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Alienware M17R4 Switchable graphics
Hi,
I've had mi laptop (Alienware M17R4) since August 2012. During the first year, many hardware failures took place due to an overheating of the motherboard and the discrete graphics card (an NVidia Geforce GTX675M), and both this components, and the refrigeration system, had to be replaced by the Dell Support Team like three times or so, until the laptop seemed to work properly again.
From time to time, the laptop stops detecting the NVidia Geforce card, and neither this one or the Intel HD Graphics itself shows up on the Device Manager, BOTH of them disappear after some reboots. The "Display adapters" menu isn't even displayed. I've managed to get into the BIOS, and when the issue takes place, the NVidia card isn't also visible there. I think it has something to do with the switchable graphics system that disables the discrete graphics card by hardware, because it ends up showing up again after some reboots, or even days.
By the way, there's supposed to be a key combination, Fn+F7, that should toggle this switchable graphics system, but I don't know if it's just meant for AMD cards, or for these ones too. Anyways, it doesn't seem to do anything. A menu shows up, the laptop reboots itself, and the discrete graphics card keeps missing afterwards.
Is this malfunction still related to that overheating and any other damage it could have done to the computer, and it may still be covered by the warranty of those components? Or it has to do with the switchable graphics system? I'd like to completely DISABLE it and keep both cards (discrete and integrated) available, and switch between them just by software with the NVidia Control Panel.
Hope there is any solution for this...
Best,
Thanks for your answer, Milena.
I installed the latest version of the BIOS (I believe it's A12), but it did not changed anything. The discrete graphics card keeps reappearing and disappearing reboot after reboot, but I can't uninstall its driver when it fails because it isn't visible on the Device Manager. Should I reinstall it as soon as it shows up?
Though, I've seen that, when the NVidia card shuts down, the Aero effects of Windows 7 stop working, and also the Suspend and Hibernate functions of Windows stop being available too. Maybe this has something to do with the power supply?
Milena M458
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Posted June 26th, 2015 16:00
Is the video card been recognize in the BIOS?
When the discrete graphics card fails, no, it's neither detected by the BIOS nor by the Windows' Device Manager. After some reboots (hours or even days) the card reappears both on the BIOS and the Device Manager and starts working normally, so I don't believe it's a problem with the driver installation. It appears to be some malfunction of the card, or of the switchable graphics system, or something along these lines.
Milena M458
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Posted July 1st, 2015 10:00
Since the video card is disappearing from the BIOS I would say that you are facing a hardware issue, I will recommend you to take to a repair shop so they can help you further.
Milena M458
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Posted July 2nd, 2015 13:00
G5668234,
Send me a PM with you service tag and a brief description of the problem so I can check you case further.
Hello, unless you have a 3D 120Hz LCD display your NVidia graphics card depends on intel HD graphics to be working correctly before the NVidia GPU will work correctly.
If intel HD graphics is not working correctly the laptop WILL NOT detect the NVidia GPU
From what you describe, there is a chance something is happening with the intel HD graphics (or motherboard)
I would recommend two things before spending any money on repairs.
Completely remove both the NVidia and intel HD4000 graphics drivers, download and run a program named driversweeper and scan for any leftover driver fragments (they can cause issues, especially if you have done multi installs of GPU drivers). Be sure to restart your laptop after each un-installation.
Re-install both GPU drivers.
1. Intel HD4000 Graphics - http://www.dell.com/support/home/au/en/audhs1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=97WPF&fileId=3126802344&osCode=W864&productCode=alienware-m17x-r4&languageCode=EN&categoryId=VI
2. NVidia GPU - http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
If this does not work I would then recommend a complete/fresh re-installation of windows and all drivers, paying careful attention to the driver installation order, you don't need to install all drivers before you potentially find the problem, the intel HD and NVidia driver is around number 4 or 5 so you will know by then if you have a GPU issue
Milena M458
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Posted June 23rd, 2015 16:00
Have you tried to uninstall and reinstall the video card driver?
As well try to flash the Bios to the latest version you find in the Dell supports website.
Let me know if that helps you.