Freezing issues with XPS 15 9500

Question

I bought my XPS a few months ago and I have been having a freezing issue that happens even 10 times a day in many situations (when I'm using the internet browser or when I'm using a CAD program, for example). I have checked for discussions similar to mine in this community and i discovered that many other people which have the XPS 9500 have the same issue. I have noticed that the freeze is only visually because if you are watching something for example you can still hear the audio in the background. To restore the system you have to press the sleep button and press it again. I tried doing a clean install on Windows several times, uninstalling Nvidia graphic driver, modify the settings and preferences into the 'Intel Graphics Command Center', but nothing has worked. Besides, Dell support has already replaced the motherboard but the problem of freezing is still present.   Now my questions are: how it is possible that we all have this problem and nobody in the Dell support takes care of it or at least knows the procedure to get rid of it? Due to the fact that my laptop has already had one reparation which was unsuccessful and that it is useless to ask for a replacement because the new laptop would have the same problem, what am I supposed to do? Honestly I was thinking if it is possible to have a refund because it's not normal to pay a lot of money for a laptop with these problems. Any suggestions?

Maximum5000 · Answer

Same problem, XPS 9500 i7 screen freezing. Happening totally randomly 1-10 times in an hour since October. Screen hangs, but sound continues etc. Pressing graphic driver reset shift+ctrl+windows key+B or closing the lid brings screen back on.

Did the whole ordeal with Dell support, pointless, they suggested to reinstall windows though I had said that I have already have reinstalled windows three times. Really strange that they changed your motherboard, it's clearly a software conflict.

So today I took all day to search the problem and I think I found something...

Many threads in this forum suggest to turn off panel self refresh from Intel Graphics Command Center. It had no effect for me. Then I uninstalled Graphics Command Center, if it's not there it can't mess anything up. Still freezes.

But then looking trough device manager, I think it was under software components I found Intel Graphics Command Center and even more surprisingly also Intel Graphics Control Panel. I remembered that some older threads here about screen freezing had suggested replacing Graphics Command Center with Graphics Control Panel. I had looked it up and intel site said it was incompatible with newer processors. Really strange. I removed them both (checked the box attempt to remove).

No freezing almost half a day. Haven't seen anything like this since October. Can you check if you have these drivers and does removing them with uninstalling Graphics Command Center has any effect?

Also I had previously removed one by one all apps that had Dell in their name. Nvidia version 497.09, Updated all drivers from intel support site. Intel UHD Graphics Driver version 30.0.101.1069

pomegranate21 · Answer

Since the laptop will be withdrawn tomorrow (this time they'll replace motherboard, hard drive and memory) I have no time to try this but I will go through all the steps that you suggested once I get back my laptop. Obviously, I will write you back to let you know whether the problem has been solved or not.

Thank you for your help!

Maximum5000 · Answer

So they'll gonna give you a new laptop
Hope this works.
Dell's support just wrote me that there was a BIOS update released yesterday.
The previous solution kind of worked, but I still had one or two freezes in a day, so what finally worked for me was:

1. Turned off hardware accelerated gpu scheduling. (settings > System > Display > Graphics > Change default graphics settings > off > restart)
2. In Services app disabled both Intel(R) HD Graphics Control Panel Service and Intel(R) Graphics Command Center Service. typed services in start, right clicked and properties. startup type disabled.
3. Manually removed all Nvidia apps and installed an older version from nvidia.com (471.68) just choose one I knew was before the problems started.

Installing older Nvidia drivers I noticed that even though I did choose the clear installation option, under custom installation, some things still weren't removed as the installer said that there's already a newer version installed. So I removed all Nvidia apps manually. Restarted and installed an earlier version from Nvidia site, no freezing since then. I tested turning on hardware acceleration or the graphics services after downgradig Nvidia and screen froze in an hour. So I just left them off. Task manager shows that GPU is working without them.

DELL-Cares · Answer

Hi, since we have not heard back from you, we will be temporarily closing this case. Feel free to drop us a note anytime, once you are available, and if you still need help. Take care and have a nice day!

Lee_Bourke · Answer

Try changing the Registry Key PSR2Disable value from 0, to 1. You will find it here;

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0001

Please take care when editing the registry. This worked for me and I hope it helps you.

pomegranate21 · Answer

I give you an update about my case for people who asked me. I have tried every solution that is given here in this forum but unfortunately I still having the same trouble. The Tecnical support raised a request for a replacement (because my XPS had three unsuccessful repairs and it's still under warranty). I had the approval on the 28th of February and now I'm waiting for the email with the system specifications of the new computer. This is taking a very long time but I hope that all this is coming to an end and that I will be finally able to work with my new XPS.

XPS

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