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Boot Problem: XPS M1730 8700M GT


Seran

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I've had an XPS for just under a month now, and I recently discovered (the hard way) that, for some reason, many drivers I've tried don't work when the computer runs on the battery. It loads the BIOS, loads Vista, and just when the Vista logo should appear the screen goes to black. The computer continues to function in the background, but the screen itself is unresponsive. Just tried 177.79, with no luck; various 174 drivers did not change anything, either. Regardless of the driver I try, so far, the screen refuses to function when run on battery. So long as I plug it into the AC Adapter, it runs just fine; but that defeats the laptop's purpose.

The official nVidia/Dell drivers work fine in this respect, yet the performance is so weak compared to the drivers here that I can barely play anything with them. For comparison, X3: Reunion went from 100+ frames in heavily populated sectors with explosions everywhere to skirting 35 while sitting in an empty sector, looking at nothing at all. Not to mention the odd graphics glitches and flashing that never happened with the newer drivers.

I looked around and saw one other person complain of this in this thread, but I'm curious as to whether a newer driver would fix the problem as well, instead of forcing myself to remain on the 167.51 drivers.

Thank you for the help!

Edited by Seran
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I am no expert on this particular problem, but you might try the vanilla 167.51 drivers with Pieter's INF. If it still doesn't work, then you should look for settings in the INF for Dell that are not in the modded INF, and then add them.

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I really hate to ask this, but where might I find Pieter's INF? I've been unable to find it through searching, both manual and automated. Found the update list, but couldn't find where to download it...and the dedicated driver thread didn't have a link to it. But would I really need it? My card is already supported by that driver, and I'm actually currently using it; I'm just very dissatisfied by its performance. Then again, would the INF possibly fix that poor performance?

Do you know if any newer drivers would work, though?

Also, I'm very sorry if I misunderstand any posts here; I know far less about computers than I should.

Edited by Seran
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi - I am glad i am not the only one with this problem. I posted a week or so ago in this thread http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....amp;#entry83169 with the same problem.

I have never been able to find a fix, i just boot my laptop all the time on A/C then move to battery power once it has booted. No driver makes a difference. Sadly they are all the same.

Matt

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I've been doing the same for quite a while. The only thing I've been able to do about this problem is call into Dell; I figure I'll get myself a case history and then call into Consumer Support (Tech so far has told me only what I already know, which is pathetic, as I know little) and see what they can do. From what I've heard, a replacement won't do anything at all, but it won't hurt to try...

Also, I grabbed the brand-new nVidia drivers for the 8700M the moment they came out. No difference---but now that I'm on official drivers, they can't do a "Use OUR drivers" brush-off.

I hate to say it, but I'm almost -hoping- that my 8700s fail like the other nVidia cards (they do seem to run rather hot even on idle, but I've had no other problems)...it'd make this process a bit easier, though longer.

Edited by Seran
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I was the user linked to in the first post, i've searched for ages for a resolution to this issue and the only fix ive found is to use the original Dell drivers. I've tried numerous modded drivers, reinstalling fresh Win Vista 64 Bit Ultimate but no joy. I'd rather be able to use the laptop as a laptop occasionally than play games superbly so this is fine for now but very annoying.

I've started trying to go through the inf's but there seems to be a few differences initially in that the old driver calls is nvdm.inf while the downloaded file is nvdisp.inf which doesnt even exist in the x64 folder for the 167 driver.

Secondly the devices dont seem to match up in the new and old inf's not sure if this is an issue

This is the old nvdm.inf from the 167.54

%NVIDIA_G84.DEV_0409.1% = nv_G8x, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0409&SUBSYS_019B1028

%NVIDIA_G84.DEV_0409.2% = nv_G8x, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0409&SUBSYS_019C1028

This is the modded inf from the 177.83 from this site (could only find one matching in the list)

%NVIDIA_G84.DEV_0409.1% = mobile_nv_NV3x, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0409

Obviously the older inf has 2 instances with a different number after 0409 and has a subsys part added onto the end and a completely different description as an NV3x, my knowledge of how these works is next to nothing though so no idea if this is just a general change between drivers then and now.

Original inf (167.54)

[nv_G8x]

Include = msdv.inf

FeatureScore = F6

CopyFiles = nv.KMode, nv.UMode, nv.UModeWoW, nv.OpenGL, nv.OpenGLWoW, nv.Panel, nv.Help, nv.Uninstall, nv.PanelClient, nv.PanelWoW

AddReg = nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings_Common

AddReg = nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings_Common2

AddReg = nv_icdSoftwareSettings

AddReg = nv_ControlPanelSettings

AddReg = nv_ControlPanel_nvHotkey_AddReg

AddReg = nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings_G8x

AddReg = nv_AppPerf_AddReg

AddReg = LVDSReduceFreq_AddReg

AddReg = PerfLevelSrc_AddReg

AddReg = ModeUnionEnable2_AddReg

AddReg = PMMClockOverlay_AddReg

AddReg = nv_G8x_AddReg

AddReg = Uninstall_AddReg

AddReg = EvictionThreshold_AddReg

AddReg = nv_DX10_addreg

DelReg = nv_ClearRegistrySwitches

RegisterDlls = nv.RegisterDlls

[nv_G8x.CoInstallers]

CopyFiles = nv.CoInstaller

AddReg = nv_CoInstaller_AddReg

[nv_G8x.Services]

AddService = nvlddmkm, 0x00000002, nv_Service_Inst

[nv_G8x.GeneralConfigData]

MaximumDeviceMemoryConfiguration = 80

MaximumNumberOfDevices = 2

New inf (177.83)

[nv_G8x]

FeatureScore = F6

CopyFiles = nv.KMode, nv.UMode, nv.UModeWoW, nv.OpenGL, nv.OpenGLWoW, nv.Panel, nv.Uninstall, nv.Help, nv.PanelClient, nv.PanelWoW

AddReg = nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings

AddReg = nv_icdSoftwareSettings

AddReg = nv_ControlPanelSettings

AddReg = Uninstall_AddReg

AddReg = EvictionThreshold_AddReg

AddReg = LimitVideoFeatures_AddReg

AddReg = nv_DX10_addreg

AddReg = DecodeCtl40_AddReg

DelReg = nv_ClearRegistrySwitches

RegisterDlls = nv.RegisterDlls

[nv_G8x.CoInstallers]

CopyFiles = nv.CoInstaller

AddReg = nv_CoInstaller_AddReg

[nv_G8x.Services]

AddService = nvlddmkm, 0x00000002, nv_Service_Inst

AddService = nvsvc,, nv_Service_Inst_2

[nv_G8x.GeneralConfigData]

MaximumDeviceMemoryConfiguration = 128

MaximumNumberOfDevices = 4

Obviously a fair few differences and again no idea what does what.

next obvious reference to the 8700m is in localisable strings

167.54

NVIDIA_G84.DEV_0409.1 = "NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT"

NVIDIA_G84.DEV_0409.2 = "NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT "

177.83

NVIDIA_G84.DEV_0409.1 = "NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT"

Again 2 listings for the 8700 in the original file only one in the new.

Hope someone with some more knowledge of this can possibly say whether or not these details affect anything.

Edited by Oblox
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I've modded one of the modded inf's from here for 177.83 with the old 167.54 entries under localised strings and the device info (left it pointing at the 177.83's nv_G8x profile) will test tonight and post back on my results and hopefully wont screw anything up.

I noticed in the 167.54 driver the two inf files one for dell one for alienware list separate references for the device ID's the dell one differs to the standard modded inf and the alienware and im hoping this will be our fix. The dell one seems to reference a desktop profile for the G8x whereas the alienware and standard modded inf point at mobile nv3x profiles. Im still a beginner at this so i think i've read the inf right going by the comments in the inf from here.

I will also be testing the 174.74 if that doesnt work as that seems to support our card out of the box using the nvdm.inf file and seeing if that makes any difference (id previously not realised different inf's had different settings).

Edited by Oblox
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I was having this problem, do you have SLI. The screen stays blank when I don't have it enabled, but is fine when I do, this is running on the battery.

I have tried pretty much every driver and they all give me the same results, blank screen when SLI is not enabled.

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I've tried with and without SLi enabled. No difference on mine.

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Well no go with modifying the infs using the settings from the working driver. Im at a loss again for what to try.

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  • 3 months later...

Help, i have the same problem. I tried 173.13 driver but nothing...

Edited by Ghal
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I'll be definitely keeping an eye on this thread. I am currently dealing with the same issue.

Thanks,

Trevor

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I also have this issue and didn't notice it until later but like a previous poster I believe the issue started to occur after updating my 8700M GT Drivers. Its not that big of an issue since i keep it plugged in most of the time but it would be nice to be able to at least turn it on when i move it around the house temporarily without having to carry that power brick around everywhere.

XPS M1730

INTEL CORE 2 DUO CPU T9500@2.60GHz

ForceWare version 175.32

I'd revert back to the original Dell drivers but Fallout plays so much better on the updated drivers so screw that.

Will be checking back for any solutions, until then we'll just have to start it with the power supply.

Here's another thread at the notebookreview forums about issues running on battery : http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=190435

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Dont have the same system as you guys... but whenever i unplug my laptop from the mains my system freezes. THis is only iwth 180 series drivers.. every other drive is fine.

Possible to do with the 7800 SLi and power consumption. The drive cant divert enough power to the additional card is my guess.

good luck with the issue guys!

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A bit off-topic, but which is the best driver you guys have found for the 8700M GT if you don't mind having it booting on AC power all the time?

I haven't had a chance to test if having SLI allows it to boot on battery power, will do tonight.

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Well, I turned SLI on and now I can turn the laptop on on battery power. It's strange that Oblox has the same setup as me and yet he cannot log on on battery power with SLI enabled. Maybe some drivers will work on battery power with SLI enabled and some won't?

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I have a Dell XPS M1730 Vista Home Premium system with a single 8700M GT graphics card. The only drivers that work for me when on battery are the original Dell supplied drivers 156.61. I have tried 175.32 and 179.28 but the problem persists .. blank screen when using battery ...everything is fine when using the power adaptor. I was amazed to find out that Dell actually acknowledged this problem and released a supported fix on Dec 21 for the M1730.

A direct quote from the Dell website "Following issue fixed: 1. No Display when starting M1730 system on battery power with 8700M graphics card "

My excitement was short lived. After I installed the Dell drivers 176.78, the problem is still not fixed !! :) :)

So I am back to the factory installed driver 156.61 which is the only one which works for me in both battery and power adaptor modes.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hello - I found a simple solution for me.

I need different drivers, so I had to find a solution that works for any driver.

Here's what I did

1. Press the Start Button

2. In the search field type msconfig

3. Press Continue

4. In the systemconfiguration window go to the Start tab

5. Check the No GUI-Start option

6. Press OK

The GUI-Start shows the Window-Loading at startup, this option simple deactivates it and let you boot your 1730 on battery.

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Hello - I found a simple solution for me.

I need different drivers, so I had to find a solution that works for any driver.

Here's what I did

1. Press the Start Button

2. In the search field type msconfig

3. Press Continue

4. In the systemconfiguration window go to the Start tab

5. Check the No GUI-Start option

6. Press OK

The GUI-Start shows the Window-Loading at startup, this option simple deactivates it and let you boot your 1730 on battery.

Perhaps you are the same person who claimed this as a solution on the Dell forums

It was not a solution for me :) :)

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