XPS 15 9530 - BSOD CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED caused by DellSupportAss / SupportAssist Remediation 5.5.16.0

Hi

Exact Same problem Here!! IT started last night. I have a dell precision 3571. Analysing the minidump with Windbg, we can see that SupportAssist is causing this! i srated to uninstall support assist than eit carshed again.. then i uninstalled eveyting related to support assist: (remediation and OS recovery plugin).. i cross my fingers that this has fixed that issue? can wait to hear from Dell technical support about this. Anyone? 

@Sygent  and @MartinHBS2026 ,

To determine if your computer Hardware is 100% functional (and you just have a software problem) I suggest you both:

a. Remove and/or uninstall all that Dell Support-Assist software (Windows-11 runs fine without it).

The minidump clearly points to one of the  supportAssist component being the culprit here. After uninstalling all SupportAssist components (i suspect the Dell SupportAssist Remediation being the cause here), the problem stopped! So its clearly software.  here is the full minidump output:

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*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
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CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (ef)
        A critical system process died
Arguments:
Arg1: ffffb7842a491080, Process object or thread object
Arg2: 0000000000000000, If this is 0, a process died. If this is 1, a thread died.
Arg3: ffffb7842a491080, The process object that initiated the termination.
Arg4: 0000000000000000, Additional triage data.

Debugging Details:
------------------

KEY_VALUES_STRING: 1

    Key  : Analysis.CPU.mSec
    Value: 1265

    Key  : Analysis.Elapsed.mSec
    Value: 2468

    Key  : Analysis.IO.Other.Mb
    Value: 1

    Key  : Analysis.IO.Read.Mb
    Value: 1

    Key  : Analysis.IO.Write.Mb
    Value: 23

    Key  : Analysis.Init.CPU.mSec
    Value: 578

    Key  : Analysis.Init.Elapsed.mSec
    Value: 21029

    Key  : Analysis.Memory.CommitPeak.Mb
    Value: 86

    Key  : Analysis.Version.DbgEng
    Value: 10.0.29547.1002

    Key  : Analysis.Version.Description
    Value: 10.2602.27.2 amd64fre

    Key  : Analysis.Version.Ext
    Value: 1.2602.27.2

    Key  : Bugcheck.Code.LegacyAPI
    Value: 0xef

    Key  : Bugcheck.Code.TargetModel
    Value: 0xef

    Key  : CriticalProcessDied.ExceptionCode
    Value: 0x3ec81080

    Key  : CriticalProcessDied.Process
    Value: DellSupportAss

    Key  : Dump.Attributes.AsUlong
    Value: 0x21808

    Key  : Dump.Attributes.DiagDataWrittenToHeader
    Value: 1

    Key  : Dump.Attributes.ErrorCode
    Value: 0x0

    Key  : Dump.Attributes.KernelGeneratedTriageDump
    Value: 1

    Key  : Dump.Attributes.LastLine
    Value: Dump completed successfully.

    Key  : Dump.Attributes.ProgressPercentage
    Value: 0

    Key  : Failure.Bucket
    Value: 0xEF_DellSupportAss_BUGCHECK_CRITICAL_PROCESS_3ec81080_nt!PspCatchCriticalBreak

    Key  : Failure.Hash
    Value: {9b6c08f6-b77b-e6f9-9f74-45f465b46695}

    Key  : Hypervisor.Enlightenments.ValueHex
    Value: 0x7417df84

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.AnyHypervisorPresent
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.ApicEnlightened
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.ApicVirtualizationAvailable
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.AsyncMemoryHint
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.CoreSchedulerRequested
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.CpuManager
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.DeprecateAutoEoi
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.DynamicCpuDisabled
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.Epf
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.ExtendedProcessorMasks
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.HardwareMbecAvailable
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.MaxBankNumber
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.MemoryZeroingControl
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.NoExtendedRangeFlush
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.NoNonArchCoreSharing
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.Phase0InitDone
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.PowerSchedulerQos
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.RootScheduler
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.SynicAvailable
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.UseQpcBias
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.Value
    Value: 55185662

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.ValueHex
    Value: 0x34a10fe

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.VpAssistPage
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.Flags.VsmAvailable
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.AccessStats
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.CrashdumpEnlightened
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.CreateVirtualProcessor
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.DisableHyperthreading
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.HostTimelineSync
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.HypervisorDebuggingEnabled
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.IsHyperV
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.LivedumpEnlightened
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.MapDeviceInterrupt
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.MceEnlightened
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.Nested
    Value: 0

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.StartLogicalProcessor
    Value: 1

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.Value
    Value: 1015

    Key  : Hypervisor.RootFlags.ValueHex
    Value: 0x3f7

    Key  : WER.System.BIOSRevision
    Value: 1.34.0.0

BUGCHECK_CODE:  ef

BUGCHECK_P1: ffffb7842a491080

BUGCHECK_P2: 0

BUGCHECK_P3: ffffb7842a491080

BUGCHECK_P4: 0

FILE_IN_CAB:  051026-15921-01.dmp

DUMP_FILE_ATTRIBUTES: 0x21808
  Kernel Generated Triage Dump

FAULTING_THREAD:  ffffb7843ec81080

PROCESS_NAME:  DellSupportAss

CRITICAL_PROCESS:  DellSupportAss

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0x3ec81080 - <Unable to get error code text>

BLACKBOXBSD: 1 (!blackboxbsd)

BLACKBOXNTFS: 1 (!blackboxntfs)

BLACKBOXPNP: 1 (!blackboxpnp)

BLACKBOXWINLOGON: 1 (!blackboxwinlogon) (!blackboxwinlogonnotify)

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

STACK_TEXT:  
ffffde05`e63eb838 fffff801`78377ab0     : 00000000`000000ef ffffb784`2a491080 00000000`00000000 ffffb784`2a491080 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
ffffde05`e63eb840 fffff801`7853d7e3     : ffffb784`2a491080 ffffb784`2a4910b0 ffffb784`3ec81080 00000000`00000000 : nt!PspCatchCriticalBreak+0x128
ffffde05`e63eb8e0 fffff801`78542557     : ffffb784`2a491080 00000000`00000000 ffffb784`2a491080 00000000`00000000 : nt!PspTerminateAllThreads+0x27f
ffffde05`e63eb960 fffff801`786ceca1     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000001 ffffb784`3ec81080 ffffb784`2a491080 : nt!PspTerminateProcess+0xf7
ffffde05`e63eb9a0 fffff801`782bc455     : ffffb784`2a491080 ffffb784`3ec81080 01dce082`7e9c4ee5 00340000`0000031a : nt!NtTerminateProcess+0x121
ffffde05`e63eba20 00007ffc`58a82224     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x25
0000005e`fcafff78 00000000`00000000     : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x00007ffc`58a82224

SYMBOL_NAME:  nt!PspCatchCriticalBreak+128

MODULE_NAME: nt

IMAGE_NAME:  ntkrnlmp.exe

IMAGE_VERSION:  10.0.26100.8328

STACK_COMMAND: .process /r /p 0xffffb7842a491080; .thread /r /p 0xffffb7843ec81080 ; kb

BUCKET_ID_FUNC_OFFSET:  128

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0xEF_DellSupportAss_BUGCHECK_CRITICAL_PROCESS_3ec81080_nt!PspCatchCriticalBreak

OSPLATFORM_TYPE:  x64

OSNAME:  Windows 10

FAILURE_ID_HASH:  {9b6c08f6-b77b-e6f9-9f74-45f465b46695}

Followup:     MachineOwner
---------

@MartinHBS2026​ 

I completely agree with you.
First I checked that it wasn't a hardware issue, then I checked that new drivers had been installed, and finally I realized that the problem appeared after the latest Dell update. It triggered a reboot every 34 minutes.
After identifying the name of the responsible process with WinDbg, I first disabled the service for the next reboot with:
sc.exe config "Dell SupportAssist Remediation" start= disabled

And after restarting Windows, I had no more problems.

If that hadn't worked, I would have tried uninstalling 'Dell SupportAssist Remediation' and 'Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update', which were updated the same day the issue appeared.

@MartinHBS2026​ ,

After uninstalling all SupportAssist components (i suspect the Dell SupportAssist Remediation being the cause here), the problem stopped!

So its clearly software.  here is the full minidump output:

Good work.

Thanks for this post. Same issue here after updating on Friday, laptop would reboot every 30 minutes, but I have a different laptop Dell Pro Plus 14. Uninstalled all Dell Support Assist apps and seems to be stable now.

BUCKET_ID_FUNC_OFFSET:  128

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0xEF_DellSupportAss_BUGCHECK_CRITICAL_PROCESS_e61f8080_nt!PspCatchCriticalBreak

FAULTING_THREAD:  ffffd78be61f8080

PROCESS_NAME:  DellSupportAss

CRITICAL_PROCESS:  DellSupportAss

@Sygent​ Thanks man, confirmed I have the same issue.

@MartinHBS2026​ Thanks for this post. I have exact symptoms and root cause. I uninstalled anything to do with support assist and I am back stable now.

@Waddo​  The point is that, in this way, you dont receive new updates from DELL and no HW diagnostic.
I suggest to reinstall that Dell Assist suite and to disable only their SupportAssist Remediation service. They are two days everything is stable now.

Bye, bye

Check event viewer, dumps and simply fix it.

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0xEF_DellSupportAss_BUGCHECK_CRITICAL_PROCESS_524cd0c0_nt!PspCatchCriticalBreak

Can verify that this issue is present on Dell Pro 14 Premium as well.

DISM, SFC, ePSA, /forceit flash and in place repair done.
Let's just conclude that SupportASS is the issue here.

Proposed Solution - Remove all SupportAssist software installs from the affected machine. In our case, it was SupportAssist, SA Remediation, and SA OS Recovery. The cause was Dell Command prompting users to update over the last week and when they did, the computer began rebooting every 30 minutes or so. Removing these apps have restored functionality. 

EDIT: Our affected machines are Dell Pro 14 Premiums as well @degasus 

@bc_89​ 

We simply deployed a script, stopping and disabling the 'Dell SupportAssist Remediation' service, until it has been fixed.

Less scorched earth, and effortless to undo.