m11x R1 nvidia driver problem

Within the last 2 - 3 months, I have been struggling with video issue

If I use intel video, it works most of the time. Sometimes the machine would just hang for no reason. I attribute it to "normal" window behavior

Whenever I try to switch to nvidia video (Fn F6), I experience one of the following
1) it attempts to switch to nvidia video. I see the popup to high performance, but the popup never go away. If I right click desktop, I still see intel video driver options. At this stage, the machine sometimes hang, but the popup never go away
2) it attempts to switch to nvidia video. It goes black, and stays black...
Only Fn F3 (switch off wireless) work. Caps lock doesn't work. Cntl Alt Delete doesn't work. Have to power off/on
3) it successfully switch to nvidia video (confirm via right click desktop and see nvidia control panel option), but shortly after, the whole machine hang. Only Fn F3 (switch off wireless) work. Caps lock doesn't work. Cntl Alt Delete doesn't work. Have to power off/on
4) it successfully switch to nvidia video. I then immediately reboot the machine. However, I do not see the login screen. All I see is black. Again, have to power off/on

I have reinstall video driver numerous time. Via normal login. Via safe mode. With and without Driver Sweeper

I have tried both official driver: R273113 (the one comes with the machine) and R297688 (the latest one)

I don't know if it's related, but I did recently have my lcd assembly replaced (the original hinge busted), and this problem SEEMS to start happen afterward

Help!!!

 

i have the same problem, try install the 275.xxx it worked for me. (make sure you do a clean install when you do install them)

 

You mean 275.xxx drivers from Nvidia?
This means I can use Discreet video only?
Or use the community hybrid driver?

 

the nvidia ones it gives you the option for a clean install

 

If I understand correctly, using nvidia driver means I can't use the intel video?

 

Not sure if it's a random occurrence or what not
Just for the heck of it, I go into BIOS (A05 I think) and turn on discreet only
F10 to save
reboot
It went to safe boot screen because I had a unclean shutdown before
I choose normal start,and the machine make a loud beeping sound (probably 5-6 beeps, pause, repeat)
I had to power off
and then I can't even get to F2 BIOS option initally
Reboot a few times, and the machine eventually boot up normally
Now video is switchable, and installed 19772 dell video driver (intel video)

Guess I need to call Dell support and see what's up. Hope I don't need to have a motherboard replace...

 

The number of beeps and pauses tell you what is wrong (3 beeps, pause, 4 beeps, pause then one beep is a video card problem) have a look at Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes - BIOS Central to find out exactly what it's telling you.

 

Thanks for the BIOS Beep Codes
I just get into BIOS and set discreet only, F10 to save and reboot
It reboot without beeping!
Sadly, it also got stuck in loading windows 7

Long press power button to shut it down
Press power button
and now I hear ONLY 1 beep
and the screen is black
fan blasting

Long press power button again to shut it down
Press power button
now no beeps
but it is stuck at Starting Windows screen
again fan blasting

It's doing things so randomly that I don't even know who can debug this issue...

EDIT: documenting yet another reboot attempt
Long press power button again to shut it down from previous failed boot attempt
Press power button
see Alien head
spam F2 so I can get into BIOS
3 short beep, pause, 2 short beep (no repeat)
now it's stuck on the alien head screen, with progress bar about 90%
fan blasting

 

A quick followup
Issue never go away

I finally called support on this issue
I told them if I change video to discreet only in BIOS, I can't even get the machine to boot
They told me to try and switch back to switchable in BIOS. I did, and it still does not come up

They are now issuing a motherboard replacement

Not sure if they will get me a R1 motherboard (my current config), or they are gonna get me whatever that's latest (no more R1 MB maybe?)

 

They will probably give you a r1 board, I just got a new r1 board yesterday.

 

Just got a new motherboard replaced

In BIOS, it is shown as
BIOS Version A01
EC Version 1.01

Does this mean I have old version of BIOS, and should update to latest (A05 I think)?

and yes, I did get a R1 board

 

Can't stand A01's fan running that often
so I updated to A05 BIOS
A lot quieter

All in all, I am quite satisfied by the new motherboard
It's good that I get it replaced for free under warranty
However, the flip side is I have to replaced it within 1 year. This does not give me a comfy feeling that m11x R1 is a durable machine

I just hope that I got lucky and get a bad batch, and that this new board will last me a few years

Anyone know of some good burnin tools that I can run to stress out the new MB?

With less than 30 days left for my warranty, I need to make sure this board will work fine