6990m Vanished

Tried finding new hardware, new hardware changes, reinstalled Intel drivers and then AMD drivers, no luck..............did the card just die?

 

so what does it list as your video adapter in device manager? Generic VGA adapter?

 

The only thing listed is the Intel adapter.

 

try doing a windows restore point to a date when you know the 6990m was there and working?

 

Did that and lost my network adapter, got that working again but still no 6990. It did come up briefly with an error code 19 but then it vanished again. I just cleared my BIOS and reflashed it with A08 but no joy. No clue what to try next. Computer is still under warranty, sent a PM to two reps on here asking if they can assist. I'm in Afghanistan so NBD repair isn't an option at the moment. Might have to leave it broken until I get home.

Can promise you that I will never, as long as I live, buy ANYTHING that has an AMD card in it again though.

 

Dude ..I feel for you ....maybe try cleaning the slot and putting it back in .....somewhere I read replacing the bios battery (I think he meant CMOS) ....I did this research today when my cards disappeared but that was me being goofy ....let us know if we here can help you in anyway ....maybe one of the AW techs here can help like brother Paros or one person who has helped me a lot is Mr Fox ..try contacting him . Maybe he can suggest something ...not saying others can't .....no offense to anyone

Also do you have the option for fn+f7 to switch

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

First off Slim, never, ever, EVER!, do a system restore. It does not work like its supposed to. If you didn't do anything to begin with that could change card (install new drivers, VBIOS, etc.), then system restore will not be able to fix anything. In my experience, system restores just keep all the new problems while bringing back some of the old ones.

What happens when you try and switch graphics with Fn+F7? Does it just come up again with the Intel iGPU still?

Going off of what you wrote in your previous posts, the 6990m vanished from the BIOS as well as Windows, yes? Could be the motherboard going funny. IF the card was completely dead, you SHOULD get a beep code or LED code during POST. There are two avenues you can try and run:

1. Borrow someone else's m17x (or use your m18x if you have it available), and install the 6990m in the second laptop. Boot to the BIOS and see if the card is detected. If it is, then something else in your R3 is conflicting with your 6990m.

2. Run the PSA at POST and see if the CPU, RAM, Chipset and motherboard are all working properly. This is just for good measure. These here computers are like cars: when something goes wrong, something completely in-obvious and unrelated can be what is causing the issue. One other thing, use GPU-Z to see what it registers for the GPUs. It should show the Intel iGPU but also look if it shows the 6990m and an "unknown PCIe device". Conversely, you should look in the device manager to see if there is such a device listed in there as well.

PS: error code 19 in the Device Manager brings up this explanation: Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19). Is that what it stated before it disappeared again?

 

Nothing at all happens when I hit FN + F7.........not willing to tear down the M18 to test this card, not sure what PSA is.

The card is not seen in BIOS or in the Device Manager now. It was briefly seen in Device Manager as I messed with it, that is when I got the error 19 message..........I'll mess with it some more when I get to the room this evening as that's where it sits at the moment. I'm not sure if I ever checked the Device Manager after hitting FN + F7 this most recent go-around and that could very well be the problem. At various points as I've messed with this issue I've seen an error message stating that no card was present when hitting FN + F7 and as I said, no effect at all on other occasions.

It was working fine until I opened CIV 5 (which I've played many times on the M17), the game froze and after a hard reboot I've had this issue since.

Edit: Nobody I know has another M17 out here, most think I'm nuts for having mine and the 18 out here as it is. lol

 

Nuts for having an m17x and m18x? I guess they just hate fun. They probably all have Macbooks, yes?

PSA is Preboot System Assessment. Hit F12 at POST and then select DIAGNOSTICS. It will run thru a bunch of CPU and memory tests. It will determine if there is a problem on the motherboard, CPU, etc. I have not found any diagnostic app that will check the MXM cards...believe me, I've looked. In hearing that everything was working until you launched Civil 5, the card may very well be in its death throws (straw that broke the GPU's back). I can't think of any repair options other than mailing back to a friend or family member stateside and then have AW support send a tech to them. But, boy that's gonna be expensive to mail that laptop from Afghanistan.

 

Yeah I'll eventually get it fixed........I'm home on leave in mid October and the system is still under warranty. I've PM'd a couple of reps and asked them if it's possible to have a card shipped out here so I can replace it but I'm not holding my breath.........when I bought the computer it arrived with a bad hard drive and they refused to ship me a replacement. I had to wait until I was home and exchange the system then.

I'm going to try the FN + F7 thing again tonight and then attempt to reload the driver..........I have 12.4 and 12.8, was on 12.4 so will try that one first.............maybe I'll get lucky.

 

I doubt they'll ship parts only. I was up at at my grandpa's house on an island in northwestern Washington last year. My bluetooth card went bad and when I gave Dell my location, they were "unable to send a technician because they didn't offer service in my area". Depot service was also out of the question for me as well since FedEx & UPS don't service the island either. I asked if they would ship parts to our PO box on the neighboring island and I would install the card and send back the defective one. They wouldn't go for it. Their "policy" is to have parts replaced ONLY by certified technicians.

 

Try plugging charger in, then restart your laptop. After that, try Fn+F7.

 

It's been plugged in the entire time.

I pulled the card, pulled the CMOS battery, held down the power button for 30 seconds, reinstalled the card, reinstalled the CMOS battery and booted the computer. The card is visible again but I'm back to my original problem. When I press FN + F7 I get no effect of any kind even after a reboot. I installed 12.4 again and the screen goes pure white. If I put the computer to sleep and wake it back up using the power button it comes back to a normal screen but only on integrated graphics. Device Manager shows the 6990M and says it's working normally but when I again press FN + F7 there is no effect. When I right click on the desktop I do not have the option for Catalyst Control Center, only the integrated graphics options are displayed.

I am going to download the drivers from Dell once again and give it another try. At this point I'm convinced the problem lies with AMD and their shoddy implementation of their products but I'm hopeful I can find a way to get it working again.

 

AMD strikes again. After yet one more card removal, BIOS clearing, card re-installation, new driver download and installation I have a 6990m again and it's functioning properly.

Look for both of my AMD equipped machines to be listed for sale soon.

 

Ouch. I love AMD, they have worked great for me where Nvidia has constantly failed. But, since my 5870m is going bad, I want to upgrade my GPU and not just swap it out for the same one. In looking at the current GPUs out there, it came down to the AMD 7970m and the Nvidia 680m. The 7970m card is supposed to be more powerful in terms of raw graphics computing power, but the 680m GPU is reputed to be solid as rock. Quite a few users here in the forum have installed it to their systems (even their R2s) with maybe one or two minor issues compared to the laundry list of complaints about the 7970m. Now I swore when I got my m17X that I would never go with Nvidia again, but I am at the point where I am willing to give their 680m a try. Slim, it may be something you want to look into trying yourself as well.

 

I'm definitely leaning towards purchasing a couple of the 680's for the 18, just having a hard time swallowing the $1700 price tag. I'm also more a fan of "plug it in and it works" and don't care for pulling cards, installing drivers and all the nonsense that goes along with a new card install........one of the reasons I'm considering selling both machines and picking up a 680 SLI 18 and calling it good.

Hard to do anything from out here though so most likely I'll just continue to and moan and deal with things until I'm home. lol

 

Agreed. I would only be getting a single 680m, but at $890 for the kit, it's a ways off. Plug and play isn't as much a deal maker for me as is having all components work. I would need to get the Eurocomm 7970m card, not the Dell or Clevo one. Even then, my HDMI and DP ports won't work plus I lose fan control. All that added together is just too many compromises. With the 680m, the only thing I need to worry about is the GPU fan control which I can resolve by setting a fan profile in HWinfo.