Chucking in my five pence worth, after having the same issue.
What I think is happening is that the ‘very first’ driver install (by windows) is not removing itself from the system when it’s being upgraded to the latest. I rolled back to ‘bare OS’ and watched. Windows installs an old driver, then a very new one, then it goes wrong. So I switched off the windows auto-update of drivers in system settings (can use dell site instead, right?) and it stopped overwriting the first driver. If I ever upgrade the driver I’ll scrub the ‘dust one’ off manually, and then install the new one , ie remove and add new rather than ‘uograde’. Suspect this will avoid the issue.
UPDATES : After trying to get the model number of the screen and having to unplug the cable a few times I went to startup the pc using my TV and Type-C cable and was surprised that both displays turned on, I even tried swapping the drives between PCs as I wanted to make sure it wasn't something I'd installed or done that fixed it and it yielded the same results using a drive that before produced the issue (ie it wasn't anything I'd installed).
I have no idea why it started working or whats wrong with it, Very confused and to be honest a little cautious, However it does seem to be an issue with the display.
I figure it has something to do with a buildup of charge in the LCDs circuit which I'm pretty sure is inaccessable and I think leaving the display unplugged for a long duration may have helped it.
SHORT VERSION :
Had the black screen issue, Tried everything, Tried swapping displays off of a working one which was successful which leads me to suspect the LCD and or the compatibility of the driver with the particular LCD.
LONG VERSION :
Hello, This is quite a late reply however this should help people immensly in how far they want to pursue the issue.
I have had 3 of these XPS 13 9350s and each had issues I have so far got 2 working, Of the two I got working 1 was solved via a CMOS Battery Reset and a bios update the other just required a bios update as it initially wasn't showing anything even the boot dell logo.
The third Laptop I tried everything (bios update, Cmos and main battery reset, Intels driver, Dell support driver, Bios Recovery, Windows updates, Modifying the intel driver settings and alot more) As I have/had 2 laptops on hand one without the issue I did a last resort test and swap-connected the displays ( The one from the working laptop to the non working one) and it worked.
I do not know the source of the issue ie display, or driver but I can say that swapping the display over did work.
I do not reccommend buying another as there is no guarantee it will be the right one however if you have the option to do the same test as me you can post more updates to the older threads and provide a little bit of useful feedback.
Dell seems to have a design problem in the battery management hardware between the internal battery and the on-board GPU in these XPS 13 laptops. Mine had the same black screen problem, until finally "resetting" it, much like people have been posting here.
I suggest it's in the battery management hardware, because disconnecting the battery and the power, then holding down the power button does seem to drain the built up charge in whatever capacitors that seem to be messing with the on-board Intel GPU. The GPU will work with the basic Windows graphics driver, but you lose all advanced power features, like sleep mode and screen brightness management. So I think that's another clue that Dell's flaw is in the battery management hardware.
In my case, I had to take one further step to reset the hardware that doesn't seem everyone else has needed. Here's everything I did:
1) First, get your computer to use the basic Windows Graphics Driver: Boot to Safe Mode, use Device Manager to DISABLE the Intel HD 520 (or 540) Graphics Display Adapter. Reboot. Latest builds of Windows 10 don't provide a "clean" way to boot to safe mode. When you've got the black screen you'll need to hard reboot (press and hold the power button at least 5sec) your XPS about 3 times before you'll get the "Advanced Troubleshooting" blue screen. Page through the options until you find "Startup Settings." Select it, and the XPS will reboot and give you the prompt for Safe Mode (Fn F4 or numkey 4). Note if you've got BitLocker enabled on the XPS you'll need another PC to log into your Windows account and retrieve the unlock key for your XPS Windows installation - the BitLocker prompt gives you the URL to go to. Then proceed as-in the first sentence above. You should be able to boot the XPS, without any black screen. It might seem fixed, but it's only working because the basic Windows GPU drivers are being used.
2) Shutdown and unplug the XPS. Remove the bottom panel (quantity 8 Torx #5 screws, plus one small Phillips beneath the XPS logo door). Unplug the battery. Hold down the power button for about 1min. Here, most people reconnect the battery and put everything back together. In my case that wasn't quite enough. Don't plug the battery in just yet - this is my departure from some of the other solutions.
3) Plug the power cable back in (NOT the battery yet). Wait for the XPS to go through some internal hardware checks. The front LEDs will flash amber then white a number of times. The cooling fan will cycle on and off. Be patient until it all settles down. Then use the power button to boot up. Remember, your battery is still disconnected, so this first power-up should drain whatever other charge is still interfering with the Intel GPU. On boot up the BIOS will prompt you to enter the time and date. The XPS should boot, but it'll still be using the basic Windows GPU drivers.
4) Use Device Manager, like in Step 1, and ENABLE the Intel Graphics Display Adapter. If this electrical reset has worked, the screen will flicker and then you'll get a confirmation dialog that the Intel Graphics Adapter has been ENABLED. If it reverts to a black screen, the XPS hasn't been reset yet. Hold the power button to force a shut down. Disconnect the power cable and hold down the power button again, this time longer. Then go back to Step 3. But hopefully, if your problem is the same as everyone else, then the Intel GPU will be working again right away. Gotta put it all back together now, so do a normal Windows Shutdown procedure.
5) Reconnect the battery. Take a picture of the battery label, because at some future point you'll probably need to replace it. As a "bonus" of this headache with the XPS 13, you at least now also know how to access the battery to replace it in the future. Reassemble the back panel. You'll be good to go, until this happens again - and it probably will. I've been there 3 times already with my XPS over the past 2 years.
Be careful when opening the back of the XPS. There are some simple Youtube videos that point the way. Just search for "XPS 13 9350 battery replacement" and you should find something helpful. For this reset, you only need to unplug the battery. It doesn't need to be completely removed, of course.
Mad that more than one year later and my dell just updated. Realised to late it was updating he graphics card and filled with panic and I tried to email my dissertation to myself before the inevitable black screen of death plagued my life again.
Lucky'y I've become an expert in disabling the graphics card and got the laptop up and running again. Then I wondered, surly Dell have found a fix by now. Wtf you guys been doing the last year and half.
Any way I can get this very expensive laptop working how it should be without these suggestions I've seen of dismantling it?
And i took the Remove drivers no restart, and while in the process of extracting the drivers from an old installfile my screen started blinking and windows took upon it self to install the driver 26.20.100.7262, so i now have a graphics driver and a functioning screen!
I believe this is what we all may be looking for. Dell lists the newer video driver from Intel that may fix this problem (Intel-HD-Graphics-Driver_654R9_WIN_26.20.100.7263_A14). I have it installed on one of our XPX 13 9350 machines and it appears to be working. It says it’s for an Intel HD Graphics 520. We have one 520 and one 540; it appears to be working on the 540. I did not install it yet on the 520 but I assume it will work fine.
Hi to all, Cyclically, usually during some evil windows update, a problem with the display of my xps13 9350 i7 (glossy HD touschreen) occurs
Summing up: - During the boot the "dell" logo flickers, after the boot: black screen. - In safe mode screen working intermittently. - Disabling video card drivers and using generic windows drivers: same behavior as safe mode (obviously). - Reinstalling the drivers leads to the same problems - Clean installation of windows does not solve - Dell pre-boot recovery and diagnostic tools do not report errors and do not resolve - disconnect the battery do not solve
All this would make think of a panel HW problem (especially the flickering of the dell logo during boot).
After countless unsuccessful attempts I have found a solution (or a workaround) that seems to work.
The only solution I found was to manually install the drivers for the Intel HD Graphics 5500 video card (I use the xxx version). You can then install the correct drivers.
I hope my experience can help.
I don't know if the Intel HD Graphics 5500 v. are still online, if needed I can share it.
Still getting the black screen. I've thrown everything at this, including the battery unplug, as well as trying every graphics driver Dell has ever released for the XPS 13 9350. Works fine with an external monitor but still can't get the built in to work.
JonPBUK
2 Posts
0
July 30th, 2019 13:00
JonPBUK
2 Posts
0
July 30th, 2019 13:00
Chucking in my five pence worth, after having the same issue.
What I think is happening is that the ‘very first’ driver install (by windows) is not removing itself from the system when it’s being upgraded to the latest. I rolled back to ‘bare OS’ and watched. Windows installs an old driver, then a very new one, then it goes wrong. So I switched off the windows auto-update of drivers in system settings (can use dell site instead, right?) and it stopped overwriting the first driver. If I ever upgrade the driver I’ll scrub the ‘dust one’ off manually, and then install the new one , ie remove and add new rather than ‘uograde’. Suspect this will avoid the issue.
Ahurasim
1 Message
0
August 25th, 2019 02:00
I have new information regarding this issue.
UPDATES : After trying to get the model number of the screen and having to unplug the cable a few times I went to startup the pc using my TV and Type-C cable and was surprised that both displays turned on, I even tried swapping the drives between PCs as I wanted to make sure it wasn't something I'd installed or done that fixed it and it yielded the same results using a drive that before produced the issue (ie it wasn't anything I'd installed).
I have no idea why it started working or whats wrong with it, Very confused and to be honest a little cautious, However it does seem to be an issue with the display.
I figure it has something to do with a buildup of charge in the LCDs circuit which I'm pretty sure is inaccessable and I think leaving the display unplugged for a long duration may have helped it.
SHORT VERSION :
Had the black screen issue, Tried everything, Tried swapping displays off of a working one which was successful which leads me to suspect the LCD and or the compatibility of the driver with the particular LCD.
LONG VERSION :
Hello, This is quite a late reply however this should help people immensly in how far they want to pursue the issue.
I have had 3 of these XPS 13 9350s and each had issues I have so far got 2 working, Of the two I got working 1 was solved via a CMOS Battery Reset and a bios update the other just required a bios update as it initially wasn't showing anything even the boot dell logo.
The third Laptop I tried everything (bios update, Cmos and main battery reset, Intels driver, Dell support driver, Bios Recovery, Windows updates, Modifying the intel driver settings and alot more) As I have/had 2 laptops on hand one without the issue I did a last resort test and swap-connected the displays ( The one from the working laptop to the non working one) and it worked.
I do not know the source of the issue ie display, or driver but I can say that swapping the display over did work.
I do not reccommend buying another as there is no guarantee it will be the right one however if you have the option to do the same test as me you can post more updates to the older threads and provide a little bit of useful feedback.
CoachKevin
1 Message
0
September 26th, 2019 15:00
Dell seems to have a design problem in the battery management hardware between the internal battery and the on-board GPU in these XPS 13 laptops. Mine had the same black screen problem, until finally "resetting" it, much like people have been posting here.
I suggest it's in the battery management hardware, because disconnecting the battery and the power, then holding down the power button does seem to drain the built up charge in whatever capacitors that seem to be messing with the on-board Intel GPU. The GPU will work with the basic Windows graphics driver, but you lose all advanced power features, like sleep mode and screen brightness management. So I think that's another clue that Dell's flaw is in the battery management hardware.
In my case, I had to take one further step to reset the hardware that doesn't seem everyone else has needed. Here's everything I did:
1) First, get your computer to use the basic Windows Graphics Driver: Boot to Safe Mode, use Device Manager to DISABLE the Intel HD 520 (or 540) Graphics Display Adapter. Reboot. Latest builds of Windows 10 don't provide a "clean" way to boot to safe mode. When you've got the black screen you'll need to hard reboot (press and hold the power button at least 5sec) your XPS about 3 times before you'll get the "Advanced Troubleshooting" blue screen. Page through the options until you find "Startup Settings." Select it, and the XPS will reboot and give you the prompt for Safe Mode (Fn F4 or numkey 4). Note if you've got BitLocker enabled on the XPS you'll need another PC to log into your Windows account and retrieve the unlock key for your XPS Windows installation - the BitLocker prompt gives you the URL to go to. Then proceed as-in the first sentence above. You should be able to boot the XPS, without any black screen. It might seem fixed, but it's only working because the basic Windows GPU drivers are being used.
2) Shutdown and unplug the XPS. Remove the bottom panel (quantity 8 Torx #5 screws, plus one small Phillips beneath the XPS logo door). Unplug the battery. Hold down the power button for about 1min. Here, most people reconnect the battery and put everything back together. In my case that wasn't quite enough. Don't plug the battery in just yet - this is my departure from some of the other solutions.
3) Plug the power cable back in (NOT the battery yet). Wait for the XPS to go through some internal hardware checks. The front LEDs will flash amber then white a number of times. The cooling fan will cycle on and off. Be patient until it all settles down. Then use the power button to boot up. Remember, your battery is still disconnected, so this first power-up should drain whatever other charge is still interfering with the Intel GPU. On boot up the BIOS will prompt you to enter the time and date. The XPS should boot, but it'll still be using the basic Windows GPU drivers.
4) Use Device Manager, like in Step 1, and ENABLE the Intel Graphics Display Adapter. If this electrical reset has worked, the screen will flicker and then you'll get a confirmation dialog that the Intel Graphics Adapter has been ENABLED. If it reverts to a black screen, the XPS hasn't been reset yet. Hold the power button to force a shut down. Disconnect the power cable and hold down the power button again, this time longer. Then go back to Step 3. But hopefully, if your problem is the same as everyone else, then the Intel GPU will be working again right away. Gotta put it all back together now, so do a normal Windows Shutdown procedure.
5) Reconnect the battery. Take a picture of the battery label, because at some future point you'll probably need to replace it. As a "bonus" of this headache with the XPS 13, you at least now also know how to access the battery to replace it in the future. Reassemble the back panel. You'll be good to go, until this happens again - and it probably will. I've been there 3 times already with my XPS over the past 2 years.
Be careful when opening the back of the XPS. There are some simple Youtube videos that point the way. Just search for "XPS 13 9350 battery replacement" and you should find something helpful. For this reset, you only need to unplug the battery. It doesn't need to be completely removed, of course.
tomadru
16 Posts
0
September 27th, 2019 09:00
Mad that more than one year later and my dell just updated. Realised to late it was updating he graphics card and filled with panic and I tried to email my dissertation to myself before the inevitable black screen of death plagued my life again.
Lucky'y I've become an expert in disabling the graphics card and got the laptop up and running again. Then I wondered, surly Dell have found a fix by now. Wtf you guys been doing the last year and half.
Any way I can get this very expensive laptop working how it should be without these suggestions I've seen of dismantling it?
Jonas Johansson
1 Message
0
December 12th, 2019 23:00
After a lot of cursing, anger and lost work my laptop magically fixed it self while I where trying to force install an old driver.
So what i did where was running DisplayDriverUnninstaller (DDU)
https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
And i took the Remove drivers no restart, and while in the process of extracting the drivers from an old installfile my screen started blinking and windows took upon it self to install the driver 26.20.100.7262, so i now have a graphics driver and a functioning screen!
https://imgur.com/a/9szYjZi
StevenKipping
37 Posts
0
December 13th, 2019 09:00
OOPS – typo. Should read XPS 13 9350 (I wish you could edit these posts). Again, good luck to all and please keep us posted as to results. . . .
StevenKipping
37 Posts
0
December 13th, 2019 09:00
Excellent news Jonas – best to you and thank you.
I believe this is what we all may be looking for. Dell lists the newer video driver from Intel that may fix this problem (Intel-HD-Graphics-Driver_654R9_WIN_26.20.100.7263_A14). I have it installed on one of our XPX 13 9350 machines and it appears to be working. It says it’s for an Intel HD Graphics 520. We have one 520 and one 540; it appears to be working on the 540. I did not install it yet on the 520 but I assume it will work fine.
Here’s the link:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=654r9&oscode=wt64a&productcode=xps-13-9350-laptop
No guarantee but it’s surely worth a try. Good luck and keep us posted….
StevenKipping
37 Posts
0
January 7th, 2020 12:00
WOW - unless I'm mistaken, posts have been removed from this thread!
StevenKipping
37 Posts
0
January 7th, 2020 12:00
Surprise - there back. Something weird is happening. . . .
BlackScreenXPS
2 Posts
0
January 8th, 2020 21:00
Hi Steven,
My post is deleted. I don't know why.
ilBellz
13 Posts
0
January 9th, 2020 12:00
Hi to all,
Cyclically, usually during some evil windows update, a problem with the display of my xps13 9350 i7 (glossy HD touschreen) occurs
Summing up:
- During the boot the "dell" logo flickers, after the boot: black screen.
- In safe mode screen working intermittently.
- Disabling video card drivers and using generic windows drivers: same behavior as safe mode (obviously).
- Reinstalling the drivers leads to the same problems
- Clean installation of windows does not solve
- Dell pre-boot recovery and diagnostic tools do not report errors and do not resolve
- disconnect the battery do not solve
All this would make think of a panel HW problem (especially the flickering of the dell logo during boot).
After countless unsuccessful attempts I have found a solution (or a workaround) that seems to work.
The only solution I found was to manually install the drivers for the Intel HD Graphics 5500 video card (I use the xxx version).
You can then install the correct drivers.
I hope my experience can help.
I don't know if the Intel HD Graphics 5500 v. are still online, if needed I can share it.
palaciosora
3 Posts
0
January 9th, 2020 16:00
anyone else having trouble installing Intel-HD-Graphics-Driver_654R9_WIN_26.20.100.7263_A14.EXE
mine says that is not compatible with win10
thanks for anyinfo
best
Julian
MarkDubbs
2 Posts
0
January 16th, 2020 07:00
I can't get the A14 installed either.
Still getting the black screen. I've thrown everything at this, including the battery unplug, as well as trying every graphics driver Dell has ever released for the XPS 13 9350. Works fine with an external monitor but still can't get the built in to work.
palaciosora
3 Posts
0
January 16th, 2020 07:00
I went to intel webpage and got the driver from there. So far it is working normally.
Best!