BSOD running WIn32 sample_multi_transcode.exe on Windows 8.1

[James_B_9]

Hi,

I have been recieving BSOD when running our software application which uses H264 hardware decoding on the following laptop.

DELL Inspiron 17 5749

Windows 8.1

Intel Core i5-5200U

Intel HD Graphics 5500 (Driver Ver: 10.18.15.4279)

Because I was not recieving BSOD with the same application on my Lenovo laptop

Lenovo U430 Touch

Windows 8.1

Intel Core i5-4210U

Intel HD Graphics 4400 (Driver Ver:10.18.14.4170)

or other desktops, I think it must be a driver/software issue on the DELL laptop, I therefore reinstalled Windows 8.1 on the DELL with all the drivers from the DELL website and all the windows updates.  My application still caused BSOD.

I have now reinstalled windows again without any drivers or software (windows updates or otherwise) except the Intel HD graphics driver details.  Do I require any other Drivers to be installed, chipset etc. for correct functionality of the hardware decoder?

Now all I have on the DELL machine is the sample_multi_transcode.exe, the .h264 files and the .par file containing the lines

-i::h264 input1.264 -o::h264 output1.264 -hw

-i::h264 input2.264 -o::h264 output2.264 -hw

-i::h264 input3.264 -o::h264 output3.264 -hw

-i::h264 input4.264 -o::h264 output4.264 -hw

-i::h264 input5.264 -o::h264 output5.264 -hw

-i::h264 input6.264 -o::h264 output6.264 -hw

When I run the win32 pre build sample_multi_transcode.exe (from the Intel Media Samples 6.0.0.49\_bin\win32 directory) with the above par file, it runs for a while and then causes a BSOD with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FALIURE.

When I run this on my Lenovo it completes without any errors.  Additionally when I run the software version on the DELL, by including libmfxsw32.dll in the same directory and changing the -hw flag to -sw I do not get a BSOD either.

I have run DELL's hardware test suite in BIOS which has not detected any hardware faults. 

Their are so many differences between the two laptops (CPU, Intel Graphics, etc.) and I do not have another laptop to test with Intel HD Graphics 5500 graphics that I do not know how to trace the problem.  Has anyone got any suggestions?

Thank you,

James.

[Shaojuan_Z_Intel]

Hi James,

Both your systems are not in the list of validated hardware as stated in the release notes, but that doesn't mean your system won't work, as you already know your Lenovo works, it just means that there could be variation that was not fully validated. So for your DELL system, what version of Media SDK did you install? The latest version is 6.0.0.388, please update to the latest one if possible. Also, I notice that you are using old samples, can you update to the latest samples (6.0.0.68) as well? After all update, if you still see problem using -hw in sample_multi_transcode, please send the output of mediasdk_system_analyzer under directory InstallDiretory/Software Development Kit/tools/mediasdk_sys_analyzer. Thanks! 

[James_B_9]

Hi Shaojuan,

Thank you for your help.  I did not know that their was a list of validated hardware for running media SDK compiled programs on.  Can you tell me where on that page can I find it

The version of the media SDK I am using is 6.0.0.349 however this is only installed on the Lenovo, I did not want to install anything on my DELL except a fresh install of windows 8.1. Can I run the mediasdk_system_analyser without installing the SDK?

Do I need the media SDK to be installed in order to run the examples, I understood that I could deploy the applications as long as the latest drivers were installed on the target machine.

Thank you,

James.

[Shaojuan_Z_Intel]

Hi James,

Here is one release notes for Media Server Studio Essential Edition in Windows https://software.intel.com/sites/default/files/managed/cb/06/media_server_studio_sdk_release_notes-windows.pdf. You can find the list in Hardware section. You should be able to run the system analyzer without installing the SDK. I would recommend install the latest Media SDK for more feature support and big fixes. For some features, especially implementation in software, you need to install Media SDK. Thanks.

[James_B_9]

Hi Shaojuan,

I am a little bit confused.  I am using the samples, which I downloaded using the INDE Media SDK for Windows 6.0.0.388\samples\download.htm link.  The release notes for the samples say

Hardware acceleration is available through hardware implementations of the Media SDK Library coming with Intel® IrisTM and HD Graphics Driver for Microsoft* Windows* 7/8.1 on platforms with:
o 3rd Generation Intel® CoreTM processors,
o 4th Generation Intel® CoreTM processors,
o 5th Generation Intel® CoreTM processors,
o Intel® CoreTM M processors,
o Selected SKUs of Intel® CeleronTM and Intel® PentiumTM processors with Intel HD Graphics which support Intel® Quick Sync Video.
o Selected SKUs of Intel® AtomTM processors with Intel® HD Graphics which support Intel Quick Sync Video.
Additionally, hardware acceleration for API 1.4 feature set is available through hardware implementation of the Media SDK Library coming with Intel HD Graphics Driver for Microsoft Windows 7/8.1 on platforms with 2nd Generation Intel® CoreTM processors.

Additionally I am building our application using INDE which looks to be compatible with both systems accoring to its release notes.  However for these tests I am not installing anything on the DELL system.  If the samples are not compatible do you have any sample code for hardware decoding using the Intel media SDK which is compatible with an Intel HD Graphics 5500 card?  If not how do I find out how to use Intel media SDK to decode using this hardware?

My problem is that the code I have, and the sample_multi_transcode.exe work everywhere that I have tried.  However it consistantly causes a BSOD on my DELL laptop with a 5500 card (the laptop passes all hardware tests I have tried and has a fresh install of windows 8.1).  I need to find out what is causing the BSOD, so we can avoid it, i.e. is it a routine in the code, the laptop, the drivers or  the HD5500 GPU.

The output for the 32bit version of system analyser for the DELL machine is

Intel Media SDK System Analyzer (32 bit)

The following versions of Media SDK API are supported by platform/driver:

        Version Target  Supported       Dec     Enc
        1.0     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.0     SW      Yes             X       X
        1.1     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.1     SW      Yes             X       X
        1.3     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.3     SW      Yes             X       X
        1.4     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.4     SW      Yes             X       X
        1.5     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.5     SW      Yes             X       X
        1.6     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.6     SW      Yes             X       X
        1.7     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.7     SW      Yes             X       X
        1.8     HW      Yes             X       X
        1.8     SW      Yes             X       X

Graphics Devices:
        Name                                         Version             State
        Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500                    10.18.15.4279       Active

System info:
        CPU:    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-5200U CPU @ 2.20GHz
        OS:     Microsoft Windows 8.1
        Arch:   64-bit

Installed Media SDK packages (be patient...processing takes some time):

Installed Media SDK DirectShow filters:

Installed Intel Media Foundation Transforms:
  Intel« Hardware M-JPEG Decoder MFT : {00C69F81-0524-48C0-A353-4DD9D54F9A6E}
  Intel« Hardware VP9 Sync Decoder MFT : {07AB4BD2-1979-4FCD-A697-DF9AD15B34FE}
  Intel« Hardware VP9 Decoder MFT : {0C69E30B-A112-4A86-B496-35120CD745D5}
  Intel« Hardware VP8 Sync Decoder MFT : {451E3CB7-2622-4BA5-8E1D-44B3C41D0924}
  Intel« Hardware VP8 Decoder MFT : {6D856398-834E-4A89-8EE5-071BB3F58BE4}
  Intel« Quick Sync Video H.264 Encoder MFT : {4BE8D3C0-0515-4A37-AD55-E4BAE19AF471}
  Intel« Hardware H265 Encoder MFT : {BC10864D-2B34-408F-912A-102B1B867B6C}

Analysis complete... [press ENTER]

Thank you,

James.

[Shaojuan_Z_Intel]

Hi James,

sorry about the confusion. I didn't realize you are using MediaSDK in INDE. So your systems are supported, and the samples should work on your systems. When you said "sample_multi_transcode.exe work everywhere that I have tried.  However it consistantly causes a BSOD on my DELL laptop", do you mean sample_multi_transcode works on all other systems except for your DELL? Does other sample have the same issue, for example, does sample_decode.exe work in your DELL? Thanks!

[James_B_9]

Hi Shaojuan,

That is correct sample_multi_transcode.exe works on my other systems with the options I specified but always causes a BSOD with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE message on my DELL system.

sample_decode.exe also causes a BSOD but not as frequently on my DELL system.

Additionally if I have the System Analyser running I do not get a BSOD.

Thank you,

James.

[Shaojuan_Z_Intel]

Hi James,

Thanks for your update! It's strange that no BSOD with system analyzer running. Sounds like memory leaking issue. Could you try the older driver 4264 here instead of the latest 4279? Please let us know if 4264 cause the same BSOD issue. Thanks!

[James_B_9]

Hi Shaojuan,

I still get a BSOD with driver version 4264.

Thank you,

James.

[Shaojuan_Z_Intel]

Hi James,

Thanks for letting us know the result of driver 4264. There was a known BSOD issue in encode, and was fixed in the upcoming driver, but the driver is not publicly available yet. Seems you have BSOD error in decode too, so it may not be the same issue. May I ask why you use 32-bit version instead of 64-bit one? Do you get the same error using 64-bit version? We will try to see if we can reproduce your issue. Thanks!

[James_B_9]

Hi Shaojuan,

I was testing the 32 bit version because our application is currently 32 bit.  We are decoding h264 produced by an  IP camera which will be active 24/7 and therefore require stability on long decoding runs.  To this end my test of sample_decode involved continually running one decoding session after the other with the same file, this avoids creating a massive h264 file and running a single session.  I therefore call sample_decode as

sample_decode h264 -hw -d3d -i ../input1.264

sample_decode h264 -hw -d3d -i ../input1.264

.....

This still results in a BSOD with the x64 version, but it can take more than an hour.

As I mentioned in my original post, because I suspect a driver issue, I do not have any additional drivers installed apart from the Intel HD graphics driver.  Does the decoder require additional drivers to be installed to avoid BSOD, that is should I for example, install the Intel Chipset Family or Intel Serial IO Drivers?

Thank you,

James.

[Harshdeep_B_Intel]

Hi James, 

It's somewhat hard to track down the exact cause of the BSOD issue is if due to Drivers/BIOS/OS? Unfortunately, we could not find exact system configuration as yours, hence to rootcause if issue is with driver, we ran same scenario test (~ 5hrs) on a system with HD graphics 5500/4279 driver/ Win8.1 and could not reproduce the same issue. But, I do have some suggestions..

• Verify latest BIOS is installed on Dell machine. 
• Install  updates for chipset boards. Run the Intel® Driver Update Utility which can easily provide all the latest drivers. 
• As Win8.1 included dx11 support, is issue observed when you change command line from "d3d" to "d3d11" implementation. 

Let me know you results.

Thanks,  

[James_B_9]

Hi Harsh,

The BIOS is updated to the latest version and I have now installed the chipset driver.  Strangely the Intel Driver Update utility did not report any updates before I installed the chipset driver and also when I had the older 4264 version of the driver installed.  I have not installed all the windows updates yet because until you suggested using the driver update utility, I had not even installed the network drivers.  Does your test system have all windows updates installed?

I am still getting BSOD unfortunately, for all memory surface configurations.  The number of minutes before a BSOD on the tests I have run so far are:

System memory - 1) 203 mins, 2) > 780 mins

DirectX 9 - 1) 157 mins, 2) 12 mins, 3) 57 mins

DirectX 11 - 1) 10 mins, 2) 35 mins, 3) 2 mins, 4) 5 mins

Unfortunatley their are many differences between our set ups to remove some of these, is it possible for you to provide me with the file you are using as input to the decoder, and the exact test setup you are using?  I am simply calling sample_decode.exe (from Intel Media Samples 6.0.0.68/_bin/x64) over and over again on the same 60 minute long 720x576 25fps h264 file.

Additionally my system also has a discrete Nvidia GPU is this likely to be the cause of my problems?

Thank you for your help,

James.

[Harshdeep_B_Intel]

Hi James, 

Thank you for sharing the details. Yes, we tested on the test system with latest BIOS/Drivers and Win8.1 OS with same use case scenario as yours and executed sample_decode.exe in a loop. We used a standard test clip (https://peach.blender.org/download/) 1920x1080 h.264 file and ran the command line "sample_decode h264 -hw -d3d -i bbb1920x1080.264" in a continuous loop of (~5hrs) and did not see system bsod issue at our end. 

My system also has a discrete Nvidia GPU is this likely to be the cause of my problems? -> Thank you for sharing this information. One way, to isolate if issue is due to discrete card would be, to run the same test scenario with out discrete card on your system. Let me know your test results without the discrete graphics card, if bsod issue is still seen? 

Thanks,

[James_B_9]

Hi Harsh,

Unfortunately I cannot remove the discrete card from my system because its a laptop.  Additionally I do not have the option to disable it in the BIOS provided by DELL.

Can I just confirm the medai files I am now testing with are the same as yours.  I could not download them from the main site you linked to, instead I downloaded both

http://download.blender.org/peach/bigbuckbunny_movies/big_buck_bunny_1080p_h264.mov

http://download.blender.org/peach/bigbuckbunny_movies/big_buck_bunny_720p_h264.mov

from the site it was linked to, and extracted the h264 stream using yamb?

I have run a loop on the 1080p file for >17 hours using -d3d11 without a BSOD, which is promising because it agrees with your test system.  However I have run 6 tests with the 720p file and -d3d11 so far and get a BSOD after 5mins, 109mins,  > 6hrs, 36mins, 58mins and 11mins.

Is it possible that the format of the media file is causing the BSOD I have been getting?

Thank you,

James

[Harshdeep_B_Intel]

Hi James, 

Thank you for sharing the information. I do not suspect format of the media file is the issue here, as mediasdk supports elementary h.264  streams. Its interesting to investigate, that 1080p clip did not cause the issue but issue was seen when running a 720p clip.

To isolate if issue is due to discrete graphics card, can you please run the test scenario on any other system you have without a discrete card and do you see bsod issue? Can you please confirm if your other system (Lenovo U430 Touch) has a discrete card? Also, can you please attach a tracer logs available at (<installed path>/mediasdk/tools/mediasdk_tracer.exe) when BSOD issue is seen and not seen? This could provide us required information and help us understand cause of the issue further. 

Thanks, 

[James_B_9]

Hi Harsh,

Unfortunately I only have laptops and I do not have one without a discrete card, which has a modern intel CPU.  Therefore my Lenovo which I have not had any BSOD issues with has a discrete card.

I have attached the logs for the DELL (Dell_bbb_720p_BSOD.zip) which has a BSOD after 7 minutes, and a run on the Lenovo (Lenovo_bbb_720p.zip), for 27 minutes.

I am currently collecting logs on a long 1080p run, to verify it does not result in a BSOD.

The logs do not include frame logging, do you need this?

Thank you,

James.

[James_B_9]

Hi Harsh,

Unfortunately I get a BSOD when decoding the 1080p file, it just took longer 14hr52mins.

I have attached the log.

Thank you,

James.

[Harshdeep_B_Intel]

Hello James, 

Thank you for running requested tests and sharing tracer logs. Tracer captures runtime MSDK API calls and after analysing both the logs (Dell_bbb_1080p/720p), I do not see any issues with MSDK lib function calls causing a BSOD error. Unfortunately, we do not have a dell system with exact configuration ( Intel graphics + discrete Nvidia Graphics card) to reproduce this issue. Similar to what you are observing on other Lenovo system on your end, we tried on other available systems with dual graphics and could not reproduce bsod error. After checking with our experts from platform team, we suspect installing generic intel graphics driver on switchable/hybrid graphics scenario (2 graphics card on same board) could be causing this issue. As, to support this specific feature (2 graphics cards on a system) Dell provides there own custom built drivers to run on similar systems with dual graphics. Can you please check with dell support and update with custom driver provided for your system, as this could help resolve bsod issue seen. Hope this helps and I have also sent a private message. 

Thanks,