***EVGA Precision X and Windows 7/8/8.1 and especially 10 bricking systems***

They are not shipping with Win10. Did you mean 8.1?

 

It will brick with Win7 as well.

 

So far we had bricking screens with all Windows Versions. But if I recall it correctly the Windows 10 ready updates were already installed on them.

 

Well, my HDD was showing errors every few blocks, and Seatools couldn't clean it up. HDD swap, and I'm up and running. Sager is alive for the cost of a new HDD, and several hours of work.

Thanks for your help and support everyone.

 

with an issue like this@edid corruption, theres always the problem of users with various different issues assuming its all due to the same reason that might also be something to factor in when trying to figure out what the actual culprit is aside from precision x

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Still using evga and still no bricked screen. And have used all different drivers, but im on windows 8/8.1/7 and not 10.

 

My bad entirely. I did actually mean Windows 10 based on some of the earlier offerings on the website for the updated Alienware 18 that did have Windows 10 listed at that time, but you're right, the current units are absolutely restricted to Windows 8.1. Thank you for correcting me on this count as it is important.

Having that said, they still actively endorse upgrade to Windows 10 for all Alienware 18 units, and as such, the point about taking on the risk through warranties and dissatisfied customers applies to the issue.

 

Does anyone know if MSI Afterburner is safe to use with Windows 10 considering that it doesn't have the pixel overclocking utility. Also, the DSR functionality in geforce experience could be a possible catalyst too as it basically changes the resolution of your monitor to a higher one which essentially means that it is overclocking the resolution of one's monitor. Could be the reason why the latest nvidia drivers are considered to be one of the known triggers as DSR was just made compatible with gaming laptops a few months ago.

 

I use DSR a lot on my AW 18 and never had an issue. I'm on Win 8.1 though.

 

You couldn't be more wrong. First of all, the monitor resolution still stays 1080p (if that's the display you drive). What DSR does is renders the 4K frame and then downscales it within the framebuffer BEFORE the output occurs. I drive 4K at 105Hz in some games - try and do that refresh rate at true 4K, good luck
As a proof I tried running 4K DSR on my 4K display and it looked all blurry in the text as I would expect from a 1080p frame.
And 'a few months ago' would also be wrong, it's been at least half a year now if not more. I'm sure people would have started noticing it by then.
DSR does not do what we used to get via downsampling - which is why you can use it with any old screen that would not normally work with that resolution.

Doubt it's the factor. Once again, I am happily running an AW18 with the 'identified' factors:
1) Samsung display
2) Windows 10
3) Overclocked pixel clocks (display running at 105Hz instead of factory default 60Hz)
etc

No problems...

 

Instead of troubleshooting WHEN it happens, I think we really need to look at WHY.

Its obvious that Microsoft has been giving low level EFI access to drivers AND applications, even breaking systems using the CSM. How are they not getting sued for this? You know how easy it would be to figure out Precision X is doing to overwrite the EDID and turn this into a rootkit? That's a really scary thought. Microsoft has literally opened up the system to direct low level access using an nVidia API... This has never happened before. My computer won't ever have 10 on it again. It survived last time but the fact Microsoft hasn't addressed this issue is huge. I understand that Windows can access the firmware. That's expected based on EFI (using the CSM still runs EFI - if you have EFI, you have EFI and there's nothing you can do about it) and Microsoft's involvement in it... The real issue is that we have proven that Microsoft is leaving a gaping hole that not only allows drivers but actual applications to access what used to be protected back in the BIOS days - anything low level required DOS. Now someone pops open a Windows app and fries their LCD. This is a gaping security hole, it doesn't bode well at all for the supposed security that EFI was pitched to provide.

 

Totally agree with you on that one...

No W10 for me for a while... Or only on a machine NOT connected to the internet...

 

Ha actually got a reply from customer service Microsoft. Not much information but at least they acknowledged the problem.

"Good day! Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Service.

Microsoft always appreciates it when customers take the time to provide their feedback. It is with great concern we received your email outlining the issue you had with Windows 10 NVIDIA drivers. Please accept my sincere and unreserved apology for the inconvenience this has caused you. I will let our management know about your insight with regards to your service experience. We will make sure that this gets addressed. By taking the time to submit your feedback you've also ensured that it is in the system of record, and available for review by Microsoft."

 

Spoiler: ported discussion from the old thread

Bit late (promised that on Sept. 16th), but wth:

SEC5448 (LTN184HT02-S01) - timing mod edid

It has 75 Hz native, 60 and 90 Hz as secondary. Weirdest thing, though; all LTN184HT02-S01 edids report this display as 6 bit per channel (= 262K colours) ... isn't it supposed to be an 8-bit display (16.7M colours) . If so, and if someone's willing to give it a try:

SEC5448 (LTN184HT02-S01) - timing and 16.7M colour mod edid

 

So... I think this will never be fixed unless some smart guys from forum will discover a way to prevent damage. DX12 games are very near and we won't be able to play them.

 

Personally i think microsoft will fix this with an update and deny deny deny

 

Really? So, Dell and other builds now being implicated will just take it lying down and offer system replacements while mindlessly telling customers to continue upgrading to an operating system that is effectively rendering LCD displays unusable? Sounds like a brewing disaster ready to unfold. Don't get me wrong, I get the pessimism, but I'm missing that pivotal logical step that goes on to affirm the idea that this will actually never get fixed, especially given what's on the line.

 

In that case; When??? We are now in December. Win X horror edition was released on July 29. Why such a long time when you say they will fix this? Perhaps within July 29, 2016 or late 2017? Or never

 

People's screens wont magically start working again just the reported cases of this will eventually dissappear and it will be swept under the rug as per usual with no word from either partys

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But yes would be awesome if some smart person knew how to get this crap off my motherboard and/or how to write protect my lcd firmware

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For what it's worth, I thought my card was dying on 356 because it was flashing on video... And freezing... So I used GFE (bad word around here) to go to 356.06.... I still have the annoying video stutter but no more green flashes... 8.1 here.

 

I can't believe how many issues you are having... You could seriously write a book or a magazine with all the issues you are having with your laptop. It makes me so sad that you still have random issues.

 

That could be the case until a fix is found. On Dell's Top Solutions page for Alienware machines, they have detailed the following for this particular issue with my own emphasis.

I actually just found this, so the fact that the solution is a replacement doesn't bode well on the fixing progress.

 

Bought with 880Ms, 880Ms failed, sent to Sager, new pair of 880Ms, failed, sent to Sager, another pair of 880Ms that failed, made an agreement (including cash) to go to 980Ms, sent to Sager for a key that flew off when I wasn't even touching it, 980Ms were running hot so I had them investigate. Was told 87C and throttle was normal... Long story short they lied about replacing my 980Ms, I busted them, the replaced them, same temp issues, same key popped off again... Yeah.

 

Yes, but then how would replacements not bode well for the fixing process? It should give them incentive to put pressure on Microsoft and not be subject to fulfilling claims on warranty.

This takes us to the next point where I've stressed something in asterisks from that page you referenced.

This is exactly why they won't really be able to absolutely dissuade people with non-functioning LCDs from using their warranties to expect resolution when pressed on the matter, despite the overall statement in effect, because it will be a hard point to establish given the overwhelming pretext of them endorsing Windows 10 adoption and the added confounder that LCDs are failing even in the absence of EVGA Precision (the third party application of relevance), and also on other operating systems. Depending on the region in question and related consumer laws, this statement will mean little if anything because it comes across as a patently weak attempt at discouraging a few folk who might not have the drive to pursue their warranties, which isn't a novel strategy for Dell support.

 

Any new cases of this happening? ? Windows 10 done a massive update/reconfig last night btw to the point i had to sit through 5 mins of very exciting slides about how exciting this update was. When i booted up that dam skynet/cortana is back like a fresh install

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could it be that uve just installed the TH2/fall update?

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Possible.. just wierd it took so long then again my lappy probably never sits idle enough... has anyone heard of any new cases of dead screens ???

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depends when u decided to install / upgrade to win10? only when the 30 day period is over and your license is irrevocably upgraded to win10 does the th2 update actually show up

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Makes sense Yer i upgraded some time in the last 2 months on my amd powered m18x .. havent seen any new cases of dead screens on any of the other threads for a while now really hoping its been sorted some way or another as ive got my new upgrades "nvidia" arriving this week for the AW18 i just bought which has windows 8 on it... i fricken hate win8 "8.1 was ok" i had to youtube how to turn it off like a nube "WHY IS THE SHUTDOWN MENU NEAR THE CLOCK FFS"

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"On ‎14‎/‎10‎/‎2015 at 9:31 PM, Prema said:
Sounds like you are using Windows 10...NVIDIA driver writes into LCDs eeprom and bricks it. Has nothing to do with vBIOS but the fact that the vBIOS flash triggered an disable-enable of NVIDIA driver, which allowed it to do its evil magic.
Welcome to the club of bricked W10 LCDs...there is an endless thread about this here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/windows-10-nvidia-whql-drivers-are-killing-alienware-and-clevo-lcd-panels.779449/
You need to use Linux in order to reflash the LCD:
https://mega.nz/#!GlcAESRT!KVSvAvhXMIsTPzleP3c9QksKKZFHKENNuP9lRL6N_mY "

Hello folks.

I'm registered here just to include my experience and solution for lcd problem described all over this topic.

This week I was another victim of the lcd brick problem. But I made the correction without any hardware replacement, thanks to instructions from Prema.

I have a Clevo P377SM-A, with a i74810MQ + a SLI of GTX870m. I'm using it since 18 months without any important issues. But in the last days I tried a deadly sequence of software upgrades: The installation of Windows 10, plus, almost in the same time, for a coincidence, the new version of EVGA Precision X (5.3.10) and, too, tried the new version of MSI Afterburner (4.2). I tried too the new version od NVIDIA Driver (361.43).

As you can see I made exactly the installation of the specific pieces of software that trigger the problem of lcd firmware corruption. :-( Well, I never could expect this kind of problem just to try a world wide new SO, or a new driver published from a world leader manufacturer of GPUs! But after complete the sequence of installations my lcd panel went to the same problem described here: no backlight, no boot (and a permanent boot cicle without POST). Without an external monitor connected my notebook stopped to complete the POST and boot properly.

The original software configuration I always used in this equipment was Windows 8.1 + EVGA Precision X version 3.04 (yes, a very a old version) used only to monitor GPU temps. After upgrade to Windows 10 and install the new NVidia drivers and/or Precision X / MSI Afterburner, the lcd died.

I did my research to web and I'm very glad because I found this post from Prema: https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/8612-possible-lcd-firmware-corrupted-due-to-nvidia-evga-precision-x-help/&do=findComment&comment=129487

I followed (with great care) all the steps. The first step was create a bootbable Pendrive with Linux using a .img file published by Prema. After this, I followed all steps described in a Instruction file included in .img package, plus some pictures also included in that Linux .img file) and my LCD is now working again! Thanks Prema (this man is a Legend). The .img file he did is amazing, very complete and saved my notebook from RMA to lcd replacement.

Ps.: The only thing different from instructions from Prema I found here during the execution of recovery procedures was the result of command "sudo ./edid-rw 1 | edid-decode" in Linux. It never returned the informations from my LCD EDID... At the first moments I even could find the exact specific model of my lcd panel. But I found it, and found the correct address and the correct I2C bus number of the notebook LCD using the command i2cdetect (I found the lcd in the bus #1). The use of i2cdetect is described in the firsts steps of Instructions.txt file. With this command I found the model of my lcd: N173HGE-L11. Nice, but even with the correct bus number, the command "sudo ./edid-rw 1 | edid-decode" did NOT retrieved the informations from the lcd EDID. I decided so to try to write the new (and corrected) .bin firmware file to bus number #1, even this way, because I was sure that the bus number was #1. And it worked.
So, the only one point in the procedure that I found different during the recovery process was this one (do not reach the informations from lcd EDID when using the command sudo ./edid-rw 1 | edid-decode. But found using i2cdetect and the write process to the correct bus number worked well.

So i'm very glad to found in Prema's post, AND THANK YOU PREMA. You gave me a great gift with the .img file with all informations available together in just one place (even with the original firmware to write it again to lcd eprom). Prema did a amazing high level work finding a solution to this terrible bug from Microsoft and/or Nvidia and/or EVGA.

Thanks Prema and all community.

Now I will stay at Windows 8.1, stay in old version of Nvidia drivers, and continue to use the version 3.04 of Precision X. I can stay in this configuration for while, with my computer working as usual, and keep following the news about this terrible issue before try to upgrade SO and/or Nvidia drivers..

RODBORA

 

Why would you continue to support Precision X when it essentially bricked your laptop? I don't get that. I have had a P377SM-A with no issues on Windows 10 since release day because I don't use Precision X. Never have, and now, probably never will.

 

Well, you are right but I use the version 3.04 for some years and it do what I need... But I will not use any upcoming new versions of this product for sure.

But seems the exact root cause is still not 100% identified, but envolve Precison X And/Or the New NVIDIA Drivers And/Or Windows 10. Here I used all together in a sequence of tests for a bad coincidence.

The good new is the correction without any hardware replacement.

The bad new is the issue is still opened without root cause identified and corrected.

 

I'm sorry to solicit the forums like this, but I am quite computer illiterate, and received my Alienware M18x R2 as a gift, so I am having a difficult time understanding much of this intelligent computer lingo. This issue started a few days ago as I downloaded the latest Nvidia driver, and Precision X. All was well until I shut down my computer for the night. I woke up the next day to find it beeping 8 times. I tried to do a CMOS battery reconnect, and got 5 beeps. After another restart, I got 8 beeps again; so that rules out a issue that others seem to have with. I was running windows 7 at the time of these downloads, by the way. I tried to follow the guide to "reflash my lcd monitor with linux", but I don't have another computer to download the files, nor do I think I understand the process. I really do not mean to sound this dumb among you, but if someone has the patience to explain this to me, I would be forever grateful.

I think I have read in several paces that Mr. Fox can fix this issue, but I seem to have issues sending him a message. Thank you in advance!

 

Don't use Precision X on laptops is what it comes down to basically.

 

unfortunately, that doesnt help him solve his already bricked lcd issue

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vlad100,

It will be a pleasure try to explain everything in a step-by-step matter. But, before we start, I suggest a first step to check: I just reached the solution in my notebook without any hardware replacement because it was possible to boot the computer using an external monitor connected to it. In my notebook, a Clevo P377SM-A the boot works well when an external monitor was connected, and so I made the correction procedures. I also used a second computer to download the Linux .img file and create the bootable USB Pendrive with the content necessary to recovery.

If your notebook do not boot even with an external monitor connected (it is a specific behavior wich depends of your notebook model) the problem will be very more difficult to solve, because in this case, it will be necessary to connect your LCD panel in another notebook.

Another solution would be, sure, the LCD replacement. But in this case if your system is still installed with the new NVidia drivers and Precison X, so the LCD panel will be bricked again in first boot of Windows. This way, if you prefer to make the LCD panel replacement directly without try the Linux procedures, it will be necessary to reinstall the Windows first. Remember, the first boot with your actual Windows wich is installed in your harddisk can not start because it would broke your LCD again. A easy and safe way to do it is formating your HD prior to use the new LCD panel.

So, before any decision, try to boot with an external monitor and post here. If your boot start, we can start the step by step tips to try to recover your LCD firmware.

 

Thanks, but

ALL CREDIT for putting everything together, writing instructions, gather the edids and test the thing on multiple platforms and lcds and combine it all into the live-distro package goes to brother t456 and not me!

 

It's @t456 @Prema

 

THX!

As long as I don't make that kind of twister in hex...

 

May god save whoever is beta testing one of your mods if you do that lol

 

I'm going to ask a friend if he can install the contents on a usb. Should he just drag all the files into the usb, or does he have to do something else with them?

 

vlad100, did you made the test with an external monitor? Your notebook complete to boot up with it connected ?

 

I have not yet, since I don't have an external monitor. I am going to find and Hdmi cable, and see if I can connect it to my TV possibly instead?

 

Yes, for sure. It's exactly what I did here.

 

How would I be able to switch to the tv monitor if I am unable to press windows+P? Or would it automatically switch upon turning on? Also, say I got it on the Tv, would I start it in safe mode to remove the Precision X program?

 

Thank god you didn't do anything like that in any of the many vBIOSes you sent me in the past!

 

Yes, if your notebook recognise the external TV/monitor and boot properly, as there is no LCD working it will not be necessary to wait to enter Windows to press #Windows + P. But, not all notebooks boot up without the LCD working. I'm lucky because the boot works in P377SM-A. This are the first step to test. Just connect the external tv/monitor and try to boot. If don't POST and don't boot, so the recovery will be very more complicated because it would be necessary to connect your LCD panel in another notebook! :-(

I hope your notebook boot up when the TV/monitor are connected...

 

Pretty sure "from memory" the m18xr2 will not boot to an external monitor. But i did read somewhere that some one on the nvidia forum got a generic lcd screen from a different laptop and was able to connect it to his m18xr2, make the necessary changes. And could even hot swap the lcd panel back to the m18x one for flashing. Id personally read the nvidia forum first to make sure as this is all from memory..

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...samsung-and-lg-notebook-lcd-display-panels/1/

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Exactly - I've got a M18X R2 and with the bricked LCD it would not boot with an external monitor. The newer M18's can. If you don't have a spare LVDS LCD screen to boot with, @Mr. Fox can fix it for you for a nominal fee + shipping. He fixed one of mine (I had 3 get corrupted in all) and did an excellent job!

 

I would greatly appreciatw if somebody could send him a message to message me, as I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to send him a message on this mobile version