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Dell XPS 15 9550 Display Goes Black After Boot
I have a new Dell XPS 15 9550, which I recently did a clean install of Windows 10 64 bit on. The laptop has two display adapters:
- Intel HD Graphics 530
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
I've been struggling with a black screen issue for several days. When I boot up the laptop, if I hurry I can get past the Windows login screen. Within 15 seconds after that, the screen goes black, and it appears that the computer is hung. The keyboard keys still light up if I push them, but there is no mouse. Plugging in an external monitor doesn't help. Control + Alt + Delete does nothing. I am forced to hold the power button to shut down the computer.
Using safe mode, I am able to disable either of the two display adapters. Then I don't have the black screen problem. I have also discovered that I can leave both display adapters enabled if I leave a DA200 USB-C adapter plugged in to the laptop (with nothing plugged into it). If I unplug the DA200, the black screen comes within seconds. This is the opposite of what I would expect if there was a problem with the DA200.
I have installed all of the latest drivers from Dell's website - some of them multiple times.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I am getting quite frustrated...
Thank you.
CoitVC
2 Posts
0
March 2nd, 2016 13:00
I have a XPS 15 9550 with exactly the same symptoms, although the issue takes a seemingly random time to strike.
My laptop is fewer than 3 months old.
I will check your suggestion about disabling one of the display adapters.
corygross
18 Posts
1
March 14th, 2016 08:00
After many attempts to resolve this issue, I believe the problem lies with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M drivers. The system works alright as long as they are not installed. There may actually be a conflict between the NVIDIA drivers and the latest Dell BIOS update. A coworker of mine who has not updated their BIOS is not having this same issues that I am with the NVIDIA drivers.
skyhcky
3 Posts
0
March 14th, 2016 11:00
I have the same issue and it started after completing the recommended bios update. :(
Yngfwuhr
3 Posts
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March 15th, 2016 13:00
Exactly the same issues here. My laptop does not appear to crash as long as I have an external monitor plugged in. When I have nothing connected, then it crashes very soon. This started on me after some GeForce updates and makes my computer totally useless as a portable laptop... :-( :-( :-(
I'm so unhappy about this, and really hope for a fix soon. Advice is much appreciated!
CoitVC
2 Posts
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March 16th, 2016 16:00
Just an update: I couldn't find an obvious option in the BIOS to favour the Nvidia card or disable the Intel HD GPU.
Setting the Preferred graphics processor to High-performance Nvidia processor instead of 'Auto-Select' or Integrated graphics in the Manage 3D Settings/Global Settings of the Nvidia Control Panel doesn't seem to have improved the situation.
After a random amount of time my screen shows an 'active' black, the keyboard lights up on a key press and I have to hard power down and restart to get my screen back.
This is so disappointing.
boopbleep
1 Message
0
March 16th, 2016 17:00
Same problem, random black screen , need to reboot to work, then just pops off whenever it feels like it. 2 day old laptop, I am returning it for another one and hoping that fixes it. Customer support just tried to sell me a software warranty when i called about it. one hour on the phone. Angry.
skyhcky
3 Posts
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March 16th, 2016 19:00
After working with tech support for 2 hours last night I disabled the Nvidia controller and have not had any black screens in 24 hours. Tech support recommended I buy a cooling pad to sit the laptop on if I'm going to use the Nvidia card. I ordered one but my hopes are not up that it will fix the problem.
ypsilon_y
4 Posts
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March 17th, 2016 14:00
Hi! How did you do the disabling?
It is ridiculous to request a cooling pad. My computer basically goes to black directly after startup. I wonder if this is a hardware or a software problem...
skyhcky
3 Posts
0
March 17th, 2016 16:00
It is ridiculous..I agree. I was able to get into the control panel but it sounds like you can't even get that far.
corygross
18 Posts
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March 18th, 2016 07:00
It sounds like you are having the same trouble I did. I was able to boot into safe mode without the machine crashing. Then, I used the device manager to disable the NVidia display adapter. That works, as long as Windows 10 doesn't try to update drivers and re-enable it, which it does frequently. To prevent Windows 10 update from turning the NVidia card back on and crashing the PC, I used gpedit (group policy) to block updates of the specific hardware IDs of the NVidia card. It has been fine since, although, now I don't get to use my NVidia card...
Steps for using gpedit to disable updates:
Run "gpedit.msc" > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > Device Installation Restrictions > "Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device IDs"
Yngfwuhr
3 Posts
0
March 22nd, 2016 13:00
Cool!
Maybe it works for me now. At least I did the disabling, and normally the computer crashes fully within seconds (unless I'm using the external monitor). Now I'm able to write this so it seems to work.
Any solution to using the 3D card in sight? I rolled back to the initial Nvidia drivers, but still the black screen of death problem. I will use my computer for occasional gaming, so I do want it to work! :-(
Cheers, and thanks!
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
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274.2K Posts
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October 26th, 2017 08:00
Does downgrading the bios firmware work?