M17x and Windows 7 random freezes

Is anybody getting this on windows 7?

I'm getting random freezes even with doings simple tasks such as using firefox or msn, no blue screen or notification whatsoever. Cursor just stops moving completely, all tasks just freeze including music, of which i need to do a hard reset with the shutdown button.

I'm currently using the latest 186.64 Nvidia DELL driver with my freshly clean installation of windows 7.



EDIT (Updated on 22 October 2010):

A possible fix is to go for the NVIDIA_NOTEBOOK-BETA-DRIVER-_P04_R264882 (P04) version together with the A03 BIOS update

It's the only version that works for me at the moment. I tried updating the graphic driver whenever a newer version comes out and the problem automatically return. So far, the P04 works fine in my current situation. However, if this is the only driver that works, I'd be missing out on some performance updates and compatibility issues with newer games.

My Hardware: M17x (R1) with SLI 260m

 

I know im bumping an old thread but I also started experiencing this random freezing. I can still move the cursor but nothing is accessible. After about 2 minutes the computer plays catch up and everything starts working again.

I am doing random tasks as well, odd because it does it about once an hour web surfing but i can play COD for 2-3 hours straight and no freezes.

 

I too have had the same problem..... I thought it was my antivirus running in the background so I disabled it .... but it still did it........

 

Mine has done something similar.. It halts completely with no mouse response (using a BT mouse - could have something to do with it) - my CPU/memory usage gadget stops updating as well. After ~15 seconds it comes back as if nothing happened.

It happened last night when I bumped my FSB another 5MHz, so I'm wondering if it's OC related. I'll drop it back down tonight after work and see if it still does it.

 

I dont think its OC related as I was running stock speeds when the issue bothered me to death. Oddly enough I just OC'ed and I have not had the issue since my post yesterday. To many people have this issue for it to be something random I am leaning to software however over hardware.

What graphics driver are you running? im on 186.84.

My problem appears mostly when I am on the web using firefox but I have been able to get the freeze using chrome too.

 

Hi everybody, I have the same problem, my M17x freezes in anytime, I detected than is more usually that problem happend when I'm installing something or when I try to force the hard drive (read or write so much, so quickly), for me, my M17x gets freezes but always the computer can restart its tasks, simple.... every stops momentarily but in a while everything come back, I have found this issue so much frustrating, have someone an idea about happen with win7?????, I'm using win7 ultimate x64

 

I have this happen at random times as well. I can be playing a game, just at the desktop doing nothing, after waking from sleep, Loading an app ect... doesnt matter.

I have had mixed experiences where the HDD lights are on solid (cpu is not maxed) and I have had it where the HDD lights are not on solid.
Just as mentioned above, after a few minutes, it will come back and play catchup... I can go days and not have this happen and then all of a sudden it happens and can happen multiple times in a day.

When I had my system overclocked, it seemed to happen more often then when i returned everything back to stock speeds.

Heat doesnt seem to be an issue.. I really think its a driver issue with the chipset onboard..

Running win 7 ultimate rtm
running the nvidia 186.82
9400m disabled...
the latest chipset drivers 15.49

Disabling wireless, blutooth, touchpad ect had no effect in this happening.

 

Chipset driver could be the issue I agree.

I noticed I am able to duplicate the freeze by installing 2 things at once and transfering a file over my network, causes a lockup every single time.

 

I have the same issues, except this only happens when my system is under stress IE playing Aion, WoW, FSX, etc. I checked to see if it was a hybrid/OC issue but after toying around with the different combinations of hybrid graphics and OC or stock for my CPU, all of them kept locking my computer up. I called into Alienware and did a full system diagnostics using the recovery disk, yet the diagnostics did not report any issues and Alienware techs tried reinstalling chipset/graphics drivers. They decided that my motherboard might be defective and are sending a tech over to replace my motherboard. It WAS supposed to be replaced yesterday, but unfortunately I got a call that said the part still hasn't reached my tech because of a supply shortage of the motherboard. Same thing for today, part still hasn't reached my tech.

I've also heard that this is directly linked with the DPC Latency issue although I am not 100% sure of this. I hope that the A03 BIOS will fix this issue, though I don't see how it can.

Is anyone's sound stuttering/repeating when music is playing and their computer locks up?

 

What graphics driver are you running?

 

Im using the official nvidia 195.62 drivers.

 

Im going to be very honest when I say those drivers are the devil. I had nothing but issues when I had them installed and i think a few other others can attest to the complete and utter crap they are.

Go with 186.64 (no issues for me) or 186.81/82 (if you can get them to work, they are a bit buggy on Hybrid for me)

I would like to mention I am now 2 full days without a lockup since i changed my FSB to 1260 (have 1333 Ram). Im still a firm believer that this is a driver issue and most likely a chipset issue having to do with communicating with the HDD.

 

I would agree that it might possibly be a chipset driver issue, or some type of driver issue. I'm going to first do a test with my 195.62 drivers and see if it crashes, uninstall it and try the 186 drivers and see if i get a lockup. If i get a lockup on both, I don't believe it's the graphics drivers. I'll report back if I get something.

 

well my sytem has been locking up, freezing, hanging, programs stop responding, my video would go black, then the only video card that was working was the 9400, if I enabled the 260M GTX I would only get a black screen and the 260m gtx cards kept disappearing, I reloaded the os several times, downloaded the video drivers, updated the BIOS still nothing working so after several hours on the phone Alienware replaced the motherboard, now the screen doesn't go black but it still hangs, freezes, stops repsonding. I have only had this notebook for just over a month and have had problems since I got it. Anyone with any suggestions?

 

So I went ahead and tested on both 195.62 driver and 186.82 driver. Both caused my computer to go into a hardlock, but one thing I noticed is that after constantly hardlocking for about 3-4 days, it stops hardlocking my computer instantly, but instead takes about 2-3 hours before hardlocking.

 

So which drivers should we go for.? the 186.82 or the 195.62?

 

I had this with mine, I did an alien restore and it took 2x to get it to take, then I said screw it... put in a new hdd and a clean install of win7 Ultimate. now no more hangs... did stock drivers with windows, plus the chipset from the disc.

but now my wifi craps out on me everytime I change locations with it, but more on that in a different thread.

 

Noticed the exact same thing. If i dont reboot for a few days it recovers very quickly from the hardlocks and they become fewer and far between. (mine came back btw after 2 days of no hardlocks). But if i reboot I get a hardlock within about 2 hours. I have actually started just closing the lid when I get a hardlock and then reopen when I notice the lights go off.

I changed over to 195.81, still experience hardlock and brightness adjustments dont work after a reboot but I do not have issues with Sli anymore at all.

Caus are you on original stock install? I only ask because a friend did a fresh install of win7 and has been lockup free for 5 days so far. I am running a respawn currently and im wondering if that could be a possible cause to the issue.

 

Same thing, mine came back after only days of hardlocks. I haven't tried closing the lid and reopening when the lights go off, does that do anything?

My m17x came with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit (lockups occured on here too), and when Windows 7 came out, I had a Windows 7 Pro Upgrade disk on the way. I did a fresh install of Windows 7, and just like your friend, I was lockup free for about 3 weeks, until the dreaded lockups happened again. For me to do a respawn would require me to call in to microsoft to have my key reset, and get all my programs and files restored etc, and after having to do that many times with this so called all powerful alienware already, I'm taking every possible step to avoid having to do a complete reinstall of 7 unless it is completely necessary and will guarantee a fix to the issue.

Right now, im curious if it might be a BIOS issue. I'm still waiting for Alienware A03 BIOS and also waiting for my tech to come and replace my motherboard (which I don't think will do much except revert the BIOS).

Also something I'm very curious about is that sometimes when my computer hardlocks, immediately after that I BSOD and I receive a crash related to the NVIDIA driver nv(...) .sys. After dumping and restarting, it BSOD's one more time while on the windows logo loading screen. Maybe that could be the root cause?

 

I used to get that nvidia BSOD yes the nvdrll or something along those lines. Always got it with the 195 driver off the invidia site. Never got it with 186 and yet to get it with the new 195.81.

Being that the issues were present when you had vista installed really leads me to think its a chipset or bios issue. I too am not excited about doing a fresh install and will wait out this "supposed" A03 bios (im not holding my breath) and see if this changes anything. I am 100% sure this is not a hardware issue.

It does me off none the less LOL

 

Sure does me too. I also was able to replicate the problem once or twice using FurMark, but only once or twice. Other times it would just do its job and cool, until I started playing some game and then hardlock.

Never the less, I'm going to try drivers further back to the 179 drivers and see if that fixes anything. If not, ill just put my hopes on the new motherboard/BIOS.

Dell, if you're reading this, get your act together seriously. This computer that you declare "All Powerful" is far from it. My 4 year old laptop runs better than this.

 

I have yet to have a hardlock while gaming I only get them when installing or when running a web browser/Email. Had 4 today and its starting to really get to me.

I just loaded up A03 so we will see if this makes a difference and prevents me from returning my 4th laptop to dell.

 

I just flashed my bios to A03. Fixed the dpc latency issue, but still locks up. I'm currently working on installing the original nvidia drivers and chipset to see if that fixes anything.

EDIT: Installed original NVIDIA drivers and chipset, still locks up. Im just going to wait to get my motherboard replaced, and if that still causes lockup, im going to request a new m17x.

 

I havent had a lockup since updating the Bios about 6 hours ago.

I did have firefox freeze on me but was able to still open other programs and navigate them.

I will keep this updated and see if i can get a lockup.

 

same here. Did the bios upgrade a few hours ago and still no lock up. will keep this posted as soon it changes

 

I already had my motherboard replaced and it is still having lockups, freezing hanging, I will update the BIOS today to see if that fixes the problem otherwise I am going to request a replacement as this notebook hasn't worked right since I got it about a month ago.

 

This problem is exactly why I returned my replacement M17x and got a refund and am now waiting for the refresh. It was just randomly hang for 2-15m with the hard drive light solid until it either just went back to normal operation or I just forced it off. I tried testing everything I could and could not find a problem. I even went as far as pulling a 5400RPM Hitachi HDD and loaded at the time was the 4th or 5th reload of Win7 Pro x64 which then froze right as it went to the desktop for the very first time before I could even load any drivers.

I loved the replacement (my first one stopped posting after the first day) but I couldn't deal with all these freezes and hangs because I also have to do work on the system as well, which was where I was having 99% of the issues.

 

Were you locking up before the BIOS update within the hour or so? If not then I think I needed to give my laptop a break from all the lockups. If so, then I think my motherboard needs a replacement. As of Tuesday, the technician still hasn't personally called me to set up an appointment; I have just been getting calls of "cant come due to supply or something". Reason really unknown, but they can expect a call from me questioning the delay.

If it stops locking up after the BIOS update, I think it might be my computer just being a fail right now.

One thing I recently did but didnt get the chance to test gaming was update the wireless card using Glzmo's technique with a different but more up to date Broadcom driver from ASUS, as well as update the chipset via nvidia's official website. Ill report back to see if this fixes my issue.

 

I had this problem. I had my mobo replaced and that didnt do anything. Ended up getting a replacement.

Now though I get stalls instead of lock-ups (ei everything but the mouse is frozen, then everything comes back after a few min)

 

Do you think it might be too much to ask for a CPU, RAM or GPU upgrade for all this trouble, considering this has rendered my computer useless in performing tasks that I wanted it to do daily?

 

How long did you have the system before they decided to replace it?

I updated the BIOS to A03 about 20 minutes ago so I will see how it works, if it doesn't fix the issue I will have to request a replacement.

 

Back with an interesting result, I currently have been running hardlock free for about 4 hours now. Those who are currently still getting hardlocks, first update your BIOS to A03 and update the wireless card using this technique. Use the Broadcom 943xx Wireless Driver version 5.60.18.41 ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5543296). Also update your chipset at the official nvidia website ( http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_win764_15.51.html).

EDIT: Hardlock free for about 8 hours, I think it worked.

 

Which chipset driver are you talking about I cannot find the 15.51 on nvidia's site

Edit : Found it im stupid. SO far hardlock and lockup free for 3 hours.

 

Well im sorry to come back here but I just started getting lockups again. Maybe my hardware is just defective?

 

I get lockups still as well, i am going to throw this all at nvidia now as im starting to notice these lockup occur during downclocking/upclocking of the cards.

 

Is there anyway we can keep the cards at max clock speeds, and see if that fixes the problem?

 

I am still getting lockups even after updating the bios, hasn't made a bit of difference. I am on hold with tech support right now, hopefully something will get resolved.

 

There was a thread somewhere that had a step by step to keep the cards in constant 3d mode, i have been looking, however i cannot find it.

To test this theory i put a movie in my media player on repeat and went about my gaming/surfing and the laptop did not lock once. I did get stuttering however in the movie when i would load something. I used windowed mode on everything.

I am leaning even more to this meing an Nvidia issue, and seriously considering talking to dell about going the ati route.

 

Caust i want you to try something I have been working with and seen good results

Install the offical 730i chipset drivers off Nvidias site (15.49)
but do not install the storage device manager, uncheck that item, also if it prompts you to install the network monitoring control at the end do not do that either.

So far i have been running very well with this setup.

 

After talking with tech support he went in and changed some settings for power managment, update the BIOS again (I just updated it the day before) he ran some tests and but still found the system not performing the way it should so he wanted me run a memory test. He also wants me to reload windows again as he said that when the motherboard is replaced you have to reload windows is this true? Also after I do a fresh install of windows he wants me to call them back for them to load the drivers, he said if that doesn't work than to talk to a supervisor. So tonight I will reload windows and then get alienware tech support to load the drivers, what fun.

 

Does this mean I need to uninstall the storage device manager first and the reinstall the chipset w/o the network drivers and storage device manager?

I heard that hard lockups can be related to two things: RAM problem, or network card issues regarding hardware. Also I've heard drivers could cause problems, more specifically GPU and chipset drivers. I ran a diagnostic using the Alienware recovery disk, but didnt find any memory issues. There is also a windows memory test which I havent tried yet, but will try when I get back.

Something I've noticed is that its not locking up as frequently as it would. Last night as I was playing WoW, it locked up once, then I put it to rest for 10 minutes. Rebooted, and never locked up again for the rest of the night.

Still waiting for my technician, its been 1 week since they were supposed to come replace my motherboard. I had the company that was supposed to send someone out file a formal complaint on my behalf, as well as send a message to the regional manager. I hope to hear from them soon.

 

I ran the memory test that tech support set up but it didn't find any problems. I also ran the diagnostics on bootup and there wasn't any problems reportd.

I did notice when I checked event viewer that there was several errors relating to the video card so who knows at this point what the problem is. I have all the current drivers for the gpu's, the chipset, the wireless etc. I would like them to replace the system and get one that works instead of one that has to have drivers, BIOS, the os intalled over and over again.

 

I've BSOD because of nvidia drivers, and the BSOD usually happens after a hardlock has happened. Is anyone with ATI cards having this problem?

I would just like to get my motherboard replacement, and if that doesnt fix it, they're gonna hear from me hoping for a new replacement (maybe with the i7 refresh :O)

 

Wow this lock up problem is making me scaried about getting my m17x lol... it seems like the problem is wide spread ?

 

I was lockup free for a full day but they returned today.

I am throwning in the towel I have only had this laptop for 9 days so tomorrow I am getting it replaced with an ATI powered m17x and hopefully I wont have to deal with the issues anymore.

 

So far I havent got any lockups, its significantly less.

 

They wont give you any thing but a replacement.

I had to battle them for a month before they budged

 

I posted this note in another thread. This issue is tied to the DPC latency issue. It is a symptom of the problem and they have no fix with the Nvidia cards. What they will do is replace the cards with the ATI cards which is in fact an upgrade. It is worth calling them. Note to them that you performed all DPC resolution steps and that you want the ATI upgrade. Also mention that you know they are no longer selling the M17x with the Nvidia cards (they pulled them yesterday). This is because it is the video cards causing this problem.

 

The cards are great, the Drivers are Bad.

 

I just checked alienware website and you can still build a system with the Nvidia cards, if that were the case and they were to withdraw the nvidia cards from their website, that would only prove us right that either the cards are hardware defective or dell isnt just smart enough to make decent drivers or whoever it is that makes the drivers and that would just be caotic for they would pretty much have to upgrade everyone to ati