Unsolved
4 Posts
0
515
XPS 15 9500, plugged in, random hard freeze
Ok, I know there are a ton of these types of subjects. Mine is different. Please don't ask me to manipulate the setting within the Intel graphics command center. Those are all off.
The issue that I'm having revolves around a hard freeze. This hard freeze has happened randomly during trivial tasks (watching youtube, reading through Excel and PDFs), writing C++ programs in VS, and idle when I walk away to get a drink. Audio will even stutter like in a loop when the freeze happens.
I haven't been able to recreate the freeze. It truly is random when it decides to happen and when it happens, the device is unrecoverable. The only way to get it out is to hard reset the laptop. The only clue that I do have is, the hard freeze will only occur when the laptop is plugged in. Any time the laptop is running on battery only, the laptop is stable and never freezes.
I've been in contact with Dell many times now, and they even sent out a new (refurbished) device, and within a day or so, the system hard froze. I have run extensive memory tests, which seemed to pass just fine, but out of curiosity, I replaced my 2 x 16Gb 2933MHz memory with the stock 2 x 8Gb 2666 memory to see if it's my modules. I've also done a disk check to validate the M.2 drive where the OS resides and even went into BIOS to turn off the C-State to keep the processor from reducing power. Unfortunately, within 5-10 minutes of having the laptop fired up and working tasks, I walked away for a few minutes and came back to the laptop hard frozen and unresponsive, which rules out the memory modules.
I'm at the edge of what can be replaced, and I've essentially lost faith in the XPS product line. I've lost so much progress over these freezes that I want to throw it against the wall when it happens now.
Any help or potential clues to check I am open to hearing as I'm unsure how to proceed?
Mary G
4 Operator
4 Operator
•
20.1K Posts
0
June 14th, 2021 11:00
Just a shot in the dark--Did you change or update any drivers? Laptop driver rarely almost never get updated. You must use the Dell drivers that came on the computer. Those drivers are customized by Dell to work on the Dell motherboard. All drivers are customized so you cannot install any other manufacturers drivers--no Nvidia or Intel or AMD, etc. If you did change any drivers, reinstall all the original drivers and that might solve the problems.
BTW, you cannot use the Intel command center on the laptop. That's for Desktop computers with discrete video cards. You do not have intel card at all, only integrated Intel 630 video.
JCote258
4 Posts
0
June 14th, 2021 12:00
Yes, all standard Dell "certified" drivers, including Nvidia and Intel. I don't even have access to the actual support site until they move my warranty information from my previous machine to the replacement they sent over. The only way I can get drivers now is through the Support Assist client, and that's been up to date since the beginning. I always run it after a system freeze, and I'm pretty sure that does absolutely nothing in regards to system stabilization.
For the Dell command center, if it's not something that is actively making a difference, should I uninstall it? I have all the parameters turned off anyways.
JCote258
4 Posts
0
June 17th, 2021 08:00
So, after all this non-sense of random freezing. I decided to roll the laptop back to stock configuration. Stock dell 512Gb M.2, 2 x 16Gb memory, remove the secondary M.2 drive I was using for storage, and see where this laptop sits. I removed the Samsung M.2 drive and went back to the Dell M.2 drive to see if it was the primary. Well, it wasn't. Even with the stock drive, the system froze while in clean boot mode! Not sure if I managed to get a hold of two lemons back to back, but man, this is frustrating. I just purchased the new XPS 15 with the Nvidia 3050 Ti. I'm going to give it exactly 25 days. If the new one freezes up again, I'm moving on from Dell to HP or similar.
dotmitsu
4 Posts
0
May 12th, 2023 17:00
I have the same problem with my new Dell XPS 15 9520. Hard Freezes started a mounth ago. I tested everything. RAM is good, SSD good. Everithing good, but laptop randomly freezes. I tested on windows and linux Ubuntu. The same thing. I am watching video on youtube, and laptop suddenly hard freezes
AdrianG001
4 Operator
4 Operator
•
4K Posts
0
May 15th, 2023 01:00
1. Wait: Give It a Minute to Catch Up
2. Check Your Peripherals
3. Kill the Offending Program
4. Check Your Browser’s Task Manager
5. Reboot and Try Again
6. Check the Reliability Monitor
7. Reinstall Any Recent Drivers
8. Do a Malware Scan
9. Give Your Hard Drive a Checkup