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Dell Latitude 7480 Laptop that freezes up
We have a Dell Latitude 7480 Laptop that freezes up. The computer can just be running but sitting unused or in the midst of heavy processing. The screen is locked up to the last image, but the keyboard, mouse-pad, and external mouse (if being used) have no impact on the Laptop. Letting it sit while locked up has no impact on it. We can power it down with the power button and that unlocks it for a while. Dell onsite support could not fix it, and two returns to the Dell repair center did not help despite replacing drives and new OS (Windows 10). We just had Dell send out a tech who replaced the motherboard, memory, and Drive. It froze up on us twice within hours. We and Dell seem to be stumped.
We just performed the full ePSA test several times with no findings. BIOS = 1.9.3 EPSA: Build 4304.17 UEFI ROM. Has anyone had any similar issues.
SurgeM
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July 25th, 2018 09:00
Hi there, I work for a company with ~1500 users, the dell lat 7480 is our standard laptop deployment and we are experiencing the same issue with several machines. As others have said the laptop will function fine on the Dell WD-15 Docking station but as soon as you switch to battery or either the 65W power adapter or the same 90W power adapter from the dock, it locks up after a few seconds to a couple minutes after loading windows. Occasionally the affected machines will throw a WHEA uncorrectable blue screen error. we have tried with the default drivers and also fully patched and updated using dell command update. I believe it is some sort of hardware component causing the problem since it is a small percentage but it must be something other than the motherboard or SSD. let me know if anyone has found a resolution.
Dell-Alan D
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July 26th, 2018 03:00
Hi @SurgeM, thanks for reaching out about this issue. There appears to be more than 1 issue here with your systems and at present I can't tell if they are connected - the systems locking up and the WHEA blue screen.
I have heard of connectivity issues between WD15 docks and the 80 series systems however they have been related to USB functionality and video loss on external monitors rather than lock ups. Are these the the symptoms you are experiencing on the systems or is it a system lockup?
You have mentioned that you have updated the system to the latest drivers using command | update -have you updated the dock drivers and the dock firmware as per this article to see if it makes any difference - https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln305979/wd15-dock-systems-docked-and-re-docked-may-lose-usb-functionality-with-older-realtek-driver?lang=en
For the WHEA video error, this issue has been passed to Intel for further investigation and we are currently waiting on a driver update to resolve this. As per my previous posts on this thread it may be possible to improve the performance of the system by removing all previous versions of the graphics driver and clean installing version 02. This is what I posted previously in the thread -
Can you try rolling back the graphics driver to revision A02 and test the system to see if it's more stable using that version over the latest one. It can be downloaded here
You will need to do a clean install of the graphics driver for this to work. This means uninstalling the graphics driver and any associated graphics card applications and then restarting the machine to install the A02 revision. You may need to carry out that step a few times to remove all previous revisions of the driver. If you use Dell Command Update on these systems you will need to set it so that it doesn't update the graphics driver when run.
If that fails to resolve the issue you would need to clean install the OS and then install the A02 graphics driver during the driver install.
Alan
SurgeM
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July 26th, 2018 06:00
Thank you I will try that specific graphics driver version and do some testing to see if that clears up the problem.
We have tested with updated firmware on the docking station as well (typically we always update our docks), however the lock up happens when the dock is completely out of the equation.
Dell-Alan D
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July 27th, 2018 02:00
@SurgeM can you confirm that you are also getting lock ups when the system is not used on the dock?
If so, can you provide some more specific details
a) Is it the same blue screen WHEA error message you are getting?
b) When is this happening i.e when booting to Windows, during normal use?
c) Is it a full lock up that needs a system restart or is it a short freeze that fixes itself?
d) Have you noticed any pattern to it's frequency or specific to certain applications?
e) Do you run a corporate image on the system?
f) Have you installed Windows update 1803?
g) Do you mind running the performance test from our support site please and noting down the results
Tick all the boxes down the left hand side under performance and then run test
I'll drop you a private message to get some more details from you.
Alan
krwright
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July 27th, 2018 08:00
I am having almost exactly the same issue as reported by Mc_Phil and SurgeM. So far only 3 or 4 machines. 2 7480s and 1 7490 for sure. The issue seems to occur when the users take the machines home for remote use, i.e., when they are removed from their WD15 docks. We have about 175 7480s and 7490s, and the issue just started occurring, however, *most* of these machines are on 1703 or previous, and the video drivers have not been updated since initial imaging. We use KACE for imaging.
I currently have the 7490 in hand. It is 1709, and was deployed last week. User took it home last night, and it started to BSOD with the WHEA error. No minidump.
The recommended A02 video driver will not install on a 7490 - the installer complains that the machine does not meet minimum requirements. Looking at the driver's system compatibility section, it does only list up to 7480. A05 is the one and only Intel video driver available for the 7490.
I did, however uninstall the Intel driver completely, and the machine seems to be behaving itself with the default Microsoft Video driver.
Dell-Alan D
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July 30th, 2018 06:00
Hi @krwright, thanks for adding to the thread. As per my previous response, a BIOS update is being tested and should be released soon to address this. You are also correct in saying the a driver rollback is impossible in the 7490 as there has only been 1 graphics driver released so far. I expect a graphics driver to be released in conjunction with the BIOS update for both systems.
Alan
krwright
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July 30th, 2018 08:00
Looking forward to that update. The user who was OK on the default MS video driver took it home over the weekend, and began experiencing lockup issues. It's not blue-screening, but the machine becomes unresponsive shortly after logging in. Mouse and keyboard are nonfunctional. The only changes we can think of is that the machine is off of the WD15 dock at home - on WiFi and a power adapter. Video is changing, since it's going from two externals to the internal display, but it's not like it's changing video cards or something.
As far as we can tell, the machine will sit at the Windows lock screen, not signed in, indefinitely with no problem.
krwright
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July 30th, 2018 10:00
Hmmm. Interesting update to note. On a whim, I turned off the WiFi at the lock screen, before logging in, and the machine froze and shut down. I got it to successfully turn off after restarting, and so far, it seems to be behaving with WiFi off. I noted upon getting into it that the A05 video driver had somehow been reinstalled. I'm pretty sure Windows 10 did that itself - I had something similar happening on the 7480 I was working on as well.
So, as of right now, it *looks* like there's an interaction between video and WiFi, when the machine is taken off of the dock.
Dell-Alan D
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July 31st, 2018 03:00
@krwright, thanks for the additional information.
If the system is also freezing up off the dock, I'm thinking it's OS or driver related. This is also compounded by the your statement of the system working fine until it boots into Windows.
Are you using a corporate image on your systems or the original Dell build?
With regards to the graphics driver updating itself -unless you disable automatic driver updates the system will reinstall the graphics driver every time it's powered on.
Alan
krwright
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July 31st, 2018 07:00
Corporate image, Windows 10 1709.
Machines are imaged via KACE, with drivers injected. Driver package directly from Dell, of course.
All drivers, BIOS, etc. on this machine are up to date. Machine works perfectly with the WiFi turned off. It also worked fine for about a week after it was built. According to logs, it didn't receive any updates or patches just before it started acting up. Last patch was at least 5 days before.
The end user hasn't done much on the machine, so a reimage is a viable option.
krwright
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July 31st, 2018 07:00
Additional data point - the user of one of the 7480s having the same or very similar issues just reported the issue remains after downgrading the video driver. Same as with the 7490, it only happens when she takes it home to work remote. The only thing that changes when that happens is it is disconnected from the dock, and connected to WiFi. Neither machine is blue-screening at this point, but they are freezing up.
I don't get why just a few of our machines are doing this. We have a couple hundred 7480s and 7490s, and patches and updates are company-wide.
Dell-Alan D
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August 1st, 2018 06:00
Thanks for the update, I think you may have two unrelated issues here, the bluescreening WHEA error connected to the graphics driver and the BIOS update and the system freezing during undocking.
I suspect it may have something to do with your image, but more likely drivers. Are you using the same image for the two different systems?
Are you able to reimage the system with the Dell OEM image and see if the same issue with freezing still occurs?
Alan
SurgeM
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August 1st, 2018 13:00
Had a chance to do some more testing, in the meantime we've had a few more machines crop up with the same issue and have not found a resolution
Here is some observations
-Our 7480s are imaged with SCCM windows version 1709, drivers are straight from dell. running Dell command update and fully patching does not fix the issue.
-I installed the OEM windows 10 with the DELL USB RECOVERY image and the laptop exhibits the same exact lockups immediately after the laptop is up and running.
-I ran one of the affected machines in SAFE MODE for 1 hour so far and it does NOT freeze up
-Tried rolling back the video drivers, to A02 and other versions this had no effect
-As stated before, if the docking station is connected the machine does NOT freeze up, once it is running off battery or AC adapter it does.
SurgeM
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August 2nd, 2018 05:00
Hi Alan thanks for the quick replys
Can you help with a few more details please -
a) These systems that are freezing, is it when you disconnect them from the dock that they freeze or is it when they are used off the dock in general they freeze?
Off the dock in general - it does not happen when you disconnect, just when they are being used on battery or AC power
b) Is it a hard lockup where you have to restart the system or is it a soft freeze and windows fixes itself and the system can continue to be used?
Hard lockup, complete failure, have left a machine on the lockup overnight and it never unfreezes.
c) You mentioned the following statement - I ran one of the affected machines in SAFE MODE for 1 hour so far and it does NOT freeze up - was that using the system off the dock?
Yes Safe Mode seems to prevent whatever is causing the lockups when off the dock, just not sure what component that it is disabling to fix it, network adapters possibly?
I look forward to your reply.
Dell-Alan D
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August 2nd, 2018 05:00
@SurgeM as per the other customers on the thread I think there are two separate issues here that are unrelated, the WHEA bluescreen and the freezing off the dock.
Can you help with a few more details please -
a) These systems that are freezing, is it when you disconnect them from the dock that they freeze or is it when they are used off the dock in general they freeze?
b) Is it a hard lockup where you have to restart the system or is it a soft freeze and windows fixes itself and the system can continue to be used?
c) You mentioned the following statement - I ran one of the affected machines in SAFE MODE for 1 hour so far and it does NOT freeze up - was that using the system off the dock?
I look forward to your reply.
Alan