I was watching movie “Happy Days” in my laptop and after few minutes the screen goes to a rainbow colored pixels and soon my PC got stuck and I had to “Hard Reboot” my dear lappy. I thought it might be some codec issue or something. After rebooting I started watching the remaining part of the movie and in between the screen went again as previous and I could actually see a BSOD in my notebook for the first time.
Anyway I rebooted again and checked the dump file from C:\Windows\MiniDump with the help of WinDBG. It’s reported that probably
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+518d3 )
The stack back trace shown as follows
ChildEBP RetAddr Args to Child            Â
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
8a316ce4 8be5c5bc 862ea000 00000000 00000001 nvlddmkm+0×518d3
8a317a88 8be5c46c 862ea000 00000000 8c4b26c8 nvlddmkm+0×525bc
8a317b04 8be5b7c3 863388c0 00000006 b4adca36 nvlddmkm+0×5246c
8a317b2c 8be5c938 00000117 0001fa08 92546200 nvlddmkm+0×517c3
8a317b50 8be146f2 862ea000 92546040 8a317b80 nvlddmkm+0×52938
8a317b60 8c57a154 862ea000 8a317bb8 00020000 nvlddmkm+0xa6f2
8a317b80 8c5803c5 8a317bb8 925dd5c8 845e4008 dxgkrnl+0×75154
8a317be8 8c580a97 9aebc4d0 00000001 845e4008 dxgkrnl+0×7b3c5
8a317c04 8c51ded1 00000000 00000102 925dd5c8 dxgkrnl+0×7ba97
8a317c6c 8c52eef4 925dd5c8 00042a55 00000000 dxgkrnl+0×18ed1
8a317c98 8c52ec54 925dd5c8 00000000 00000000 dxgkrnl+0×29ef4
8a317cc4 8c50ba4c 00000002 9d7efc18 00000000 dxgkrnl+0×29c54
8a317cc8 00000000 9d7efc18 00000000 00000000 dxgkrnl+0×6a4c
It’s hard to figure out what happened with this minimal information but one thing was sure, my display driver is the center point for the crash. I removed the driver and rebooted again. Windows Vista provided the default driver for the hardware and it could not solve the issue again. This time I got a new message after blinking to a black screen that, nVidia Driver(nvlddmkm) failed to perform and windows recovered from the error. On reading few blogs, I understood that this problem is not happening with the classic theme in Vista. Anyway I downloaded the latest version of Video Driver from dell’s website and upgraded still the problem persists 
. Even I was unable to enable Windows Vista theme. I was much desperate and closed hard the lid of laptop and went to bed after trying lot of different options.
Today I just downloaded the latest version of BIOS Software from Dell’s website and I upgraded to version 8 to Version 13 of the bios software. As a magic the problem flew away. I also downloaded the other latest drivers and upgraded my PC.
In Dell’s website, it’s said that this could be hardware problem and Dell will be replacing the problematic hardware. They had asked to update BIOS to resolve this issue. BUT STILL I’M CONFUSED TO GO FOR A REPLACEMENT OF GPU. I brought this laptop from Japan and now I’m in India. I dint opted for International warranty. Thus I’ve to send across to get my proper service .
According to Engadget, what I understood that, it’s a serious problem and Dell is trying to fix it by increasing the fan speed to compensate the heat sink issues.
So yeah, quite a few NVIDIA GPUs have been acting up. Nothing new there. However, Dell’s attempting to help its laptop owners out by making a few notable BIOS updates readily available for download. Apparently the issue “is a weak die / packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations.” In order to combat the problem, Dell’s BIOS flashes “modify the fan profile to help regulate GPU temperature fluctuations,” though the Round Rock powerhouse only promises that the updates will “help reduce the likelihood of GPU issues.” Hit the read link and give it a go — it can’t hurt… we hope.
If someone has any idea, please tell me, should I go for a hardware replacement?
—– update (Wednesday 11/19/2008 4:48 PM IST)—-
I just called the Dell-India support center. The awesome guy offered technical support for me even I purchased it outside India. After few reboots, the whole system went blank. I’m not even able to see the BIOS screen in the startup. It’s the problem with the graphics hardware. Thanks Dell for your great support but still I feel sad about the poor quality of your most demanding line of laptop. Even I’m suffering the heat on arm rest area after few minutes of operation. That’s really bad
6 Comments
Hi sir,
r u facing the same problem,after upgrading the BIOS??,I am facing the same problem,but juzz now I upgraded my bios nd want 2 know,will I face the same poblem in future?
Man am having some what same problem
i switched on my laptop and istead of seeing the bios it slowly turned white then all these colourful verticles lines appeared then slowly faded away then turned black then my windows vista logo came up then i logged in it was normal after loging in and browser the net or just using word or something it suddenly screen pic go stuck then went blank black
same happened when i rebooted after a while on the net i was watching a vid on youtube it went blank and i can still hear the sound of the video
i am kinda worried for my laptop
has any one got any solutions or ideas that they may provide for me.
A recent class action law suit was approved by a judge in Canada for a similar problem with one of Dell’s other models – http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/todays-paper/Ottawa+Class+action+certified+Dell+notebook+suit/1254560/story.html
I would highly recommend any and all of those affected (including owners in both USA and Canada) to contact Toronto legal firm Rochon Genova LLP and detial to them your situation involving these M series laptops, particularly the M1330 series with the defective NVidia chip.
If enough people voice their issues to them, they will move forward with it.
Hello….i have the same problem and i have purchased my laptop from Dell Inida…but the thing is my warrantly has expired! Any tips?
ronny i have the same problem! did you find any solution?!
Hi,
You call them and say this is a known issue. In my company at least 8 people have replaced dell xps. we’ve purchased almost similar time.
Just call them and say this matter. If the representative denies your request ask him to talk to his manager and tell him the matter. even if you pay the service charge, it’s a lottery for you.