Black screen tech support gave me this to try ??!!??

Hi all

I've been having a black screen issue for months now and I've done everything I can think of with tech support.
I've made a complaint to Alienware management and they have asked me to run this test.
(copied from email)

1. Please download VLC player (Here the link to download VLC media player: VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework!) – it’s a free media player which works in safe mode. And I would ask You to run a video file through this player in safe mode, to see if the issue with the sproadical black screen occours there aswel so we can exclude software issues.


2.Please attach Your machine to an external screen to check if You receive no picture on the external screen when it happens,this please then try in normal mode.


Now quote me if am wrong but how will a second monitor work in safe mode ? I use my HDMI to watch films on my tv all the time and with safe mode being on it won't work as safe mode stops my gpu's working ?? Also to add my tv has the same effect when the black screen occurs.

I have had my motherboard and gpu's changed about 6 times in a year. Wth is going on with the machine ???


Cheers
Mike

However I have run this vlc player test all night in safe mode with no problems on the laptop.

 

What video driver are you running?
Is your issue similar to this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...t-blue-screens-video-hangups.html#post7906340

If so, read my reply in that thread.

 

Just do what they say and follow their instructions to get a quick solution.when you start questioning their madness it will take that much longer.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

Naa it's not the same problem. I don't get blue screens. It just goes black. Buzzes for 10 secs and that's it.
I have to hard boot everytime this happens.

I have tried all the drivers from the original ones to my current one 285.62

The management team have also told me that the problem is hybrid sli and that it is no longer supported ?? seriously ?? Cos these drivers that are brand new state on nvidias website that it supports sli ??

Management team ?? Starting to sound like they don't have a clue....

 

Do the steps I listed in that thread, disable everything in Graphic Settings under the Advanced tab in BIOS, especially PCIe Gen2.

Perform a clean video driver install and your problems will go away

Try it and come back with feedback.

 

I have disabled pce gen in bois. I've reinstalled the driver disabled hybrid. But the problems are still happening.

But I have to ask. If all gpu settings are disabled will I still have full performance from the 2 gtx 280m's ?

 

How did you install the new drivers?

Here's the correct procedure:

Reboot in Safe Mode and uninstall PhysX via Control Panel.
Reboot in Safe Mode and uninstall the nVIDIA display drivers.
Reboot one more time in Safe Mode, run CCleaner and clean your registry of any remnants of old drivers.
Reboot normally and install the new package of choice.

With PCIe Gen2 disabled in BIOS you should not encounter anymore display driver issues like the ones you described.

Please take a moment to follow the above steps and let us know how the result.

 

I always use ccleaner or driver sweep when removing gpu drivers.

I still have the problems !!
Even though I have disabled pce gen. Why was it on in the first place ? If this did fix the problem which seems to on other laptops then why would Alienware have it switched on ??

Not sure about receiving full performace on gpu's by following you instructions.

I have just noticed a new problem when doing gpu tests. The tests just stopped and a pop up window says.

The nvidia OpenGL driver detected a problem with the display driver and is unable to continue.

What does this mean ??

 

Well, if you didn't do it in the order i posted above, there are chances that old driver remnants are still there. To me it definitely sounds like a driver problem and i think it's time for a fresh install as a last resort before assuming that even this 6th pair of cards are faulty which i doubt.

If you consider going this route, have a look at these threads:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ook-feel-after-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

If you do a search on this matter you'll find this explained many times, disabling PCIe Gen2 won't impact performance by much if at all in most situations.

Also i assume that the option is on by default because some bought the system with only one card.

 

Thank you for being patient with me.

I did a format and used the oem cd about 3 weeks ago.
Tech support recommend this to me so I tried it. Tech support also typed something into my run prompt so he could see how often my laptop crashed. It was almost daily.

I have tried your instructions correctly and I tried it a few weeks ago. The method you have said is that tech support asked me to to

 

Sounds like something software related to me too. I highly doubt 6 motherboards and 12 gpu's would be bad - and you would get them all.

Have you tried disabling SLI and removing the slave card completely - to see if you still have the problem only with a single GTX 280m?