Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

Hi Pete,
which GPU driver are you currently running? Could your win 7 changed the manually installed driver through automatic actualization? I´m using win 10 and I had to set up blocking the automatic actualization of GPU driver, because system prefers its newer versions (which are causing regular collapses of my system).
Most stable version after all experiences seems to be still this one http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/75992/en-us

 

Sorry for the very late reply, video driver is 4/26/2015 9.18.13.4161

Got an unexpected complete shutdown today, which I've not gotten in a very long time.

That does not seem to be the driver that I last installed so it _does_ seem that win
updates replaced it, too bad there is not a way to lock it.

 

After all of experiences, I definitely recommend that older 337.88 driver http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/75992/en-us (you can uncheck the "geforce experience" modul during instalation process, this part of driver package is probably useless for you).
It is the only option which - in accord my experience - doesn´t cause freeze or slowing the system boot.
And you CAN prevent it from being automaticly updated by this way https://www.howtogeek.com/263851/ho...from-automatically-updating-specific-drivers/. It is for win 10, but I supposed it should work for win 7 as well.

 

Thanks very much!

Yes, just rolled back and reinstalled, feels snappier already.

I unchecked "geforce experience" but also nview, and PhysX, not sure if that
was a good move or not, have to google it.

Going to try to prevent the updates now.

 

Made the above changes and still had blue screens.

I remembered that for a long time Flash player updates have been failing.
Ran Revo Uninstaller that really gets all the crap out and uninstalled Flash,
other old Apps, and apps that I didn't need.
Seems to be working fine now, no blue screens and no overheating.
I have the paint peeling off of the left speaker from all the past heat.

Thanks everyone!

 

Hi everyone,
I joined this forum to ask a question about my m4400. Boy, these threads have a lot of information. Most of it is above my head!

My m4400 (running Ubuntu) is not starting most of the time. I haven't noticed any patterns regarding when it does start and when it does not start. Most of the time, I press the power button, and the screen stays black. I hear it make some noise for a few seconds, and then I get the "flash-on-on" light code. The flashing light (the num lock) flashes about 21 times, I believe. According to Dell resources online (http://www.dell.com/support/article...le-diagnostic-indicators?lang=en#2008_to_2010), this indicates a "System board error" and the the suggestions are to "Reseat the processor" or "Contact Support".

I've been searching solutions online, and this is what I've done so far (after I did a full backup):

- run the "memtester" package (passed that)
- removed and reinserted the RAM
- removed and reinserted the CPU, replacing the heat sink compound
- I checked my BIOS. It was the most recent (A29?)
- disconnected from power&battery and held down power before reconnecting to power

But none of these efforts have had any noticeable effect. My understanding is that these laptops have more motherboard and heat issues than most laptops. I don't have spare parts laying around, so it's not trivial for me to swap out parts to try various permutations of hardware. It looks like a used CPU can be gotten on eBay for <$10... Any advice? I have little/no experience with this sort of thing, but I enjoy learning!

PS I believe the CPU is: Core 2 Duo Mobile 2.66GHZ / 6MB cache / 1066MHZ FSB CPU Processor - T9550

 

Hi Brian85,

I've got an M4400 running Windows 10 very nicely and 3 similar vintage Latitudes running various Linux distros. They are pretty darned reliable little tanks. A few ideas to try before spending $ on a CPU or motherboard:

• Set full POST in BIOS to see if you get more info.
• Run Diagnostics from here to see if any additional info/problems found or at least to confirm that the CPU is faulty.
• Even though it has its own beep code a new CMOS battery might be worth trying although the eBay CPUs sound about as cheap!

Good luck.

 

Thanks ExParrot! I've been trying to turn it on repeatedly, but without ANY success. Which got me thinking back to other times that it turned on... and it seemed like perhaps it turned on sucessfully more often after I had just picked it up, which made me think that perhaps something critical literally shifts when it's lifted/moved. With that in mind, I turned it on it's side, and it did start once (but not later). So maybe there's a poor connection that jostling affects? Unfortunately that was before I had gotten your helpful reply, so I didn't try the first 2 ideas that you had.

The only other tidbit that I thought I'd add is that this problem has clearly gotten worse, and quite quickly. At first it was very rare for it to have this issue, and then within 3-5 uses, it's gotten to this point. But during that period, *IF* it started, it acted completely normal.

Does anyone have an opinion on what is the most likely culprit here? Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

Maybe someone else will have ideas, but:

• Some of my old units have such weak batteries that they only start on A/C power, in case you are trying to start them on battery power.
• If you ever get it to boot hold down F2 to get into the BIOS and set the full POST and then try to get it to boot again to run the full POST.
• That cheap CPU may be worth a shot but my guess is that it is more likely a m/b problem.
• The effect of moving and the worsening success rate may mean a failed/failing solder connection. You could always try the reflow in the oven trick before buying a m/b for "fun".

I hope you get it working (and let us know what you find).

 

Well I finally decided to post again and admit that I still own a M4400.

The poor thing has been quite neglected. At one time it was the best Intel-based PC in my house.

Time does fly!

I really need to do a fresh Windows install and see if some of the later Nvidia drivers fixed that weird Displayport to HDMI crash issue.