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szumial

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szumial last won the day on April 1 2017

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  1. Hope this is the right thread, but I am seeking for help. I have a Dell M6700 with a GTX970m - when modding INF files I always go for the "nvdmi.inf" one and learned that I need to trick the driver to think my laptop is an Alienware. Got some driver issues now and I'm looking for someone to help mi specify which sections of the INF need to be modded and how - how do you know which sections apply to your machines (it might be easier with Alienwares than it is with a Dell Presicion)? Now that I've browsed through the latest posts here I am somehow confused - was I supposed to mod DESKTOP drivers all that time? Cause I've been doing that with mobile ones for the past couple of months...
  2. Hello! I have joined the forums some time ago to learn about modding drivers for laptops and thanks to the community here I was able to upgrade my Dell M6700 with a GTX880m. This time I am stuck on a couple of GPU issues that seem to be corresponding to each other. Let me go through these things below. I have upgraded the M6700 with a GTX970m - OS is working fine, all everyday tasks going great and by replacing the 880m with a newer card I gained some power and lowered the temperature of the system. In order to install drivers for this 970m (the other card too) I had to modify "nvdmi.inf" file and trick the driver installator to think, that my laptop was an Alienware. I have figured that out by trial and error. However, strange issues happen since the new card arrived: - first of all, no matter which new driver is getting installed, after OS restart and some time, the screen flashes and comes back on - when going to NVIDIA Control Panel it shows that the driver installed is v.353.54 - it just changes the driver version as if it was stored somewhere in the OS. Of course each time I am performing a clean install with DDU - secondly, from time to time when powered on, all I can see is a blurred image of the Windows' welcome screen, as if the resolution was changed to a super-low setting - a reset helps with that - finally, the outcome of all this is that I can't run any game on the laptop for longer than 10-15 minutes. I have recently purchased Divinity 2 and it runs on its "ultra" settings, but the laptop just dies after a quarter and powers itself off, followed by a screen flash Now I know that these might be various things in my system, but I have a feeling that it is GPU related and there might be something wrong with the drivers as previously (on the 880m) I was able to run games for as long as desired. And yes, I have already tried monitoring the temperatures, lowering in-game settings and even underclocking my CPU (i7 3940XM) - the CPU gets a bit hot if you ask me - up to around 90 degrees, but other than that, all seems fine. Help!
  3. I did as suggested and it didn't work. There is a new thing going on with my laptop at the moment. When disconnected from the PSU it boots up with a message "no bootable devices found" and gives me an option to retry boot or go to BIOS settings. Restarting it doesn't work, but if I enter BIOS setup and then restart the machine, it boots the system fine. I wonder if that might be related to the mSATA problem or maybe it's something about the little battery on my mobo? edit --> The "no bootable devices" problem is solved - that was indeed the BIOS battery. Dell rolled out a new BIOS revision (A18) just yesterday and after flashing it the mSATA drive is still not detected... I am starting to think it might be the MOBO that went wrong.
  4. All I know is that the drive itself is OK - as stated somewhere above I've tried using it via an adapter (mSATA --> regular SATA) and it runs fine. I was able to recover the data, but still, I'd like to use it as secondary storage in my laptop. I'll try to find someone with mSATA laptop in my vicinity (hovewer all seem to have the m2 slots in their laptops...).
  5. I see. I'd like to put another msata drive into the given slot, but unfortunately I don't have a spare one, neither do my friends. edit --> Today I've noticed that the mSATA drive is very hot when plugged in the laptop, even though it is not recognized. By hot I mean, touching it for a 5 seconds hurts a bit, I suppose it might be ~45 degrees. Is that normal?
  6. Well I am not sure when this issue occurred exactly, but I'm thinking that when I was performing a new installation using raid, I reflashed the bios. Would it be possible that a newer version is not compatible with an msata anymore? Wysłane z mojego GRACE przy użyciu Tapatalka
  7. My m6700 has two slots with the same dimensions - one is labeled msata and the other one is wwan. I've read that some dell machines detect msata ssds when plugged into the wwan slot, but in my case it didn't work. As for the bios update, I did that quite recently, got the latest one right now, but if you suggest reflashing I might want to try that. I'll post some more after holidays. Wysłane z mojego GRACE przy użyciu Tapatalka
  8. Try messaging the administrator of the forums to give you permission to download files. Worked for me and I decided to stay here for longer. @DellThinkpad if you had an option to swap the 880m for 970m, would you do it? edit --> I was thinking of the whole GPU upgrade thing and came across a forum where the guys discussed modding the m6700 with some more efficient Quadro cards. They stated that having the XM version of an i7 CPU is not going well with a more powerful GPU as it produces too much heat combined and may exceed power supply capabilties. My research gave me some new thoughts about this: - I'd try a regular i7 CPU (such as an i7 3840QM) with 45W TDP (instead of 55W) - if possible, I'd switch to a Maxwell based GPU, such as the above mentioneg GTX970m, which has better performance with lower power consumption (81W vs 103W) - try to unlock the m6700's BIOS to whitelist GTX cards for more stability Any hints on where to start with all this? edit2 --> For anyone considering this - the GTX970m is working with Dell m6700 and the results are far better than those of an 880m
  9. I am using it in UEFI mode now with the latest OS installation, but the drive doesn't show up ever since I first went to UEFI. I would even say that it disappeared right after switching to UEFI.
  10. I have just tried contact spray and cleaned the slot but it didn't revive it. The drive is still not recognized. As for the options in bios - there are three listed in m6700: ata, ahci and raid on. The drive is not detected under system information tab in either of these. It seems strange that is stopped being recognized just like that, though I believe it might really be related to raid settings.
  11. Right! So you've added something more to the heatsink. Where does this new line go? I'm impressed it fits the laptop The picture is not actually mine (I was too lazy to open the palmrest) so I am not sure what the purpose of that white cable is, but I have it in mine m6700 and it is also not connected, but seems protected with a seal from the bottom side. I'll check it out when I get home from work (yes, I am planning to open the laptop again today - there's something wrong with my mSATA slot at the moment) and let you know what I've found out. Not that I don't fancy having a thiner laptop, but being able to modify parts and customize it's performance is something that appeals to me more. These gaming laptops are good enough, though I wish they didn't make them look as supercars... As for the drivers, BIOS and vBIOS: - Have you checked whether your GPU comes from an Alienware or Clevo laptop? I believe there might be some compatibility issues between vendors, so flashing a different vBIOS might be a way to go... And it's easy too. - You can download the latest nVidia drivers for GTX880m from their website and try what I did: add 880m to the INF file and replace all Alienware 880m codes with m6700 ones (for example 05AA --> 153F, 05AB --> 153F). I don't really know why, but in my case I had to replace all Alienware codes and only then the drivers installed properly... Let me know if you managed to sort this out
  12. I am using the platform for different tasks and some are CPU heavy - that's where it comes in handy, but honestly, if I was missing that 10 Watts of power I'd go for a lower i7 model. I am also using multiple thermal pads to cool down the northern bridge and some other components both in the vicinity of the CPU and the GPU. However, mine heatsinks look slightly different from what you've posted. They are these ones: As for the crashes in games and FurMark - I was having a nightmare with these too, but since I finally modded the drivers properly (I don't want to go into full detail, but I pretty much cheated the driver to think my m6700 is an Alienware m17) and disabled Optimus, plus the "thermal care" all is running good except for some minor issues (compared to what it used to be!). I did however update the PC with latest BIOS and also flashed the 880m with some vBIOS, though I believe it was not necessary and I probably just reflashed the same thing that was already there. If I were you I wouldn't buy another GPU (unless you do have the spare money and just want to play with different gear for curiosity) and try ALL possibilities with the one you have in the first place. I'd suggest starting with another driver installation following a specific procedure: 1. Go to BIOS settings and disable Optimus 2. Launch Windows (BTW - which edition do you run?) and perform driver deinstallation using DDU 3. Grab a driver from nVidia and use your own modded inf (I can give you mine that works fine if you'd like to test it) 4. Go to advanced reboot options in Windows and disable DSE on next startup 5. Install the new driver and test stability of the system I believe you are aware of the procedure since you have launched the GPU somehow, but a reminder is always a good thing As for the games I play - my laptop's main use is music production and some simple video editing, but mostly music and live performance. Gaming is just an addition here and I am using the platform to learn how to make an even more powerful machine. Sad to hear that the newer generations come with everything soldered on to the motherboard - the m6800 might be the last one to play with as we do now...
  13. That's a good hint - I am going to try this at home just this evening and see if it works out well BIOS reset did nothing as I said before, so it might be my only chance.
  14. Hi! Thank you for your answer! I was able to launch the msata ssd via an adapter (msata -> sata -> regular HDD bay) and it works fine. When I try to launch it in the msata slot it is not detected. This happened after I changed my bios settings to secure boot raid config uefi, while the previous settings were legacy ahci mode. Unfortunately changing the settings does not allow the laptop to detect the msata. Is it possible that the slot is dead? Wysłane z mojego GRACE przy użyciu Tapatalka
  15. It was my first clue when things started going wrong, but then I related that to the temperature since I got crashes every time it rose above82 dergrees on the GPU. You might be right though - if you have such gear I'd love to see the results of a power-usage test. If all it took to make it more stable was a new PSU I'd go for it. I just had a look at GPU power ratings on notebookcheck and found out that my original Quadro K5000m uses ~100W while the GTX 880m is rated at ~103W - doesn't seem like much of a difference, yet the cards are clocked different, with Quadro being less powerful from the bunch. Since the laptop was designed to work with these Quadro cards then I assume it should run 880m fine. However, the gaming workload might be the problem when all of the components go full-power it needs more juice and generates more heat. As I said before, for now a new thermal compound works in my system, which is still far from perfect. Other things to consider are: - do we need i7 3940XM? I was thinking of replacing it with something rated at 45W - shouldn't be that much of a drop in power - I am using SSD drives - might be that they need less power than HDDs - what type of display do you have? - BIOS versions? Can anyone unlock it? - use undervolting/underclocking to see if it solves the problem As for your heatsink question - I have found that these double ones come from AMD cards and for Nvidia they provided smaller solutions edit --> Just been playing Andromeda for about 1,5 h and it crashed with en error stating "directx error, GPU disconnected from PC, need more memory" (not the full message ofc). I am switching Optimus off again.
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