FireWire Devices Crash Windows 7 RTM

Customers running the latest versions of Windows client and server might find their computers crashing if they have FireWire devices connected to the machines. According to Microsoft, 1394 devices are capable of generating a stop error ("STOP: 0x000000D1") exception on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, but only when computers running the platforms resume from either sleep or hibernation. Of course, the IEEE 1394 interface is not limited to FireWire (from Apple). The serial bus interface standard has been branded by Sony as i.LINK, and Lynx by Texas Instruments.

“You attach a 1394 device to a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. In this scenario, the computer may crash after you resume the computer from sleep or from hibernation. Additionally, you may receive the following Stop error message: STOP: 0x000000D1 ( parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4 ) The DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. The parameters in this error message vary, depending on the configuration of the computer. Not all "Stop 0x000000D1" errors are caused by this problem,” Microsoft stated.

While an update is not available from the software giant at this point in time, customers can grab a hotfix from Microsoft Support. However, the Redmond company insists on emphasizing that only Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 users that are affected by this specific issue access, download and deploy the hotfix. Microsoft offered no details as to what specific 1394 devices are causing Windows 7 to crash when resuming from sleep/hibernate.

Developers that need their devices to work seamlessly with Windows 7 have documentation available via Windows Hardware Developer Central.

“This paper provides information about IEEE 1394 support in Windows 7 so that 1394 developers can understand the new 1394 bus driver in Windows 7. The 1394 bus driver was rewritten for Windows 7 to provide support for higher speeds and alternative media, as defined in the IEEE-1394b specification. The 1394 bus driver that is included with Windows 7 replaces the 1394 bus drivers that were included with earlier versions of Windows. This paper provides information about the differences between the new 1394 bus driver implementation and the earlier implementation, as well as information about the new functionality that is included in the 1394 bus driver for Windows 7,” Microsoft informed.