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

Here is an updated quick guide how to recover your LCD for CHEAP. Epsecially good for those who already have 2 broken LCDs.

You buy USB programmer CH341A for 3$. Then you ring 40pin monitor cable and take 4-th, 6-th, 7-th, and 10-th cable and connect it to 8-th, 6-th, 5-th and 4-th pins of programmer respectively. I have already gave video in the past of this 40 pin connector and its proper wires if you don't have proper instrument for ringing connections. Search my older post.

Spoiler: How it looks from programmer's view

First you connect LCD's cords and then to USB.
Dowload software and drivers https://cloud.mail.ru/public/Fpr4/wnyL9scRK
In programmer's settings you choose:
type - 24 EEPROM
logo - ATMEL
name - AT24C02
And press READ button. If it looks like firmware then you save it and write new firmware.
Firmware download https://cloud.mail.ru/public/DmNP/1wca2w2DS
Preffered N173HGE-L11_C1.BIN, if you have troubles then use another one in archieve. These firmwares are compatible to p173fw1 (tl) (b3). If you have another one then search another one (again, I have already given you links in the past).

 

I'd be willing to pay to pay for someone to reflash my original display as long as it's cheaper than buying new and you guarantee your work.

 

Hey buddy.
To be honest I couldn't name them individually.
Id advise just a clean install.
Im running windows 10 very well but Im using a 970m and the latest nvidia driver wont install.

 

You find everything about Win update patches you dont want in @Matrix Leader hardware signature. He knows everything about this .

 

out of curiosity,
(excuse me if its been mentioned before in one of the 106 pages that i didnt read through all the way)
is the whole

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

issue only affecting selected unlucky people with a selective screen model/part number, or literally all the nvidia powered m18's,
also does it only happen if you do a clean install or even if you upgrade to win10.

since my curiosity has gotten the best of me, as i am and have been running windows 10 on my 17 r5 120hz for quiet some time, and haven't had any issues, (matter of fact, i think its running better then it was on 8) except for once that i experienced 6 beeps, which i was also (somehow) able to resolve while completely in dark as to why it happened, just by swapping the screens and re-seating the gpu, and after putting the screen back, never had an issue again.

(note since i did put the 60hz screen back, and it was working fine too)
im assuming my r5 is somehow magically immune to this problem.
which is what got me thinking that maybe there is some other variable other then the windows 10/nvidia whql that is causing this issue.

also as for the dead screens, what exactly happens hardware wise,
is the issue due to extra voltage/current, temperature, high frequency or something.
are the screens repairable.

and once it happens, is there any fix other then swapping-out/replacing screens.

 

does it really need the big ass font size?

 

sorry about that, i didnt change the font size, it was by default set to that

 

i fixed it.

 

much better

 

Nice! And the internal display?

Could try reinstalling Intel HD. Clean install, flashed bios, vbios etc.?

Noticed Intel overwrites the internal display and takes full possession, basically. Installed custom monitor.inf with HD; resulted in bsod each time, whereas without HD this works fine. Then install HD and the custom monitor has been replaced by a default model again. Fairly annoying, that ...

Caution; not all eeproms are AT24C02. Read markings, search spec. sheet and then attach to the correct pins (these differ, depending on the eeprom). Also, do this before ordering a programmer; a specific eeprom needs a compatible programmer.

Those would run, sure, but timings are different from the LG and so are its colour coordinates. If you flash those then you'd overwrite LG calibration with that of a different display.

 

Mine was like that initially under Intel GPU, resolution was all wrong. I can't recall how, but I managed to fix it... Maybe by switching over to 880M, not sure. Glad you were able to get back in.

 

Thanks a lot! This weekend, I should have some time set aside to do the clean install. I am nervous though, because I have never reinstalled an OS on any of my AW systems. I have however, done it a million times on my other Dell systems. That's why I figured I would use the Alien Respawn method. It's not the install that bothers me, it's all the other stuff that follows: drivers, and particular install order, trying to get the "Alienware Feel" back, etc (since a fresh install will feel like any other computer with a fresh install--without the Alienware 'feel'--startup, logon and lock screens).

 

what makes installing an OS on an AW any different from any other PC?

 

Well, maybe I am just ignorant, but on my XPS 630i, XPS M1710, Dell Latitude D620, and Dell Dimension 4700 computers it was pretty much put the OS disc in, let it do its thing; then put in the resource disc, let it do its thing and you're done. Alienware on the other hand, seems a lot more complicated.

 

I had the exact same issue. I take it the screen does not work at all, but you can see the picture on TV via hdmi. Uninstalling Intel HD drivers in device manager and marking delete the software as well and restarting the pc returns your screen to 1920x1080. Save all your work before the restart as you will not see the picture when the drivers are uninstalled. Then just press win+d, alt+f4, down arrow and enter to restart the pc. After driver uninstall, hdmi will not work, but internal screen works. Nvidia drivers then can be installed if they aren't. And whatever you do, do not enable legacy in bios or even UEFI with legacy as the machine will not post with 8 beeps.

 

Code:

NVIDIA's Windows driver version 355.78 (released 8-22-15) provides beta support for VR developers using Oculus 0.7 SDK.
It provides a bug fix for an intermittent issue found in the publicly released 355.60 Game Ready driver as well as solving an issue with incorrect display timings.

 

Hey @j95 , does that make using windows 10 safe or not? Have you tested the driver? If yes, how is it? I am currently on windows 8.1 with no windows updates at all so not windows 10 ready and running the 352.86 driver. @Mr. Fox , what do you think? Jump the ball and install windows 10 along with the driver or wait?

 

Can't wait for some brave soul to try that and tell us about it

 

"It provides a bug fix for an intermittent issue found in the publicly released 355.60 Game Ready driver as well as solving an issue with incorrect display timings".
Starting point...EDID timings?
Don't install win10. My M17xR4 screen is LGD02C5 50-pin eDP (M17xR3/120Hz) AW17 & M17xR4/120Hz SEC5044 stock panel.

 

That is exactly what I noticed... Unghh main problem now is that does dedicated work? Or do you get 8 beeps when switching to it? I think the new drivers should help since they supposedly have a fix but I really doubt it...

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

 

There's no fix, it's just speculation...

 

I installed it... There is no fix... Screen is still same.... I could bear with the state my computer is in now if the brightness was fixed however, brightness is just good as zero... Hardly can see... bleugh... Need to get this fixed/replaced ASAP..

 

Is it safe to install nVidia latest drivers after Windows 8.1 Pro clean install? Is this bug related to nVidia + Windows 10 or nVidia in general?

 

So, I would like you to check out Aziz and my problems on our laptops. We have the p770zm. My issues started about two weeks ago. No power to lcd on boot, only visible on external display. Driver crashes, etc. Then a sudden emergency shutdown. No boot, no bios access, no screen (internal or external), error beeps of 13. So does this sound like what you've heard on the issue?

 

Are you sure you do not want to be on the Clevo Forums , since its a Clevo you are using ?

 

I am sure. I understand this is an alienware page. I'm requesting cross referencing of issues to see how large this may be. I pointed to the exact owner's lounge originally it was posted in. I only know roughly the 8 beeps on alienware and a little I saw on nvidia forum page. So I'm directly asking if these symptoms roughly match users of other laptops as this may be more endemic than originally thought and effect a larger set of laptops.

 

guess makes some sense. But your saying or suggesting it is not an Alienware issue but a LAPTOP issue overall.

I have infact heard of this happening to an MSI a Lenovo and a few Clevo's, but i have no proof, i didn't care to investigate much.

 

Hey @woodzstack , any good news so far? Have you tested the driver that @j95 mentioned? Could it be light at the end of the tunnel?

 

Take a look at this... Last post. http://eu.alienwarearena.com/forums...-1/ready-to-give-10-another-shot#post-1095819

 

That does not make any sense "Yea that was an issue during the first week or so here at my shop, but has disappeared since Microsoft pulled that update (or whatever was done on their backend). Today we've been seeing a lot of computers coming in with black screens after Windows Updates. System Restore to a day or two ago is resolving it but it's not affecting every computer universally; happens on Intel & AMD powered systems from Dell and HP so far. Not enough samples to identify root cause yet for us".

 

It is possible there is a typo of him, but this confirms that a lot of computers coming in with black screens. There probably many many more screens that are damaged than we even realize...

 

Nah, he means unable to boot, I believe. SO he boots with Rescue Media and restores to restore point. That's it.

 

That does not sound good at all. I may not be exactly the same problem, but it does sound remarkably similar if it is not. Did you post in the NVIDIA GeForce forum? There is a link in post #1. I'm not glad to see it happening to anyone, but it could be a good thing to find brands other than Alienware having their LCD panel EDID corrupted by GeForce drivers. It might add an extra dimension to the need for urgency on NVIDIA's part, which would be good for everyone.

That is definitely a possibility. I wonder how many affected Alienware laptops (or other brands) have this problem and the owners don't have a clue what is happening or why, and don't know how or where to search for information. If this is affecting out of warranty machines owned by noobs, there could be a lot more of them than what we know about.

 

hmmm....the panel i just installed is an SEC5044 according to HWInfo.

 

In reply to thegh0sts

That's the one I have. It's supposed to be a Samsung, according to that program. Still have no problems with it on Windows 10.

 

I hope Microsoft and Nvidia are actively trying to find a solution cause this is ridiculous and should have never existed in the first place. @Mr. Fox ,Why aren't other brands like Sager, MSI or Lenovo getting the same issue as us? From what I read, AW laptops are mostly the ones suffering from this.

 

AFAIK most of Dell/Alienware laptops have their displays EDID Write-unprotected while others have Write-Protected. That's why NV driver can destroy edid because write to display firmware is unrestricted.

 

@t456 Hi, I have an alienware 18 which has gone through the same problem, but I can't get it to boot to an external display to fix anything. can I send you my lcd panel and have it fixed up?

 

Another one from a desktop user this time:

Windows 10 killed one of my Titan X?, help!

 

My friend is the same situation with single desktop GTX 680 and x79 chipset.

 

Seriously? This gives some credence to my arguement that my first 970M was killed by Windows 10... This is a total mess.. Going to make sure that my new Clevo P771ZM stays with 353.00 and far far away from these new drivers and windows 10...

@Mr. Fox, can you help me with 2 things? How do you secure erase an SSD and how to disabled Microsoft Windows Updates in 8.1?

Thanks,
Tom

 

The SSD manufacturers usually provide tools for their drives. If Sandisk does not, you can try this: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-securely-erase-an-ssd-drive/

Before the Secure Erase run diskpart, select the disk and run the "clean" and "convert MBR" command on the SSD, then secure erase. Don't leave the disk GPT. Convert it to MBR, secure erase. If you have some kind of fetish for GPT like some people seem to have, run diskpart after the secure erase and convert it to GPT. I would leave it MBR personally, as there are not as many "special" places for crap to hide with MBR, and with a drive smaller than 2TB GPT isn't necessary.

I would blind flash your system BIOS as well. I think you already have experience with that procedure and know how it is done. Do this with the 970M removed in case the reset BIOS defaults (Legacy BIOS) block your M17xR4 from booting with a Maxwell GPU. Note: If your display EDID is corrupted, I am not certain whether or not you will encounter problems booting after blind flashing.

 

There are no others. But they shouldn't even touch those; the display manufacturer knows best as to what its products are capable of. The fact that nvidia mentions this means either they have read the eeprom incorrectly (or the copy in the registry) or they do read them properly, except overriding the panel's timing values.

If it was intentional; not sure why they'd even want do that ... but it does match the ' brighter display after installing 10' reports. So what's the point? Could you rig gaming benchmarks by doing this?

Pretty much. Which panel?

There are multiple SEC5044 panels (due to Samsung's muck-up). Any way you can still check the sticker or shipping document?

Sure, I'll send you a pm. Would be of great help to make a diy-guide as well ... do expect poor quality photos, though .

 

Thanks for your reply Mr Fox. Why are you suggesting I blind flash the system bios of the M17x R4? I have never done that.. After my new 970M was put in, I had flashed vBIOS and installed unlocked A11 BIOS. Whichever way, I am done with Alienware...I'm selling it and have a P771ZM barebone inbound from CEG.. Do you suggest I flash the vBIOS of the 970M before I start using the GPU in it I.e I'll install it but won't install drivers and will flash prema vBIOS again..

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

 

How to: Secure Erase your Solid State Drive (SSD) with Parted Magic
Updates to hide to prevent Windows 10 Upgrade / Disable Telemetry

 

I'll check when I get home.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

Hey @t456 @Mr. Fox , as most of the affected machines were running SLi GPUs, could it be that this issue is due to memory leaks in windows 10. Nvidia just released a new driver addressing this issue. Several users complained that they crashed due to this. Any thoughts?

 

***UPDATE*** - After less than 2 days of intensive gaming, my Alienware 17 R2 has now died.
Whether this is due to Windows 10 or crappy cooling I've yet to identify.

Bios was A00
The latest Nvidia drivers were not installed.

First impressions were good but I'm now left with the feeling that these new systems simply cannot handle the components inside and are truly BGA turds.

 

If anyone wants spare parts or a barebones R4 with the screen needing replacement, PM me.. Moving to Clevo now... P771ZM is ordered and shipped from CEG and should have it Tuesday/Wednesday hopefully...

 

:O how did you kill it this fast