I have recently been attempting to create a GPIO Driver for SBC's using an Intel chipset that run Windows 8.1 and have begun testing it on an actual system. After loading the Driver and updating the Intel chipset I am using, the system appears to hang after loading the BIOS. Unfortunately, this disables my mouse, keyboard, and video, preventing me from entering BIOS or the boot manager.
While it is possible that the chipset update caused the system to become unbootable, it is highly unlikely considering we use that update for our other SBC's running the same chipset.
So my question: Is it possible for a Windows Kernel Mode driver to prevent a system from booting up past BIOS/POST?
I appreciate the help, since, clearly, I am no expert on this topic.
Yes, if your driver is being loaded at boot time it can prevent the booting of the OS and it will end up in BSOD(Blue screen of death) error with related bug check.
According to bugcheck displayed by the OS you can resolve the issues with your driver.
Or sometimes if its not giving any error and just hangs you can use WinDbg to check the bugcheck.