HLK test failing for a KMDF volume upper‑filter driver with error "A lower driver failed IRP_MN_QUERY_STOP_DEVICE"

Subject: HLK DF‑PNP Rebalance Fail Restart Device: E: target widens to all volumes; QueryStop fails even without my driver installed.

Hi all,
I’m trying to pass all HLK tests for my driver.

Driver: KMDF PnP volume upper‑filter (attached via UpperFilters to the Volume/Disk class)
OS: Windows Server 2016 Datacenter, build 14393
HLK: 10.1.14393.8069
Test: DF - PNP Rebalance Fail Restart Device (Reliability)
Target volume: E: (NTFS)
Storage: PERC H330 Mini (DELL) (HBA)


Observed behavior

The DQ initially targets E:, but the test later widens to all STORAGE\Volume devnodes:

WDTF_TARGETS : INFO : - Query("IsDevice AND (DriverBinaryNames!='i8042prt.sys') AND (Class!=hdc) AND (Class!=scsiadapter) AND (DsmDevice!=TRUE) AND (IsDevice AND (DriverBinaryNames!='i8042prt.sys') AND (Class!=hdc) AND (Class!=scsiadapter) AND (DsmDevice!=TRUE) AND (DeviceID='STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6F1-3717-11F1-9707-806E6F6E6963}#0000000001000000'))")
WDTF_TARGETS : INFO : Target: Volume (E:) STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6..
WDTF_SUPPORT : INFO : - ClearSetupAPILogs()
WDTF_TARGETS : INFO : - Query("IsDevice AND (SemiUniqueTargetHardwareIdentifier='STORAGE\Volume')")
WDTF_TARGETS : INFO : Target: Volume STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6..
WDTF_TARGETS : INFO : Target: Volume STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6..
WDTF_TARGETS : INFO : Target: Volume (C:) STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6..
WDTF_TARGETS : INFO : Target: Volume (E:) STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6..

  1. Failures report A lower driver failed IRP_MN_QUERY_STOP_DEVICE and PNP.RestartDevice() Win32=1 - Incorrect function.
    For each of the 4 target volumes, it shows this error,

DTF_PNP : INFO : - EDTTryStopDeviceFailRestart()
WDTF_PNP : INFO : Target: Volume (C:) STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6EF-3717-11F1-9707-806E6F6E6963}#000000001F500000
WDTF_PNP : INFO : Result: A lower driver failed IRP_MN_QUERY_STOP_DEVICE. Rebalance tests cannot proceed...
WDTF_PNP : INFO : - EDTTryStopDeviceFailRestart()
WDTF_PNP : INFO : Target: Volume (E:) STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6F1-3717-11F1-9707-806E6F6E6963}#0000000001000000
WDTF_PNP : INFO : Result: A lower driver failed IRP_MN_QUERY_STOP_DEVICE. Rebalance tests cannot proceed...
WDTF_PNP : ERROR : PNP.RestartDevice() Win32=1 - Incorrect function.

WDTF_PNP : ERROR : PNP.RestartDevice() Win32=1 - Incorrect function.

Q1. I have tried multiple variations of the DQ query, and each successfully targets the E volume only. Why does this test later widen to all volumes even when DQ targets only E:? How can I force it to stay on E: ?

Q2. I also ran this on a physical server client and a VM client, but faced the same issue both times. I understand the system/boot volume may veto QueryStop, but why does each volume report ‘a lower driver failed IRP_MN_QUERY_STOP_DEVICE’ in this test?

Q3. I uninstalled my driver completely and still see the same failures when the test is running with only inbox drivers (e.g., msdmfilt.sys, volsnap.sys, volume.sys) listed by Driver Verifier for target E in the logs. That makes me suspect setup/config rather than my driver. Why would only these drivers fail the test as well, what am I missing here?

WDTF_DRIVER_VERIFIER : INFO : - EnableOnAllDriversOfDevices()
WDTF_DRIVER_VERIFIER : INFO : Target: Volume (E:) STORAGE\VOLUME{01FEB6F1-3717-11F1-9707-806E6F6E6963}#0000000001000000
WDTF_DRIVER_VERIFIER : INFO : Driver: msdmfilt.sys
WDTF_DRIVER_VERIFIER : INFO : Driver: volsnap.sys
WDTF_DRIVER_VERIFIER : INFO : Driver: volume.sys

Thanks for any guidance!

Hi everyone!
Please do let me know if I can provide any other additional information as well to help understand this issue better. I am entirely unable to figure out why this test keeps failing, even for inbox drivers as well.

Thanks for any guidance!