SER4800U blue screens of death

PhilipG

Hi,

I have had a Beelink SER4 (4800U) mini-PC for a couple of months.  It's never had a problem, it's been great - until now :(

All of a sudden, I've been getting BSOD after BSOD.  Windows won't load up, it crashes straight away on reboot.  Then it tries to fix itself and fails.  The BSODs usually have different messages, it's not the same one.  The most common one mentions cl.dll.  I was not doing anything graphically-intensive before it happened.  OTOH, I was transferring a lot of data (~100GB) to the internal drive and, after that, Windows did try to update some things (which failed halfway through)...


I have tried to reset Windows 11, keeping my settings. This worked once.  I thought it was fixed.  Then, after about an hour or so, I got a BSOD, and then they were constant again on restart.  Now, I can't reset at all, it fails.

I have also tried:

• unplugging everything and putting everything back, making sure it's all secure
• changing the order of the memory modules
• taking one module out and just trying the other
• ran memtest86+, passed
• booting into safe mode (it doesn't, it BSODs there too)
• various things with the command prompt in the "advanced recovery" page (e.g. chkdsk, which didn't find anything, & I've backed up my data using xcopy)
• "system restore" - this succeeded at first, I got as far as the login page, it chimed and then emitted a long low beep and crashed again
• chkdsk got to the end (or close to the end, I wasn't watching the whole time) and BSODed with ATTEMPTED WRITE TO READONLY MEMORY
• antivirus found nothing wrong
  

bsod messages include:

• KMOD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED (with or without mentioning cl.dll)
• BAD SYSTEM CONFIG INFO
  

How can I repair Windows?  I don't think I have any activation key if I wanted to do a totally clean install on a new drive.  Also, I don't have another PC to create a bootable USB (I'm writing this on my Mac, which seems incapable of making such a thing without buying special software).

I haven't messed with the BIOS.  Is this a hardware fault that mucked up my settings or a software problem?  fwiw I can apparently have the PC on indefinitely in Windows PE mode (recovery screens) without anything crashing.


Has this happened to anyone else with this mini-PC?  Does anyone have any good advice for me? :(

Support-03

Hello there,
Sorry for the trouble.
Please send us a picture of SN on the bottom of the PC.
1. Please press delete key as soon as you turn on the PC, so that you can go to BIOS, please check you can see SSD there,
2. After we confirm the SSD is defective, we can send you an SSD replacement.
3.Please unplug the power supply and HDMI cable. Please  press the button of "CLR CMOS" for about 5-10 seconds. Ten minutes later, plug the power supply and HDMI cable, turn on the PC again. 

PhilipG

Support-03 replied at 2022-09-30 20:40
Hello there,
Sorry for the trouble.
Please send us a picture of SN on the bottom of the PC.

Thanks very much for your answer, my earlier reply to my own thread seems to be lost in moderation, but the upshot is that a reinstall has seemingly fixed everything. :)

I had earlier tried to clear CMOS but it made no difference unfortunately.  

I ran the long check on the M2 drive in the BIOS, it passed.  I ran a check on Windows (now that it's working) and that found nothing wrong.  I can only suppose it is a Windows update problem of some sort which is now resolved by the clean install.  However I will test the hard disk some more by filling it up to near capacity and running another check. :)

rmarion59

I may be wrong but it points to a driver issue (probably Graphics card-related) and/or If you are unable to boot Windows or the Bad System Config Info error pops up frequently, it could be that the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) is corrupt.
I'm using the GTR5 5900HX but I've seen those BSoDs on other machines in the past.
Now, how to fix that?  some little tools but access to Windows in Safe mode... Do you have access to Safe Mode?!?
I hope it helps!
Roger

PhilipG

rmarion59 replied at 2022-10-01 07:38
I may be wrong but it points to a driver issue (probably Graphics card-related) and/or If you are un ...

Well, BCD was definitely mucked up somehow, I tried to fix it from the command prompt but none of the online solutions would complete, and I couldn't get into Safe Mode either.

But the reinstall, thankfully, fixed it, and I've had no issues since.  Thanks for your input!

rmarion59

Glad to hear!
Out of curiosity, did you reinstall using a Windows .iso file using the Media Creation tool or the Beelink image from the support page?

PhilipG

rmarion59 replied at 2022-10-03 07:40
Glad to hear!
Out of curiosity, did you reinstall using a Windows .iso file using the Media Creation ...

No, I couldn't use the Media Creation tool as I didn't have a spare working PC (and that utility doesn't work with Mac).  I used the Beelink image from the support page and it worked great.  I didn't even need to enter a Windows product key (as I might have had to do the other way); it was all automatic.  The only "difficulty" was ensuring it was on an NTFS-formatted USB stick, as it would not install from my 2nd HDD (which I then temporarily disconnected for the install).

rmarion59

Thanks Phillip for sharing.

I went through same exact process when I first got my mini PC. I wanted to change the 500GB M.2 for a 2TB.

I also went ahead and download the Beelink image, then have read the small "reinstall procedure" PDF file. I got intrigued to find out why NTFS and volume name "WINPE" was needed. I then saw the script files for which it looks for a "WINPE" volume name etc...

Many people have tried the MediaCreation tool... it is obvious that way will fail. The BIOS being tweaked for AZW and GTR... well, the documentation was not really helpful but acquired experience over the years was. :-)

PVA

Hi, I have Green screen sometimes. Only switch off helps to restart PC again. Is GREEN screen a similar issue of BLUE screen?