*** Windows 10 + NVIDIA WHQL Drivers are Killing Alienware and Clevo LCD Panels ***

My ME versions:

 

Factory vBIOS & BIOS flash + brand new SSD with a brand new Win 8.1 install (no updates, did not connect the internet at all) is a no go. Whatever was written to the LCD is causing this. My machine works PERFECTLY aside from inability to post without HDMI cable. After posting with HDMI, I have picture on both laptop LCD and TV... Disconnect the HDMI to TV after post, laptop's LCD works perfectly until you restart without HDMI to be greeted by the 8 beeps, no post. As long as I use my HDMI to post, everything is perfect. Basically just need a new LCD.

This is too time consuming, I'm going to do some gaming now. Hate these problems. Many thanks to all of you who tried to help, I truly appreciate your advice. Giving this a rest for a while until someone else posts something solid that has been proven to work as a fix (aside from buying a new LCD lol).

 

@Daniel1983 Did you replace all that plus a display or is that the broken one still? If you did all that that and broke a new display we are screwed.

 

No, I did not replace a new LCD; was just trying to revive the original as it works, but just won't post without HDMI... Enjoying the rest of my hardware & gaming now; to purge the frustration this entire situation created for so many of us. Good luck to everyone, I hope all of you get the best resolution to this, be it Alienware servicing your warranty, or Nvidia / Micro$haft providing a fix.

 

I'm going to try and fix mine one more time I think. I'm going to blind flash my bios and secure erase my SSD. Both Arestavo and I failed to do that and broke our replacement screens. Mr. Fox did that and has no issues. To me that seems like the best bet before I part it out and sell what I can. Unlike some people I am unable to boot completely so it's a total loss otherwise.

 

@Mr. Fox , that sure is a breach of privacy but the thing is Microsoft did say that windows 10 would be the last windows ever made and are instead moving towards an "online" version. What that means, according to me, is windows 10 can not be seen as being just a whole set of codes written, compiled and shipped. It should be seen as an "ever changing" windows OS if you will. In this respect, I think that's why Microsoft and windows 10 has so much stuff going against them as what they are doing is totally new. We all know that mankind (at the core of things) is afraid of change. Microsoft could be seen as a pioneer in this department. But given my lack of proper computer knowledge, that statement is purely my opinion (I am more of a science guy, computer related stuff just isn't my thing). That being said, do you have any good news concerning the 8 beeps problem? @Arestavo , hey how's your 980Ti? I am strongly thinking about building my own rig when I am done with my lappy cause desktop gaming is where it's at now. There is just too many problems surrounding laptop gaming especially for a novice like me. I didn't even open my AW18 for crying out loud cause I am too afraid of breaking something.

 

@TomJGX I noticed you have LG 1080p screen in your R4. Could you check if it is LG LP173WF1-TLB3 please? If that is the case, you could help by dumping your EDID here. @t456 created one (thank you very much) from the specs sheet, but your copy would be helpful - even for comparison to see if they are identical.

Instructions on how to perform this from t456:

Side note: please make sure your display is working fine and is recognized as proper LG panel. This can be done via various software: MonInfo, Aida64, HWinfo64 etc. If you enable Legacy on R4 with a broken screen, it will give 8 beeps and will not post. Although it's impossible to game on R4 with a broken firmware display, so if you can game, your screen should be fine.

 

strangely we haven't heard anything from people with AUO panels

 

The 980 Ti is an extremely powerful card. With a good aftermarket cooler it can also (generally) be overclocked quite nicely. In games, a single overclocked 980 Ti is almost as fast as two 780 Ti classifieds (within 15% not overclocked) - but without the SLI issues.

 

Is there absolutely any word of an upcoming fix for this?

Everyday or so that I check I read about another unfortunate victim to this.

 

Nothing yet, buddy. Hopefully we will hear something soon. The screwed up LCD that I sent to NVIDIA for failure analysis hasn't even been delivered yet. Maybe we will get lucky and hear something before next weekend.

 

maybe it got lost on purpose

begin the conspiracy theories!

 

Has now tested out Win 10 for 6 days . Everything looks like it's working but for a junk OS. Hate this junk already... Wonder how long it takes before the problem with the screen starts to happen. Why does it take a while before the problems arise? If this OS is the future then this becomes a bloody future for all... No wonder this was a 1 year free upgrade from Win 7 and 8. Had Windows 10 not have DirectX12 so would many skipped over this OS with a smile.

 

I hope you made an image. DX12 wasn't enough to make me want to remain subservient to the Redmond Mafia. If I have to choose between my soul and DX12, I will choose the former and keep on using DX11 until Steam is finished making Linux a highly relevant OS. In the end, we may find we owe more to Gabe Newell than we could have ever imagined.

 

If you can post, can't you write the correct EDID to your laptop screen? As in, it can be written by Windows, so you can rewrite it as well. If it gets the correct EDID, it should post again, right?

 

I don't know how to "write EDID". This entire troubleshooting thing just leads to further dead ends after each attempt. The only certain solution is LCD replacement. Anything else at this point leaves me feeling like a dog chasing my own tail. Life's too short for that.

 

I did not make a image of Win 8.1 but I have Win 8 and Win 8.1 dvd + key. This should be enough to clean install Win 8.1 until 30 days have passed? Otherwise I Obtain a Win 7 pro license that I really want... What are your comments towards this Mr Fox. Have backups of everything else.

 

If I could only have one Windows OS it would absolutely be W7, no question. I like having W8.1 for running Fire Strike benchmarks. I haven't really figured out any other purpose for which it is excellent, but it's not the horribly evil malware as W10 has proven to be.

I had 2 Windows 8.1 images. One without any cancerous updates, and one that was fully infected and ready for W10. I restored the cancer-free image and will delete the W10-ready image.

 

**DELETED by me**

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

Microsoft has destroyed all trust that Windows 10 should become a Os which was better in every way than the disaster Win 8. Only reason anyone has to upgrade now; Is DirectX12. Without Dx12, it would become much worse for Microsoft and obtained skeptical Windows 7 owners to choose the new garbage. Win 8.1 vs 10 is full victory to 8.1. How is it possible to destroy a OS like Microsoft has done with making 10. All should have understood that W10 would be a big disaster...

 

yet DX12 is not even used yet ! See the whole reason why they are trying to create a demand for DX12 is to get people to use Windows10.

 

I have an LG LP173WF1 pannel according to HWinfo64... Now whether it is TLB3 or what, most likely is... I don't have the time to do it right now but will do so later today/tomorrow...

 

QUOTE="Papusan, post: 10074210, member: 612304"]Has now tested out Win 10 for 6 days . Everything looks like it's working but for a junk OS. Hate this junk already... Wonder how long it takes before the problem with the screen starts to happen. Why does it take a while before the problems arise? If this OS is the future then this becomes a bloody future for all... No wonder this was a 1 year free upgrade from Win 7 and 8. Had Windows 10 not have DirectX12 so would many skipped over this OS with a smile.[/QUOTE]

I have personally used Win10 for almost a month before going back to win8.1 for obvious reasons but I have to say that it looks sweet and a fresh new start especially compared to win8.1. @woodzstack , you are completely wrong, DX 12 is definitely available and does wonders too. You can test it through the API OVERHEAD TEST if you have the advanced 3dmark edition. It's just the lack of DX 12 games that is annoying. @Mr. Fox , abadu lord gaben, the steam OS is definitely up there for me. I just hope they include the practicality that Windows offers and not just be 100% dedicated to gaming.

 

The ONLY thing I liked about Win 10 is the multiple desktop features.. I do a lot of multitasking between various screens, so I find that very useful. Take that away, and Win 10 has nothing to offer but problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Windows 10 and 355.60 just killed my LG screen in Dell Precision M6800 with GTX 970M installed. I also commented in Mr Fox's thread in GeForce. Hopefully there will be some solution coming out, I worry if I replace a screen this will happen again.

 

8 beeps on non-Alienware laptop does not necessarily mean dead LCD. Even if it is Dell (almost the same). Try to power drain your laptop first, Enter UEFI, Recovery, take awway RAM and press power button etc.

 

@Mr. Fox you might want to update your OP.

technically it does after dell owns alienware.

 

I tried to clear the CMOS already, it still doesn't work. The Dell on-board diagnosis showed my LCD panel has problem and ended my test. Now I couldn't even get into my BIOS setup. The computer tried to reboot several times with black screen then shut down itself. And I tried to reinstall my OS with a burned DVD, but it failed to boot it.

 

I ran the Dell diagnosis in my M6800 again, confirmed this is EDID issue.

 

My screen is a Samsung SEC5044. Also says:
Monitor Name (Manuf): 173HT [DELL P/N: GN36T] if that's helpful.

 

Yup. EEPROM corruption, first couple bytes have probably overwritten with garbage that makes the LCD useless/unable to transmit data. Kinda weird/stupid why these chips are not read only/write disabled.

 

Linux may endup becoming more relevant than anyone realizes..


Quote from Tron Legacy


Allan - Given the prices we charge to schools, students - What sort of improvements have been made to "Flynn" - Umm - "Encom O/S 12"

Encom CEO - This year we put a 12 on the Box................................................

"Dillenger" Encom employee - Encom O/S 12 is the most secure O/S we have every released...

End Quote

2 minutes later the OS gets hacked and released for free on the net

 

@t456 For those of us who have to get replacement LCD's what steps (if any) can be taken to ensure the EEPROM doesn't get written to on those new LCD's? Is this difficult to do??

I'd like to test this by applying 'read only' to my working AW18.

EDIT: I was always curious how some machines get affected, others do not... Could it be that some of them came from the factory with EEPROM set to "read only" which is why they are fine? Makes sense logically. It's like some machines were rushed and that step was skipped.

Hope they LEARN from this and make sure in the future it is set to 'read only' for all.

 

I find it hard to believe that eDP displays are affected, considering that, unlike LVDS, there should be no direct access to the panel's EEPROM from the controller, anything that's not a legit command would most likely be ignored.

 

Is it possible to sum up how many in the Foum who use AW 17 with 120hz screen and who still use Win 10? I will still test the Win 10 on my AW17 with 120hz 3D screen before I go back to something else within the deadline. Excited to see how long it takes before the problems come. LoL

 

I'm using windows 10 on an AW17 with 120 Hz screen. No problems so far.

 

I have an Alienware M17x R4 with a 120hz panel (eDP) on Windows 10, I've had no issues so far but considering I am using an "old" GTX675M this might not be relevant, for all we know this bug might not happen on Fermi with current NVIDIA drivers.

Are any laptops using optimus affected at all ? (Since the panel is connected to the Intel GPU rather than Nvidia's, if not that would explain why so many laptops, including the latest Alienware have been spared, since a majority of laptops rely on Intel's iGPU nowadays.

 

My R4 uses Optimus (I did use dedicated at the time screen firmware got corrupted though) with LVDS cable. I swapped my 680m for 980m though and it was fine for months until Windows 10 and nvidia driver bugs done their work and now I have unusable screen and laptop (980m does not work properly even via HDMI until new screen is installed and I can re-install the drivers properly).

I will try flashing the firmware in the next few days when I have the exact image of LG LP173WF1 TL B3. @t456 I got the UEFI pen drive sorted now and tested it another laptop (since I can't enable Legacy on R4 due to 8 beeps no post if I do so) and confirmed that no DOS software works when booted in UEFI mode unfortunately.

 

OK tried to update to Windows 10 Pro on my M17XR3 and luckily the display did not break. However the laptop desktop vanishes and turns black. I managed to load task manager and enter the control panel and it seems in the device manager the intel display driver did not upgrade and was marked as " ! " not installed. There were other drivers that were not upgraded. On Windows 7 task bar there wan an Intel Rapidstore technology icon. I'm assuming it's one of the unrecognised drivers. Seems all drivers are incompatible, THE GTX 560 was showing in device manager but was not working I guess since the screen was black... I feel so lost here , no idea what to do at this stage. Anyone has an update or a link to some new or existing drivers that work on M17XR3 on Windows 10?

 

My 17R2 is perfect on Win 10 so far. The only thing irritating me about it thus far is ShadowPlay doesn't seem to work for recording gameplay, only shows FPS in game but recording does not work. Not sure if this is just a glitch on Nvidia's side with the latest GeForce Experience/driver on all PC's or just the fact that maybe somehow Optimus is interfering with the integrated iGPU. Obligated to use Fraps for gampelay recording which results in massive 20+GB files for 4 minute recordings, yet I find that ShadowPlay does a much better job quality wise with a significantly smaller file size footprint.Can anyone confirm if this is just an issue with Optimus, or Nvidia breaking ShadowPlay recording (again).?.

 

Same here, I have the R4. Been running Windows 10 since the update release and no real problems.

 

I had what sounds like a very similar issue (M17xR3) when I did the in-place upgrade - I had a black desktop & the only way to interact was through Task Manager. The only way I could solve it was doing a "Reset" using the USB Win 10 installation media ( https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10) - effectively a clean install when you choose the "Reset" option, but I did opt to keep Personal Data, but all installed programs were wiped. This solved the black screen issue & I was then able to load drivers of my choice for NVidia card, etc. I then recommend you disable "Fast Start" in the Windows settings, as this caused freezes on cold boots, see attached pic on where to find:


EDIT: Alienware Command Centre Windows 8 M17xR4 version works on R3 - control of Keyboard lighting, etc. IDT sound card drivers windows 8 version obtainable here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...er-v-6-10-0-6421-maxx-audio-3-quality.718224/

 

What are the safest drivers to use with the M17x R4 with 970M? I was on 353.00, is any newer one on 8.1 safe?

 

353.06 has always been the best for me on W8 especially for TW3

 

Not sure anyone can answer this conclusively. If you're machine has all of the current Windows Updates applied, there may not actually be any safe GeForce driver available. We don't know for sure and nobody can present any facts on the subject. Until NVIDIA, Micro$lop and/or Dell tells us they have found and eliminated the problem, and tell us what steps need to be taken to avoid disaster, we all potentially remain at risk with 780M, 880M, 970M and 980M GPUs installed in our machines. I think the only folks that might be safe are running AMD GPUs.

 

What you guys think, is the speed good enough for cold boot as window 10?

 

Please consider the topic this thread and stop posting irrelevant questions or off-topic information. What does this have to do with LCD displays being damaged?

 

Sorry my bad, I thought this is Window 10, Alienware 15 Owner's Lounge, please remove my post.

 

No, I will leave it here as an reminder because I have already asked others to stay on topic. Thank you for responding. I appreciate it. Feel free to re-post it in the right place.

 

On that note, my apologies for contributing to a slight sidetrack off the topic as well. Will make a new thread in the appropriate forum to try & find answers to some new questions about the 17R2. Seems this thread is getting all of the attention, so everyone posts here regardless of how much "off topic" their question may be.