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October 4th, 2015 13:00
Alienware Graphics Amplifier October 2015 Spooky Dance
Hey all!
Really love my GA hooked to my Alienware 15 (2015) 4K laptop and a Dell 4K monitor driven by a EVGA GTX 980! But the ODD bit is this. As long as I only run the laptop in this configuration it all works well, even if I shut it down and unplug everything and put it in a drawer. The moment I try to run it as a normal laptop, not hooked to the GA (Graphics Amplifier) all SEEMS well until I shut it all back down and plug it back into the GA hooked to the Dell monitor. It boots just fine but nothing is displayed on the monitor. Further more when I go into the Device Manager the Nvidia GTX 980 GTX no longer is showing under display adapters, just the Intel adapter.
So I have to basically fiddle with it - uninstalling both the nvidia drivers and the GA drivers, then reinstall the nvidia drivers and the GA drivers, etc. It is a about a 12 step process. This works and I created a Restore Point under Windows 8.1 that works to make all this faster next time, but it is not a lot of fun; and once Windows deleted all my restore points (why?!). I have since create multiple restore points and even backed up my system in case Windows ever eats the restore points again.
Crazy or what?! Yes, I am using the official Dell drivers from the Dell web page for my laptop. I am tempted to return the GA and graphics card but when this thing works it is a thing of beauty. So I am hoping Dell gets this solved. Anyone else experience something similar? I read this was a problem at the end of 2014, but 2015 will be over soon and having to do this crazy spooky dance is wearing me out and costing me time.
Thank you.
Alienware - Rodrigo
7 Technologist
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4.4K Posts
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October 5th, 2015 14:00
Hi,
This sounds like a driver conflict issue. First, uninstall all of the video card drivers that you show in Device Manager. Install the Intel driver first and restart the system. Install the GTX 980M driver next, once it finishes installing, connect the GA and restart the system. After doing this, install the GTX 980M driver again (do not install the GTX 980 driver for desktops). Restart the system and test to confirm if it recognizes the GPU properly.
The recommended procedure for disconnecting the GA is by using the option in the Command Center application but there should be no problem in turning off the system and disconnecting the GA. Let me know how it goes.
indyjeff
13 Posts
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October 5th, 2015 18:00
Thank you. I will try this and report back. I have the Alienware 15 that has the GTX 970M so I will do all you say but using the 970M rather than the 980M.
Also I wonder if Windows itself may be updating drivers and causing this problem. I swear when I first got the EVGA GTX 980 installed into my GA this was not happening - but that was only a couple of weeks ago at most so I may have mostly been using it connected to the GA.
indyjeff
13 Posts
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October 5th, 2015 19:00
Ok.. tried it and reporting back. At the point of the installing of the GTX 980M driver again (not the GTX 980 driver for desktops) I get the following error: "This graphics driver could not find compatible hardware."
The device manager shows only the Intel driver under display adapters. This is the same problem I have been having. So Restore Point to the rescue once again. That is still faster than the 12-step dance I have been doing (5 mins vs 10 mins or more). Also I will try the FN+F1 disconnect the GA trick and see if that helps when I just want to use the Alienware 15 as a normal laptop and see if it sees the desktop GPU upon GA re-connection.
Thanks for trying Rodrigo. Maybe an update to the GA software or some other update will fix this at some point in the future. If you hear of anything or can think of anything else let me know! =]
Alienware - Rodrigo
7 Technologist
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4.4K Posts
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October 7th, 2015 15:00
Hi,
Thank you for confirming this. Is your system running the latest Bios firmware?
indyjeff
13 Posts
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October 13th, 2015 21:00
No I am trying to troubleshoot why I cannot get any Bluetooth headset/headphone to work. Had to install updated Bluetooth drivers to get a bluetooth mouse to work. The headphones pair but do not connect.
indyjeff
13 Posts
1
October 13th, 2015 21:00
Yes.
What has seemed to ultimately fix the problem is this. I was installing the Star Wars battlefront beta and it told me that my graphics drivers were too old and needed to be updated. So I updated to the latest nvidia desktop drivers and the problem was solved! =] But I will still regularly do restore points for the time being just to be safe. =]