Understanding and Resolving DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION BSOD and GPU Detection Issues on Lenovo Legion Pro 7i
Experiencing sporadic system crashes and hardware detection failures can be quite disruptive, especially during intensive activities like gaming. If you’re encountering DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors and your system fails to recognize your graphics card after restarts, this guide aims to help you diagnose and resolve these issues effectively.
Overview of the Issue
Over recent months, you’ve observed random DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION errors during gaming sessions with titles such as Dota 2 and Path of Exile 2, occurring approximately two to three times weekly. Following these crashes, your system often fails to detect the dedicated NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU upon reboot. The only workaround has been to power down the machine for at least 10 minutes before it recognizes the GPU again. Notably, this problem also arises during standard restarts without any prior BSOD.
Key Troubleshooting Steps Undertaken
- Software Updates:
- Ensured Windows is running the latest version.
-
Updated NVIDIA graphics drivers to the most recent release, as well as installing previous versions for comparison.
-
Driver Reinstallation:
- Performed clean installations of NVIDIA drivers using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) in safe mode, which thoroughly removes existing drivers.
-
Discovered that post-Driver uninstallation, the system struggles to detect the GPU during subsequent reinstallation, especially immediately after booting in and out of safe mode.
-
Hardware Diagnostic:
-
Ran Memtest86 to check system RAM; results were normal, ruling out memory errors as a cause.
-
Data Collection:
- Created a minidump dump file (available via MediaFire) for further analysis.
- Captured screenshots documenting the GPU detection failure for additional context.
System Specifications
- Model: Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16IRX8H (2023)
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900HX
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4090 Laptop GPU
- BIOS Version: KWCN50WW (Updated 4/14/2025)
- Graphics Mode: Discrete GPU Enabled (dGPU working mode)
- Thermal Mode: Performance
Potential Causes and Recommendations
While comprehensive troubleshooting has been performed, the persistent detection failure suggests underlying issues that may stem from software conflicts, driver incompatibilities, or
Share this content:
