XPS 8940, crashing issues since December

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@Brighteyes758 wrote:

Any assistance would be great, i'm gonna assume it's bios related as back in January I had contacted support and it wasn't showing anything hardware related (not that they were really helpful)

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Were you able to contact Dell-Cares ... and the issue has either been resolved or you are working on it with them?

Yes, some other here have reported crashing/un-stable XPS-8940. Many of these users have dedicated Nvidia video-cards. At least one user said removing the Nvidia card (and then using only the onboard Intel Graphics) seems to solve the problem.

Yes, there have been some XPS-8940 BIOSes released recently (to fix various things). However, not sure I've heard that it has definitely resolved your current issue.

@Brighteyes758  If you have BIOS v2.4.0 or higher, consider rolling back to BIOS v2.3.0  which seems to be stable for most users.

If you don't know which BIOS version you have, click Start>Run>msinfo32.exe and click OK. When that opens, click System Summary at top of left pane and scroll down right pane to see BIOS version number.

You will have to enable the BIOS Downgrade option in BIOS (see Table 9 here) before you run the downgrade. Carefully follow the Installation Instructions for Updating the BIOS from BIOS Boot Menu (independent of operating system) on the v.2.3.0 page (linked above).

Leave the PC alone while it's working on BIOS. It may reboot itself several times and even look like it shut off completely. Just leave it alone until you're safely back at the desktop.

Confirm the downgrade was successful using msinfo32.exe. Then reboot and open BIOS setup by tapping F2 at the Dell splash screen. When it opens, disable UEFI Capsule Firmware Updates (Table 4 at the link, above) to prevent Windows Update from updating BIOS automatically. And be sure not to allow Dell SupportAssist to update BIOS again too.

Yes I have scoured a few of the other posts and seen that's it related to nvidia cards and i'm not taking mine out otherwise I may as well just go back to my old computer since I only got this one as it was an upgrade aside the gpu. If it crashes again i'll try downgrading to 2.3.0, and I have tried support back in january but they weren't exactly the most helpful.

Why not just downgrade BIOS now instead of waiting for another crash with possible loss of whatever you were doing when it went south?

Just did, for most part I only play games so crashes don't completely make me lose anything just a big inconvience, was also just trying to review things before I did it

Alright so even after downgrading to 2.3.0 (although it did say it failed at one point but completed and msinfo says its 2.3.0) I still had some crashes, first one i updated my graphics driver to 512.77 but just got another crash, but getting bugfix reports again.

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x00000116 (0xffff818465d82010, 0xfffff80625791218, 0xffffffffc000009a, 0x0000000000000004). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: ffcbbadc-26c0-4dde-9cb9-498473d3532d

Should I try reverting back to a older driver? It's still only happening say once every 5 days or so, this one I had audio for a few seconds before it completely crashed

Here is some info on your Bugcheck --> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/bug-check-0x116---video-tdr-failure and it appears this is a VIDEO DRIVER problem.

I think you might want to clean out completely Nvidia driver(s) and files. To do that, use DDU (https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html ) and then reinstall the Nvidia Driver (or get the latest one first to install after, 512.95 was just released).

The error you got going back was probably the Intel ME not installing. V2.3 has an older driver I think that will not install. You can run the Intel Driver and Support Assist (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html ) and it will let you know what BIOS you have and if any Intel files are able to be updated.

Thanks, I have been using DDU in safemode to clean uninstall and reinstall i'll try this older driver see if it fixes issues as i had almost no crashes back in october to december. Also I should include my gpu is a nvidia geforce gtx 1050 ti, I was told by the sales person it was compatible, although seems now i'm being told it is not, Kind of stinks as I would of just got something better than this my old gpu if I was told it wasn't and not be in this whole mess

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@Brighteyes758 wrote:

Also I should include my gpu is a nvidia geforce gtx 1050 ti, I was told by the sales person it was compatible, although seems now i'm being told it is not,

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Who told you it was not compatible and why is it not? The person who sold it to you and will not take it back?

First of all, DELL does have a list of Nvidia cards it SOLD with the XPS PC's:

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KX61M MSI GeForce RTX 3070 8GB
MTVG8 MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti LHR (Lite Hash Rate) 12GB
86RMK MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB
H74DC MSI GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
M49TT MSI GeForce RTX 3060 LHR 12GB




GPCKW MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super, 8GB, Three DP 1.4/HDMI 2.0b
G7CH1 MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Super, 8GB, DP 1.4/HDMI 2.0b/DVI-D
DHRKF MSI GeForce RTX 2060, 6GB, DP 1.4/HDMI 2.0b/DVI-D
KPNXF MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, 6GB, DP 1.4/HDMI 2.0b/DVI-D
7MKYT MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Super, 6GB, DP 1.4/HDMI 2.0b/DVI-D
4WY5P ECS GeForce GTX 1650 Super, 4GB, DP 1.4/HDMI 2.0b/DVI-D
7HNWN ECS GeForce GT 1030, 2GB, HDMI 2.0/DVI-D

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Any on that list are known to work and tested by Dell.

Not on the list (like the one you got), all it means it is NOT tested nor supported by Dell. Doesn't mean it will NOT work.

Unless it is a power connection issue, it should work.

What was your old GPU, the Intel HD7x0?

I am using the latest Video driver, and have tried and used many. The drivers, once I cleaned out the old install using DDU when I had some boot problems, ALL have worked fine, even the prior one to the latest which I am on now, 512,77. I'll upgrade to 532.95 later, but I expect it to work. I'm using the GAME READY version, but there is a STUDIO version as well that has 'less content' for non-Game players.

I've used both types and many from Dell and Nvidia. All would lock-up with BIOS V2.4.0, and even later versions, although not as often. BIOS 2.3.0 solved this for me and many others.

I'd use DDU and install the latest. Run the Intel Support page, verify you have the latest Intel drivers, and ensure on that page that you do have V2.3.0 install.

Here is my output from that page:

Just one the dell supports yesterday through PMs and true it should work even if not on the list, it's why I had asked on the phone because we got this as a mostly upgrade from my old computer which had this gpu in it  with no issues and I do use DDU before installing my drivers. I was on 512.77 and it was crashing so i'm just trying an older one that was working prior to december issues

But I do see they aren't up to date so will still be tinkering around with things, forgot to include top part but it is 2.3.0 bios

At this point I suspect your problem is different from just the BIOS 2.3.0 'work-around' problem.

You did get an Event Viewer entry, and it was for the Video driver. Not something others get when the PC freezes up (lock-up).

You initially said this:

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Been working fine for few weeks now but now it's frozen up again and restarted, event viewer doesn't even have a error code for why it blue screened and at this point i'm just sick of it at this point because it's made me unwilling to do anything productive on the computer in fear it's just gonna randomly freeze and restart.

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BSOD is a different problem, and I guess you were getting that now? If so, clearly different from other lock-ups.

I'd focus on the video card.... is it seated properly in the correct slot. Are all connections to is seated properly?

I'd also install the latest driver, not the oldest.

December was a long time ago... when ti was working, what is different today? What changed to make it fail now? Did you just update the Nvidia driver?

More info is better than not enough.

I'm just going back to a stable driver from prior when it all started happening, since it started around december 20th. So not sure if bios update, driver or both.

First few months it was off an on still giving the error code even with driver updates that came out, one person I did a DDU fresh install a few times then it finally like snapped and was causing no issues for weeks and then out of the blue started up again (might've been from the bios) I think one of the recent bios updates is what caused it to stop displaying the error code.

Hense why i'm just trying 2.3.0 and one of the older stable drivers i've seen people revert back too from nvidia forums as I browse solutions as it might just be me missing uninstalling something or not updating.

Well, BIOS V 2.3.0 did come out early in Nov., so it could be the root cause.

Dell releases those to Windows Update as well, so it could 'sneak' in on you that way (they get it sometime after release). Only way to stop those is to go into the BIOS and turn off 'Capsule Updates'.

However, that problem does not show any reason for the lockup, no codes or warnings.

Look at your Reliability Monitor (Control Panel, Security and Maintenance, and under Maintenance pulldown) and click on days of problems, You can click on the individual ones and see the problem details.

When I install new Nvidia Drivers I am having a h/w problem that requires a reboot. If I run DDU first, I do not, but even if I don't, a reboot has no problems and the new driver IS installed.

It is possible the BIOS contributed to your problem, but it your are getting Nvidiia Driver related event errors, it is not only the BIOS that is a problem for you.

Wonder if the card was damaged as you took it out of the old computer or it has a loose connection for power?

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