BSOD with PDC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT (Host: Win10, Guest: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS)

[DWF]

Hi,

I recently moved my Ubuntu 20.04 guest from an old MacBook Pro to a brand new Windows 10 laptop. (I know, probably shouldn't have done that, but that's another discussion).
For the first couple of nights, the Windows 10 appeared to reboot itself so I always started with a clean desktop. I can tell as Chrome reported that it crashed. But then recently, I am getting BSOD on Windows 10 (after it's been idling for some time) with PDC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT error.

I did some tests (such as memory, system, driver, BIOS, etc.) but found no issues. And one of the articles mentioned that I should remove "VirtualBox" (https://www.partitionwizard.com/disk-re ... meout.html - Solution 4), but before I try that, I'd like to know if anyone has run into similar issues.

VirtualBox: 6.1.16
Addon installed

PS - VBox log files attached.

Thanks,
David

[fth0]

On your Windows host, open a command prompt, enter powercfg /a and post the output.

[DWF]

Here is the output:

Code: Select all

C:\Users\dfong>powercfg /a
The following sleep states are available on this system:
    Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) Network Connected
    Hibernate
    Fast Startup

The following sleep states are not available on this system:
    Standby (S1)
        The system firmware does not support this standby state.
        This standby state is disabled when S0 low power idle is supported.

    Standby (S2)
        The system firmware does not support this standby state.
        This standby state is disabled when S0 low power idle is supported.

    Standby (S3)
        This standby state is disabled when S0 low power idle is supported.

    Hybrid Sleep
        Standby (S3) is not available.

Thanks!

[fth0]

Gotcha (probably)!

Google for Windows 10 Modern Standby and how to turn it off. This will basically replace the Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) Network Connected mode with the Standby (S3) mode, and save you a lot of battery.

Additionally, it will probably eliminate the PDC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT, that is increasingly often reported for Windows notebooks nowadays. Please report your findings.

[DWF]

Thanks for the suggestion. I had set my laptop to Never sleep while plugged in and it hasn't shown BSoD for a couple of days now. So, it's definitely related to this "Modern Standby". Will keep monitoring it for a few more days.

Although this is not the ideal solution, as it consumes more power, the goal for now is to identify the cause. Once that's established, I'll then look into disabling this "Modern Standby" later. Will post updates when appropriate.

Thanks,
David