USB iPhone Link-Up Causes BSOD
Hmmmm. Here’s an odd one for you. I just upgraded my production desktop to 1909 on Wednesday (Build 18363.476). When I plugged my iPhone into that machine this morning to make a backup using iTunes, the PC crashed immediately. Any USB Iphone link-up causes BSOD like this one:
Immediate crash/BSOD, as soon as the PC recognizes the USB plug-in. Ouch!
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Further investigation via Nir Sofer’s BlueScreenView utility produces a bug check value of 0X000001A1. This is interesting and a bit maddening because the MS Docs Bug Check Code Reference jumps over this value, going directly from 0X000001A0 to 0X000001A3. Interestingly, there’s an article on the string value SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (I’ll abbreviate this as STENH going forward) that equates it with 0x0000007E, though I didn’t find this value in any of today’s many and varied .dmp files.
Numerous dump files (5) appeared on my system drive today, in the wake of my repeated, mostly deliberately caused BSODs.
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When USB iPhone Link-Up Causes BSOD, Then What?
Of course, my first move was to report this item to the Feedback Hub. You’ll find that report there under this title “plug in iPhone via USB/Lightning cable, immediate bluescreen” if you want to check it out. The quickest way to find it is to search on “iphone bluescreen” there. So far, nobody else has responded or reacted to this submission.
My next move was to start researching the specific STENH stop code string. Alas the error does not identify a specific driver, as the MS Docs article says it might. It is pretty suggestive, however, that plugging in the iPhone causes an immediate crash each and every time on this PC. Even though correlation isn’t the same as proof of causation, I’m still inclined to think that something is up in the latest build on this particular motherboard with the various iPhone drivers.
In the meantime, because the iPhone mounts fine on my new Lenovo laptops (also running Build 18363.476, albeit as an Insider Release Preview) that’s where I’ll interact with it going forward. I’ll try plugging the iPhone in on my production PC from time to time. When that stops crashing with a BSOD, then I’ll switch back to that connection.
And so it goes here in Windows-World, where surprises never cease, and one must beware of the occasional gotcha.