Netgear A7000 causes Blue Screen of Death on Windows 10. Please help!

Question

&nbsp;&nbsp;I have the Netgear A7000 USB network adapter with the 'latest' drivers (2017 are the latest....) - 'Software Version 1.0.0.15.'&nbsp;When I use the A7000 on a 16GB 2016/2017 Acer Predator laptop (G5-793-72AU), it works fine.However, when I use the A7000 on a 16GB 2020 Samsung Galaxy Flex laptop, connected via a USB-C to USB-A adapter (since the laptop has no USB-A ports) and I want to restart the laptop, the laptop hangs on 'restarting' (Windows).The laptop hangs indefinitely (forever) while restarting; the only thing to get the computer to restart is to unplug the A7000 from the USB port, but then I get a stop code Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) - "Unexpected Kernel Mode Trap".&nbsp;Can Netgear support please help!This adapter is still being sold actively and not cheap at $75 retail, so it should be supported by Netgear. The drivers (latest ones are 4 years old) appears to have issues given how many people get BSOD errors with it.I bought one for each computer, but now one is useless since it does not work... :(&nbsp;I see numerous people with this issue!

bagg1o · Answer

Same here, kernel dump is showing A7000 driver recursion in kernel mode that causes BSOD, as described in other thread.

bagg1o · Answer

Probably on newer setups something changed in USB controller. Probably not HW itself, but maybe some firmware on motherboard, or controller drivers on host, or whatever that changes quite often.&nbsp;Adapter driver was updated for last time after your Acer was released, so driver probably supported these systems without issues and was tested on them. For newer systems, like mine or your Galaxy Book or whatever that came out year or so ago, kernel driver is outdated and will simply not work, and Netgear doesn't care to even give generic response, so I wouldn't expect them to fix it.&nbsp;I think we can make very safe assumption that only "driver development" Netgear did there, was wrapping generic relatek chipset driver that A7000 is based on with some fancy features, and this work probably was done by employee who not even work there anymore. As Realtek did not update drivers for this chipset for even longer time, I do not think there is anyone competent enough in Netgear to actually fix issues related to original chipset kernel driver. This is why they give no response, they just cannot do anything with that, physically. They could be more transparent, but you know, that would be admitting their support impotence on their own product and no-one high in sales/marketing team would allow that. Sad, but probably true.&nbsp;Cheers.

njweb · Answer

Update:I tried plugging the Netgear into a USB hub which is then plugged into the USB-A to USB-C adapter which is plugged into my Samsung 2020 Galaxy Book Flex (16GB nVidia MX250 graphics and Intel 'Iris Plus' graphics). Then I could restart Winsows without an issue.I then plugged the A7000 back into the USB-A to USB-C adapter and this time it allowed me to restart Windows 10 (unlike the issues I mentioned above).&nbsp;Side note - I also just applied a Windows update - 'Feature update to Windows 10, version 21H1', but doubt that made a difference.&nbsp;I will keep an eye on how the laptop performs the next few days with the Netgear A7000 plugged in.

njweb · Answer

The issue is back again. The adapter actually disconnects from the network after a while and cannot be re-enabled without restarting which causes hanging, unless USB plug is removed and then it gives the Blue Screen of Death.

Really frustrating!

njweb · Answer

Well, as a quick update on the A7000 disconnect, computer hanging on restart with the A7000 plugged in &amp; A7000 BSOD issues on my 2020 16GB i7 Samsung Galaxy Flex laptop (part of which I posted elsewhere):&nbsp;Attempt 1 / Option 1 - Does not work for all as paulie12 also found:I tried disabling the RunSwUSB service for the Netgear A7000 adapter, but this resulted in wifi download speeds eventually dropping to USB 2.0 levels (e.g. 200 Mbps to 300 Mbps, with some levels around 168 and some best case scenarios closer to 400 before the drop again).&nbsp;When I re-enabled the RunSwUSB service, speeds went way up to USB 3.0 levels - 600 - 750 Mbps with the laptop located all the way across the 1st floor from the room where the Orbi RBK853 is (satellites are in basement and top floor).[Side note - The adapter in the same room as the router gets even more: 858 Mbps on another laptop - a late 2016 Acer Predator G5-793-72AU bought new in early 2017!] The Predator laptop does not have any issues with the A7000 adapater luckily].&nbsp;Option 1 Outcome Summary - DID NOT WORK FOR MY SITUATIONDisabling RunSwUSB service does not work for everyone, especially for those with internet service above 200 Mbps; I have 1,200 Mbps plan with provisioned speeds up to 1,440 Mbps so i need the fastest USB 3.0 wifi adapter for my laptop (it does not have a mini PCIe port etc.)!&nbsp;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------&nbsp;Attempt 2 / Option 2&nbsp; (for those with a newer computers with only USB-C ports, such as my 2020 16GB i7 Galaxy Book Flex laptop which has issues due to the A7000)&nbsp; - Changing from one brand of&nbsp;USB-C to USB-A adapter to another brand:&nbsp;This initially seemed to help speeds, but in short it did not help - with the RunSwUSB service enabled, the computer disconnected several times a day at a minimum and required a reboot to reconnect to the network. Unplugging the adapter when the laptop hangs on restart with the A7000 plugged in, resulted in a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) crash.&nbsp;Option 2 Outcome Summary: With this new top-rated (4.8 / 5) name brand USB-C to USB-A adapter, the Netgear A7000 wifi adapter still disconnects multiple times a day, as it did out of the box [with no changes at all to my system], requiring a reboot each time to restore wifi connectivity.Also, many times the laptop also had a BSOD after I was FORCED to remove the A7000 just to get the laptop to reboot (as soon as the A7000 was removed from the USB port, the latop restarted instantly, per the Restart I performed in Win 10, needed just to restore wifi connectivity with the A7000!!!).&nbsp;----------------------------------------------------------------------&nbsp;Attempt 3 / Option 3 -&nbsp;Restore 2 'advanced power' options to&nbsp; Win 10 that had been intentionally removed by Samsung for who knows what reason:&nbsp;Using regedit, I added back the following two important registry keys to give me the MISSING Windows 10 Advanced Power options (those options were not even visible due to a custom implementation - not sure why Samsung decided to remove these options!!!):&nbsp;i. 'Wireless Adapter Settings' &gt; 'Power Saving Mode' - After adding the key and rebooting, I then set it to 'Maximum Performance' for both 'on battery' and 'plugged in'.&nbsp;ii. 'USB settings' &gt; 'USB selective suspend' - After adding the key and rebooting, I then set this to 'disabled' for both 'on battery' and 'plugged in'.I do not know what these settings were set to while they were removed / hidden completely by Samsung; but I think it is safe to assume they were probably set to power saving modes...&nbsp;Well, this worked the longest, 9 hours of use yesterday, but then today, just when I was about to post that this POTENTIALLY worked with a big caveat, sure enough the A7000 disconnected again ARGH! This was after less than 1 hour of use today. :(As mentioned, once the A7000 disconnect I have to reboot to restore wifi connectivity. Sure enough I also&nbsp;had to unplug the A7000 in order for the computer Restart process to stop hanging - this resulted in a STOP CODE violation as others here and on Youtube have noted for the A7000.&nbsp;The only reason I have spent ('wasted' might be a better word given the outcome) several hours a day this past week trying to get the A7000 to work, is that competitors' AC1900 wifi adapters have lower speeds than the A7000 and they are not always consistent in terms of wifi speed... :(Still amazed this has been on the market since 2017 without a fix from Netgear or whoever is writing the drivers for them for the A7000.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Netgear A7000 causes Blue Screen of Death on Windows 10. Please help!

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