XPS 8930 SE, blue screen, disabled SpeedStep

Exactly what did the BSOD say? Do you have the latest drivers installed?

• Intel Chipset driver, v10.1.18019.8144, A08
• Intel Management Engine Interface Driver, v1914.12.0.1255, A05

Obviously it said

"STOP   0x000000eeeee  Speedstep needs to be disabled"

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the feedback. I will check if the computer has these latest drivers installed and I let you know.

The BSOD said Unknown something. Then I used the blue screen viewer to try to figure out the problem, and it showed a driver error. Exploring this error, I found some communities working on this same issue, and the solution was always to disable de SpeedStep.

I checked on my browser history, and I just found one visited website, but they don´t give many details about the issue, only the solution:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/Photoshop/SOLUTION-Photoshop-Lightroom-Crash-on-Starup-Alienware-Area-51/td-p/9732519

I´m sorry, but I lost the error details because I factory reset the computer a couple of times.

Best,

Renato

Hi Ron,

I double-checked and had the lastest drives installed. I reinstalled both of then just in case it had some corrupt file.

I turned on the Speedstep and the computer crashed again.

I will keep this setting turned off until something new.

Best,

Renato

Open an CMD window with Administrator privileges and at the prompt, type in:

sfc /scannow
Press Enter to start

This can take a while so be patient. See if that finds/fixes anything. Then reboot, re-enable Speedstep, and see what happens...

I ran the SFC. Errors were found and repaired. 

Reboot, re-enable Speedstep and Blue Screen

Thanks,

Renato

At least sfc did something for you... (We won't see the image you posted until the moderators approve it, even though you can see it.)

Create a bootable USB stick using a free download of the latest version of Win 10. Use at least a 16 GB stick even if their site still says "8 GB". Connect the stick to a USB2 port while the PC is powered off. Power on and immediately press F12. Look for the option to boot from USB.

When PC boots from USB, follow the instructions to repair the OS. Probably a good idea to back up all your personal files on external media before running the repair, to be safe. And make sure you have the product keys and installation media for all your apps too, just in case...

And if this PC is under warranty, it might be time to contact Dell Tech Support. Have Service Tag handy when you contact them.

Hi Ron,

I could run this computer with the SpeedStep option disabled during the past years, but with that, I was never able to use the processor at its maximum speed capacity.

I finally figured out the problem. After all, the problem was a faulty processor. I spent hours and more hours in my free time on top of this machine, running lots of different memory and processor stress test during the past years and never any single issue was found. Probably Autodesk Maya while rendering triggers something on the processor that no other software does.

I'm frustrated because this issue started when the computer was under warranty, but the Dell technician also couldn't find the problem. I believe this computer should have been replaced the first time I contacted Dell, but unfortunately, this didn't happen.

At least, the mystery has been solved I can sleep in peace now

Thanks for your help,

Renato

Well it's answer.

Have you tried contacting Autodesk support to see they know about the problem and have a patch to solve it.

Or maybe post on their forum. Seems to be a bunch of threads about various Maya BSODs over there.

Have you replaced processor? (and it's started working fine with SpeedStep?)

Does it passes advanced IPDT tests?
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15951/intel-processor-diagnostic-tool.html

Do you have VR heatsink installed (since it's using higher-tier CPU)

One of possible reasons it can't switch between various multiplier states efficiently might be related to degraded electronic components of VR (which is located on motherboard) and PWM subsystem, not necessarily CPU.

If case of failures it is also normally advised to temporarily remove all other components (including add-on PCIe GPU, leaving only single memory stick, to ensure it's not because of possible faulty memory module or memory channel on CPU) from motherboard - to make sure what probable defect there isn't causing this issue.

Since it's old PC - it's also recommended to replace thermal compound between CPU and heatsink (while reseating CPU in a slot), and since you've K series CPU - also the same for VR heatsink.

There's native Dell's PC diagnostic tool (before entering BIOS or Boot menu) which has CPU diagnostics too (incl. advanced mode with some stress-tests.

To narrow down to possible defect you can try to temporarily disable other functionality in BIOS too (but be careful with TPM or RAID configurations to avoid losing data) before running tests.

Windows has a separate Memory Diagnostics tool (with quick or advanced modes) which may also help.

Thanks for the feedback.

No, I haven't contacted Autodesk regarding this issue. I'm pretty sure this is not a software issue.

I work with 3D animation and Maya for more than 15 years. All my personal and corporate computers were always pushed to their limit through heavy load rendering conditions and this is the first machine I saw throwing a BSOD ever.

I put the XPS 8930 aside and moved on. Buying a new I9 processor is a terrible cost benefit. It is half the price of the brand new and 3 times faster computer.

Best Regards,

Renato