HWiNFO64 freezing whole PC

[illogik]

I installed the new version of HWiNFO64 (5.12) and ran it with drive scan enabled. I'm not entirely sure how to run it without sensors as you asked but I just defaulted the settings and turned on drive scan. It opened only the main window and the summary window like you said. Two of my HDD's vanished again but no system freeze. The system freezes were only happening on the Asmedia windows 10 driver versions 3.1.6.0 and 3.1.7.0. Using 3.1.8.0 the system no longer freezes but 2 HDD's vanish when HWiNFO64 starts.

Debug file attached.

 

[Martin]

Thanks for the new tests and feedback !

 

[zkyez]

Hello,

I just registered to ask if this was ever fixed. I have an asmedia 1601 powered thunderbolt enclosure and hwinfo64 scans makes the drive disappear. I have exactly the same issue as OP.

Thank you!

Edit: tried ASM-106x Sata 6G controller Drivers Version 3.1.9.0 WHQL and the machine freezes when scanning the drives.

 

[Martin]

AFAIK this was not fixed yet - it's a fault of the ASMedia driver, so I suggest to contact ASMedia for a fix.

 

[zkyez]

For whoever reads this thread and has a similar issue: you can revert your driver to Microsoft provided sata driver (msahci) and the drives no longer disappear. I have done a quick test using AS SSD bench and there is no performance difference between ASmedia and Microsoft driver.

 

[Martin]

Thanks for the hint !
That proves the problem is in ASMedia drivers - there were also reports about various issues with the USB 3.x ASMedia drivers. Their quality is really poor.

 

[zkyez]

Yes it seems a new "feature" introduced by their windows 10 drivers (i'd say this is their 3.x driver series). I can't reproduce this in a VM using passthrough for the enclosure.

 

[Martin]

Because I'm getting an increasing amount of these issues reported, I have updated the Known Issues thread with these findings.

 

[illogik]

I also tried the Asmedia 3.1.9.0 sata driver and they didn't freeze my system, they just made 2 drives disappear like the 3.1.8.0 driver. I will try to roll back to a microsoft driver as suggested and see if drive scan works.

 

[zkyez]

I also tried the Asmedia 3.1.9.0 sata driver and they didn't freeze my system, they just made 2 drives disappear like the 3.1.8.0 driver. I will try to roll back to a microsoft driver as suggested and see if drive scan works.

As i said my controller is at the end of a thunderbolt cable so the system freezes could come from there. I am genuinely curious if you can reproduce the issue with Microsoft's standard driver.

 

[illogik]

I uninstalled the Asmedia driver via device manager as there was no option for me to roll back. I expected windows to then install its own driver but it didn't do anything. I told device manager to rescan for hardware changes but it still didn't install any microsoft driver. Not that it matters because all my drives are still perfectly usable and I can now use drive scan within HWiNFO without any drives disappearing or system freezing.

Wondering now what the point of using any asmedia sata drivers at all is if they provide no benefits or differences than running without them..

 

[zkyez]

I uninstalled the Asmedia driver via device manager as there was no option for me to roll back. I expected windows to then install its own driver but it didn't do anything. I told device manager to rescan for hardware changes but it still didn't install any microsoft driver. Not that it matters because all my drives are still perfectly usable and I can now use drive scan within HWiNFO without any drives disappearing or system freezing.

Wondering now what the point of using any asmedia sata drivers at all is if they provide no benefits or differences than running without them..

After you uninstalled the driver and rebooted there is a _new_ device under IDE/ATAPI Controllers named Standard SATA AHCI Controller. That's your device. With ASmedia driver it would show under Storage Controllers.

You are correct, if you used the "have disk" option when installing the updated 3.X ASmedia driver the package would not show under Add/Remove programs and you'd have to go to Device Manager, double click your ASmedia controller and uninstall from there (which is basically a manual uninstall of the drivers). On reboot Windows would automatically install the default Microsoft provided driver hence a new scan would not show any new hardware as technically it's already installed.

However keep an eye out on Device Manager on Windows update as it may decide to push a WHQL driver to your system and freezing would come back.

@Martin: given there are 2 users that confirmed standard driver fixes the issue you could add it as a known workaround for the crappy ASmedia drivers. I will also contact them and let them know of the issue (although i doubt they will even acknowledge the issue).

 

[illogik]

I actually haven't rebooted yet since I uninstalled that asmedia driver. There was no prompt to reboot from windows so I didn't bother. I do however now have 2 devices listed under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and both are named as you say, standard SATA AHCI Controller so I assume one of those is the controller that was previously using the asmedia driver which was listed under storage controllers.

Also I have windows update set up so I have full control over what is or isn't installed on my system. The less microsoft are trusted with the better lol

 

[zkyez]

I actually haven't rebooted yet since I uninstalled that asmedia driver. There was no prompt to reboot from windows so I didn't bother. I do however now have 2 devices listed under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and both are named as you say, standard SATA AHCI Controller so I assume one of those is the controller that was previously using the asmedia driver which was listed under storage controllers.

Also I have windows update set up so I have full control over what is or isn't installed on my system. The less microsoft are trusted with the better lol

To make sure about which is which you can go to details tab , select Hardware Ids from the dropdown list. You should see something like this: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_9C83&SUBSYS_503417AA&REV_03 (this is not an asmedia controller, it's an Intel from a Lenovo laptop i have around). Google that hardware ID and you should get information about it (such as vendor,etc).


Anyway, glad it worked for you. Big props to ASmedia for the quality of their drivers.

PS: ro?

 

[illogik]

Yup, you are quite right. I checked the 2 hardware ID's you mentioned, one was PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A102&SUBSYS_86941043&REV_31 which a google tells me is an Intel controller while the other one is PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_858D1043&REV_02 which is indeed the asmedia controller.

Yeah, the asmedia drivers are spectacular lol

I don't get what you mean by PS:ro?

 

[Martin]

Thanks guys. I have already included this recommendation in the Known Issues thread (i.e. here: http://www.hwinfo.com/forum/Thread-IMPORTANT-Known-Issues).

BTW, you can also check what driver is used for your ASMedia SATA controller in HWiNFO if you look in the main window (in case you have Sensors-only activated, you'll need to disable this) and then walk through the Bus tree to locate the ASMedia controller.

 

[illogik]

Thanks guys. I have already included this recommendation in the Known Issues thread (i.e. here: http://www.hwinfo.com/forum/Thread-IMPORTANT-Known-Issues).

BTW, you can also check what driver is used for your ASMedia SATA controller in HWiNFO if you look in the main window (in case you have Sensors-only activated, you'll need to disable this) and then walk through the Bus tree to locate the ASMedia controller.

I checked HWiNFO like you said and it gives the following info:

Driver Manufacturer:    Standard SATA AHCI Controller
Driver Description:       Standard SATA AHCI Controller
Driver Provider:           Microsoft
Driver Version:            10.0.10586.0
Driver Date:                 21-Jun-2006
DeviceInstanceId         PCI\VEN_1B21&DEV_0612&SUBSYS_858D1043&REV_02\4&AE587CE&0&00DB