Studio XPS 1340 - Sleep Mode hanging - nVidia driver issue

Calling all Studio XPS 1340 owners.

I have the following specs and hoping that someone with similar specs can run a small test and report back on their results.

Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor P9500 (2.53GHz/ 1066 FSB/ 6MB Cache)
256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 9500M-GE
4GB Dual Channel 1067MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB SATA Hard Drive
Windows Vista(R) Ultimate 32 bit SP1
BIOS version: A03 (updated through the Dell support site)

The problem I have tends to arise when I put the laptop into Vista's sleep mode. It hangs after it sits in sleep more for about 30 minutes. Basically, the XPS media control touch buttons do their little dance show, then the laptop hangs and doesn't respond. I have to do a reset with the power button.

I have been testing where the problem is: Yesterday, I rolled back the video card to the 'GeForce 9400M G' driver. The sleep mode issue went away.
I then reinstalled the 'GeForce 9500M (9400 + 9200)' driver and the issue came back.

Hoping that someone who has similar specs to mine, can run a test by putting their computer into "Sleep Mode" (keeping hybrid sleep OFF) and then:

1. Wake it up immediately (this has been working for me); and
2. Wake it up after 30-40 minutes.

Very interested to see results!
Cheers - rejox

 

Mine worked...had it in sleep for about 35 minutes.

 

The A3 Bios appears to be missing on the Dell Support site now... (is that just me?)

I have had the same sleep mode problem that you have mentioned. Short sleeps are fine... longer sleep is stuffed. I have rolled back to the A2 Bios now and will test again, but I am sure it is the video card drivers that are stuffing things up.

I have the same specs as you but I am running Vista Ultimate 64bit.

I have also done a full OS reinstall (after getting BSOD using Windows Update).

 

Ok,

Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor P9500 (2.53GHz/ 1066 FSB/ 6MB Cache)
256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 9500M-GE
4GB Dual Channel 1067MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB SATA Hard Drive
Windows Vista(R) Ultimate 64 bit SP1
BIOS version: A02

Every single driver has been updated from the Dell website (including a rollback to the A2 BIOS as the A3 BIOS has mysteriously disappeared.)

I just left my laptop for 40 minutes in sleep mode - running on battery power and it woke up fine.

I will leave it in sleep mode tonight (I am in Australia and it is 12:44am here) with the power plugged in and see how it is in the morning.

Hopefully we can figure this out... or even better... I hope the A2 BIOS does not have the problems.

 

OK I tested this. Same result as in the OP. Using BIOS A03 (maybe I should go back to A02).

 

Hey Onesimus, how did you go?

You are right - the A03 BIOS upgrade has disappeared!
I might do a clean reinstall as well if I have no success. I might even try upgrading to the 64bit one if you were successful.

I'm pretty positive that it's a video card driver problem too...although when I contacted NVIDIA, they insist that it's a hardware problem!

let me know how the overnight test went. i'm in Melbourne.
cheers,
rejox

 

Hey Nition - same specs?

I'm on A03 too. I got upgraded by some clown in tech support when i came with the issue first time.

You on vista 32 bit or 64 bit?

 

Vista 64. Win 7 has some weird issues too. Similar but slightly different. I want back to Vista partly because of it. Graphics is hybrid sli, I had it in performance mode.

Yeah, A03 is gone. Note is says A02 was uploaded on 5 Feb. A03 was 20 Jan. But it is the older version, as the utility detects that it is.

 

Well team,

I loaded out of sleep mode no problems this morning. Try rolling back to the A2 Bios and see how you go... fingers crossed!

 

Mine is A02 and I've had no problems. It might be A03...

 

I'm going to roll back to A02 tonight and test it again.

Nition - have you solved your issue by rolling back to A02?
I'm hoping this is not a Vista 32bit clash problem.
I notice you're all using 64bit. Maybe I should upgrade to x64 also? Have you guys found that you're having incompatibility issues yet - software? hardware?

rejox

 

Sorry to burst the bubble.

I just had the same problem again... After an hour or so it refused to wake up... After pressing the off button and waiting it shut down itself... then on rebooting it went to a 'restoring windows' screen... but eventually the screen went black and nothing.

The laptop was in my bag this time... being carried around. Last night it was sitting stationary the whole time (and powered).

Argh!

 

freaking hell!

this is just painful.
I'm trying to find a suitable driver on laptopvideo2go forums, but no luck yet.

nvidia have no idea. dell have no idea.
must be a combination of our hardware configurations and drivers doing this, because theguac has a slightly different hardware config, and he's not having any issues with his at all.

i might even think about doing a full format, deleting all the partitions and doing a clean reinstall of vista if things don't improve.

any other ideas Onesimus?

 

What video drivers has everyone been using?

I currently have nVidia AO2 176.89 drivers installed. I wonder if the drivers on the disk are different to the website... hmmm... back in a minute.

 

The disk has nVidia AO1 176.84 drivers... I am going to roll them back... perhaps theguac has not updated his video drivers...

 

interesting. i'm using 176.89 from the website, and tried the beta release from the nvidia site also.

although having said that, I did have the issue from delivery day - which wouldve been A01 176.84 driver?

let me know how you go. I have a bit of investigation to do tonight it looks like.
PS: NVIDIA just emailed to say they are escalating this issue to their Level 2 Technicians. I have been in comms with them regarding my issue for a while now. I have pointed them to this thread, so they'll be interested to hear from others who have this problem.

 

Let's hope we can get this issue resolved quickly. I have also raised this in the official Dell support forums (and posted a link to this forum).

I'll let you know how I go.

 

For the record a clean install won't help. I have a clean install and I suspect others do too.

I thought it was interesting that the freezing manifests itself exactly the same in the random freezing issue, this sleep mode issue, and the eSATA issue. Maybe it's all connected to the same thing (SATA drivers maybe - for the hard drive as well as the external port?).
I only got the random freezing once, but I get everything else.

Let's hope it's a software or a BIOS issue rather than a hardware one.

 

Hey guys, I really recommend flagging this issue with NVIDIA as well.

Jump on their website and file it as a bug here:
https://surveys.nvidia.com/index.jsp?pi=7498eac864dc1950c8f09e040b4a437a

I've done the same thing and they were quite helpful in saying they will try to follow it up.

I'm not sure how they can sell laptops with an issue like this! I mean, closing and opening the lid on a laptop is probably the most basic function on a laptop!

 

Does any of you that got this sleep problem has a SSD instead of a regular hardrive?

 

I do. Same problem.

 

Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor P9500 (2.53GHz/ 1066 FSB/ 6MB Cache)
256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 9500M-GE (AO1 176.84 drivers)
4GB Dual Channel 1067MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB SATA Hard Drive
Windows Vista(R) Ultimate 64 bit SP1
BIOS version: A02

----------------------------------------

The setup above... nVidia AO1 176.84 drivers with the AO2 BIOS successfully woke up from sleep mode today!

I also think that the problem may be related to hibernate... On battery the computer goes into hibernation after 2 hours (which explains why if failed yesterday when I got home, it had been long enough to go into hibernation mode...) whereas the night before when it was charging the hibernation mode didn't have time to start as it does not start hibernating until 18 hours have past.

The 'resuming windows' screen I saw is the computer attempting to awake from hibernation... (I think) not sleep.

Using the above configuration it successfully woke from hibernation mode this morning.

Ironically I figured out the hibernation thing because of the flashing hinges when it is in sleep mode (the LED's do not flash when it goes into hibernation)... trying to sleep in the same room as the light show was a pain in the bum but they were not flashing when I woke up. I thought I was in trouble but it woke up fine!

Give the above combo a try fellas, it appears to be working for me. The nVidia drivers were on the Dell Resourse Disk. If you don't have them let me know and I will try send them to you.

Good Luck!

 

Thats interesting Onesimus.

If I put my PC into hibernation mode - it wakes up fine no matter how long I leave it. It's just sleep mode that crashes (i.e. when the hinges are flashing).
I actually turned off my hibernation all together just to test out the sleep mode.

I am installing A02 BIOS and then the the nVidia 176.84 drivers, in that order.
Will report back in about an hour or so.

rejox

 

Quick question, Onesimus.

What was the name of the .exe which had the NVIDIA 176.84 driver?
Or did you just install the entire Dell Resource DVD?

Let me know!
rejox

 

Worked it out.

Im now running Ultimate 32bit with A02 BIOS version (from the Dell website) and the 176.84 nVidia driver, from the Dell Resource CD.

Still not working.

Transferring my data now to do a reformat and reinstall. Not happy, Michael Dell.

Will post back with updates on the reformat by the end of the day.

Onesimus: Have you tried disabling your hibernation (and hybrid sleep) through Power Options, and then just putting your computer to sleep only and waiting 30-40 mins? does that work for you? My one actually comes out of hibernation without issues and hybrid sleep keeps my session in memory even though it crashes during Sleep. So when i do the hard reset - I dont get the "Windows shut down unexpectedly...would you like to run in safe mode" screen.

 

I have woken it from sleep mode (after 30 minutes) several times before it has hibernated (after 2 hours it wakes itself up, saves what it needs then puts itself into hibernation mode I believe). Twice today I have left it and it has woken up fine, once for 30 minutes or so and the other for about an hour.

I had frequent hanging before my current setup but I left it for 6 hours or so last night (running on battery) and it resumed from sleep mode (I presume it hibernated itself) fine.

I have not turned hybrid sleep mode on...

I also did a full reinstall with my machine so that may help (I has a BSOD within 5 minutes of booting up the first time stupid windows update)

 

I had the same problem... for anyone else wondering what the folder/file names of the current drivers are...

R182065 Dell Power Config
R188094 Ricoh Card Reader
R189325 Bluetooth Minicard
R193111 Dell System Software
R196531 CIR Receiver
R198377 Dell Wireless 1515
R200491 Webcam Driver
R202284 nVidia MCP79 Chipset
R203482 Synaptics Track Pad
R202279 nVidia Ethernet
R203437 nVidia AO1 176.84 Video Driver
R205079 nVidia AO2 176.89 Video Driver

R202827 92HD73C1 Audio v6104
I have had issues with this audio driver prompting file stacsv64.exe to max out one CPU core requiring a reboot or reinstall of the drivers to correct it. I rolled back to the Vista driver 6.0.6000.16386 and have not had a problem since then. For more info on the problem look here and here.

I hope this stuff is helpful to someone.

 

All - I have a workaround solution to this problem now - with no installing/uninstalling.

The reason why your computer doesn't come out of sleep mode is due to an nVIDIA service called "NVIDIA Display Driver Service".
This is something I found online:
nvvsvc.exe is Vista service installed NVIDIA drivers for graphics cards (or graphics cards based on an NVIDIA chipset). This service is used by some of the specific advanced features of your NVidia graphics card, in particular overclocking, overriding of the refresh rate for OpenGL games, and dual monitor display. It is also needed if you have configured your PC or laptop to go into Sleep Mode or Hibernation. This service has a history under Windows 2000/XP for being responsible for various system slowdowns and excessive memory usage. If you do not use any of the advanced features, it is recommended that you disable the service by setting it to disabled in the Startup Mode of the Services tab.

This is a non-essential service, and you can disable it.
To disable:
1. Task Manager > Services Tab
2. Click the "Services..." button on the bottom right
3. Find "NVIDIA Display Driver Service" in the list and Double Click
4. Under "Startup Type" drop down, choose "Disabled"
5. Under "Service Status", click "Stop"

Now, try your sleep mode.

SOLVED the sleep crash problem for me. I am running:
Windows Vista 32bit
NVIDIA Driver 176.89 (A02) - Dell website
BIOS A02 - Dell website

Hope this works for other people also. Please post up your results.

cheers,
rejox

 

Just hung out of sleep mode again... just when I thought it was working... I need multi monitor support also...

I will try your solution... hopefully the monitors still work...

 

I think this fixed it for me. Great work, man. And this settles that it's NVIDIA's problem, not Dell's.

 

UPDATE:
Was working for a while for me, but it's started hanging coming out of sleep mode again - even with the nVidia Process and Service disabled.

Piece of sh*t!

Still trying things out.
Please don't forget to file something with the NVIDIA QA link I posted earlier. Maybe they'll work on something as well.

 

The never ending quest for a solution continues..

I found this article on Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=938194

There's no direct link to "Sleep Mode" issue, but there was this line under what's resolved with this update.
Some graphics processing units (GPUs) experience stability issues with Windows Vista. These issues could cause the GPUs to stop responding (hang).

I'm not sure if this patch is built into SP1 or not. I'm at work, so can't try this yet - but hoping someone else with the issue can give it a crack and report back?

 

New nVidia AO3 178.75 Driver have been added to the Dell 1340 drivers section.

Hopefully a genuine solution

 

I downloaded the zip... it won't extract, it is saying it is missing part of the file. Argh! I am downloading it again but I am pretty sure they screwed up, hopefully they will fix this ASAP.

 

any luck yet?

the 32bit drivers have not been release as of 2:15pm today.
not happy.

i think i'm sending this little prick back!

 

Still no usable drivers uploaded... the zip file cannot unpack (it says it is part of a multi-disk set and then fails).

Thankfully I am experiencing much less system instability...

But adding to my frustration is the fact that my power pack died... so now I am waiting for a new one to be sent out All I can hope is that it gets here quickly!

Presumably the driver issues and whatnot will be addressed pretty soon as more users get their laptops and Dell has no choice...

 

That's F'ing hillarious onesimus - i think you and i got exaactly the same dud laptops, cause my powerpack died on me the day i got the bugger...kept switching on and off, on and off...

got my new one via courier today. doesnt matter though...its all going BACK soon.

 

I am not laughing. Lucky I have another dell powerpack that can juice me up for the next few days.

Even with all the problems though I have to say I love the laptop. The annoying kinks will be ironed out eventually and if they don't I have a 3 year warranty so it will be their problem.

In Australia, Dell are the only company that provide accident cover also... which is massively important to me. Not to mention my laptop and warranty are worth $1000 more now that when I bought them Dell whacked the prices up heaps! If I wanted a similar speced laptop from any other company (only the Sony here in Australia matches it) I would be paying over $4000 and I would only have a standard 1 year warranty (it does have blu-ray though). I am sure the Sony warranty would suck also... no home technicians...

I knew I would have teething problems for a couple months buying such a new laptop but I am so happy with the machine I don't really care. I was stuffed around three times by ASUS in the last 6 months before this (14inch and two 13inchers) so I am used to all this stuffing around.

Have you tried disabling the second video card as a short term solution? New drivers and BIOS will be out sooner or later... I have been running without it (my spare power is only a 65 watt) and I have not had a sleep mode related issue since...

 

Forgot to add... for normal usage the computer is quieter, more power efficient and cooler without the second card anyway... I think I will leave it off permenantly when I get my new power pack, turning it on only when I need the extra power for games/editting stuff etc...

 

They have fixed the zip file... it is 68Mb now... I am downloading right now! Sorry rejox, still only 64bit Vista.

 

onesimus my man...i can't wait for you to update whether this has fixed the issue or not!!

if they can release a 64bit version, i can't imagine it would be THAT difficult to release a 32bit version too.

clearly the Dell QA process is a little broken.

let me know how you go

 

Is there any resolve? D:

 

So far so good... but I have the 9200 (I think) disabled because I haven't got a new power supply yet... (mine broke and I am using a 65W replacement from an old laptop).

So I don't know if it is totally better yet or if it is somehow related to the 9200 being enabled.

I will leave it in sleepmode overnight again and report tommorrow.

 

Booted fine today... Had it in full graphics mode also.

The new drivers do not appear to give as much control over the hybrid graphics though... I can't seem to adjust anything in the power options relating to graphics now... hmmm...

The 'Dell Recommended' settings no longer reduce the laptop from Boost Mode to Power Saver when I unplug the power... Is anyone else experiencing this with the new driver?

 

interesting. so it looks like it's resolved the issue!?

WHY oh WHY don't Dell get their act togteher and release it for the 32 bit version as well.

i'm still returning mine I think. not happy with it at all!

 

anyone with the 9400 integrated graphics have this problem?

 

Me. "Windows has failed to start blah blah blah" after resuming from sleep. Grrr.

 

*Bump* I still have the problem on my 1340 with 9400 graphics and a 256GB Samsung SSD (could it be the SSD's fault?). Essentially, the system doesn't go to sleep, it acts like it's going to but it shuts down before it fully gets there. Then when it boots back up it claims that Windows was not shut down properly. Hibernate and hybrid sleep work fine as they save things to the HD and work on a "cold boot". This is running Windows 7 64bit.

 

Unfortunately, I'm suffering this issue as well. Studio XPS 1340 + A14 BIOS + nVidia GeForce 9500M + Windows 7 32-bit.

Sleep mode *never* works for me. If I click 'Sleep,' the system will appear to enter normal sleep mode (quick fade to black, all lights turn off except for slowly flashing power button). However, when I press the power button in an attempt to resume, the backlit keyboard will fully illuminate but the screen will remain totally dead and pitch black. The Caps lock indicator light won't respond. The front power, Bluetooth and WiFi lights will also remain off.

Even performing a hard reset (holding down the power button for several seconds) won't always bring the PC back to life; sometimes I'll have to repeat it two or three times before it'll perform a fresh boot.

As you can imagine, this is really frustrating Updating the nVidia drivers doesn't seem to help, nor does stopping the nVidia Display Driver service mentioned earlier in the thread. For a while, I changed the power button function to 'Hibernate' and had a bit of success, but even that too seems to no longer be working.