Ever had a blue screen pop up with a message like this?
*** Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
*** The system has halted ***
Windows makes this screen look something like this:
There are a couple of other specific errors that can sometimes pop up in these messages:
- NMI: Parity Check / Memory Parity Error
- NMI: Channel Check / IOCHK
As the message indicates, you've got a hardware problem of some sort. These screens are generated when your system encounters a Non Maskable Interrupt (NMI). The long and short of it is that NMIs are hardware interrupts which have to be serviced immediately. Windows has a concept of IRQ levels, or IRQLs. The highest IRQL is always serviced, preempting any lower level interrupts which are currently being serviced. The preemptive behavior here is called masking the interrupt. So, an NMI is an interrupt which must be serviced immediately. Generally you get an NMI when there's a major hardware fault that prevents the operating system from continuing.
Some systems allow you to trigger an NMI either via a physical switch on the machine, or via something like an iLO.
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#1 re: NMI Blue Screen
Friday, January 23 2009 11:35 AM by Fang Cheng Ying#2 re: NMI Blue Screen
Thursday, November 12 2009 9:55 AM by Mark LevyRe: NMI crashes.
I just wanted to reinforce what you posted above: There was an old saying at Novell, that "real" NMI crashes are always caused by hardware. It CAN corrupt files, but unless a virus has been designed to cause an NMI through software, hardware is the place to start, and they can be a real bear to track down... I've seen NMI errors caused by adapter cards that have gone bad, system board, memory, and power supply problems.
Thanks for a terrific resource.
Mark
#3 re: NMI Blue Screen
Thursday, January 21 2010 1:25 PM by RebeccaAbout a month ago I got the blue screen with that message about physically dumping files (it was a pretty long message and I've forgotten it by now). Yesterday, I got this hardware blue screen that you're talking about here (about 3x). Are they related? I haven't brought my laptop in at all (the warranty expired about a week before the "physical dumping" blue screen). I have just been shutting my computer down and restarting it every time one of the messages comes up. Do I need to take my laptop in and where should I go to do that? Also, if it really is a hardware problem, does this mean I wouldn't have a laptop for a long time while they try to find out which part it is? Thanks!
#4 re: NMI Blue Screen
December 13, 2008 10:40 PM by Forcing a Blue Screen via iLO – iLO2 VersionSometimes one of the most useful resources at your disposal when troubleshooting a hang or other issues is the memory dump file Windows will write out during a blue screen. If a system is hung and you are not able to get to it locally, pressing Ctrl+ScrollLock
#5 re: NMI Blue Screen
December 13, 2008 10:46 PM by Forcing a Blue Screen via iLO : Brian Desmond's BlogPingback from Forcing a Blue Screen via iLO : Brian Desmond's Blog
Hey, i had this blue screen problem on my Dell inspiron 640m for quite awhile already. Beside showing the blue screen my laptop will alternatively auto restart without my permission.
I went to a shop and they say it was virus attack and spyware's fault. However, my laptop still crashes and showed the blue screen. The next day i bought to the shop, they say its becos of my many corrupted/crashed files so i need to reformat my com; they refuse to see it as a hardware problem.
After reformating my com, i did not see the blue screen YET(probably because i just reformatted it less than 24hrs ago)however, it just auto-restarted by itself while i was surfing the net!
Nevertheless, the duration which i am able to use the laptop before it crashes/restarted lengthens compared to before.
I believe it is a hardware problem, but wad exactly is happening? and how do i go about solving it?
PS: if u have included a solution in your post, i probably wouldn't have understand because I am bad with coms/laptop problems, so if u kindly would, explain as simply as you can here. Thanks and sorry for the trouble!