17 R4, firmwaretpm.exe stopped working

Hi @alienware17r4 welcome to this free user-to-user Alienware laptop discussion forum. 

Please run windows Reliability Monitor. How to use Windows Reliability Monitor to identify software issues | Dell US  

FirmwareTPM.exe may have been infected by malware or virus. Install and run Malwarebytes Free.  

Install Windows 10 version 22H2 update. How to get the Windows 10 2022 Update | Windows Experience Blog  

Install the latest Visual C++ packages (x86 and x64). Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn 

Reliability monitor is how I found these errors.

i'm virus and malware free.

I'm running 22h2 (sorry, my typo) don't know how to edit the original post.

Can't find what the actual version number of the latest and greatest vcredist files is but i have 12.0.30501. since I haven't changed anything with TPM or visual C runtimes, and everything else works fine, it makes little sense that VC suddenly started having a problem with just this application. I have no other errors.

can't verify or scan firmwaretpm.exe because it does not exist as an actual file on my computer. It could be there somewhere that i can't see even showing system and hidden files and folders. Anyone know where it is? Anyone actually have a file with that name?

Having what appears to be the same issue since 21-NOV-22 whenever SupportAssist or DellUpdate is run.

Both of these (and other Dell) apps have been updated more than once in the last 4 weeks.

What is FirmwareTPM.exe? A fresh copy appears in  "C:\Windows\TEMP\inv????_tmp\FirmwareTPM" (where ???? = a changing four digit hex number). I assume that this is downloaded every time but from where and by what?

I am running Windows 11 (22H2 Build 22621.900) last updated on 30-NOV-22 on an Inspiron 3671.

I have updated VC++ from 2015-2019 to 2015-2022 version 14.34.31931.

Running "sfc /scannow" and "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth" finds no errors.

Apart from this repeated APPCRASH, PC appears to be running OK.

You are not alone. I have the same issue and it came out of nowhere. I assume it has to do with Dell AupportAssist and/or dell update.

I have no errors when running "sfc /scannow" and "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth".

No malware or virus. So my solution is to let this short it self out. To do a hard reset or update TPM will only make things worse in this senario. 

Hi @alienware17r4 

If the TPM is not seen in the BIOS, a Hard Reset is required to bring it back online. How to Perform a Hard Reset on a Dell Computer | Dell US  Do not remove Battery, disconnect Battery is sufficient. 

How to Successfully Update the TPM Firmware on your Dell Computer | Dell US 

Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One Download | TechPowerUp  

It's nice to know one is not alone. The crash is silent so will not be seen unless looked for using Reliability Monitor (easier than using event viewer!).

This is not the first time this year that Dell has upset my system via a bug in either DellUpdate or SupportAssist or both! Memory tells me the last problem (during March/April) was related to a .NET Framework incompatibility. Have they done it again?

Dell SA is known to bring issues with it. Had a memory error during boot related to SA in 2021 that was bugging me. But manage to ignore it when I found out the culprit.

And the newest update to SA wont even install on my XPS. And the previous version is causing bluescreen so I have disabled Dell TechHub on my XPS. So yeah, a Gremlin from Dell this Christmas. 

You are certainly not alone!  I have had exactly the same issue on my XPS 8900, also since 19th November.  I have Dell SupportAssist and Dell Update installed.

I am not running the very latest BIOS and wondered if I should update it.  However, having read the comments above my inclination is to sit tight and wait for Dell to sort it out...

Even i faced the same issue.

Hi alienware17r4 :

Thanks for posting about this.

The identical FirmwareTMP.exe errors also began appearing in the Reliability Monitor of my Inspiron 5584 / Win 10 Pro v22H2 laptop on 19-Nov-2022.  See my 12-Dec-2022 thread Occasional FirmwareTPM.exe APPCRASH Since 19-Nov-2022 in the AskWoody forum for screenshots and additional details.

Like other users in this thread have reported, Event Viewer states the faulting application path is always C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\invxxxx_tmp\FirmwareTPM\FirmwareTPM.exe (where “xxxx” is a unique string of alphanumerics for each APPCRASH) and the faulting module is VCRUNTIME140.dll v14.32.31332.0, but I cannot locate a file called FirmwareTMP.exe on my system and cannot see any hidden subfolders named C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\invxxx_tmp being created in my C:\Windows\Temp folder.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2251 * Firefox v107.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2211.5-1.1.19900.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.18.226-1.0.1838 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7175 * Dell SupportAssist v3.13.0.236 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.1 * Dell SupportAssist Remediaton v5.5.5.16206 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.21.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

a clue? It seems to have started around the same day for everyone. It's not machine specific. I'm just guessing that an attempted update to something triggers it. I've had the notification that a cumulative update "preview" is available for at least 3 weeks. This is very unusual. I never install the previews, but they normally push the non-preview update on me within a week of the preview notice. I still have not gotten the cumulative update. There may not be one, at least that I can find in the microsoft update catalog. Only ones I see are the previews. Imacri's post above contains good info about the msc console for this. an easier way to clear or reset the tpm. (for any of you brave (or dumb) enough to try that. NOT ME! It's not causing any problems and I doubt i'm even using it. It' appears to be working properly anyway except something causing it to shut down.

BTW the driver for this is firmwaretpm.sys.

My cumulative update finally arrived today. I dont think that is the problem although I do think an update attempt is causing the tpm shutdown. We'll see if I get the error again in the next few days. It never goes more than 3 days without the error.

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@alienware17r4 wrote:

.... BTW the driver for this is firmwaretpm.sys.

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Hi alienware17r4:

Do you know the folder where your FirmwareTPM.sys driver is located on your hard drive?

Just an FYI that AskWoody MVP Paul T responded <here> to my topic over in the AskWoody forum. He also sees these FirmwareTPM.exe APPCRASHs on his Dell computer, and his analysis of the dump file is pointing to a problem with the Dell Inventory Collector. I also posted some additional information in my AskWoody topic today about the Dell Inventory Utility [C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell\UpdateService\Service\InvColPC.exe] and Dell Update v4.7.0, which was pulled from the Dell download servers some time around 14-Nov-2022 and replaced with Dell Update v4.7.1.

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... windows 10 20h2, all updates current...

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I doubt this has anything to do with your TPMFirmware.exe APPCRASHs, but do you know why your Win 10 OS hasn't updated beyond v20H2 (Build 19042.xxxx)? Win 10 v20H2 reached end-of-service on 10-May-2022, and its successor Windows 10 v21H1 (Build 19043.xxxx) just reached end of service today on 13-Dec-2022. See the Windows 10 release information at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/release-information. If you aren't sure what OS build number you have go to Settings | System | About | Windows Specifications or open a Run dialog box (Windows key + R) and enter winver.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2251 * Firefox v107.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2211.5-1.1.19900.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.18.226-1.0.1838 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7175 * Dell SupportAssist v3.13.0.236 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.1 * Dell SupportAssist Remediaton v5.5.5.16206 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.21.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620