Latitude 5431

12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1270P

Nvidia MX 550

32GB/1TB SSD

W11 Pro

ProSupport

 

 

Computer had been in use for a few months with no issues.  The user saw a popup from dell command and ran the available updates.  Of course, they did not see which drivers were updated.  Upon rebooting, it would freeze after a few seconds on the login screen.  No BSOD, just frozen.  Went into safe mode, disabled nvidia GPU, rebooted, it did not freeze.  Tried to roll back driver, ran sfc, still freezing if nvidia enabled.

 

Here's what I've done since-

*the w11 installer we use is straight from MS with no modifications.  We've deployed dozens of other dells with it without issue.  However we rarely buy dells with dedicated GPUs.

 

Something to note as well-  After that first time I got into safe mode, the 'Startup Settings' option for safe mode in the Advanced Startup menu was no longer present,  so we were unable to get into safe mode again.  All the other buttons were there, but that one was just gone.  Therefore, we can't collect any event logs.

 

-Boot diagnostics report no issues, even extended tests

-Fresh windows 11 install, let windows update install all drivers = freeze

-Fresh windows 11 install, disabled windows updates, downloaded latest drivers from dell site = freeze

-Fresh windows 11 install, used dell command update = freeze

-Fresh windows 11 install, used official 5431 driver pack = freeze

-Fresh windows 11 install, installed everything but nvidia.  Then installed the previous nvidia driver version from dell site = freeze

-We then ran the Cloud Restore option via Dell Support OS Recovery boot menu.  Notably, it did not install any video drivers itself, and missed a few others.  Regardless, after installing nvidia drivers from dell site it froze.  

 

-Handful more fresh installs trying different versions and order of operations, no luck

 

We have prosupport, so I engaged Dell.  They went straight to replacing the motherboard/GPU.

 

-Dell tech came out and replaced the motherboard.  Fresh windows install = freeze

-Didn't notice that the BIOS was outdated, so ran 1.11.  Stuck on black screen for 30m after install, force rebooted, then started freezing before it even got to login screen.

-Installed 1.12 BIOS via the BIOS

-Another fresh install, another freeze

 

It seems pretty clear to me that this is a nvidia driver issue, but we've tried every driver version we can find.  We've never had an issue like this, but again, we rarely deploy laptops with dedicated GPUs (because they're always a pain).  Some combination of drivers perhaps.

 

Dell is sending me a new SSD, but this has nothing to do with the drive.  Nor does this seem like a memory problem.  The most likely culprit was the GPU, but that and the entire motherboard were replaced.  

 

 

 

I'm at a total loss here and the end user is pretty frustrated.  Any ideas?  

Anyone have a similar rig and could export driver versions?

 

 

Thanks