So Apparntly Nvidia GeForce Drivers are killing off some laptop panels (More accurately EDID Units)

[Master Disaster]

This has been going on for months (it was first reported back in August) and despite Nvidia acknowledging the issue exists, as of yet they still haven't said whats causing it or how they intend to fix it.

 

Original source - https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/862417/geforce-drivers/windows-10-geforce-drivers-are-killing-samsung-and-lg-notebook-lcd-display-panels/

 

Which Panels are affected?

 

The specifics of affected panels are as follows

 

Affected models identified:

• Alienware 17
• Alienware 18
• Alienware M18xR1
• Alienware M18xR2

As of 8/9/2015 all reported LCD failures involve:

• Windows 10 Operating System
• NVIDIA GPUs (780M, 880M and 980M)
• 60Hz LVDS Samsung and LG Displays

   

 

The guy who first reported this issue to Nvidia had 3 panels die on him in a 24 hour period. When it happens you'll notice your laptop gives 8 beeps during post and nothing is displayed on the screen.

 

As the thread title suggests, I installed my "free" Windows 10 Upgrade on my Alienware M18xR2 and Alienware 18. Both have Samsung displays. Both machines have GTX 780M SLI.

The M18xR2 was the first to die. Windows 10 installed without any issues. I used the drivers mentioned in the thread subject line, downloaded from NVIDIA. Everything seemed fine for about 24 hours. Without any kind advance of visible warning signs, the machine failed to POST with 8 beeps. GPUs, LVDS cable tested fine. This left only the motherboard or the LCD as being the problem. I have an M18xR1 with the identical display panel. I moved it to the M18xR2 and everything worked. Installing the Samsung panel from the M18xR2 on the M18xR1 induces the same problem. I immediately dismissed this as being an ordinary hardware failure. Nothing lasts forever, right? I wish... Within 24 hours the Samsung LCD panel that I moved to the M18xR2 has failed with exactly the same problem. So, it seems to not be an ordinary hardware failure after all. The Samsung display panel either failed or was damaged as a direct result of upgrading to Windows 10 and/or using the 353.62 display drivers for Windows 10.

But, the problem doesn't end here, unfortunately. I had Windows 10 on the Alienware 18 running on Intel HD Graphics. This machines also has a Samsung display. Everything seemed fine for about 16 hours, so I switched over to GTX 780M SLI and downloaded 353.62 drivers for Windows 10. They installed effortlessly. In less than two hours this machine made a click and shut itself off. It now fails to POST with 8 beeps, exactly the same as the M18xR2.

 

It also appears that, weirdly, users who have this issue but are running with the UEFIs CSM disabled can still use HDMI to display the screen once the panel has died, users with CSM support enabled cannot get anything out of any ports once this issue occurs.

 

The poster also goes on to say it seems to be drivers newer than 353.62 (Including that version as well) which are causing this issue, lots of people are reporting zero issues with older drivers.

 

Alienware themselves have asked anybody who has had a laptop panel die on them with 8 beeps during post to send them an email including the following information

 

 

Lastly a few users from various other forums have found out that the issue is actually with a unit called the EDID and it actually can be fixed, albeit not without some specialised equipment.

 

EDIT - One last piece of important information, the issue appears to be hugely exacerbated by EVGA Precision, if you install the driver alone it takes a few hours (upto 24) before the EDID Unit on the panel is corrupted, installing Precision makes it happen instantly.

 

My thoughts, wowzers. I'd heard of this breifly a month or so ago but I just ignored it as I thought it was just someone shitposting but as it happens they weren't at all.

 

This is pretty bad

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

AMD and Nvidia better sort their shit out. When both companies don't give their fullest. The fuck are we left with?

[UnknownEngineer]

Can't wait for the Nv hate train again.

Just a though, I see these laptops, or gaming laptops in general, constantly marketed with Nvidia GPU's. Do they even have an AMD option?

[Starelementpoke]

AMD and Nvidia better sort their shit out. When both companies don't give their fullest. The fuck are we left with?

To be fair, I think AMD's trying. At least more than Nivida.

[Senzelian]

AMD and Nvidia better sort their shit out. When both companies don't give their fullest. The fuck are we left with?

Iris Pro.  :lol:

[Imakuni]

AMD Burns GPUs, Nvidia Burns Panels....

 

What about intel, will they start burning our souls?

[Master Disaster]

AMD and Nvidia better sort their shit out. When both companies don't give their fullest. The fuck are we left with?

 

To be totally fair to Nvidia, yes it does seem to be the drivers causing this issue but it might actually be down to something Dell did specifically in the affected models which is just being facilitated by the driver.

 

Its not very likely but it is possible.

[Tenelia]

Nvidia drivers have been crashing with greater frequency after version 353. My GPU is now perfectly fine just because I rolled back to 353. You should see some of the chaos on the Nvidia forums right now. It burns with the fury of a thousand suns.

[That Norwegian Guy]

 

Oh I think I know someone with one of those laptops, time to warn them.

[Misanthrope]

AMD and Nvidia better sort their shit out. When both companies don't give their fullest. The fuck are we left with?

 

 

To be totally fair to Nvidia, yes it does seem to be the drivers causing this issue but it might actually be down to something Dell did specifically in the affected models which is just being facilitated by the driver.

 

Its not very likely but it is possible.

 

To add to this, the scope of the issues are like orders of magnitude apart: very specific gpus with very specific laptops and very specific monitors and apparently from a single specific vendor vs many gpus out in the wild with no other limiting factors.

 

We're talking maybe a couple thousands vs maybe a couple hundred thousands of users affected. By the numbers one is regrettable and one is potential class action lawsuit material.

[Legion]

Hmm my friend had an issue similar to this only last week. He just ordered a new pc but I wonder is this what caused the issue.

He has an msi laptop though.

[Master Disaster]

To add to this, the scope of the issues are like orders of magnitude apart: very specific gpus with very specific laptops and very specific monitors and apparently from a single specific vendor vs many gpus out in the wild with no other limiting factors.

 

We're talking maybe a couple thousands vs maybe a couple hundred thousands of users affected. By the numbers one is regrettable and one is potential class action lawsuit material.

 

It seems a tad odd that Nvidia have acknowledged the issue but since then they've gone totally silent and refused to even speak about it while Dell seem to be mounting the information gathering operation. That makes me think Nvidia have identified that it is indeed a Dell specific issue caused by something they did to the panels outside of Nvidias control meaning the issue is actually Dells fault and not Nvidias.

 

Of course that's all conjecture and opinion.

[2FA]

AMD Burns GPUs, Nvidia Burns Panels....

 

What about intel, will they start burning our souls?

AMD released a hotfix for that issue yesterday.

 

Intel will just burn the money in your wallet.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

To be fair, I think AMD's trying. At least more than Nivida.

 

Not trying hard enough. That fan speed bug should've been ironed out.

 

To be totally fair to Nvidia, yes it does seem to be the drivers causing this issue but it might actually be down to something Dell did specifically in the affected models which is just being facilitated by the driver.

 

Its not very likely but it is possible.

 

 

I'm putting the blame on dell as well. Mostly all the parties involved. Those alienware laptops aren't cheap at all. 

[Starelementpoke]

Not trying hard enough. That fan speed bug should've been ironed out.

Think someone just said they fixed it.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Think someone just said they fixed it.

 

That's after the bug did some damage. 

[Starelementpoke]

That's after the bug did some damage. 

Ah, so you ment it should've have been in the first place.

[Nineshadow]

"apparntly"

[dragosudeki]

To add to this, the scope of the issues are like orders of magnitude apart: very specific gpus with very specific laptops and very specific monitors and apparently from a single specific vendor vs many gpus out in the wild with no other limiting factors.

 

We're talking maybe a couple thousands vs maybe a couple hundred thousands of users affected. By the numbers one is regrettable and one is potential class action lawsuit material.

Yeah, let's talk about the range of the different issues then. We're talking about a problem first reported in August (according to original post) vs a problem that occurred since a recent release of a new software...

 

Just goes to show that anyone is able to make mistakes.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Can't wait for the Nv hate train again.

Just a though, I see these laptops, or gaming laptops in general, constantly marketed with Nvidia GPU's. Do they even have an AMD option?

 

Yes AMD mobile GPUs exist.

[Imakuni]

AMD released a hotfix for that issue yesterday.

 

Intel will just burn the money in your wallet.

Yup, tell that to the people that lost their cards....

 

And yeah, intel eats up your money for breakfast. And this BF, it was mine......................

[Starelementpoke]

Yup, tell that to the people that lost their cards....

 

And yeah, intel eats up your money for breakfast. And this BF, it was mine......................

They use the $100 as toilet paper and the $50 as tissue paper.

[2FA]

Yup, tell that to the people that lost their cards....

 

And yeah, intel eats up your money for breakfast. And this BF, it was mine......................

At least they patched it within a decent amount of time. Nvidia nor Dell have done nothing to fix this issue and it's been months.

[sof006]

I guess the moral of the story here is... Don't buy a laptop! lol

 

I joke.

[UnknownEngineer]

 

Yes AMD mobile GPUs exist.

I know, but I couldn't order anything with AMD HW from alienware's site. However I noticed on a different site that the Alienware 17 seems to also come with a R9290M.

 

Besides that I immediately though that this seems more like a panel issue. Considering how only a few models are affected, even though the same identical Nvidia GPU's are in use on Asus's. MSI's and other independent manufactures laptops.