Odd behavior on my P650RE...

Hi all, I just got my hands on a Clevo P650RE and did a clean install of Windows 7 complete with fresh drivers. So far there are a few odd behaviors I noticed with it... First off, when I shut down the laptop, every once in a while the laptop will seem to have shut down except for the power button light staying on and the hard drive indicator light coming on. When I power it back on it seems to go through the normal boot so I'm not sure what it means...
Second, I'm using Vivaldi as my browser and noticed that sometimes when I try to watch a video online the laptop's sound/speakers will die and the video will run in slow motion. The volume indicator works and it's showing sound being projected, no issues with the sound card or drivers either as far as I can tell. This issue will persist until I restart the computer.
Any help is highly appreciated, thanks.

 

Have you tried updating the graphics drivers for Nvidia and Intel, or using the versions that are on your seller's page? What do you have for settings when you shut the lid on the computer, in the advanced power setting options?

Are you getting the audio issues in any other programs or browsers, or just in Vivaldi?

 

1. The drivers I used are from Sager's website, my Clevo reseller does not provide Windows 7 drivers. I updated the Nvidia driver, as well as the Intel HD Graphics driver and now every time I restart the computer the resolution defaults to 1024x768, any idea what that's about?!? It happened right after I installed the Intel driver...
2. The lid closing option is set to Sleep, although I always use the Shut Down option.
3. Whenever the sound/video playback issue randomly occurs it persists throughout Internet Explorer and Chrome, however I can't be sure whether Vivaldi is causing it or not... It hasn't occurred in a while but next time it does I will plug in some headphones and see if sound is still reproduced. It seems like the speakers disconnect for whatever reason, although that doesn't explain videos playing in slow motion...

 

Try reinstalling the chipset driver (hopefully you installed that first, just after your Windows 7 install finished).

Is your chipset options in your BIOS setup configured for MSHYBRID, or for DISCRETE?

 

The chipset driver was installed first, right after Windows 7. BIOS is configured for MSHYBRID.

The issue just occurred and I tried headphones without any luck so it's the sound card dropping out somehow... But why does it make videos play in slow motion?

 

It sounds you've done things right, so you might want to touch base with your reseller about this. I would ask which BIOS version you're running, but since you're using Windows 7, it shouldn't make much - if any - difference.

 

Any chance you could run intel XTU if it behaves oddly and see what the CPU is doing. Do you have any other devices plugged in when this happens?

Updating your BIOS/EC for the other issue could be a good idea.

 

Intel XTU reports everything's fine, 40C idle temp, about 6-8% usage... Only other device I have plugged in is a 2TB Seagate external drive. I'll ask my reseller if they have a BIOS update.

 

I updated the Intel HD Graphics to the latest beta driver, so far no sound issues. However the new problem is that every time I start my laptop Windows 7 defaults to a resolution of 1024x768... any ideas as to why?

EDIT: I kept restarting the laptop a few times to see if the resolution change is consistent and it is. But then I discovered that changing to the native 1920x1080 resolution will usually prompt the sound issue to occur as well. I'm now 90% sure it's a driver issue, specific the Intel HD Audio component of the graphics driver. Since I have not heard of it by searching the forums it seems to be a localized issue and I'm not sure why it's happening to me...

 

I can confirm that randomly changing resolutions back and forth will eventually cause the sound to go off. Since BIOS is set to MSHYBRID it looks like an Intel HD Graphics driver issue. Never ran into anything like this before but a quick Google search reveals some people had this same issue over multiple driver iterations.

 

I figured it out, the Realtek HD Audio driver is the culprit, a driver rollback fixed the issue. Now if I can just figure out why a regular shut down leaves the hard drive activity and power button lights on...

 

I talked with someone in our support, and he was thinking about the same thing I was. He said to update the Nvidia and Intel HD graphics drivers, and if that doesn't work, maybe it might need a BIOS update. You could try seeing if there is a newer driver than what you have already. Or you could try going to the drivers that Sager has on their site.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/drivers.php?cat=623

I was thinking it might be the Intel HD driver, and that is what one of the support guys was thinking.

Let me know if that works or not, and we can go from there. Thanks!@

 

Thanks Pat, are you still referring to the disabled sound issue? I actually used all the Sager drivers on my machine. I already updated the Nvidia driver and as far as the Intel Graphics I tried the Windows Update driver, the latest official Intel driver and the latest Intel beta driver. The problem with the Intel drivers is that every time the system boots Windows 7 defaults to a resolution of 1024x768. I would update to the Intel drivers if the resolution thing wasn't an issue...

My reseller has yet to get back to me on the BIOS update... in fact, they have stopped communicating altogether about a month ago, I will leave a review for them shortly in the reseller thread because they have been horrendous support wise.

 

Disregard that message. I had a message for someone else, and must have typed in the wrong tab. That was meant for someone else, sorry about that confusion.

I have seen some issues that are resolved by just using default Windows sound drivers instead of that though. If it works, it might be worth staying with the Windows one, and maybe just try a different version of the Realtek (either the manufacturer recommended one, or maybe the newest one). But if you are still having issues, you know you could just uninstall and stay with the Windows driver. You could try a different version of the Intel drivers as well, or the BIOS update might be an option as well.

 

No problem Pat, I appreciate your assistance. I'm resolved in not having the Realtek audio driver for now, hopefully they will post an update soon. However, I don't know why the latest Intel drivers are causing Windows to start in a lower resolution...

 

Have you checked both in Windows and the Intel HD graphics properties (right click the desktop, and in the drop down menu) for the resolution settings? Is there any kind of saved profile that the Intel HD graphics are set at, instead of like a default graphics settings possibly, that might be changing the resolution?

 

There doesn't seem to be any custom profile loaded as far as I can tell... Any ideas why my power button and hard drive indicator lights stay on after a full shut down?

 

Yeah, was just thinking it might be a small shot of a profile like that...

Something is staying on in the background and not closing out for windows to shut down, or there is some kind of driver conflict I would think. Can you see if there is any errors reported in the Windows Event Viewer that correspond with the times you are shutting down?

 

So I went back and did a clean install to find the root of the resolution change issue. It appears when installing the Intel graphics driver followed by the Nvidia graphics driver. Seems the original Sager driver for Intel is the only one working fine with Nvidia. Maybe I should have installed the Nvidia driver first and then the Intel HD Graphics?

The shut down problem seems to have disappeared on its own.

 

I've seen that before, where it matters on which graphics card is installed first. But normally, in the past, it was where you would want to uninstall Nvidia, uninstall Intel HD, install Intel HD, then install Nvidia in that order. But if it works, it works. Glad to hear it is working again for you.

 

Yes I have seen the same, very odd it wanted the nvidia first, it used to be it would not install at all before the intel.

 

A new issue just popped up, screen flickering! And bad too... I think it might coincide with the dimming of the screen after an idle period but pretty sure it has to do with the graphics driver again. Is this a common occurrence with this Clevo model or others for that matter?

EDIT: Besides the flickering the screen now blinks on and off repeatedly...