Diagnose DPC watchdog violation from minidump

Question

My PC is crashing daily since sysadmin upgraded it to Windows 10. I don't always get a blue screen but when I do all I see is "DPC watchdog violation", which appears to be too generic to mean anything.

For company policy reasons I cannot apply the straightforward solutions (downgrade to Windows 7 or get a new computer from this decade). I may however have a chance to get a small component replaced (such as a RAM module).

I sometimes get a *.dmp file at C:\Windows\Minidump. Is it possible to process that file and figure out what faulty driver or component may be after the crashes?

I've installed Debugging Tools for Windows but I totally lack the skills required to use them.

Answer 1

Analyzing the dmp with Windbg.exe, shows that the nVIDIA storage driver causes the crash:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION (133)
The DPC watchdog detected a prolonged run time at an IRQL of DISPATCH_LEVEL
or above.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000000, A single DPC or ISR exceeded its time allotment. The offending
    component can usually be identified with a stack trace.
Arg2: 0000000000000501, The DPC time count (in ticks).
Arg3: 0000000000000500, The DPC time allotment (in ticks).
Arg4: 0000000000000000

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

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvstor.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvstor.sys

DUMP_CLASS: 1

DUMP_QUALIFIER: 400

BUILD_VERSION_STRING:  10.0.14393.351 (rs1_release_inmarket.161014-1755)

SYSTEM_MANUFACTURER:  PACKARD BELL BV

SYSTEM_PRODUCT_NAME:  IMEDIA 4125

SYSTEM_VERSION:  PB80X04304

BIOS_VENDOR:  Phoenix Technologies, LTD

BIOS_VERSION:  PBAMARMB.0400

BIOS_DATE:  05/15/2007

BASEBOARD_MANUFACTURER:  Packard Bell BV

BASEBOARD_PRODUCT:  MCP61DM2MA

BASEBOARD_VERSION:  1.XX

DUMP_TYPE:  2

BUGCHECK_P1: 0

BUGCHECK_P2: 501

BUGCHECK_P3: 500

BUGCHECK_P4: 0

DPC_TIMEOUT_TYPE:  SINGLE_DPC_TIMEOUT_EXCEEDED

CPU_COUNT: 2

CPU_MHZ: 83e

CPU_VENDOR:  AuthenticAMD

CPU_FAMILY: f

CPU_MODEL: 6b

CPU_STEPPING: 1

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  WIN8_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x133

PROCESS_NAME:  firefox.exe

CURRENT_IRQL:  d

ANALYSIS_VERSION: 10.0.14951.1001 amd64fre

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from fffff800a7bb509e to fffff800a7b5f3b0

STACK_TEXT:  
00 nt!KeBugCheckEx
01 nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'
02 nt!KeClockInterruptNotify
03 hal!HalpTimerClockInterrupt
04 nt!KiCallInterruptServiceRoutine
05 nt!KiInterruptSubDispatchNoLockNoEtw
06 nt!KiInterruptDispatchNoLockNoEtw
07 hal!HalpHpetQueryCounter
08 hal!KeStallExecutionProcessor
09 nvstor
0a 0x0
0b 0x0

IMAGE_NAME:  nvstor.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  5355649b

BUCKET_ID_FUNC_OFFSET:  7468

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0x133_DPC_nvstor!unknown_function

BUCKET_ID:  0x133_DPC_nvstor!unknown_function

PRIMARY_PROBLEM_CLASS:  0x133_DPC_nvstor!unknown_function

OSBUILD_TIMESTAMP:  2016-10-15 05:38:38

BUILDDATESTAMP_STR:  161014-1755

BUILDLAB_STR:  rs1_release_inmarket

BUILDOSVER_STR:  10.0.14393.351

FAILURE_ID_HASH_STRING:  km:0x133_dpc_nvstor!unknown_function

    Loaded symbol image file: nvstor.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\nvstor.sys
    Image name: nvstor.sys
    Browse all global symbols  functions  data
    Timestamp:        Mon Apr 21 20:34:03 2014 (5355649B)
    CheckSum:         00031976

So Firefox triggered a disk IO and the nVIDIA driver took to long to proceed a DPC and Windows triggered the crash to prevent a hanging Windows.

Look for a driver update and check if this fixes it.