BSOD 318 (ERRATA_WORKAROUND_UNSUCCESSFUL): causes and diagnosis

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: Windows could not apply a required processor or platform errata workaround.

Could be also:
Constant	Type	OS
ERROR_SCOPE_NOT_FOUND	Win32 error	Windows

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CRITICAL_INITIALIZATION_FAILURE	STORAGE_DEVICE_ABNORMALITY_DETECTED

ERRATA_WORKAROUND_UNSUCCESSFUL

Processor errata workaround failure for ERRATA_WORKAROUND_UNSUCCESSFUL

ERRATA_WORKAROUND_UNSUCCESSFUL is bug check code 0x0000013E. This bug check indicates that the OS attempted a hardware or firmware workaround and could not complete it safely. It is tied to CPU/platform errata handling, microcode, firmware, or virtualization exposure of processor features.

How to read it in a dump

CPU model, microcode, firmware version, and hypervisor feature exposure are central.
A driver stack may not identify the root cause if the failure happens in processor initialization.
The issue may appear after firmware, OS, or hypervisor updates.

What to check

Update firmware/BIOS, chipset drivers, and microcode through vendor-supported channels.
Check virtualization settings and CPU feature masking.
Compare behavior across cold boot, warm restart, and VM host versions.

References

Dump evidence

Preserve the complete dump, the four bug-check parameters, the exact Windows build, loaded-module list, and the event timeline immediately before the stop. AllStat summarizes the condition as “this result”; that sentence identifies the failure class, while the parameters and stack determine which object, driver, processor, or subsystem instance was involved.

Analysis order

Run WinDbg !analyze -v, then inspect the documented meaning of each parameter instead of relying only on the probably-caused-by line.
find the earliest abnormal event: driver update, firmware change, device reset, storage error, verifier report, resource exhaustion, or application hang connected with errata / workaround / unsuccessful.
keep third-party filter, security, storage, graphics, and virtualization drivers in the module inventory; removing evidence before dump analysis can obscure the responsible path.

Do not repeatedly reboot a machine affected by this result before collecting the dump and event logs. Recovery actions should follow the component identified by the stack and parameters, not merely the symbolic stop-code name.

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