NMI quiz - Part 1

NMI errors are a form of fatal error that users don't encounter as often as the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). Here's what an NMI error looks like:

Not as much information as in a BSOD. The user is given no real information about what happened. The most often seen NMI is the Memory Parity Error.

Now, here is a common sense quiz for common computer users:

• You have a piece of driver software that works on all IEEE-1394 OHCI adapters (FireWire), on thousands of different machines, on all versions of Windows (Win2K to Vista).
• HP produces a new server machine. If you use a specific 1394 adapter on this specific machine then you get an NMI error when the drivers load. All other 1394 adapters work without problems on this HP machine.

Who do you think is to blame?

1. The HP hardware. All adapters work on all other machines, so there is something wrong with this machine.
2. The 1394 adapter. There must be a bug in the adapter hardware.
3. The driver software. Obviously there is some bug in the device driver.

Here's a hint to what I think.

Have fun!