Bug Check 0x102: DPC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT

The DPC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT bug check has a value of 0x00000102. This indicates that The DPC watchdog routine was not executed within the allocated time interval.

Important

This article is for programmers. If you're a customer who has received a blue screen error code while using your computer, see Troubleshoot blue screen errors.

DPC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT Parameters

Parameter	Description
1	DPC watchdog time out interval in nominal clock ticks.
2	The PRCB address of the hung processor.
3	Reserved
4	Reserved

Cause

This bug check typically means that either an ISR is hung at an IRQL that is below clock level and above dispatch level, or a DPC routine is hung on the specified processor.

For example for StorPort Miniport drivers, StorPort.sys handles I/O completions in a routine that runs at DISPATCH_LEVEL and that serially calls the I/O completion routines of all IRPs that have just completed. If I/O completion routines singly or together take too much time, the keyboard and/or mouse may stop responding. It is also possible that the Windows DPC Watchdog timer routine will decide that the StorPort routine has taken excessive time to finish.

Resolution

A kernel driver in the storage stack can reduce the problem's likelihood by efficient coding of the driver's I/O completion routine. If it is still not possible to do all necessary processing in the completion routine in enough time, the routine can create a work element for the I/O work, queue up the element to a work queue and return STATUS_MORE_PROCESSING_REQUIRED; a worker thread of the driver should then find the work element, do the work and do IoCallerDriver for the IRP to ensure the IRP's further I/O processing.