Intel NUC Kit NUC7PJYH - Problems upgrading to Windows 10 (1909) with frequent instances of the BSOD.

[KAske1]

Hi,

I have an Intel NUC Kit NUC7PJYH with Intel Pentium® Silver J5005 Processor which has worked without issue since I purchased it in Oct 2018.

However, last weekend I got a windows update notification on my desktop asking to re-start the machine, as Windows had installed a Feature update (1909). Upon re-starting Windows, I was advised that the update had failed and was rolling back to my previous settings. I wasn't overly concerned at the time, as this update had failed to install previously. But once system rolled back to the previous settings I started getting frequent instances of a 'Driver Power State Failure', resulting in the BSOD, which I hadn't experienced previously.

I tried installing the feature update again 2/3 times via the Windows update section, but on each occasion when the update reached about 75-80% I would encounter the same BSOD.

I then used the media creation tool to create this update onto a USB and was able to install a clean version of Windows 10, but rather surprisingly I am continuing to get the BSOD. This will occur within 5-7 mins after booting up. Trying to install drivers manually results in system hanging for several minutes before eventually getting the BSOD. I don't seem to be to remove any drivers from the device manager either, as this also results in the same behaviour and getting a BSOD error.

Microsoft Telephone Support was unable to resolve the issue after a 2hr telephone and was referred to their Level 2 support. They have contacted me today and were also unable to resolve the issue.

They have suggested the issue might be getting caused with the Intel Wifi adaptor or even a hardware issue. I find both explanations a bit surprising, since I had a perfectly working machine until Windows asked me to restart it 8 days ago. They also asked me to contact Intel, as they said Intel could connect to my machine remotely and establish if their were any driver or bios issues. I'm afraid I don't know how to go about requesting such a thing.

This is very frustrating, as I've now been left with a PC that is acting more like a paper weight at the moment, since that's all it's good for currently.

If anybody has experienced similar issues when upgrading to the latest Windows version, I would really appreciate some helpful feedback on how I might resolve this issue.

Many thanks

[LeonWaksman]

Hello @KAske1​ 

I suspect that your BIOS is not updated? If I'm right, please download the latest BIOS version 0054 and update your NUC.

Leon

[KAske1]

​Hi,

Yeah, Bios is up-to-date with version from 20/2. I also downloaded bios from here, just in case it was a newer version:-

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/126137/Intel-NUC-Kit-NUC7PJYH

I used the Windows installer version, but said I already had this version installed.

I've tried so many things, but still the problem persists. The most annoying part is the machine doesn't stay on long enough to properly troubleshoot anything before getting the dreaded BSOD. Then when it does restart it doesn't seem to have restarted properly and I need to shut down, then boot up again.

[PeterNUC]

In my case BSODs were related to the incorrect installation of WiFi driver. After I disabled WiFi in Windows BSODs were gone.

[KAske1]

Thanks Peter,

Unfortunately, trying to disable or un-installing the Wfi-Fi adaptor or for matter any other device from from the device manager would result in the PC just hanging forever before I had to force a power off and restart or getting the BSOD. Upon restarting the device would still be enabled.

[PeterNUC]

Oh, by disabling WiFi I meant just turning it off in the notification area: click on network icon, click on WiFi icon, done.

[KAske1]

Ahh, I see what you mean now. Wish I had tried that before sending it back to the seller to look at.

Thanks for the tip though. Much appreciated.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

We would like to know if you still need further assistance. If yes, could you please provide the following information?

1- Could you please elaborate more regarding the diagnostic or outcome that Microsoft® Support provided?

2- Please provide Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error messages, error codes or details:

3- By any chance have you tested the health/status of the hard drive and memory RAM? Have you tested different SSD/RAM or have you run any diagnostic tool to discard issues on these components?

4- We understand the Intel® NUC is experiencing BSOD errors shortly after booting up, if possible, please provide an Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) report and attach the report to this thread.

4.1- Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-

4.2- Open the application 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".

4.3- To save your scan, click Next and click Save.

4.4- To attach a file, you must click the “Attach” option on the bottom left-hand corner of the response box.

Note: If you are not able to run the Intel® SSU, please provide the following details:

• HDD/SSD brand, model and part number:
• Memory RAM, model, and part number:
• The Wireless card is the original one that came with the Intel® NUC?

Additionally, regarding your inquiry on how to request remote assistance from Intel® Customer Support, you may use the following information to contact us directly by phone or chat based on your current location:

North America Customer Support Center, Phone Number: (916) 377-7000, Business Hours: Monday - Friday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Pacific Time).

Intel Customer Support Contact Information for Europe, Middle East and Africa region

Intel Customer Support Contact Information for Latin-America Region

Intel Customer Support Contact Information for Asia-Pacific region

For chat support, go to the following link, click on "Intel NUC", scroll down to "Support Options" and you will find the Live Chat link available within the support business hours based on your location:

https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/support/contact-support.html#@7

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KAske1]

Hi Andrew,

Many thanks for your reply.

I can answer the first question fairly easily. Other than Microsoft Support suggesting the issue might be related to the Wi-Fi adaptor, the only other advise they gave was to suggest contacting Intel to see if they could connect to my device remotely and identify any issues. They appear to have stopped all communication regarding this problem now, as I have not from them since last Monday (23rd March).

Unfortunately, I am unable to answer the other questions at this time, as I have now returned the PC to the original seller for repair as it was still under warranty. Rather frustratingly, their initial diagnostics have not indicated any issues, freezes or instances of the BSOD. Additionally, they have been update the Realtek Ethernet Controller and Wfi-Adaptor Drivers without issue, which I was unable to do without causing the machine to freeze or a BSOD error.

I will send them a copy of this link. Perhaps they may be able to provide the other information you are looking for.

Many thanks

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

Thank you for your response and the details that you shared. We understand that you already returned the Intel® NUC to the seller for assistance.

In this case, there is no rush regarding the information requested. In the meantime, we will proceed to close this inquiry but you can contact us later in case you would like to share any feedback or if further assistance is needed once you received the unit from the seller. You can contact us directly using the contact information and links previously provided.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KAske1]

Hi Andrew,

I received my Mini-PC back from the seller at the end of last week. Unfortunately, within a few minutes of booting up the device it became clear that the problem still existed, as the machine crashed with a BSOD error. The seller informed that he tested the RAM, CPU, HDD and network with no issues using a program called 'burn in test' . In 3 days of testing he did not witness one single freeze or blue screen error, but within 6-8 mins of me powering up the machine once it was returned, I got a blue screen error and continued to get them thereafter. This seems to be very strange and is highly annoying. The seller suggested the problem might be getting caused by my wireless mouse/keyboard receiver, but I tried using an alternative and still continued to get these blue screen errors, so I concluded that this was unlikely to be the cause. In addition to the blue screen error, I've noticed a number of other issues as well. These are:-

1) Wireless adaptor is not working and thus no wireless networks available.

2) USB devices such the wireless mouse/keyboard receiver or external drives work fine when the PC is booted up. However, if any of these devices are unplugged and then plugged back into the USB port, they do not work or get identified by Windows.

3) Disk Management option does not work and just says 'Looking for devices', but nothing ever happens.

4) Frequent loss of Ethernet Internet connection.

5) When the Ethernet connection is working, I can open up Google with no issue and do a search, but if I try to click on any of the search items, they will not open.

6) Windows doesn't seem to restart when requested and just hangs forever, normally resulting in a BSOD eventually.

I should point out that I made zero changes to the PC settings or downloaded anything after the machine was returned to me. The only exception was enabling the Windows Updates. Windows identified 2 updates I needed for my device, both of which downloaded very quickly. However, when both updates installed a restart was also required. Both updates froze at 36% when re-starting and would eventually cause a BSOD error. The machine would then re-start get to 36% and do the same thing again. It was like the PC was stuck in a loop. In the end on both updates, I was forced to power off the PC 3 times to activate the Windows repair feature, which undid both of these updates and returned the system back to how it was before. Both updates were reported as failed installations in the update history. I cleared the update cache folder a couple of days ago and tried installing them again, but the same thing happened. Finally, instead of opting for the repair feature I selected 'PC Reset' as I had not tried this option previously.

After 17Hrs, it became very clear the PC was again caught in a loop as I was getting to a blue screen saying 'Just a moment' which would then crash with a BSOD and take me to the Intel Splash screen with a spinning circle of dots and saying 'Welcome'. Eventually, the same blue screen saying 'Just a moment' would appear and the cycle would start again.

As I said above, I realised Windows was never likely to install in this situation, so I decided to power off the PC and install a clean copy of Windows using the USB version I had originally created using the Media Creation Tool. The only difference I made was to disconnect my Ethernet cable.

Upon completion of the installation and to my complete astonishment, everything on the machine was working as expected. All of the problems listed above, including the BSOD were gone!

However.......I then re-connected the Ethernet cable and Windows was very quick to start updating the system using the SGX drivers. After these had been installed, the same problems returned. I even ran the Intel Driver Assistant Utility afterwards which identified updates for the Wireless Adaptor and Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver. The Wireless Adaptor failed to install due to a fatal error and the Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver just hangs forever and doesn't actually install anything.

This problem first manifested itself on the 14th March 2020 when Windows attempted to install the latest version of it's OS onto my machine, which failed. That's 4 weeks ago tomorrow. Since then, I have probably installed Windows 50-60 times, all of which have resulted in the same errors, ultimately meaning I'm now left with a PC that is not fit for purpose.

As you can imagine, I am very frustrated with the situation by now. I cannot go on like this, spending hours each day attempting to problem solve, re-installing Windows time and time again, only to be hit by the same end result. Installing a operating system and the associated drivers should not be this problematic. I'm not sure if the problems are being caused by Intel or Windows, but I feel pretty exhausted and tired of trying to resolve the issue.

Is there a way I can disable Windows from actually downloading these SGX Drivers? My gut feeling is telling me these might be the root of the issue and perhaps a BIOS update is required? I have also noted that some of drivers installed by Windows are much older than the version Intel instruct consumers to use for my device. I did disable the SGX option in the BIOS prior to one of my many installations attempts, hoping this would mean I would be able to install all of the drivers manually, but the same SGX drivers still got installed. Maybe, because I was connected to the internet on that occasion?

I have not downloaded or installed any Quality, Feature, Cumulative or Security updates on my latest installation, as doing so on previous installation attempts has proved to be even more detrimental, as highlighted above. The PC is currently switched off, since it is not good for anything in its current state.

I have considered purchasing a new Mini-PC just to rid myself of this problem, but for something that it less than 18 months old, was in perfect working order prior to the 14th March, I am loathed to do so. There is also no guarantee the same thing wouldn't end up happening on a new device either, meaning I would then own 2 PC's that didn't work.

Apologies for such a long post, but I'm sure you can appreciate much of this has been born out of frustration. Any solid advise you can give on how I can move this problem/issue forward to full resolution would be highly appreciated. I will attempt to get the information you have requested previously, but since the machine is so temperamental in it's current state, I'm not sure how easy this will actually be.

Best regards

Ps: I received an email from Microsoft Support last week to say they were closing my case. I'm not sure why they are closing the case, particularly as their Level 2 support were unable to even connect to my machine and said they would phone me back in 3hrs, but never did. On that basis, I guess they don't have any diagnostic report.

[Wanner_G_Intel]

Hello KAske1,

To better assist you, we would like to know if you are able to provide us with the information requested by AndrewG_Intel?

Wanner G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KAske1]

Points 1, 2 and 3 requested by Andrew already answered within my previous posts of this thread.

SSU Log (Point 4) now attached.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

Thank you very much for your response and all the details provided, we really appreciate it since it helps us to understand better the scenario and all the steps performed so far.

We will send you a private message to gather contact information in order to assist you further.

Note:

Regarding your inquiry about if it is possible to disable Windows® updates for drivers, it seems that Microsoft® some have options, but we cannot confirm it can work in all the scenarios and if it is a persistent option, as their website refers to "... temporarily prevent a driver update...". For more details, please check this link: Hide Windows Updates or driver updates*.

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.

[KAske1]

Hi Andrew,

Many thanks for your reply.

In my previous post of the 10th April 2020, I made reference to SGX drivers. This was an error on my part and should have said DCH drivers. Please accept my apologies for any confusion I might have caused.

I actually have quite a significant update to the situation, after powering up the PC yesterday after a few days of it being switched off. As I hadn't done anything with the machine since installing the latest version of Windows 10 (1909) onto the device, a number of Windows updates were available to install. When I tried installing the updates, the same experience as before occurred where the machine got stuck at 36% when it re-started, ultimately causing a BSOD. I eventually forced the Windows repair feature, which undid the update and returned the machine back to its previous state.

I then decided to try rolling back the 'Display Adaptor Driver' to the 'Microsoft Basic Display Adaptor' to see if that made any difference. Upon restarting the PC and to my complete surprise, all of the issues I have been experiencing as outlined in my previous post(s) were now gone.

Furthermore, all of the Windows updates that had previously failed to install now installed without any issue, ie no blue screens, no getting stuck at 36%.

I then tried to reinstall the Windows 10 DCH Drivers, dated the 25th November 2019 using this link:-

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29230/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers-for-Intel-NUC?product=126137

Unfortunately, once the correct Display Driver was reinstalled, the same problems I had experienced previously immediately returned.

I then discovered that there seemed to be updated DCH drivers available from Intel, dated the 25th March 2020 from this link:-

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29465/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers

Frustratingly, these updated drivers did not work either and caused exactly the same issues.

I tried installing both versions using both the '.exe' and the 'Have Disk' methods with the Ethernet connected and disconnected.

The good news is that when I roll back to the 'Microsoft Basic Display Adaptor' all the problems go away. The PC has now been running for nearly 24Hrs using this Display Driver and I have not witnessed a single crash, freeze, blue screen or any other issues.

What I find very strange is prior to the 14th March 2020 when these problems started to occur, I was using the DCH drivers dated the 25th November 2019 without any problem. It would certainly seem that something is now causing a problem when using the correct Display Driver.

I hope this additional information is useful. Please let me know if you still wish me to supply the details you have asked for via PM.

Best regards

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

Thank your very much for your response and for taking the time to share all those details. Regarding the information you share and your inquiries, we have sent you a private message to confirm additional information.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

We would like to know if you were able to check the last private message we sent you on April 15th. If you need further assistance or if you have additional inquiries, please let us know, we will be glad to assist you.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

Thank you for your response via private message. We would like to recommend the following steps in order to assist you further.

First, we would like to recommend you a clean installation of the graphics driver so we will provide full steps, however, since you mentioned you are using the Microsoft® Basic Display Adapter driver, you may skip the steps that do not apply for your scenario:

1-  Download the DHC driver for the Intel® NUC, version 26.20.100.7529.

2- Disconnect from the Internet so no new drivers are automatically installed by Windows Update.

3- Uninstall any graphics driver and the Intel® Graphics Command Center and Intel® Graphics Control Panel from Windows® >> Apps & Features.

4-  Restart the computer.

5-  Confirm in Device Manager > Video Adapters the controller is listed as "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" >> if not, repeat steps 2 through 5.

6- If the adapter continues to be listed as "Intel HD Graphics" or similar, and no other Intel Graphics driver is listed under "Programs and Features" for removal, then it means Windows has switched to a previously installed Legacy driver. At this point we can remove Legacy drivers from Device Manager:

6.1- Right-click on 'Intel HD Graphics' or similar, and select 'Uninstall Device'

6.2- In the pop-up window make sure 'Delete the driver software for this device' is checked.

6.3- Click on 'Uninstall'.

6.4- Restart. (Repeat steps 6.1 through 6.4 until the device gets listed as "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter")

7- Install the driver that was downloaded in step 1.

8- Restart the computer.

9- Reconnect to the Internet.

10- If necessary, download the Intel® Graphics Control Panel from the Microsoft Store*.

11- If the issue persists, you can try the steps again using our latest generic driver Version: 26.20.100.7985.

If after testing with the clean steps for both graphics drivers the issue is still present, please kindly provide the following information:

a- Details how you are connecting the Intel® NUC to the display (video ports, cable type, adapters or dongles, TV brand and model, etc).

b- Please provide Microsoft "Event Viewer" Logs:

• In the search bar located on the left-hand side of your taskbar, next to the Windows button, type "Event Viewer" and click on the result to launch the app.
• Click to expand "Windows Logs" in the left pane, and then select "Application".
• Under the "Action" menu select "Save All Events As".
• Name the file "eventviewer.evtx" and click the "Save" button.
• Click the "OK" button if you see a "Display Information" dialog.

c- Please provide a new Intel® SSU report and make sure to select the "Everything" checkbox to include Third-party logs.

d- Please provide a Report for Intel® Graphics Drivers following the steps on the below link:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005848/graphics-drivers.html

Should you have additional inquiries, please let us know.

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.

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

We would like to know if you were able to try the steps provided in our previous post. Should you have additional inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us back.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KAske1]

Hi Andrew,

Following your detailed instructions, I installed the first set of generic drivers dated the 19th November 19 (26.20.100.7529) last Saturday (25th April 20). Unfortunately, even following the steps you had given made no difference and the same issues still existed after these drivers were installed. I did get an error when un-installing the previous driver and took a screen print capture which I have attached. There are 2 other things I should also note:-

1) When the new driver (26.20.100.7529) was installed I was instructed to re-start the PC (Same as in the past), but the machine did not re-start. It hung for over 10 minutes and eventually resulted in a blue screen error and then re-started. After the checking the device manager, the correct display driver was showing, but no wifi, disk management not working and unable to unplug/plugin USB devices without closing down the PC and rebooting.

2) Once the Ethernet cable was plugged back in and the internet connection re-established, when I checked for any Windows updates, the same driver was immediately downloaded and installed.

I have yesterday and today tried installing the driver set dated the 25th March 20 (26.20.100.7985) and also the most recent driver set now available dated the 27th April 20 (26.20.100.8141), obviously following exactly the same steps with the first driver set I installed on the 25th April 20, but exactly the same thing happened with both installations as detailed in points 1 and 2 listed above.

I tried creating an Event Viewer report and SSU log whilst the correct Intel drivers were installed, but found that neither application would actually open. I rolled back to the Basic Microsoft Display Driver and found that I was able to open both applications and create the reports, but I'm not sure how useful they will be with the basic display driver installed? The Intel Graphics Control Panel was not installed when I did a search and tried to download from the Microsoft Store as directed to do so. Unfortunately, I was not able to download when the correct Intel Display Driver was installed, but was able to download once I rolled back to the Basic Microsoft Display Driver. I have attached the report, but again I don't how much use this be.

My NUC is connected to a ULED Television Set. Details as follows:-

Brand: Hisense

Model: H65U7AUK

Year: 2018

NUC is currently connected to HDMI port 2, which supports 4K @ 60Hz. This port also supports ARC and I am using HDMI 2.0 cable.

I'm thinking of trying 1 further attempt at doing a completely clean install of Windows 10. Before doing so, I should like to know if it is actually necessary to manually install drivers for this device using the below link once Windows 10 has been installed:-

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/126137/Intel-NUC-Kit-NUC7PJYH

This is what seller I purchased the PC from had recommended. I know I certainly did this on earlier installation attempts I made, but on the more recent installations I think I just installed the 'Trusted Execution Engine' because the one listed on this page was more recent than what Windows installs and the only other driver manually installed was the 'Intel® Chipset Device Software' mainly because the description says that it's important to install this driver first once Windows has been installed. I am now wondering if I should just let Windows install the drivers needed and if these 2 installations might be causing the current issues?

I will hold off making a clean install until I hear back from you. With some luck, the reports I have attached may also yield some useful information.

Best regards

Kevin

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello KAske1

Thank you very much for your response and all the details provided.

Please allow us to check the report and the information provided and we will be updating this thread soon with the next steps.

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician