Blue Screen on boot ...problem with display driver ?

Hi hirandhir,

I would suggest that you run the diagnostics on the computer by following the steps mentioned in the video below and check if there is any issue with the hardware on your system.

Hi Ravi,

Thanks for your suggestions.

I ran the diagnostics (had done that earlier as well). No issues found there (both basic and extended tests ran well).

Updated the BIOS with the details in the 2nd link you shared. Even after the BIOS update, I still get the blue screen (with atikmpag.sys error) when I boot up.

However, I noticed one interesting thing. My video card is AMD Radeon HD 6470M, (as are the drivers that came with the kit). However, when the Dell scan runs (in the 2nd link shared by you), it suggests me drivers for AMD Radeon HD 7650/HD 7450 ?!!!

Here's the snapshot from my Dell order showing video card as 6470M

Same is what shows in device manager with the base installed OS + drivers (from kit)

However the Dell link suggests

I'm not sure if i can just install the drivers for 7650 for my video card (6470) ?!!

Thanks.

Randhir.

Update:

I went ahead and tried to install the new drivers (7650) suggested on the Dell site.

Weirdly, the installer detected the card as a HD 6670M and installed the drivers accordingly. However, even now the blue screen happens when I boot. So issue is still not resolved :emotion-6:

Any suggestions ?!

Have been googling around for help on this issue...and came across this link

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2670838

As per this there are no updated drivers for AMD Radeon HD 6470M for Dell Inspiron 14R !!

But what I don't understand is that if this is true, I should have not seen the blue screen, once I formatted and reinstalled the OS + drivers with the CDs in the original kit :emotion-42:?!!

Hi hirandhir,

Please reinstall the operating system on your system. You can download the necessary drivers for your system. Please enter your service tag # on the link below, select the OS, then download the necessary drivers listed under appropriate section onto the system and install it.

http://dell.to/18LnbPL

Please let me know if this helps.

Hi hirandhir,

Have you resolved the issue? I am using Dell Inspiron N4110 and also having same issue now a days. I am running my system by disabling the AMD driver.

Please help.

Thanks,

Shahid

I'm having the exact same problem with this laptop and VGA.

I did a OS reinstall and tried a lot of different drivers. Still nothing. 

Well...for me nothing has worked so far. The things I have tried includes:

1) Reformat and reinstall the OS + drivers using the original kit CDs, i.e, reverting to original state. Problem still exists

2) Download the latest BIOS, drivers etc. from the correct sources (Dell, AMD, Windows) to update. Still no luck.

3) Hardware diagnostics show no problem.

I suspect something has got messed up with an update (probably BIOS) and AMD/Dell has not updated the drivers for this specifc card (6470). The only updated drivers I could see on Dell and AMD are for later versions of this card and not for 6470. 

For now, I'm not using this laptop much, even though everything is functional once you delete/rename the atikmpag.sys and atikmdag.sys...although with a bad display.

Well...for me nothing has worked so far. The things I have tried includes: 1) Reformat and reinstall the OS + drivers using the original kit CDs, i.e, reverting to original state. Problem still exists 2) Download the latest BIOS, drivers etc. from the correct sources (Dell, AMD, Windows) to update. Still no luck. 3) Hardware diagnostics show no problem. I suspect something has got messed up with an update (probably BIOS) and AMD/Dell has not updated the drivers for this specifc card (6470). The only updated drivers I could see on Dell and AMD are for later versions of this card and not for 6470.  For now, I'm not using this laptop much, even though everything is functional once you delete/rename the atikmpag.sys and atikmdag.sys...although with a bad display.

This is pretty disappointing :( I have tried the same above and nothing. For now I'm using it with Intel HD Graphics 3000 to at least have a nice screen resolution to work with, but I can't play most games with more than 1 fps. I wish AMD could release a driver that would support this video card, at least to fix this error.

If I take it to a technical support (without warranty), could they fix it?

I'm also experiencing the exact problem. I still don't know if it is a hardware problem. I've contacted both AMD and Dell but they suggest to take my laptop to authorized service center and get checked. I really hope this is just a software problem.

Hi Gender :emotion-2:

As DELL-Ravi suggested, you should run Diagnostic tool to scan for any possible hardware problems on the system. Please follow steps below:

1. Power off system and disconnect all Peripherals

2. Power on system, quickly start tapping F12 key continuously. You should be in the Diagnostic screen. After you run quick tests, run full test as well. Report back here any error codes.

If there aren't any error codes then mostly likely, there are software issues on the system. By the way, please list Dell model number and version of windows. Example: Dell Inspiron 3543, windows 10

Hi genber,

I could never get a fix to that problem. Eventually, gave up.

Hope you have better luck.

You're probably right. After everything I tried (I eventually got a new laptop), that's probably the only explanation. What I did not get though was that the hardware diagnostics were running fine though...no errors there.

DELL diagnostics doesn't even test, if secondary video card is working properly. I guess it just shows if main functions of the laptop are working (ram test, hdd test, internal video) or not.