STOP 0x0000000A in HAL.DLL on Multiprocessor Computers

ID: Q165816

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When you run Windows NT on a multiprocessor computer under heavy stress, you may receive the following STOP message:

STOP 0x0000000A (0x00000000, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x80150810)

The exact address where the STOP occurs may vary, but it is always in the hardware abstraction layer (HAL.)

CAUSE

This STOP message is caused by a timing problem in the kernel that occurs when two processes are executing that are operating on the same memory structures, such as multiple disk reads or writes. Due to a compiler optimization that caused two operations to be executed in the wrong order, one of the processes attempts to use a pointer it thinks has been initialized correctly, when in fact it has not.

This error can only occur on a multiprocessor computer and has been observed most frequently on NCR multiprocessor systems, however it could occur on any multiprocessor computer.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

Additional query words: 0xa 0xA prodnt

Keywords : ntstop kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00 ntdriver kbfix4.00.sp2
Version : 4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug