Monday, September 24, 2012

BSOD in Windows 8 on bridge.sys driver

Today I had several times a BSOD in Windows 8. BSOD stands for "Blue Screen Of Death", and is the result of an error. My system (with Windows 8 RTM) is installed a month ago and I've installed the Hyper-V role in it. With Hyper-V on Windows 8 it's possible to install Virtual Machines without the need to install VMware Workstation or Oracle VirtualBox.


Last days there were some Windows updates installed and a reboot was needed. After this reboot I had multiple BSOD screens and no quick solution to fix it. Looking for the error message in Event Viewer
"DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (bridge.sys)"
it seems that Hyper-V was failing on the driver. A quick workaround for this is to plugin a network cable and deactivate Wi-Fi.
 
 
A better way to fix this is change the Virtual Switch settings in Hyper-V Manager. Just look at the settings configured at your external connection, and untag "Allow management operating system to share this network adapter" in Connection type. After that my system is stable again and no unexpected reboots are longer present. Hope there is a Microsoft fix for this issue soon.

Update: I don't know if it matters, but configure the Hyper-V connection type on your fixed NIC adapter, not on your Wi-Fi adapter. For it seems some people still have issues otherwise.

Update 23-7-2013: For it seems the issue is still valid. I'm using Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) for a while now, so no need to configure a bridge. With ICS you can share internet from a fixed or Wi-Fi connection to the vEthernet connection. Much better that way, and no BSOD issues on the bridge.sys driver.
Posted by Henk Hoogendoorn at 4:50 PM
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13 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 30, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    Same issue on Windows Server 2012 RTM.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 17, 2012 at 9:15 PM

    Not a great solution considering it only sidesteps the problem, the bridge is still unstable. Would be great for a hotfix in windows update for this as it's a pretty big issue.

    ReplyDelete
  3. tullyJune 20, 2013 at 12:11 PM

    How to i get to these options i cant find hyper v manager anywhere?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Henk HoogendoornJune 20, 2013 at 1:20 PM

      Maybe it depends per version, but you can find it in Control Panel - Programs and Features - Turn Windows features on or off - Hyper-V.

      Delete
  4. Rik van BerendonkJuly 23, 2013 at 11:41 AM

    Hi Henk,

    I experienced the same error; ( blog); have you found any fixes yet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Henk HoogendoornJuly 24, 2013 at 9:29 AM

      Hi Rik, never tried a bridge again because of the issue. Using a internet sharing connection on my Hyper-V switch now. Very stable and no issues anymore.

      Delete
  5. UnknownAugust 19, 2013 at 1:48 AM

    i still new on window 8 ....where to get to set the feature

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Henk HoogendoornSeptember 6, 2013 at 3:02 PM

      They can be found in the network configuration, rightclick network adapter
      open network and sharing center
      change adapter settings
      rightclick on adapters for bridge connection or sharing (choose properties for that)
      Hope it helps!

      Delete
  6. AnonymousNovember 7, 2013 at 2:06 AM

    Thanks for documenting this issue. I was BSOD all over the place with Windows 8 and Hyper-V Manager with an active session using shared wireless. Turned off the wireless connection and life is grand again. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Henk HoogendoornNovember 7, 2013 at 9:07 AM

      Good to hear this post is helpfull to you. Maybe the issue is solved with Windows 8.1 but didn't tried it yet.

      Delete
  7. UnknownJanuary 18, 2014 at 6:48 PM

    I have the issue with Windows 8.1 but I do not have Hyper-V features installed. I do have VirtualBox installed, however. Maybe I'll try uninstalling and see where that gets me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2015 at 3:59 PM

    Issue still present in Windows 10 also. Great post, very helpful.

    ReplyDelete

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