XPS 8940, frequently crashes at random times, not able to simulate

Check Device Manager for a bad driver. There is a new bios out today.

Do you have the required power supply for that Nvidia card?  It requires a 300w psu. The OEM version might be different but if you bought and installed the card yourself the psu is not big enough. That can cause the heat problem as well as the crashes. You could physically remove the card and use the integrated video to test if that could be the problem. The integrated video does not work if the card is installed on the board.

I had this exact problem start up yesterday on a 2 week old 8940 11700/3060ti running oem everything except extra drives. I just updated the bios but it crashed again which makes 3 freezes in 24 hrs. If sound/video is playing during the crash the sound will also make a weird looping sound.

Thus far all my dell issues have been mostly fixable or dismissible nuisances but this one is kinda catastrophic for my computer needs....

Without a trouble code from event viewer I don't really know where to begin. Bad ram will show up pretty quick in Prime95 but I didn't see anything fail during a rather short test. All I have is just a "windows unexpectedly closed" error in the event viewer.

System was rock solid for 1.5 weeks so it could have been any number of software updates.

Looks like i have the same exact 8940 trim as the OP. Smh.........

"Last night it crashed just after clicking to close a folder."

For me it was

1. Waking a sleeping monitor

2. Minimizing a window

3. During a youtube video (sound looping)

Hi Mary

The card came with the machine. I was aware when I bought the machine on Dell's site and I added the 500W Night Sky Bezel Chassis, which is supposed to be more than enough.
I can run 3D tests with no issues. I can run MS Flight simulator for hours in ultra high, no issue either. If it was related to power, that would show up quickly.

I guess I can try the integrated video (for testing), however I'm having the exact problem "PleaseHalp " is describing, which makes me wonder...

Best Regards

I'm having the exact same problem. even the youtube video looping sound when it crashes happened to me as well.

Problem seems to be the SSD

Update SSD firmware from here, please make a note that SSD make and model will be different for every customer. so choose firmware accordingly. 

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-in/product-support/product/xps-8940-desktop/drivers

Thanks.
My system has a NVMe identified as "PC SN730 NVMe WDC 1024 GB"
In the firmware lists, the closest seems to be the "Western-Digital-Corp-SN730-PCIe-NVMe-Solid-State_WVWCD_WIN64_1117.0012_A00.EXE".
The description says "This package contains the firmware for the Western Digital Corp SN730 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB, Revision 11170012."
However when running this setup it says "Update does not apply to device".

Western Digital Offers a dashboard software.
In this software it says the firmware version is 11170012, and that it's up to date. Note that the version number matches the description of the Dells package. So it's already updated to the latest firmware.

Regards

@Ed RF 

Search subjects for 8940 freezing or similar titles...

Well known problem. Here are few of the threads:

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8940-constant-freezing/m-p/8196832#M71760 

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8940-random-freezing/m-p/8147619#M68867 

There are others too...

What is known to work for most of those reporting this in BIOS V2.3.0. Problem started with BIOS V2.4.0. You CAN check to see what BIOS version you have by running SYSINFO and it is listed in there.

A subsequent release of BIOS V2.5.1 still has the problem, but it is not as often.

Today, 5/11/2022 Dell has it seems just released BIOS  V2.6.0. Too soon to tell if that fixes this or not?

I'd either go back to V2.3.0 or try the one released today.

Yes, it happens ONLY to those with Nvidia cards... only on 8940's, and even happened to a user on Linux.

@Ed RF 

Give it a try, but also get V2.3.0 down. One person has already reported the froze with 2.6.0. I'm still running OK with it (but that is no guarantee).

Thanks @ispalten 

That's good info. I'll check if the new one can fix my issue later this weekend.
Regards

Has anyone looked into the realtek chip/driver stability? What about the bios erroneously detecting a 255c temp and throttling the cpu permanently to 0%? Im just throwing stuff out there, it could be anything.

I have downgraded the BIOS back to 2.3.0 today. Let's see.
I have also replace the stock CPU cooling system to a better one (Vetroo V5). This change alone gave me about 9% more processing power on some tasks (Like video rendering on CPU) just due to the fact that it's not Thermal throttling anymore.

Thank you. I appreciate your efforts. Let us know your observations please. 

@PleaseHalp 

Why do you think either that the BIOS detected 255C (how could you tell?) or that the Realtek chip or driver isn't stable? What have you seen? I don't think there is a way to know that the CPU shutdown? Even if your supposition that 255c was detected, one would think the fans would have gone to full speed. The CPU does its own temp measurements even.

However, for most if not almost all of us, going back to BIOS V2.3.0 without making a SINGLE change to PC, s/w or h/w, the problem goes away? Would that not rule out anything but the BIOS on the PC, not the RealTek chip, the CPU, the GPU or its driver, Windows, or any program?

BIOS V2.4.0, big time problem, V2.5.1 and V2.6.0, it still happens just not as frequently. Again, V2.3.0, no problem.

@Ed RF 

If your BIOS downgrade and replacing your cooling system ends up resolving your problem, it would be helpful if you could keep your status updated

Contrary to @ispalten 's comment, its not isolated to just the XPS8940. Although I will grant that the symptoms are occurring with XPS desktops using Nvidia cards. The freezes that just randomly happen when using a browser, or desktop apps, or playing videos, etc, etc with the 8940 are also a persistent occurrance on my 8930 ever since I flashed the February BIOS version. Dell typically releases a new version for the 8930 about every month. But what Dell does not offer the option of doing unfortunately with the 8930 is downgrading the BIOS. Three newer BIOS version updates have been upgraded since February and still the problems persist. I've tried just about everything you have including I'm guessing even more since I've had this problem going on longer. And so I've had it up to my eyeballs with Dell's BIOS updates

As a FYI'er, their hardware service agreement is basically an anecdotal solution. If they can't fix the problem the first time, they'll offer to replace "everything" the next time you open a ticket . . . without basing it on an analysis or any troubleshooting to narrow down a root-cause. They contact the depot and tell them to replace everything just so they can quickly get the service request order closed. I went through that experience with them so I know the method they use. I told them I would not agree to it.

. . . I don't even want to get started about their design issues

Hi @ispalten 

So far so good on BIOS V2.3.0 since last Saturday. I'll let you all know how it goes by the end of the week, but I guess the problem doesn't happen  on the V2.3.0, as stated.
If so, this might be the solution for now. I'm happy already to at least being able to work for a couple of days without freezing.

Regards