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Alienware M17x R4 - Video turning off
Hi,
I have had an M17xR4 since 2013 and it's beautiful. I have been having an issue lately where while playing games the video turns off. There is no video or sound, the FN keys still work but the cd wont eject. The laptop doesn't turn off. But I have to hold down the power key to actually turn it off and back on again. I have run multiple tests and it doesn't show much wrong with it. I upgraded to windows 10 and things didn't work. I reformatted my laptop back to windows 7.
Any help pleassse?
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
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June 2nd, 2016 05:00
Hi FULLMETALITACUI,
Does the system overheat? Are there any bluescreens / system crashes? How long would it take for the video to go blank when you turn on the system and start a game? Does the system work fine if you are not playing games? Are you able to work on any intense graphical applications - like watching a full HD video or working with any high end apps? Did you clean install Win7 back on the machine or was it a rollback from Win10 to Win 7 OS?
Update the BIOS - http://dell.to/1ZfFSXD - restart the system and check again.
Reinstall the video drivers from vendor site - for Intel HD 3000 - http://intel.ly/1P8sLBO and for Intel HD 4000 - http://intel.ly/1JCFVUE
Also, reinstall the nvidia driver from http://www.geforce.com/ or the AMD Radeon driver from - http://www.amd.com/ and restart and test the games.
If the issue is unresolved, then run a stress test on the video card via the Dell Support Assist - http://dell.to/1NEc1Y4
Connect an external monitor and test the functionality of the games as well.
Restart the system and press f12 key on startup - choose diagnostics. Let it run the diags and if you encounter any errors - make a note of the complete error and report the same to us.
If the system is under warranty, write me a private conversation with the service tag and your contact details(Name and Email).
Keep us updated.
fullmetalitacui
7 Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 06:00
Hi,
No blue screens, but I have had a couple lately. The screen goes black randomly, sometimes I can get through a few minuets, sometimes a full game. The system doesn't seem to have that issue not playing games. But I don't use it much not for games. FULLHD doesn't seem to be an issue.
I have tried BIOS, video card and doing a stress test now. Will do the F12 tests.
Bought in 2013 March. Laptop out of warranty.
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 16:00
Hi FULLMETALITACUI,
Thank you for the update.
Run the stress test and the onboard diagnostics.
Also, check with an external monitor.
As there is no warranty, then you could contact our team to get a quote for a paid service call - http://dell.to/1vnT6CQ
Write me a private conversation with the service tag and your contact details(Name and Email) for case records.
Let us know if you have any other queries.
fullmetalitacui
7 Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 20:00
Hi,
Thanks for your help, all the tests show nothing. I only have about 10mb left on my hard drive. I only have a 30GB SSD. I think maybe I may need a bigger one?
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 21:00
Hi FULLMETALITACUI,
Thank you for the update.
If the OS partitioned drive contains only 10MB, then it will cause instability issues. I would advise you to get an external HDD and copy your data onto that and you can use the SSD to contain only the installation files of most important programs.
Let us know if you have any other queries.
fullmetalitacui
7 Posts
0
June 13th, 2016 05:00
fullmetalitacui
7 Posts
0
June 13th, 2016 05:00
Hi,
I performed a clean format onto the 1TB drive. I am still getting the same issue. It brings up a windows error, will copy and paste here.
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
0
June 13th, 2016 08:00
Hi FULLMETALITACUI,
Thank you for the response.
When do you encounter the bluescreens? What applications are you using when the bluescreen occurs?
Install and run this application - http://bit.ly/1G6LT0S- take a screenshot and post it, so we can better understand the file / driver causing this bluescreen and advise you accordingly.
Keep us updated.
fullmetalitacui
7 Posts
0
June 14th, 2016 03:00
Hello Rishi, Thank you for all your help so far, just seems to be games. Been running all sorts of tests ect, using email and video doesn't seem to effect it. But it being a gaming laptop this poses a problem.
fullmetalitacui
7 Posts
0
June 14th, 2016 03:00
DELL-Rishi
2K Posts
0
June 14th, 2016 16:00
Hi FULLMETALITACUI,
Thank you for the update.
We can clearly see that the bluescreens are being caused by the nvidia graphics driver.
Uninstall the existing video drivers from device manager and programs and features.
Restart the system and perform a clean install of the driver from the vendor site - http://bit.ly/1YpNLLv
Once done, kindly run a stress test on the system - http://dell.to/1NEc1Y4
If the issue persists, I would suspect the graphics card to be faulty. You would then need to replace it.
Let us know if you have any other queries.