Impossible challenge : Help! Code 37 + DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG issues

[zedwunare]

Hi

So not sure it is possible to overstate the challenge I'm facing. A neighbor asked me to look at his kid's laptop. The laptop in question is a Lenovo IdeaPad - model 1-14AST-05 . It is an AMD A4 4GB with an integrated 64GB eMMC storage device running Windows 10. It has no physical network interface. This is important.

The initial challenge was the Qualcomm QCA9377 giving a Code 37 error in Device Manager and being unable to use WiFi. This Qualcomm thing is a combined Bluetooth and WiFi chipset and it should be known the Bluetooth was working fine at this time. I tried booting up with an Ubuntu Live USB stick which only worked when I changed the BIOS to Legacy USB support from UEFI. The Qualcomm QCA9377 worked fine, ruling out a hardware error.

I then tried a number of different drivers in Windows with no luck. I tried sfc /scannow which picked up some errors but could not repair them due to the laptop being offline.

I tried dism with a source Win10 mounted ISO but this did not work due to it being a different Win10 build.

I then said screw this, I'm gonna be a hero and mitigate a full wipe and re-install by getting a small USB WiFi dongle (TL-WN725N) and just telling the neighbor to use the external WiFi adapter in the absence of solving this Win10/driver issue. BUT THE NEW ADAPTER COMES UP WITH CODE 37 IN DEVICE MANAGER AS WELL. ARGH.

So I ask neighbor's blessing for a full re-install, grab my Win10 install USB and try to install - once again BIOS UEFI issue comes into play - I have to set it to USB support and after a while it just comes up with "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We will restart it for you" with a blue background, a useless QR code and the error Stop Code : DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG

Having read up that this seems to relate to UEFI and may be BIOS related, I find the latest BIOS update and successfully update the BIOS. This does not help. Except now I can't even login to the laptop because Windows detected a change, won't accept the login PIN the neighbor gave me and now I need to ask for his account password. Sigh.

But I have one last thing up my sleeve - I have an external USB DVD drive. Let me a burn a Win10 install DVD and try to boot off that as an alternative USB boot option. SUCCESS - in that I don't need to change to a Legacy USB support. I can leave the BIOS on the standard UEFI settings.

But FAIL - because I still get Stop Code : DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG. ARGH.

I don't know what next to do. We could open it up and see if the device could take an SSD or NVME drive but it is an ancient slow thing and I don't think the neighbor wants to spend money on it. The only other thing I can think of is possibly to try to install off a Windows 7 install disk and then see if it is possible to do an online upgrade to Windows 10, but this feels like it might be a waste of time.

Other things I have tried are uninstalling the anti-virus (Avast), multiple versions of the QCA9377 drivers as well as multiple versions of the TP-Link USB WiFi dongle as well as all the normal Device Manager things of removing devices, rescanning to reinstall them.

Any ideas, suggestions? Anything obvious I've missed?

 

[goldfritter]

Firstly, obvious question, but worth checking - is the laptop still under warranty?

Did the laptop originally have Windows 10 installed? If so, there is no point in going the Win 7 route.

Are you now unable to install Windows at all? A quick Google on the BSOD code you're describing shows some people having success changing the BIOS SATA controller setting from AHCI to IDE, or vice versa:

Redirecting

Windows 10 won't Install, stop code : DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG - Windows 10 Support

Page 1 of 2 - Windows 10 won't Install, stop code : DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG - posted in Windows 10 Support: HP Pavilion p6210f wont install windows 10 1909. It installs and starts the first reboot, the little windows 10 spinning dots, then I get this error, then it reboots again to do it all over...

www.bleepingcomputer.com

Reinstalling Windows should solve the driver issue. If it doesn't, then there possible is actually some weird hardware niggle preventing it from working with Windows that doesn't affect Linux. It may be worth seeing if you can get it repaired by a tech of some sort - not sure if Lenovo does out-of-warranty repairs, but it may be worth checking.

One other way to connect to the internet could be to use a USB-to-ethernet adapter. You can even try USB tethering from a phone. But that may not be feasible.

If the laptop is just for web browsing and doesn't need Microsoft-specific software, it may even be worth actually installing Linux on it and leaving it at that.

 

[zedwunare]

Firstly, obvious question, but worth checking - is the laptop still under warranty?

Did the laptop originally have Windows 10 installed? If so, there is no point in going the Win 7 route.

Are you now unable to install Windows at all? A quick Google on the BSOD code you're describing shows some people having success changing the BIOS SATA controller setting from AHCI to IDE, or vice versa:

Reinstalling Windows should solve the driver issue. If it doesn't, then there possible is actually some weird hardware niggle preventing it from working with Windows that doesn't affect Linux. It may be worth seeing if you can get it repaired by a tech of some sort - not sure if Lenovo does out-of-warranty repairs, but it may be worth checking.

One other way to connect to the internet could be to use a USB-to-ethernet adapter. You can even try USB tethering from a phone. But that may not be feasible.

If the laptop is just for web browsing and doesn't need Microsoft-specific software, it may even be worth actually installing Linux on it and leaving it at that.

goldfritter, you legend you.

1) Not under warranty

2) Looks like it had Win10 installed from the start - in fact someone on Takealot is still selling these and they come with Win10 preinstalled, believe it or not

3) I'll check for SATA settings, but I don't recall seeing any in the BIOS

4) Yeah, unless SATA settings pan out, I am unable to re-install Win10 right now due to the DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG

5) Tethering is a great idea - I'll see if I can get it into the internet and from there run sfc and whatnot

In terms of just installing Linux - not sure that will work for the neighbor's kids school projects and whatnot - but at least I could get it going and he could consider selling it with Linux / donating it with Linux.