Y410P 750M not working

Looking for ideas on how to fix my 750M not working in my Y410P.

Background:
It occurred at an unknown point in time. I don't know what caused it, but this week I tried to play a game (Rome Total War II) and it was running like . Rome Total War II was nice enough to tell me what GPU it was using - the Intel integrated.

I go and Nvidia's junk isn't in the right click menu on the desktop. Weird. Trying to open the Nvidia Control Panel directly from Program Folders makes the comp just freeze for a while and do nothing. The Geforce Experience program will only tell me there's an update, the other tabs are greyed out. I update anyway, nothing changes.

Then I go to device manager and the 750M has that cursed little yellow triangle and "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)." Great. I go install the driver Lenovo gives out, and it changed nothing.

I uninstall everything through the device manager/uninstall programs and install a driver slightly before 344.60, I think it was 344.48 or something thinking 344.60 has issues. Nothing.

I decide that I need to reinstall the OS, so I wipe everything and recover from a copy of the comp I took when I first got it. I've done that once before, so I know that the image I used works.

After the OS is all Windows 8-y and olde, I go check on my little GPU. And it's still saying the exact same thing. Sonnabirch.

I go update the BIOS to 3.05V or whatever they have on the site. Nothing. I go update Intel's drivers on the site. Nothing. I find a program called Display Driver Uninstaller and use it to uninstall things. Then I install the Nvidia driver from the site. Nothing.

TL;DR:
I'm 2 months out of warranty. I tried everything that seemed relevant sans baking the mobo, any solutions and/or similar occurrences?
If no good solutions I'll bake the mobo and see if it's the soldering - but I haven't flogged this computer. It even has a giant fan pedestal! I'd be shocked if it was the mobo already.

Pictures: Nvidia Errors - Imgur

 

For shiggles I OC'd the iGPU to see how far it would get me. I used the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and adjusting the Graphics Ratio Limit / Voltage Offset.

Using Heaven 4.0 @ DX11, High Quality, Moderate Tessellation, x4 AA, and 1366x768 I got this data:
1150 MHz (stock clock / -100 mV undervolt) - 247, 9.8 avg fps
1350 MHz (0 mV stock voltage) - 271, 10.8 avg fps
1550 MHz (200 mV over voltage) - 316. 12.5 avg fps

The temperatures were around 90C for the iGPU, 70C for the CPU. I don't think it could handle much higher.
Best thing out of this is that you can undervolt at stock a fair amount, since a 200 MHz increase gave me 1 FPS. 1.

Performance did not level off with higher MHz. Higher MHz did have a very quick voltage per MHz increase though. Overall, a reasonable overclocker but it's like OCing a toaster.

Gonna bake the mobo later today and see if I get anywhere.

 

Baked the mobo.

When I took the case off I found that the back left corner screw's plastic parts holding it in where shattered! It didn't go back in.
Additionally, I also broke some flimsy plastic crap ripping off the metal part where you rest your hands. If you take yours apart, watch for that. The strength of the laptop is almost entirely in the top bit with the metal.

When I got everything off, the CPU was *caked* with thermal grease. I'm sure my attempt was better.

I baked it at 375F for 15 min, then let it cool for 15. Smelled terrible, don't breath that in (probably).

I forgot about the battery on the mobo, it had some leakage but seems to still be functioning. I also stripped the screw on the wifi card (that little would just not come off.) and left it on to cook. I'd accidentally left on a Phenom II CPU when I baked my old laptop's mobo once, and it worked after.

Everything booted up fine. The 750M is still not working. Anyone got ideas on how to install Linux? The Linux Mint USB I made won't boot. Gives me "MBR Error 1, press any key to boot from floppy." I'll see if Linux can talk to the 750M.

Very odd, as it seems to not be BIOS related, OS related, or hardware related. That's all the things involved!
It's also not completely dead, as Windows can see it and notice it sucks. Weirdest crap heap of a laptop I've ever had. No more FPS's for me for a while!

Edit: Seems my thermal re-do was good for about 3C under heavy load for the iGPU (90C -> 87C). CPU maxed out at 80C when under load (which seems low, though I don't remember what it was before).

 

Last update for now - lonesome toiling! Hopefully if anyone else has a similar issue they can see this.

I got Ubuntu to work on as a Live USB. It was able to see the 750M but it is not entirely clear if it was able to use it, since I don't ever use Linux.
I did some googling and found some stuff and typed some commands and got errors. But not 100% sure if it was improperly installing stuff for Optimus or the thing not working.

I decided my last attempt will be to do a completely new install - of Windows 7. Last ditch effort with completely new OS.

If that fails this computer will... Never game above 20 FPS in any sort of intense game again ;_; it will only be able to play... 8-bit indie games for the rest of its life.
God, this is how doctors must feel giving the bad news.

But really, seriously weird . The 750M goes out, yet the computer is still functional?! And what made it go out anyway?!

Last question that I hope someone can answer:
Is there a way to update the internal 750M's vBIOS? I've seen a lot about messing with the ultrabay ones. I'd want to flash to a 755M or something, just to see if that makes it work any more than not at all.

 

I looked into it myself and it sounds like the modded V3.05 BIOS includes something that adjusts the vBIOS of the 750M. I'll apply the modded BIOS and see where it gets me.

Since the 750M is a little off, I can definitely see this killing the comp when it tries to write to it. Adventure. If no success, then I'll try Windows 7. After that, I am clean out of ideas to try.

 

Install ubuntu, then type:

sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia primus linux-headers-generic

then reboot, PC, then try

optirun firefox

and tell me if the program loads. If it does then your video card is working.

 

I see I'll have to install for a restart. I'll do it this weekend when I can afford to have the laptop out of commission. I'll hit up Ubuntu then Windows 7.

I applied the BIOS mod and Windows 8.1 blue screened right away on startup, but got over itself and works now. GPU still "not working but seen."

Side note, I failed to reconnect my trackpad (or broke it) and I had a terrible time trying to use it at work yesterday. What a way to find out you don't have a mouse - when something's due!

 

Haven't gotten the chance to take down the laptop and scrub it, but I decided to re-enable the discrete GPU (I had it off via the BIOS option) and Windows found it and it was claimed to be working.
GPU-Z saw it and was reading the clocks and temps off of it too.

When I tried to use it for some CUDA calcs though, it had a seizure and crashed the computer. I reinstalled drivers after that and it went back to definitively not working.

Not looking good! Hope to try the other OS's this weekend. As a side note, I got an extra hour of battery just disabling 2 out of 4 cores. 2:30 -> 3:30! Wow. Wow. Still pretty useless without its GPU, unfortunately. No noticeable performance hit (even with Turbo disabled in BIOS too) for basic tasks.

 

This exact same problem is happening to me, it's been about two weeks.

I only play League of Legends, and one night it was working, the next morning I kept getting blue screens and the computer is only recognizing the Geforce GPU in Device Manager with a Yellow Triangle.

It did work one time after I kept uninstalling/reinstalling Geforce Experience but after I restarted the computer it brought the problem back up again.

I don't think it's a overheating/hardware problem but some kind of glitch?

Anyways let me know if you come up with any solution. Glad to see I'm not the only one experiencing this. Btw I tried a clean factory reset and the problem still occurs.

 

Unfortunately I'm going to join you guys on this sad, sad wagon. I've tried most of what was posted before, except fresh Win 7/linux install. There were some times after playing with stuff that I could get it to work, but it would eventually relapse into not functioning. The other day it worked in Day of Defeat Source (non-taxing game) and then I packed up and went somewhere else and when I could try again, I could not recreate the experience. The fact that it does this, and has been for a couple of weeks, (also played Warframe under similar circumstance for about an hour) makes me think that it isn't so much the actual GPU having problems.

My theories so far have included (and these are just thoughts):
-issue with pci express controller
-issue with GPU memory
-issue with Intel Graphics (optimus)

I've tried to see how it performs with the iGPU as well but it throttles down every 5 seconds or so and then the fan revs up and returns to normal. rinse/repeat. If yours does not do this, congrats; my laptop is even more useless than yours. My CPU temps never get very high and so it dosent seem to be a thermal issue. This may be unique to me and might point to a faulty CPU.

My understanding is that optimus works more like a pass through. The integrated will perform until a request is sent for the GPU at which point it opens the gates to allow it to perform its duties. You can completely remove the iGPU from the equation and that is my I think, at least in my case, there might be an issue with the CPU.

During the times when I could get the GPU to function I used GPU-z and furmark to see temps and the highest was somewhere around 87 degrees before it cut out and windows stopped it.

I'm running everything stock and when the GPU is recognized I can see all the sensors in GPU-z and it all checks out.

I also noticed that when this all started to happen that I would get a popping noise from the speakers on start up. could it be an energized capacitor somewhere? maybe that is went bad and is the culprit in my situation. I haven't tried to run mine strictly on wall-power without the battery installed. Interestingly I do find that the times I can get it to run it is after it has been turned off for a day or two.

My last thoughts are about the randomness of how mine works. That is why it might have something to do with memory on the GPU. There doesn't seem to be any particular point when the GPU cuts out. can happen right when the games starts, or after 30 mins.

This is the closest I've found to someone with the same problems and my thoughts are we can try to troubleshoot it together.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I'll try using windows 7 tonight.

Edit: I've been using Win 8/8.1 for all my troubleshooting.

 

So I installed Win 7 last night and updated everything, using drivers from Lenovo and it recognizes the GPU. I ran furmark again to tax it and monitored it on GPU-z and everything ran fine until I closed it out after 5 mins and a top temp of 86. I moved on an installed Day of Defeat: Source which I have had luck with and Crysis 2. I'm at work right now, but I'm going to see how it does with these 2 games.

I also noticed that in GPU-z that it was running on PCIe x 8 v3.0 and not PCIe x16 v3.0.

 

I installed Ubuntu and ran the codes given by Jobine. It resulted in an error, the fan spinning to max, and then the computer restarting after about a minute of that. Who knows, but it did not work.

I installed Windows 7 and got the drivers up and running. The 750M is still reported as having issues with the latest Intel and Nvidia drivers. The drivers from Lenovo did not fly either.

In my case, I can say that it is not software (or Optimus) - as I have tried several types of software to achieve the same end-goal. It must be hardware residing on the 750M.

This computer will never game again.

If anyone has a mystical solution, let me know! Else, I'm turning off 2 cores and turbo boost and making this an expensive browsing PC with poor battery life.
I'll also badger Lenovo into giving me a new one, using the specter of a new wave of faulty Nvidia GPU's to get some action, but I don't have any hopes for a *free* solution.

Thanks for the help, I hope others find solutions!

Last notes:
I've had the popping speakers on boot up the entire time I've had the computer. I just assumed it was quality Chinese work.

Here is a list of all things to try, not necessarily in order of when to try it:
Cook it
Shuffle many graphics driver versions (I tried stock from Lenovo, older drivers I found online, and latest drivers)
BIOS update
Graphics BIOS update (Cracked BIOS updates the GPU's BIOS with higher clocks)
Revert to Windows 8 (from 8.1)
Try Windows 7
Try Ubuntu (Linux) - follow Jobine's instructions w/ terminal

 

So noone has found a viable solution? other than sending it to Lenovo.

I think it's a hardware issue since a factory reset didn't restore it to working status again. The only baffling thing is that once in a while it works.

as for the speaker thing, I have this weird black goo that i can see on the speaker, I'm wondering if something melted or thermal paste leaked into the speaker area/graphic card area. (It's the speaker on the left, next to the ACadaptor)

 

It is my recollection that the black goo is a glue that is for the speaker. I would not be too worried about it - there's nothing in the laptop that would melt and turn into a goo. Plastic doesn't melt and turn into a shiny, smooth goo. It looks different than that. The thermal paste used is grey, and won't burn either.

Like I said my speaker pops almost every time I turn it on/off. It occurs when it power cycles. Don't know why. Turning off Azalia (or whatever it is) in the unlocked BIOS disables the speakers. The speakers then just make an annoying high pitch sound, but no popping occurs. I have to assume its how Windows handles the audio driver or something.
I saw people talking about Linux and having the same speaker pop issue too. I would not worry about it too much.

 

My y510p had this issue. On board 750m was showing a code 43. Reformatted, installed drivers over and over again. Nothing. Had to get it sent in for servicing. Will be at my doorstep tomorrow and I hope it works.

 

Welp, got my y510p back. Initially, it started up with 2 code 43's, but after a factory reset, things were good. no more code 43's. However, they did forget to plug in the fan power for the main board gpu -_-. I opened that up and fixed it myself.

 

So we can conclude that in the majority of the Code 43 Graphics error cases, it's a faulty hardware issue?

 

I think we can safely say it is a hardware issue, and it is not caused by solder microcracks as baking did not fix it.

Were you within warranty?

 

I wanna say that I spoke too soon when I got my computer back that day. Performance was sluggish in addition to finding that my fan was left unplugged. I sent it in one more time. Got it back yesterday, December 12, 2014, and everything works great. It's like a brand new y510 ha ha. I am within my warranty period and thinking about buying the extended warranty if they let me.

 

As a final update to this, for anyone with a Y410P that happens to have a GT 750M failure with a Code 43 reporting for the device in Windows -

I left the computer with "UMD Mode" (I think that was it) instead of "Discrete Graphics" in the modded BIOS under one of the headings, so it was cruising with just the Intel integrated. Worked well for quite a while with no issues.
I occasionally turn back on the 750M via the same BIOS method to check if it works. I turned it on, and left it on for two days (though it never worked). I closed the lid to put the computer to sleep on the 2nd day, and when I opened the lid back up it was unresponsive with a blank screen. Any time after that turning it on yielded a blank screen, keyboard lighting working and adjustable through Fn+Space, disk drive doing its disk drive sound on boot, and the fan would gradually ramp up as it got hotter and hotter as I left it on. Caps lock key did not light up its light, battery indicator comes on when plugged in though, as does the power indicator when it is on. Basic BIOS functions occurred.

Normally, you can spam F2 to get into the BIOS and then press F9 -> Enter -> F10 -> Enter to reset the BIOS to factory defaults even if the screen is blank but the laptop is functioning. It restarts after you do this, and hopefully all is returned to normal. I did this before when I forced the display to run through the discrete card with another option in the modded BIOS when first troubleshooting the 750M failure. This did not work and did nothing. Computer stayed on. No combination of the RAM (both sticks, either stick, or no sticks) changed anything either.

I baked the motherboard at 395F for 20 minutes, the maximum temp and time you ever find recommended on sites. This did not change anything. I left the battery on the motherboard for this baking procedure, as it is soldered on and I didn't feel like taking it off. I had previously baked it and it leaked some gunk, and after this baking the gunk was vaporized (yay for me). As far as I can tell, there are no major *exploding* adverse affects though, for future note when baking a laptop with a battery soldered to the motherboard.

So if your Y410P's 750M dies and reports a Code 43 failure in Windows, download and install the modded BIOS for the Y410P from TechInferno, choose the "UMD Mode" or whatever it is to disable the discrete graphics from being utilized at all (the 750M disappears from Windows), and never ever turn it back on again and hope that life is good. It seemed my failure was directly related to me letting the 750M turn on at all. About $250 for a new motherboard on eBay, I will probably get one when I can afford it so the *****in i7-4700MQ can be used again.

Finally, for the popping speakers in the Y410P: with the modded BIOS from the TechInferno place I disabled "Azure" something and that was the audio. The popping stopped on boot, but the speakers were also disabled. Not sure if related to a 750M destruction. I turned the "Azure" whatever it was back on because I do like speakers to work.