BSOD Bad Pool Caller

Question

Occasionally I get a BSOD with the first parameter OxC2 on my W2K machine. I got some guideance via Google, and a suggestion to run Verifier.exe from directory system32. Running verifier just opens a diagnostic program that does not seem to do anything. Maybe it just runs in the background and waits for the next occurrence. Has anyone had this BSOD, and any suggestions on how to fix it. Microsoft Technet says its either a driver or hardware failing.

jwatt · Answer

It looks to me like verifier's more useful as a driver debugger than a driver troubleshooter.

What module is listed as containing the address where the bluescreen occurs? That may offer a hint as to which driver's causing the crash.

Jim

Frank Curry · Answer

Jimw, thanks for responding. Which parameter identifiers the problem driver?  I will watch for it next time. I only noted the first one which was Ox000000C2, which people seem to abbreviate to OxC2. The second parameter was (Ox00000007,... was as far as I noted. I will take a look at my drivers anyway.

jwatt · Answer

It proved incredibly difficult to find an image of a Win2K bluescreen, even though I'm composing this on a Win2K laptop. But it has bluescreened exactly twice in its entire lifetime! I did find an article about Win2K bluescreens in a TechNet article that helped me remember what they look like. ;-) See the section on "Stop Message Screen Sections".

The line of interest is the one that contains " *** Address (xxxx) base at (yyyy,) DateStamp (zzzz) - (module name)". The "module name" may point us to what driver (or other module) is causing the crash.

Jim

Frank Curry · Answer

Thanks again jimw. No sign of the BSOD yet.

Frank Curry · Answer

I checked the Device Manager. There are no problems flagged. However there are some multiple entries. Under Monitor there are 3 Default Monitor Entries. Under PCMCIA Adapters there are two Texas Instrument PCI-1225 Cardbus Controllers. Should I delete the extras?

jwatt · Answer

Multiple monitors are benign. My C640/W2K SP3 laptop has two listed. I show a TI PCI-1410 CardBus controller and two TI PCI-1420 controllers, all under PCI adapters. So I'd say all that's normal. Maybe the cardbus controllers are per-slot? I don't know!

Is the bluescreen associated with any particular activity? The only one I've experienced, described in this thread, was highly patterned, although the pattern was somewhat difficult to determine.

Jim

Frank Curry · Answer

I was just our of sleep mode, and likely running OE6 or IE6. This is only my second BSOD with BAD_POOL_CALLER. Thanks for the referred thread, I scanned through it. I will make a copy of all the parameters if it happens again. Thanks for your help. I have run Norton 2002 AV with latest signatures, just in case, but no problem found.

Windows General

BSOD Bad Pool Caller

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