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    Np9377 Black screen/crash after 120hz install

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017.

  1. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Np9377
    Windows 10
    No overclocks
    Stock Bios
    Gtx860m Sli
    Gpu temps 56-60 at load
    CPU at load 65
    Shadowplay disabled

    Hello all,

    I've been wrestling with this for a few days and decided to ask for help. I recently acquired the edp cable and 120 Hz screen, installation took about 2 hours. I cleaned the slave gpu and heatsink, repasted with IC Diamond Paste.

    On the windows desktop I have no issues. Once I start gaming after 20 minutes or so the screen goes black for about 5-7 seconds, flashes desktop, then goes back to the game.

    To rule out driver corruption I ran DDU in safe mode, CC cleaner, and a clean installation of the latest Nvidia drivers.

    Event viewer shows error 4101 and also mentions
    Nvlddmkm Prior to installing the screen I've never seen this message is there.

    Did I miss anything?
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2017
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
    #1
  2. Chastity

    Chastity Company Representative

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    That's the video driver crashing, and restarting. Are you running in Intel/NVIDIA Hybrid, or discrete?
     
    Chastity, Dec 26, 2017
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  3. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Discrete. Interesting that it's a video crash, looks like I have more reading to do...

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
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  4. Chastity

    Chastity Company Representative

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    Since you repasted as well, monitor your temps to see if they are getting too high. The problem could be that one small spot is getting too hot, and it's NOT showing on the GPU temp. When you paste with ICD, it's OK to use more than is needed, as it is non-conductive. And use the ball method vs trying to spread it yourself.
     
    Chastity, Dec 26, 2017
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  5. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    I will repaste with the ball method as I used the "Pea" technique. Thank you for responding.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
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  6. Chastity

    Chastity Company Representative

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    Both methods are the same, just use more than the first time. You'll be able to tell if you used enough when you take off the heatsink and see the coverage.
     
    Chastity, Dec 26, 2017
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  7. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

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    Just about any method works fine. Some yield slightly more even spread, consequently slightly better temps. The X/cross method seems to be pretty efficient.
     
    Prostar Computer, Dec 26, 2017
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  8. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Speaking of the yield I'll post a photo once I remove the heatsink. I'll be happy if my mistake can help someone else.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
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  9. bennyg

    bennyg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Does disabling SLI make a difference to the crashes? That'll tell you if the issue is with the slave card (and/or sli cable)

    Also check thermal pads are getting good contact, could be a memory chip or vrm getting too hot
     
    bennyg, Dec 26, 2017
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  10. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    To confirm if SLI disabled does work then put the 2nd card into the first slot and run it.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 26, 2017
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  11. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    I just got home so I will disable sli and play some RL before I take anything apart. At least twice during a 5 minute match it will occur so we shall see.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
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  12. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    3 games in at 100+ fps no issues.... I'll be repasting momentarily.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
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  13. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Heatsink removed
    Gpu before cleaning
    Slave cable and port
    Gpu cleaned heatsink cleaned

    Fresh paste

    I'll post results in a bit. [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
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  14. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Sli back on.

    10 minutes in black screen for 1 minute, flash to desktop. Back in game.

    Event viewer error 4101 nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 26, 2017
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  15. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    About 3 times the thermal paste there than you should need by the way.

    Try swapping the cards over, see if the slave can run by itself ok.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 27, 2017
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  16. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Now that you mention it that may have been a touch too much. :) Gpu temps are Primary 53-55 Secondary 50-52 under load. On a side note those temps are fantastic.

    I will try swapping when I get home, but I did want to add a little more information. Prior to the install of this 120hz screen and edp cable this system has been rock solid since I purchased it directly from Sager in 2014 ( minus my overclocked screen incident http://forum.notebookreview.com/posts/10404633/ ) This past Thanksgiving my son purchased a 144 hz screen and we connected it via Mini Display playing for hours without issue. He has since taken it home with him and I don't have anything else that runs at 120hz.

    Last night while tinkering I lowered the screen down to 60hz and was able to play in SLI without issue. Slowly ramping up 100, 110, and one 120 all yielded the same result. Game starts fine and after about 5 minutes 1 maybe 2 flickers then black screen.

    The screens behavior reminds me of a gpu that has been overclocked and shuts down to protect when pushed too far, especially the flicker.
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 27, 2017
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  17. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Swapped cards
    Repasted
    Black screen
    FAns going at 100%
    Loud beep spaced a few seconds apart.

    It's the card then?

    Edit:

    Cpu fan became unplugged

    Disabled sli trying one card at 120hz.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2017
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 27, 2017
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  18. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    4 games of RL at 120fps on one card no issues. Back to sli.......

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 27, 2017
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  19. Chastity

    Chastity Company Representative

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    I admire your stubbornness to get this working :D
     
    Chastity, Dec 27, 2017
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  20. Darker01

    Darker01 Notebook Consultant

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    Darker01, Dec 28, 2017
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  21. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 28, 2017
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  22. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    I get that from working on cars

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 28, 2017
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  23. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    5 minutes into assasins creed 2 flickers black screen. After another 3 minutes ctrl alt del to task manager, no mouse pointer.

    Event viewer is now showing event 14 (nvlddmkm) and 4101 (display)

    I will lower the screen hz to 60 and try one final time. [​IMG]

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 28, 2017
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  24. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    After leaving sli enabled and lowering to 60hz I have not crashed In AC.

    My hypotheses is the Lcd screen. I'm all ears for input.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 28, 2017
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  25. Chastity

    Chastity Company Representative

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    Create a 100Hz config and try that.
     
    Chastity, Dec 28, 2017
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  26. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Will do. I have also found some additional info recommending memtest and all modules passed.

    I will pull and test the modules one at a time as well.

    Intel xtu came with this system and is unable to update. Is it ok to uninstall?

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 28, 2017
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  27. Chastity

    Chastity Company Representative

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    Feel free to uninstall it if you need to and just download the current version and reinstall.
     
    Chastity, Dec 28, 2017
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  28. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Worked for about 10 minutes then crashed.

    I have also pulled and tried all 3 of my ram sticks and individually tested with the same result.

    Also consulted with the seller of the cable and have been advised if the cable was the issue or damaged, it would not work at all.

    I will go back to 60hz and run through the same battery and report back.



    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 28, 2017
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  29. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    60 Hz, SLI, for two and half hours straight through 4 games no issues at all, not even a single screen flicker. I have ordered a New screen from a different seller and will make my final attempt. If it doesn't work at that point I'll put the old 60hz screen back, sell the cable, and start looking into another laptop.

    Thank you for all the suggestions. :)
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 29, 2017
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  30. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Are you running V-sync?
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 29, 2017
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  31. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    I tried without it but I'm gonna turn it back on and test one more time.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 29, 2017
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  32. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Notebook Prophet

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    ^ This. Are you running vsync?
    If you are, please disable vsync and let the cards render as fast as possible.
    You want to test both vsync on, vsync off, and fastsync (if available).
     
    Falkentyne, Dec 29, 2017
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  33. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    After turning off vsync It just crashed after an hour of rotating through games and put my screen at full brightness.

    Thought I was homefree for a moment.

    It also put me back in the game. Checking event viewer shows something called Gamefeet.exe with application errors and .Net runtime errors.

    Error 4101 still there... [​IMG]

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 30, 2017
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  34. Darker01

    Darker01 Notebook Consultant

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    Try disabling Clevo Control Center and Hotkey from your startup list and then play the games again. gamefeet.exe could be related to the keyboard backlight.
     
    Darker01, Dec 30, 2017
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  35. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Clevo disabled

    Took a little bit longer to happen in titanfall 2. No flicker this time just a crash.

    Happens with or without v sync.


    Also receiving application has been blocked from accessing graphic hardware message.

    [​IMG]

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2017
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 30, 2017
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  36. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Sounds like a hardware issue then that's showing up when the cards are more heavily loaded.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 30, 2017
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  37. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    Mystery Solved!

    I found something installed on my system called Nvida Ntune. This is a discontinued overclocking software from Nvidia that will automatically overclock your gpu and cpu if IT thinks your system can handle it. I had attempted to use MSI Afterburner to bring down the clockspeeds, but the changes did not take. The strange thing about this program was that it showed an install date of 2009, but I've only had my system 4 years. It was not listed under add or remove programs but had services listed under Services.msc.

    I went into safe mode deleted all traces, ran DDU, ran ccleaner, and reinstalled the drivers. I crashed one more time with MSI running and the gpu usage on both cards hitting 100%, fps was hitting 200+. It was at this point my wife commented that the cards may not be strong enough to put out such a high framerate without issues, which to be honest I had not considered. Turned on vsync and have not had a problem for hours.

    The gpu uasge was staring me in the face the whole time.... at 60hz the fans barely kicked on and my temps stayed around 50-54 C. At 120 hz with the cards unleashed my fans sounded liked the FN+1 had been pressed.
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Dec 31, 2017
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  38. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    It's an addon you have to install (and as you note is pretty ancient at this point) it was never automatic though. It would have shown in the driver panel.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 31, 2017
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  39. yeoldegamer1979

    yeoldegamer1979 Notebook Guru

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    I didn't think I would be posting regarding this again.....Well after a driver upgrade this issue is back. Reverting back to a very old driver (as in the drivers that came with the system) brings things back to normal but severely limits my fps to 50-80 fps.

    Running old driver I can use 120hz but the old driver wont go over 80fps
    Running new driver I crash with anything over 60hz even if I limit to 60fps
    Gpu usage doesn't spike stays around 80%
    Temperatures are normal, 72 C
    Processor cores 2.8ghz
    Running 60hz resolves all issues but that defeats the purpose of the 120hz screen...

    It's not making any sense....
     
    yeoldegamer1979, Mar 13, 2018
    #39