Studio & XPS Users experiencing video lockups and freezes / Throttling issues

Can folks experiencing lockups give direct links to the videos/games that are locking up the systems?  So far it seems that the mother board is not the culprit nor are the drivers.  I have the same setup as some experiencing lockups but not receiving them myself.

I've never had a lockup while playing a game. It happens in Windows while doing mundane tasks like reading this forum. I'll go to scroll down and it will lock. No other apps running.

I've gone back to the ATI 10.1 drivers and haven't had a lockup in a few days. The 10.3 beta drivers were terrible. Constant lockups and half the time it would lockup when resuming from sleep.

Any 1080p video from youtube will cause a lockup. I use this one to test it out. Be sure to select 1080p from the menu bar. Any other resolution works fine. Going to try out the suggestion to disable hardware acceleration and see if that works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i2RCBa3l-g&feature=related

Bukket

Who else is using the Flash 10.1 beta 3 version?

Feedback on that version?

I was told to you RealTemp so here you go.  The first result is from idle and the second, running the Avatar video in 1080p.

Who else is using the Flash 10.1 beta 3 version?  Feedback on that version?

I tried it and didn't have any improvement so I went back to the release version. I've tried it out with every video driver... Dell's, ATI 10.1 and 10.3. I never did get around to trying 10.2.

I don't have any random lockups with 10.1 so I'm staying with it. Turning off hardware acceleration in Flash lets me watch some HD so I'm happy enough with that for now. I'm tired of changing drivers... LOL. I've got some other computers around here that need my attention.

Bukket

Who else is using the Flash 10.1 beta 3 version?   Feedback on that version?

Hi Todd,

I am using Flash 10.1 beta 3 combined with ATI drivers version 9.12 + Hotfix. Since I installed them both, I've never had a single crash when watching HD video (without disabling hardware acceleration in Flash!). I highly recommend this solution to all users experiencing this problem.

Studio 1747

A07 BIOS

10.2 ATI 

130W PS

Never had throttling so far as I could tell.  No heating problems now with 130w ps. Never had YouTube problems after replacing Dell ATI drivers.

My problems are like others in the thread, random lockups doing mundane tasks.  Checking my email, browsing through Windows Explorer and 3 or 4 times now, launching Remote Desktop.  The problem NEVER occurs when the machine is under heavy load.  It does always seem to correspond with some bit of network activity ( rdp connection, new email arriving, Explorer ( network drivers ) ).  When lockup occurs, the fan kicks in on low, then a few seconds later on high.  No mouse/keyboard, have waitied an hour and nothing ever comes back, requires a power off ( CTRL+ALT+DEL doesnt do anything ).

I too receive spurious lockups, primarily when notification windows pop-up from Outlook or whatever.   Due to another user's suggestion, I turned off ATi's Powerplay in the Catalyst menu (right clock on desktop, it's the top option), and I haven't had a freeze yet.   Here's to hoping!

Also:  I did just receive the 130 PS from Dell yesterday, which is about when I turned PowerPlay off.   So, it might be one or the other.. or both?

I too receive spurious lockups, primarily when notification windows pop-up from Outlook or whatever.   Due to another user's suggestion, I turned off ATi's Powerplay in the Catalyst menu (right clock on desktop, it's the top option), and I haven't had a freeze yet.   Here's to hoping! Also:  I did just receive the 130 PS from Dell yesterday, which is about when I turned PowerPlay off.   So, it might be one or the other.. or both?

OH MY GOD !!! one more user getting the "ati powerplay fix" (that was from me) fixing his lockups ! BILL ! TODD ! come and read it, and follow it to your engineers ! I've been screaming that for so long now ... maybe 2 monthes. I think todd followed it to the tech team, but hey, the more we are to narrow down the problem (to the faulty GPU power management in my opinion), the more we have a chance to get it fixed ...

I don't know if bill and todd watch this topic as they watch the 7 bips one, but let's hope ...

Yeah, scratch that.   Even with PowerPlay turned off, I just had my laptop completely freeze up when I got an Outlook notification pop up in the lower right hand corner. 

Unfortunately, GPU-Z was not logging at the time, so I can't see what happened.

Yeah, scratch that.   Even with PowerPlay turned off, I just had my laptop completely freeze up when I got an Outlook notification pop up in the lower right hand corner.  Unfortunately, GPU-Z was not logging at the time, so I can't see what happened.

Co-sign.

I had 3 lock-ups yesterday alone and I've been running my card w/out Power Play for a week now. I was just moving my pointer/mouse to the task bar when it froze 2 times while doing my homework in MS Access.

Yeah, scratch that.   Even with PowerPlay turned off, I just had my laptop completely freeze up when I got an Outlook notification pop up in the lower right hand corner

What video driver are you using? I haven't had a lockup since going back to 10.1. Try out the one from Serapth's post here: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19322800.aspx

But make sure you do a clean install! I get lockups if I install over the other driver. Here's the steps to a clean install:

Download and install Driver Sweeper:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Guru3D---Driver-Sweeper-(Setup)-download-1655.html

Download and extract (Do Not Install) the Ati Drivers referenced here:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19322800.aspx

Uninstall ATI Catalayst Install Manager from Programs and Features. Choose Express Uninstall ALL Ati Software.

Restart your computer and boot into Safe Mode (Press F8 during startup)

Run Driver Sweeper. Check only Ati - Display and tell it to clean. Check yes when it asks to reboot.

Now go to the directory where you extracted the Ati drivers and run setup.

I do have Powerplay turned off on these drivers. I'm not using it on any of them until the problems are fixed.

Bukket

Rpern, it would be really easier if you told us what is logged in windows event manager at the time of your lockups. If anything is logged.

I have gone with and without the beta and no freeze ups.  There HAS to be something common between these systems that is causing this but I'm at a loss.  Anti-Virus was my first thought so I have tested my system with Norton, McAfee, and Avast.  No lockups.  I am also running the same power supply/motherboard as others that are having lockups.

Please note I did in fact have lockups while watching HD prior to A06. I have also done a full CLEAN install of Windows 7 without all the Dell add-ons. The only software from Dell I am running is your QuickSet software. Everything else is from the mfgs of the individual pieces of the system.


Here though, is an issue that may or may not have a conflict; the Quick Access keys.  There have been issues with these in the past causing random things to occur and I'm affected by this.  Random volume changes, CD ejects, pop ups of the Windows Mobile Center etc.  Also, I have had issues with all of the lights turning off and randomly back on.  If there is some type of short in this, it could definitely cause lockups.

I know my idea is far-fetched but we are at the "grasping at strings" portion of problem solving here now.

Here though, is an issue that may or may not have a conflict; the Quick Access keys.  There have been issues with these in the past causing random things to occur and I'm affected by this.  Random volume changes, CD ejects, pop ups of the Windows Mobile Center etc.  Also, I have had issues with all of the lights turning off and randomly back on.  If there is some type of short in this, it could definitely cause lockups. I know my idea is far-fetched but we are at the "grasping at strings" portion of problem solving here now.

I haven't had any problems with the quick access keys or the mobility center. Volume, cd ejects, and all the lights are working great on my system. That sounds more like the hardware to me than a software problem. I would get tech support out to take a look at your system or you could open it up and check the connections to make sure they are all solid. IF you are comfortable with it there aren't too many steps to checking the media controls board:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/studio1747/en/sm/mediaboa.htm#wp1048206

It could also be that the board is bad and needs to be replaced.

Bukket

Same here, no issues thus far, clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate, updated the chipset drivers, new ATI drivers, Dell quickset....No lockups at any time, heat issue solved with 130watt PS..System has performed flawless....