Diagnosing BSOD on windows 16"

Community Support
1

New to hardware repair. I have a 16"

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with windows 11. Every once in a while i get a series of blue screens of death (BDOD) with no information. I dont know how to get started with so little information. Windows reports no harware issues and passes memtest64. Dows anyone have advice beyond moving to linux :slight_smile:

2

Hello! What are the specs of your laptop? What build number of windows are you using? Are you using the framework driver pack, and did you install any newer drivers on top of it?

3

I’ve been completely stable under Windows 11. You should install the current BIOS and Framework-supplied drivers.

THEN I would recommend getting the current drivers from the various hardware manufacturers (e.g. AMD, RealTek, etc.) and installing over top.

My current bundle (exported via RAPR) is always available in my Externally Shared OneDrive folder and gets updated whenever I’ve upgraded something and it’s proven to be stable over a long time.

4

Updated the drivers to a clear set FW16 AMD Drivers 2025-03-28.zip in my Externally Shared OneDrive folder

5

I just saw this notice. Thank you for responding, how do I install these drivers?

6

The zip is a regular export of my current driver’s, so I actually don’t install from it, normally.

The easiest way to do it is to unzip the entire file into a directory (say perhaps C:\Drivers) which will result in a BUNCH of subdirectories for each driver. Then in Device Manager (:window:-X, Device Manager), right-click on each system device, webcams, network, doune, display, etc. device choose Update Driver, then Browse my computer for drivers, click Browse... button, the select the base directory you extracted everything to and MAKE SURE the you have Include subfolders checked and click Next.

It’ll find the newer driver for the device or leave it unchanged (which is okay).

Tedious but effective…maybe I can make self-installing a feature :grin:

7

I’ve just uploaded a new bundle at FW16 AMD Drivers 2025-04-21.zip in my Externally Shared OneDrive folder

8

I just got the email about Framework’s updated drivers, looked up which drivers are included, and had the thought of making my own ‘Unofficial Framework 16 drivers’ package that contains the latest drivers from each manufacturer…

9

Using WinDbg i was able to confirm that the AMD Drivers are the problem. Installing the new drivers hasn’t yet helped, but I’m still attempting it. I will update if I find a better solution.

10

From ChatGPT it appears this may be an issue between hyper-v and the Ryzen 7000s. Scans since I started noticing this after I installed Docker and started using WSL again. Will keep this thread posted for posterity.

— CHATGPT —

Ah, you’re touching on a hot topic. Hyper-V and AMD Ryzen 7000 series (Zen 4) CPUs do have some tension points. Here’s a breakdown of what’s going on, why it matters, and what you can do:

:fire: Known Conflicts Between Hyper-V & Ryzen 7000

  1. Performance Penalties:

    • Enabling Hyper-V (even indirectly via WSL2 or Virtualization-based Security) can throttle performance—especially gaming, low-latency workloads, or CPU-bound tasks.
    • This is due to Core Isolation, Memory Integrity, and Device Guard all kicking in behind the scenes.

  2. Sleep/Wake and Power State Issues:

    • Many Ryzen 7000 laptops and desktops ship with S0 Low Power Idle, but Hyper-V can interfere with it.
    • With S3 (traditional sleep) already disabled in firmware, enabling Hyper-V compounds things, blocking hybrid sleep and making wake-from-sleep more problematic.

  3. Nested Virtualization Instability:

    • Ryzen 7000 supports nested virtualization, but it’s still not as mature or smooth as Intel’s implementation.
    • You might see sluggish VM performance, WSL2 hangs, or even BSODs depending on your setup.

:hammer_and_wrench: What You Can Do

:white_check_mark: If You Need WSL2 or VMs:

  • Stick with Hyper-V, but:
    • Turn off Memory Integrity (Core Isolation) in Windows Security.
    • Disable Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Hypervisor Platform if you’re not explicitly using them.
    • Use Balanced or High Performance power plans.
    • Consider BIOS updates—some vendors (ASUS, MSI, etc.) are tuning firmware for better Hyper-V compatibility.

:counterclockwise_arrows_button: If You Prefer Classic Sleep or Max Performance:

  • Disable Hyper-V (breaks WSL2/VMs though):
    dism.exe /Online /Disable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
    • Reboot and recheck powercfg /a.

:test_tube: Advanced (BIOS Tweaks):

  • Look in UEFI for:
    • S3 Sleep Support → Enable if it’s there.
    • CPPC or AMD CBS → Power Management settings → tune them for legacy power states.
    • SVM Mode (secure virtualization) — may need to toggle depending on your goals.

:compass: TL;DR Recommendations

Use Case Recommendation
WSL2 / Dev Work Keep Hyper-V, tweak for performance
Gaming / Classic Sleep Disable Hyper-V, try for S3 in BIOS
VMs but not WSL2 Consider VirtualBox + bare-metal instead
Hybrid setup Use a dual-boot or use WSL1 for lighter tasks

Want help checking your specific motherboard BIOS options or optimizing your current setup? Just tell me the model!

11

Uploaded current driver setFW16 AMD Drivers 2025-05-07.zip in my Externally Shared OneDrive folder

12

I have updated all the drivers. For my dev, I have to have Docker which requires Hyper-V. Once I install Docker, my system started crashing a few times an hour. I’m really beginning to hate this computer. My options are either to wipe and install Linux, and thus not really be able to play VR games but be able to develop OR bad development and games. This is ridiculous.