about your system.

• Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer
• Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".
• To save your scan, click Next and click Save.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

*Links to third-party sites and references to third-party trademarks are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, Intel® is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third-party endorsement of Intel® or any of its products is implied.

[gubbins]

Hi Andrew! Great to see your reply! Here is the information you requested:

1. Yes, the system would freeze & crash out of the box. It wasn't until I updated the GPU drivers (in my original post) that the graphical problems stopped. However, the BSOD crashes remained.
2. I haven't checked with Google support. As I was troubleshooting, I found many user reports of crashes with Chrome hardware acceleration enabled, so I tried turning it off... after that point, the BSOD crashes stopped.
3. Yes, I ran the memory checker from Microsoft. No errors detected in the report/event viewer.
4. Chrome Version 88.0.4324.150 (Official Build) (64-bit)
5. N/A
6. Most of my crashes have been at razer.com and their various support pages (e.g., chatting with support about the crashes). I've had crashes browing reddit sites, the intel community site, and mural.co
7. Attached.
8. Attached.

Let me know what you find! Thanks!

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello gubbins

Thank you very much for all the information provided. Please allow us to check this further and we will be posting back in the thread as soon as more details are available or if more information is needed from your end.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello @gubbins

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

We would like to inform you that we have tested this behavior in our lab and we couldn't replicate this behavior. During the lab, we tested different websites for long periods, including the ones that you mentioned, and we also run videos from streaming websites and had no issues. For the lab we used:

• Intel® NUC Mini PC NUC7i5DNKPC
• Intel® HD Graphics 620 using Intel® NUC driver 27.20.100.8681; and latest Intel® generic driver package 27.20.100.9168 (the same driver package you tried from Intel®).
• Chrome* version 88.0.4324.146 and 88.0.4324.150 (latest Official Build)
• Chrome* hardware acceleration enabled.

Having said that, and considering all the troubleshooting performed so far, our recommendation is to check this further with the place of purchase or with the laptop manufacturer (OEM) for further assistance and debugging from their side and including a physical inspection and possible replacement if necessary. Razer Support*

Note: before moving to this step, you may test with an external display to see if the behavior is different.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

*Links to third-party sites and references to third-party trademarks are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, Intel® is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third-party endorsement of Intel® or any of its products is implied.

[gubbins · Accepted solution]

Hi Andrew - thanks for taking the time to troubleshoot on your end. Too bad you weren't able to find anything. I think I'm going to be left with the workaround (disable hardware acceleration), as Razer support is not helpful... I'm already on my second replacement (every Book 13 has suffered from the same problem). Clearly it's something creating a conflict based on the Razer configuration. Thanks again!

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello gubbins

Thank you very much for your response and it has been a pleasure to assist you with this inquiry.

We will proceed to close this thread now. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Sincerely,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician