Alienware 15 R4 panel swap black screen Nvidia Drivers

I changed the panel on my Alienware 15 R4 from 120hz TN 6bit B156htn05.1 to 120Hz IPS 8bit B156han04.2.
As soon as I boot into windows there is no display on the screen. If I boot into safe mode and uninstall Nvidia drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller, I get the display output in windows.

The display then runs with Microsoft drivers for GPU at 1920x1080 64Hz 8bit. Soon windows 10 auto installs Nvidia drivers and then there is no display output. I can connect external monitor and that works fine. After connecting external monitor, I checked Nvidia Control Panel and it was trying to run laptop panel at the correct 1920x1080 and 120Hz, but no display output. I tried 1920x1080 60Hz still no output.

I have tried uninstalling the monitor drivers also. It shows correctly as AUO42ED in Device Manager. Any help on how to fix this?

 

The screen you bought may be bad?

Can't think of anything else.

Unless it's like something dumb where you HAVE to have a gsync display

 

The display works with default Microsoft drivers for GPU, so that makes me think display is not faulty. Although it shows 64Hz instead of the correct 120Hz. I am aware that G-sync and brightness control don't work on panel swap. Those aren't the issue. I am just trying to make it work with Nvidia drivers. Even at 64Hz would be fine for now with Nvidia drivers.

 

@t456 any ideas? You are my best hope.

 

Is the backlight turned off? You can tell if you shine a flashlight on the screen when it is black. A few nvidia drivers have issues with shutting the backlight off when detecting an unsupported LCD. I would assume windows update is giving you the latest driver Dell provides on their support site. Dell also has a 389.xx package available on their support site for the 15R4. You could also try a generic notebook driver direct from nvidia.

 

Yes, the backlight gets turned off on Nvidia drivers. Yes 389.xx were the Nvidia drivers installed by Windows update. I had clean installed Nvidia 398.82 generic notebook driver from Nvidia and same results. Currently running the 398.82 drivers.

 

Windows makes a registry entry for every installed gpu driver and (historical) monitor combination. Could be that it's still using the old 05.1 parameters to run the 04.2 screen.

Try uninstalling all monitors via Device Manager and run the ' Scan for new hardware' thingy. If that fails you could also delete all of them manually, they're under ' HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\DISPLAY'. Scan for changes again and re-install the drivers; that way all gpu+lcd combinations will also have been refreshed.

 

Still no display. I uninstalled monitors via Device Manager and ran ' Scan for new hardware'. Then deleted all the registry entries under enum/display. Clean installed Nvidia drivers, then got the old no display.

 

Run MonInfo and see which display(s) are active. Please make an export as well and upload them somewhere ('Save as' -> .bin).

Another thing to check is whether there's a newer vbios for your card; the current one may not be able to identify the new panel. It's too bad there's no specification sheets for either of the lcds; it could also be a simple pin-out difference or eDP version.

 

Bin when Internal Display is active

Bin when only External Display is active

Monitor Asset Manager with internal active

Monitor Asset Manager with internal inactive

I updated to latest system bios , same no display with Nvidia.

B156HTN05.1

B156HAN04.2

Without the datasheets are the specs column enough to know compatibility for these 2? I don't know what the pin configuration does but it is the same for both of them. The input and backlight voltages are same. B156HAN06.0 HW2A is also the stock IPS panel used on alienware 15 R3. From comparing 3 of their specs the I-PEX connector models are different for B156HAN04.2 only.

 

dude send your screen back before the return policy expires. No need to wrack your brain going crazy until you do at least that first. Imagine how silly you will feel now if you get another one and it works perfectly?

 

It sounds like you are having the same black screen issue that occurs with the Eurocom Tornado F5 when using certain panels. You can try the Nvidia 378.92 Drivers which are old but didn't exhibit the problem.

 

They should be perfectly compatible.

The problem appears to be with the edid of the HAN04.2; the 120 Hz timings are alright, but the 60 Hz versions use a method not seen since the CRT era. It seems this particular panel is a beta/preliminary model, so getting a more recent example ought to fix it. If the older drivers don't help then @Muezick 's advice is also very sound.

If returning it is not an option then use CRU to force correct timings; set a standard 60 Hz as primary and a 120 Hz as secondary. Make sure to use ' Reduced blankings' for both timings.

 

Thanks for the advice. I did contacted the AliExpress Seller for return after reading your post. So, far after explaining to him in detail all the response I got from him is "Nvidia drivers? What is the meaning?". I am trying to push him for return with shipping costs on me.

The 378.92 drivers show as unsupported when installing.

There has been progress. I can get it to run with external monitor connected and reduced timings with CRU for the first time with Nvidia drivers. Problem is as soon as I restart the computer the panel backlight goes off at windows login. If I connect the external monitor and restart the gpu driver with cru, it works with Nvidia drivers and cru custom resolution.

I tried making a 119Hz resolution with cru and setting it with Nvidia, in case Nvidia isn't using cru resolution after reboot, but the backlight goes off at boot every time. I tried putting the Restart.exe from cru at startup with Task Scheduler but that also is working with external monitor only. The monitor doesn't shows in Nvidia Control Panel until I use restart.exe to rerun gpu driver with external monitor connected. Disabling and enabling the panel in device manager doesn't helps.

With the Nvidia drivers, I could compare the picture quality with my external monitor XB271HU. The picture quality on the panel is great, exactly what I wanted. Looks same or very slightly better than my 695$ XB271HU. Thanks a lot for your time @t456. Got pretty far, thanks to you. I am trying to return the panel due to working with external monitor only.

 

Hello there.
Check windows version. If build is 1803, try enable optimus (toggle integrated graphics) - Fn+F7 with external monitor connected.
After OK to restart disconnect the external display and wait for windows to start. If its working...thats windows and not the display.
If you disable optimus and restart and get black screen ...then ...there is your answer...thx microshit.

 

Yes, it's the build 1803. It's the G-sync version of Alienware, these don't have optimus. I just found out, if I configure it once with external monitor and use hibernate each time, it works without needing external monitor (not a complete solution still).

 

Have you tried Fn+F7 as mentioned above...and all the steps?

 

Didn't tried Fn+F7 before but tried it now. Nothing happens after doing Fn+F7. Fn + other keys work. I had read the display is connected directly to GPU on g-sync models and there is no Optimus.

 

@VICKYGAMEBOY Can you do me a favour and upload the bin using MonInfo of your B156HAN04.2 panel? Picture of "Automatic - LCD native" timing using CRU for 120hz, like this
https://imgur.com/a/bsjC6bd

Detailed resolution window opens up after clicking edit on 120Hz in CRU.

 

Well ... the proper fix would be to flash a good edid to the screen, but with eDP panels that's only possible with hardware tools (eeprom programmer). This is pretty difficult to do due to the small size of the eeprom (TSSOP8), but just in case I've made a good, working edid: AUO42ED - B156HAN04.2 (120 Hz, stock and fixed).7z.

An alternative/workaround is to use a dummy panel;
Mini DP - DisplayPort display emulator EDID emulator Plug

It would permanently sacrifice one of the display-out ports, but you have three of them and there are dummy plugs for each type. Perhaps a HDMI version might do better; display priority during boot is VGA -> LVDS -> HDMI -> DisplayPort. At boot the bios should detect the fake monitor and use its timings to send the image to both it and the internal screen. Since it'll use the same timing for both that'd mean the HAN04.2 will also show an image during boot and after that CRU can pick things up.

 

You are a genius. I had no idea there was such a thing as hdmi display emulator for 13$. It worked with hdmi emulator but not as easy as just duplicating display timings. I had to write autohotkey script which switches to second display at startup, resets graphics driver using cru, switches to laptop screen and closes cru. Adds up about 8-10 sec to my boot time but the display comes to life automatically.

4-5 days after I accidentally discovered the script also works with lid closed and without hdmi emulator. For some reason giving monitor off signal using script which I tried previously doesn't works but lid close works. I just keep the small hdmi emulator plugged in back all the time as it's more convenient. Shipping the panel back was costing me 65$ of the 102$ of purchase, so I just kept it. I have the original stock panel laying around, so I can slap that back anytime.

The panel is good looking. It's not as good looking as LP156WF6-SPB5 which I used to have on my old Asus GL552vw laptop. The Asus panel had slightly better blacks and contrast when compared side by side. Still the B156HAN04.2 has 120hz smoothness which makes it superior.

As for comparison with stock alienware 120Hz tn panel on 15R3 and 15R4. The stock tn panel has better response times than B156HAN04.2. For picture qualiity and viewing angles IPS one is much superior. Here are some comparison pictures taken with a phone camera:

Alienware 120Hz TN vs 120Hz IPS

 

Nice work buddy. Useful to me as I may be soon looking for a different display. Definitely can't be bothered with all the faff though I like the idea of having an IPS display... what's the difference in the response times exactly?

 

Thanks . Your repasting results have been great. Response time is how much of a difference it takes for pixel to change from 1 color to another.

Response Time of 120Hz IPS 15R4 24ms Black to White

Response Time of 120HZ TN 15R4/R3 12ms Black to White

Response Time of 120HZ TN 17R4 12ms Black to White

I have heard the UHD ones have a slightly higher response time, but can't find link to any reviews of Alienware UHD. On higher response time there should be more time for picture to change. Response time doesn't includes input lag. An increase in ghosting is said with increased response time. You can check the ghosting on below link:

https://www.testufo.com/ghosting

All the fast 144Hz BenQ and Acer 144Hz monitors I had all show some ghosting in ufo test. I have only seen ghosting to be gone when using ULMB or Benq Motion Blur Reduction. Ghosting also decreases with higher refresh rate.

On the 120Hz IPS screen I changed to, I can't notice any ghosting in windows or while watching videos. For gaming I can't say much, since I switched to gaming on external monitor only a year ago. Neither is there any noticeable difference while running the Reaction time test between different panels, which is the sum of: Input Lag + Response Time + My own reaction time.

https://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime

If you switch to a panel not used by Alienware like me, you will lose G-Sync and brightness control for sure. There is less chance of you facing the rest of the mess which I faced. If any stock Alienware panel works for you it's great. I was basically forced by Dell to 120Hz TN from 60Hz IPS while replacing 15 R3 with R4. Since I use the internal laptop panel for work and media consumption only, I had to change to IPS and decided to experiment with 120Hz IPS. I do like it (especially 120Hz smoothness) except the brightness control loss and other workarounds.

 

Useful info there thanks buddy

 

hmm, i have the same panel B156HANO4.2 IPS 120Hz, im just stuck with 100% brightness, even though the panel looks great, colours, smoothness, contrast, in night time without the brightness control it hurt my eyes.. is there any way to bring back the brightness control back, like adding registry or some kinda tweak ?? i dont have eeprom flasher..

 

No, sadly not. Perhaps the dummy HDMI plug will work for brightness control as well?

I'd use the graphics driver options and make a ' day' and ' night' preset. Switching should be possible with a single key combination.

 

I miss the brightness control too. There is no way to fix brightness control without flashing edid using eeprom programmer. Hdmi emulator wouldn't help.

The panel edid list which is stored in bios is used to determine for whether panel brightness control capabilities are there. For non stock panels, their edid aren't in the list and that's why brightness control doesn't works. I think it was t456 only who pointed that out in some thread.

I currently use a black overlay at 10% to somewhat lower the brightness of image. The backlight is still at 100%, so it's not a proper solution.

https://www.aurelitec.com/colorveil/windows/download/

At up to 10% the overlay doesn't looks unnatural. Above that it starts to look different. I set the macro keys to launch and close the program, which I use to toggle it. The Nvidia Control panel->Adjust desktop color settings->Use Nvidia Settings->Brightness does the same effect, I believe. Also I find increasing the contrast to 55% in "Use Nvidia Settings", improves the image quality a bit on this panel. Above that black levels in dark scenes start to clip.

On other laptops some users were able to change the brightness in bios and that stays when going into windows, but after that you can't change it. I am not able to change it in my bios. Some users reported that brightness control works in Ubuntu, since it doesn't uses the edid list from bios. I didn't try Ubuntu but that would probably reset to 100% after rebooting to windows.

Next time I will make sure to get a stock panel. I usually play some video to remind the panel looks good, in exchange for losing brightness. Check out Sony Fireworks 4k Demo:

http://4kmedia.org/sony-fireworks-uhd-4k-demo/

 

i dont like the stock panels.. its so bad.. to be honest.. and a good IPS 60hz panels are hard to find.. like the LG WF6 SPA1 or SPB1.. seems like we have no option.. our BIOS is completly locked out.. and i dont think dell will provide any kinda support for this.. even if i could afford a EEProm flasher.. im not sure how to do it..

 

The only good stock options are the FHD 60hz LG IPS and the 4k AUO IPS. For some reason Dell chose the worst gaming TN panels that they can find. They would have been much better off using the Chimei N156HHE-GA1 and N173HHE-G32 for FHD 120hz options on both 15.6 and 17.3 inch models. They have wider gamut, no banding issues, better contrast, lower black levels, faster response time, and lighter anti-glare coating resulting in better clarity. I do have brightness control on my 17R4 non-GSync with the N173HHE-G32, but it may be because I have a non-GSync EDID version which was a used pull from a MSI GE73.

 

The LG 60Hz IPS was the better looking stock panel for 15 R3 and R4. All I know is it starts with LP156WF6 and not the last 4 digits. If I would have gotten a slightly wrong model, I would have lost brightness control anyway. So I just got the 120hz one. Dell support is useless. They can only point out part number from service tag. No chance of bios support from them.


I thought same about eeprom flashing. If it was easy it would have been an option for buying. If you were near NCR region in India, we could have even shared half the cost of eeprom flasher. Unfortunately flashing is complicated.

I have the stock 120Hz TN B156HTN05.1 still with me laying around fully working. I still prefer to use the B156han04.2. It's only in full dark room that the brightness is too much for me even with an overlay.

 

Yes, those 2 are the good ones. 4k unfortunately has scaling issues with windows on some softwares. Dell is still behind. For 60Hz IPS on 15 they provide both AUO B156HAN06.0 and LG LP156WF6. A user can have bad luck and get the AUO one instead of LG one. They also keep using the same old TN panels instead of updating. Oled on the 13 was one of the better decisions by them. I would have to be extra careful when buying my next laptop.

I have heard some 17 owners say the stock 120hz TN is one of the very good ones. I had suspected it's because they haven't compared it with better panels and like it because of 120Hz and extra brightness which some people prefer. Your post confirms there are much better panels for 120hz TN. It's great everything worked for you.

 

Well, I just put in the old stock screen back due to brightness control. More relaxing on eyes with lower brightness. End of experiment.

 

thats good, i cant use my old samsung crap panel, its broken anyways.. i cannot do photoshop / video editing anywhere with those alienware panels.. its a mess.. im using night light for now.. i found few EEPROM flashers, its a all in one kit, doesnt come separate for only EDID flasher, it costs 100USD.. at this point ive asked few guys from indiamart for only EDID flasher, they havent reverted back to me.. lets see..

 

@t456 Hey do u think i can flash using this,

http://amzn.in/d/dFtqz0G

also there is no EDP cable connector.. i have ur fixed bin file, hoping to buy a cheap programmer.. let me know if u find any links, thank you so much for ur helps so far..

 

Edids are stored on eeproms, so it's the same thing. Those eeproms can use SPI (25 type) for their interface protocol, such as for (v)bioses, or I2C (24 type), which is most often the case with edids. The simple CH34 programmers are about $5 and most can handle both types.

Sure, that should be fine. Just be careful; it is quite a bit harder than flashing regular bioses and vbioses due to the small size of the chip. Also might have to order a different adapter board. The edid chip is either TSSOP8 0.5mm pitch or 0.65mm pitch and either has a matching breadboard.

Also, better check first whether a good edid will actually fix brightness control. Use MonInfo first to make an export; could be you have a more recent model with a fixed edid. And try in Linux as well. If control doesn't work there either then it's more likely that the pwm range of the screen is incompatible with the one used by the system.

 

Hmm I wanted to buy the same panel, but it doesnt work correctly in the AW15R3 series?

On an amazon listing its said to be compatible with the AW15R2 but no clue if thats actually true. Brightness control is quite important imo.

 

It's different from shashank's, but pretty close; same weird timings, except with a few extra copies of the 60 Hz mode. Try Linux next; if that works then there's a good chance a different edid will do.

 

i tried ubuntu.. it doesnt work there..

 

Hmm ... the edid would fix shashank066's issue natively, so the dummy plug would be redundant. But you don't have that issue anyway, right? That might be due to using a different graphics driver or bios setting.

Not sure about the brightness control though. I'd rather check by flashing a slightly modified edid to a panel that does have brightness control; if it loses the option after the flash then you can be 100% positive it's (v)bios intervention that is responsible. Also, we would find out whether it's just the id that needs to be changed or whether it compares all 128 bytes. If nothing changes with a different edid then it's more likely that the pwm range of the panel is outside the range of the laptop's. Another edid won't help then.

Remember that the edid I've posted was only meant to fix the bad 60 Hz timings, not trick a possible bios check. Could cobble together another one that has the HTN05.1's id and the display parameters of the HAN04.2; if it is indeed bios intervention using a limited lookup then that'd do the trick. Don't have the HTN05.1's edid or that of your Samsung though, so I'd need a copy of that first. Please don't use a screenshot this time, but do a simple copy/paste of the text; bit of a pain to type over .

 

HTN05.1 was stock panel in 15 R3 and 15R4. Most probably htn05.1 wasn't stock panel in 15 R2 which is Vicky's Alienware. His original screen is broken so he can't get the edid from that. I have the htn05.1 running currently but it won't be of use to him.

Fortunately I don't need a portable high end gaming laptop anymore, so I was selling this alienware to get a desktop. I sold the HAN04.2 panel at a local computer marketplace. The panel worked in a cheap Dell laptop at 120hz 1080p without requiring hdmi emulator, so it could have been some other issue than edid. Brightness control as expected didn't work.

Not sure if Vicky would be able to get the brightness working.

 

i had three different old panels, Samsung, LG KFKV0, which is LG WF6 SPM1, which comes with most of the stock alienware 15 r2, at this point i gave up, finding a solution for this brightness control, for 120hz, it worked the moment i swapped the panel, thanks to @t456 for trying out something atleast, but in the end its not a easy thing to do, im using custom night light settings and intel brightness control, not a proper solution.. but it gets the job done..