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XPS 8930, black screen sign in as admin, DVI problem, fixed
XPS 8930 Windows 10 1909 buld xxxx.815
Came home after a week away and found system booted to a black screen. Had TV as second monitor via HDMI and was able to use it and determine that NVIDIA no longer recognized that my BenQ monitor existed (connected via DVI). TV was now primary monitor. Moved HDMI cable to BenQ and now had a working system.
Now tried to sign using admin and Microsoft accounts and after sign it went to a completely black screen. I could run programs via ctl-alt-del taskmanager. But could not run explorer from task manager.
As standard user started looking for causes, had blocked updates and non had taken place. Wound up looking at last restore point and the file changes associated with it. Found that Edge and a support program for Edge along with Firefox had been updated. Since the restore point was created after I last used the system I just went ahead and restored. This resolved all problems including the DVI problem. Updated Fiirefox - no change.
After restore neither messenger or spottily would launch. I had to either launch or update from the Windows store for them to function. May be others I have not yet hit. Appears any store app updated during that time frame may not work correctly
Could have been a head scratcher if had not checked restore points.
One other thing I should mention is at some point after restore Microsoft sent a notification that there was a problem with some of my accounts. Just signing in resolved this but have no idea if this had any bearing on the problem.
dnorcott
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July 13th, 2020 09:00
Do have a UPS. Nothing fried as nothing replaced other than software to resolve both DVI (back to original cable afte restore) and user sign in problems. Normaly do power off when away for more than a week but made conscious decision ( forgotten why) not to this time. Reluctant to power off unless i will be gone for a week or longer as i have seen dozens of failures on power up.
Using as a standard user sign-in with HDMI I noticed no problems. Only when I logged in as admin to run the dell diagnostics did I encounter black screen problem.
Only reason for post is to warn others in case this is not an isolated instance.
Mary G
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July 13th, 2020 06:00
This is why you should unplug computers from power when you leave for a week. You most likely had a storm while you were away. That can cause a power surge that can fry cables, pci cards, network adapters, power cables, etc---anything connected. My guess is the dvi cable was fried. Run a custom complete diagnostics to check all the hardware. Think about buying an UPS battery backup for protection while you are home. When leaving for a long time, unplug the power cord from the tower.
RoHe
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July 13th, 2020 11:00
Exactly which video card do you have in your XPS 8930?
Did you ever install a video card firmware update for the video card in your system to fix "hot plug" issues, which may be what you're experiencing?
Read/follow the instructions carefully on the Support page.
dnorcott
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July 13th, 2020 14:00
dnorcott
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July 13th, 2020 14:00
Just signed on as admin and ran supportassit to check for updates. There were none. Had ran hardware diags when problem occurred but had not checked for updates.
dnorcott
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July 13th, 2020 15:00
Problem resolved with detecting drivers had to:
Uninstall SupportAssist
Uninstall Dell SupportAssist
Download the launcher which now installed a newer version. Gets a little fuzzy here because multiple re-boots required. But basically the last check for drivers downloaded software that installed . While running it caused another SupportAssist update to a newer version. Then it configured itself but at this point installed programs showed Dell SupportAssist but no SupportAssist and could still could not check for diver updates
At some point SupportAssist appeared on the start menu. After starting it configured itself and I ran full suite of tests. After this I was then I was now able to detect drivers from https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-ca.... (Canadian system) and every thing now functioning as it did the last time I tried to check for updates online. No updates.
NOTE: Could allays run SupportAsssit locally and check for updates even though I could not do it on line.
RoHe
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July 13th, 2020 15:00
@dnorcott Please remove your Service Tag from your post. Never post your Service Tag in an open forum like this.
You can enter your Service Tag on the support page and it will show the latest available drivers for your system. It won't tell you which ones have already been installed, but you can always check driver version numbers in Device Manager.
Yes, completely uninstall SupportAssist, then reboot and download and install a fresh copy of Dell Update Application for Win 10 and then install SupportAssist Update Plugin Application.
RoHe
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July 13th, 2020 16:00
1. Edits can only be made for a limited period of time. When you see a yellow flag below your avatar on left side of a post, you can still edit it. Click the 3 vertical dots on the top right of that specific post and look for the Edit option on the menu. Once it's gone, only a moderator can edit a post.
2. IMO, SupportAssist is an unnecessary waste of time/space. I've completely removed it and Dell Update from my PC. Like I said, your Service Tag will show the most recent drivers for your specific PC, but not if they've already been installed.
An easy way to keep track is to save all driver downloads in a separate folder on you D (HDD). So when you see a driver that might be newer than what you already have, compare the version number in the new file name to the one in your folder of saved downloads. It doesn't matter where driver downloads are saved, or even on which drive, so just navigate to that folder and double-click it to run the install.
EDIT: And just ignore those annoying prompts to download and install SupportAssist. It nags me every time I go to the support site too, but I just ignore it and enter my Service Tag.
dnorcott
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July 13th, 2020 16:00
You posted while I was composing my post. I will uninstall again and use your method. Have two questions.
1) Can I edit a previous post to remove my tag??
2)During troubleshooting another problem I was instructed by Dell support to only use SupportAssist to determine system updates.
They said do not use the emails sent, DellUpdate or on line updating to determine if the system required updating They where very adamant about this. Do you hold this view