Question Windows 11 upgrade causing terminal crashing with laptop Nvidia GFX and forces frequent reinstall.

[Maracles]

I have a Dell XPS 15 2019 model with an Nvidia card (GTX 1050 Ti I believe).

Since upgrading to Windows 11 (or shortly after, do not know exact timeline) I have started encountering a Nvidia driver bug that completely crashes the system and then fails to allow the system to start again forcing a complete Windows re-install each time. I have spent the last couple of months managing a half-assed solution consisting:

• Using 'Display Driver Unistaller' to remove all remnants of the Nvidia driver
• Preventing Windows from installing Updates
• Creating a System Restore point to make restoring easier.

This is frustrating though because either I forget to extend the pause on Windows updates and the Nvidia driver gets installed causing crashing, I forget to do a recent system restore and I have to go back to far and because I can't actually use the power of my Nvidia card.

The error I get with the blue screen is VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (nvlddmkm.sys). This occurs without fail about 5 mins after the driver gets installed and the computer re-starts. vide

Can anyone advise solutions for:

• Either getting the driver working
• Allowing windows to install all updates other than the Nvidia Driver and permanently disabling this.

 

[Lutfij]

Did you check and see that the laptop isn't pending any BIOS updates? As for your upgrade, did you upgrade using the internal upgrade path found in Windows 10? If so, once you've updated to Windows 11, you're advised to reinstall Windows 11 using an bootable USB installer.

 

[Maracles]

@Lutfij thank you for the reply. I did upgrade using the internal path, however after the first crashing from the Nvidia driver I ended up doing a complete Windows re-install from a bootable USB installer so hopefully that is equivalent?

In terms of bios the Dell automatic update tool got wiped with the clean install, downloading again now to check.

 

[ubuysa]

Laptops are fussy things, especially when graphics drivers are concerned. They are often customised for power saving and other reasons. Unless Dell have a Windows 11 graphics driver for that model of laptop you might not be able run Windows 11 successfully. If they do, then install only the Dell graphics driver.

 

[Lutfij]

I ended up doing a complete Windows re-install from a bootable USB installer so hopefully that is equivalent?
It is actually(equivalent), thought where did you source the installer for the OS? Try installing the OS in offline mode, disconnect from the www and then manually install all necessary drives with the latest GPU driver sourced off of Nvidia's support site, in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

 

[Maracles]

@Lutfij thanks again, I will look into that but right now isn't a great time for me to do a full re-install so trying other fixes first (if possible).

I just did a BIOS update and was about to try the driver again, but did a Dell check through the support assist and get the following fails - maybe indicating a hardware issue?



PCI Status - Fail
- PCI Status Tests - D0702
- PCI - Fail
- PCI Status Tests - D0702
- PCI Status Tests - D0702
- PCI Status Tests - D0702
- PCI Status Tests - D0702

- SM Bus Controller - Fail
- PCI Status Tests - D0702

 

[Lutfij]

Use GPU-Z and see if you're seeing anything flagged with 0(zero)'s. Then open up Device Manager and see if there's anything flagged with errors as well.

 

[Maracles]

I went into the F12 > Diagnostics and ran that so that I could exclude Windows compatibility issues and it has found a problem.

Critical Error Message
Fan - The (video fan) failed to respond correctly.
Error Code: 2000-0511
Validation Code: 67574

So I guess my first step is taking apart the laptop and seeing if there's anything obvious (dust etc), if not I guess it's a visit to a maintenance shop.

 

[John Chesterfield]

It's because in place upgrades are generally not that great. You might resolve it, but chances are that you'll have to do a clean install.