Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

Hmm, wish I've read this before.. Had a weird issue yesterday..

Updated description (just the facts, ma'am): Computer was left on. 6 hours later computer was either in sleep or hibernate state (can't remember for sure). Power button was pressed, screen didn't turn on, HDD LED was seemingly in some pattern. After a couple of minutes waiting, the computer was forcibly switched off then turned on again. Black screen remained. CMOS battery was reset. The computer was turned on, but it switched off within two seconds. Same thing happened again. Computer was left unattended for 5 minutes after which it was noticed that it turned itself on and showing the error about the BIOS configuration (typical for CMOS resets). Basic BIOS settings were set (time, date, SATA mode, some hardware ports were disabled, etc.) and saved. Computer failed to boot as it reported the system cannot be found. Computer was turned off and on again after which Boot options were selected (F12) and the RAID array was manually selected for boot. The Windows booted but when desktop appeared, the computer hung for a minute with a message that the server was busy. After a minute or so, the startup applications continued loading and the computer behaves normally ever since.

So, long story short, any idea what causes the sleep/hibernate issue? Some known driver update to check? I am on A12 BIOS, but on the last few BIOS updates, I noticed a red error message at one of the steps, like "Failed to update.." smth. Can't really recall what was written as it quickly switches to the next step, but might be important to mention..

 

First, when performing a diagnostic always use the scientific method. Second, always perform standard upgrades and standard maintenance. Three, if you do ANYTHING out of the ordinary you need to specify it in your query. I find that a lot of people take this for granted and leave it out. Lastly, stop messing with the BIOS. I haven't had any BIOS issues since I got my system. In my view messing with that is just asking for trouble.

 

Sorry, but how exactly is any of this relevant to anything mentioned regarding my problem?

 

Just a bit of a bump since I think this bug is still happening with the latest driver.

Tried 321.10 again and it did generally work but every now and then it would just boot to a black screen so I didn't want to risk it.

Anyone else having the same issue, the best solution and the best driver I found is to search for the previous Dell NVIDIA driver update 311.10 (A05)

You can grab it here (along with older M6700 drivers if you need):
Drivers for Precision M6700

"nVIDIA Graphics Driver
This package provides nVIDIA Quadro ( K5000M/K4000M/K3000M/K2000M/K1000M/5010M/4000M/3000M/2000M/1000M) Graphics Card Driver and is supported on Precision Mx600 and Mx700 series running the following Windows Operating Systems: Windows 7 and Windows 8 64 bit."
is the correct one (Windows 8 32 bit for 32-bit systems of course).

 

The latest driver is 337.88 and the link is NVIDIA DRIVERS Quadro Desktop/Quadro Notebook Driver Release 337

I am using IPS RGB Screen but I always feel the colour is over saturated. Someone told me to change the digital vibrance under the Nvidia control panel. Any other suggestions please?

 

Why is the scientific method a valuable tool when solving computer problems? Do I really need to answer that? You're jumping to conclusions without any rhyme or reason. The scientific method will help you avoid that.

 

I make no conclusions about the main issue - the black screen after sleep - which is the relevant thing here. I'm asking if anyone had a similar problem as it appeared out of the blue on a previously trouble-free machine which reverted to this state after clearing the CMOS. Thus, in all my ignorance I don't see anything to diagnose here. If you had a similar problem or have some constructive idea about the underlying cause, please share it, but sorry if I don't find some generic advice on diagnostics and not touching the BIOS (just because *you* never touch it) really all that helpful.

I can understand the point that the post could appear chaotic so it will be edited for your convenience.

 

Have you tried plugging in an external monitor in case you can get a display that way.

On another topic. The problem I was experiencing above was solved with a replacement GPU. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Has anyone tried, or successfully installed XP on their m6700? If so, how did you manage driver selection?

 

I have not, but you could use Windows 7 Pro's XP mode if you need xp for some compatibility or run it in a VM? If I may ask, why would you want to install XP on something like the M6700, it would be a waste imo.

Anyways, for the drivers, you'd have to pull them from each component manufacturer's website if they even exist. Also, you'd need to make sure the BIOS is in legacy mode and you'd have to install the SATA drivers at some point during the XP install process because that definitely wasn't in Windows XP when it launched and I don't think it was ever included in an installer afterwards either.