MSI GT70 , No Audio Output after Removed defective MXM GPU

Hi folks, looking for some genius inputs/suggestions and Im open to all options.

Here is the little background of the machine:

i7-3610qm, Its the non-MSATA powered first revision MSI GT70, factory nvidia 675m model failed and prevented machine from posting completely, so removing the GPU allowed machine to post as normal.
I dont have another MXM GPU to try and not planning on using one as iGFX intel 3000 graphics is working fine and sufficient.

Had problem with always maxed out FAN speed and no audio output since removal of the defective GPU,
it was in panic mode for MAXed out FAN due to no dGPU, so re-flashed factory BIOS to .10 and after to .30 versions, no luck, then tried reflashing firmwares from support site for ME/CPU , no luck, still MAX FAN and no sound, then flashed unlocked BIOS (.30 vesion) but GPU selection for iGFX did not show up so edited bios myself and set iGFX to default/failsafe as iGFX, saved the rom, flashed the rom, and bingo, machine is no longer in panic mode, the fan is behaving as normal again, however , still no sound!

Device is working as in device manager, all drivers installed perfectly and indicator shows as sound should be coming out ok but its not happening, neither trough laptop speakers nor trough audio jacks, HOWEVER - Audio works perfect via Bluetooth... (havent tried via HDMI as for TV audio output... perhaps will have a chance to do so in a week or so)

I also tried checking for any other damage to the MB or flex ribbon/ audio jacks and cannot find anything to blame...

Audio worked fine before the NVIDIA gpu failed prematurely...

Laptop behaves as if the sound is supposedly playing and coming out as per audio/volume indicators, but I believe its somehow BIOS related.

Anyone can suggest anything??

I know theres ample amount of space inside this machine chassis, I could just ebay some USB audio blaster, wire it internally and run these speakers without the sub of course manually, but I think Im real close to getting this fixed without messing with external audio card mod... suggestions?

Maybe there should be string value in bios I could check to try something? I am not afraid to completely brick bios by bad flash, I can resolder fresh bios chip if needed...

Much appreciated for all and any input.

 

PS: I have tried number of different drivers variations and fresh windows reinstalls, also tried LIVE Ubuntu and other linux OS and still no sound , so it seems either HW problem or BIOS needs to be set to project audio some other way than it is currently. perhaps it is still partially stuck somehow with dGPU settings, but I just dont know... so...

Oh, also, PayPal BEER is on me for the problem solver

 

Preheat an oven to 180c.
Put the graphciscard like this into the oven:

Spoiler

Make sure the GPU is pointing up, not down.
Let it heat up for around 10-12minutes.

Let it cool down.

Put it back to your notebook. Remember to disable it in the device manager, that way it won't die again and you can keep it as an "keep me alive".

Your fan and sound should work properly again.

 

thanks for the reply, the fan is behaving ok now after setting iGFX as default graphics in unlocked BIOS, but the GPU card was not repairable/beyond repair and I no longer have it so thats not an option anymore, but thanks...

 

Well the problem is as far as I know without an MXM GPU it won't make any sound. I don't know the exact details but that's what it does. It behaves the same if you try to put an HD 8970M into it, sound will also go missing.

Maybe you can go on ebay and get a really cheap MXM GPu, maybe something like a GTX 460m, 260m, or maybe even something like a HD mobility 3650

 

Actually interesting idea, just to have audio, perhaps not bad idea at all. I will have a browse. I wonder if half-size MXM 3 tybeA GPU would also work the same as a patch for the sound...

I have modified few more strings for iGFX autoconfig -> enabled and some other related strings in BIOS rom file, will flash it tomorrow and will see what happens, if no go, I will perhaps order some mega cheap dGPU just to keep the sound going if that what will be needed... hate the wait from ebay, cheap ones usually comes from furthest ebay corners like china market but hey, may be worth the wait...

 

by the way, do you think it is the exact 1:1 behaviour as you describe when 8970m is installed? you see all as should be but sound would not work trough the speakers/audio jack?

 

well, quickbrowse made me pull the trigger on this cheap little thing, Nvidia 230M, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282830391941

awaiting for delivery, will see how it goes, if it fixes things, youre in for a paypal beer meantime I will hold off with further bios flashing attempts untill I try this GPU. May need to shave off some of the old nvidia heatsink, or maybe better off I shave off spare AMD heatsink that I have, Im sure 675m MSI heatsink is as valuable as 780m MSI heatsink perhaps ??

EDIT:

Yep, I was not mistaken, worth at least 30-50eur for such heatsink, widely used for many performance GPU's such as 680 780 880 980 etc
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Lap...-16F1-F2-MS-1761-E31-0900332/32830387092.html

So, you all know what GPU I will be shaving off haha AMD it is then

 

I don't know about that, the 675M heatsink needs to be grinded down in a couple of places in order to make it fit for newer cards if I remember correcly, but I think GT 70 heatsinks are generallly rather expensive.

I'm not to sure about the behavior. All I know that I've seen it on AMD cards before and it seems related to the MXM card. My assumption is that it probably has something to do with HDMI output from NVIDIA cards which the notebook can't work with on AMD cards and then just doesn't produce sound in the end. And yes, everything else works flawlessly, no temp issues or anything, but sound somehow doesn't work, as if speakers have been plugged out, no driver errors or similair.

I've also seen this behaivor on Medion notebooks which got crossflashed to MSI BIOS + EC, where the sound would also simply not work anymore.

Also I think the card you ordered should be compatible. I don't know about the cooling tho, but I'm sure you'll figure something out. Maybe you could do some passive cooling mod since you'll probably not even bother installing drivers anyways and will keep it as a sound card (lol).

EDIT:
nonononono, a Heatsink that is compatible with a 675M is not compatible with a GTX 980M for instance. I helped several people upgrade from their kepler to maxwell cards, they all needed to grind without exception.

Also it's important to note that the maxwell heatsinks of the GT 70 series are unified, there is a heatpipe that combines both the CPU and GPU heatsink. Like this:


Here are the differences:

 

Yeah, I was thinking not installing drivers also but regardless it would still run idle and rather hot without appropriate drivers so f* it I know I will do inf mod, install drivers and just end up not using that GPU/disabling it in either bios - continue to use as iGFX in bios settings or just disable it in windows dev-manager, and go with that, I just want to have that magnificent Dynaudio 2.1 sound that comes with these machines, its short of amazing...

Passive cooling mod... not so much, its not the first time I am at butchering MSI GPU heatsinks for good cause, and since I have one laying around I will do that, meantime I will take some photos and list the GT70 nv heatsink in marketplace/ebay and cash in on it, Win-Win

 

I feel ya. As you probably saw in my signature, I also love me some decent speakers on my notebooks.
Gl with your little project, keep us updated. Would be interesting to know how far backward compatible those things really are.

 

well, GPU installed with little modifications of inf file, however sound did not return.
I have re-flashed bios while with nvidia gpu plugged in, installed and working, no joy.

My other options are - find the exact replacement audio chip thats on the motherboard, order it, receive , de-solder the old chip and resolder new one back on, and hope for the best results.

Or, wire the external USB audio adapter-card internally, order some 2 channel 3w amplifier PCBs from ebay, wire them together, and hook up them internal speakers... bypassing the whole integrated audio...

Any other ideas?

 

have you flashed the EC by any chance? EC inkompatibilities can also cause this issue.

 

tried flash_me.bat that comes with .10 bios, it seemed like normal bios flash anyway and at the end it gave some warning like partial ME flash only.

Yes, I tried enabling ME firmware re-flash from Unlocked bios menu then doing the same, no difference.

Any suggestions?

Do you mean my current ME FW version vs 230m thats currently installed?

Dont know if I could or should tinker with VBIOS and if that could fix/help in any way, but look at this here, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282830391941 thats where I got this little GPU, its performance is actually seem like on par with i7-3610qm iGPU , ran Unigine Heaven pretty well , just like on iGPU performance wise

 

Not talking about ME FW, Talking about EC. EC firmware is something you have to flash independantly from your BIOS. Sometimes a missmatch in versions of EC and BIOS can cause this issue. Maybe you can go on the MSI downloadpage and look for EC + BIOS and flash both in order to be sure you have 100% compatibilities.

Go to MSI homepage and look for the most up to date EC under firmware and try to flash it.

 

What's the current version of BIOS & EC that you have?
I believe this is the download page for your notebook, but just in case please provide the version to allow to better assist you.

 

I suppose it's https://www.msi.com/Laptop/support/GT70-0ND# and Win 7? The latest firmware for backlight keyboard systems is http://download.msi.com/archive/frm_exe/nb/w8_1762EMS1.506.zip - they don't clearly state if it is for Win7, too but probably is.

 

Thank you all guys for the replies.

This one is i7-3610qm/675m/2x2.5" SATA drive model gt70 so I don't know which one is it, 0NC or 0NE model. Yes win7 x64

I don't remember now which bios or EC it had before I started messing with it tbh but I've tried all of them at this point. I have downloaded even the one that starts same as the regular bios .10 and .30 but ends with U, like .30U , and tried all combinations of EC, and then GPU plugged in while on every combination of these, no luck. I also tried different audio drivers of which I have had 3 different versions now, no luck. It may be motherboard related, or my 230m is just not allowing audio routing properly. It shows and displays as audio would be installed and playing perfectly but nothing is coming out neither trough speakers or audio jack's.

Interesting observation, when in audio devices list and I navigate to recording devices , Indeed sound meter on microphone, and it technically should move up and down as it picks up the sound when I either speak to the mic array above the screen near camera or tap my fingers over the mic , no movement . I may also begin to think that audio chip is stuck thinking it's wired up and connected in 7.1 audio setup , as in speakers configuration I get to choose configure and it is as default set to 7.1 ... Yet no audio trough ports or speakers, just Bluetooth and HDMI is to be tested tomorrow evening.

Can it be just as simple as 230m is not good enough for the solution?

Getting to think maybe some fellow's here has spare cheap 650m 560m mxm GPU laying around or etc to try, and if it works I am willing to buy it or return it if it doesn't...

Other than that what would be the best approach and combination of things to try ? Bios and EC version etc, I'm lost at this point, and as emergency exit I have ordered some parts to do nice little DIY inside the machine to fire up built in speakers including the subwoofer but that won't happen format least 3-4 weeks as China is pretty far away...

 

It's a long shot and probably not the problem but if you haven't done this, try uninstalling and reinstalling the driver for your audio jack unless it's tied into the same drivers that you've been trying?

Since you can see on screen that your volume is going up and down on the sound meter, it's acting like you have an external source such as a headset plugged in, hence why I think the audio jack driver might be jacked up.

 

Maybe your 230M is too old to co-operate as the system is expecting at least 6.xx graphics. Realtek HD Audio and Nvidia HDAudio are co-working to output the audio. And there is Optimus, too. Does your system switch from Intel Graphics to Nvidia Graphics as expected?

 

I have checked the whole ribbon , clip connector on the motherboard, checked audio PCB and all jack's , none are damaged or worn in any way , I also tried testing machine having ribbon with audio board disconnected , no joy .

Regarding GPU incompatibility, perhaps good point... 6xxM anyone ?

 

Don't know about optimus auto switching but both iGPU and dGPU show as installed without any errors on Dev manager list .
Otherwise I think I recall audio usually works out of the box just with bare clean windows 7 fresh install even before drivers are being installed... No??

 

Can you use GPU-Z and/or Furmark to verify if the dGPU is really functional?

 

Would editing bios settings to use dGPU only instead of using Auto mode, override optimus and disable iGPU leaving only dGPU as only GPU option? It should do that exactly I think, I should try that in about half hour.

On the interesting note, to rule out CPU fault I tried swapping i7 3610qm with i5-2xxxM series CPU and machine refused to post anything, with or without dGPU installed... This should have definitely work right ?

 

No, never heard that 2xxx and 3xxx would be interchangeable.

 

yes, by all means one can always use 2nd gen i3/5/7 cpus in 3rd gen socket but not other way around. In other words motherboards carrying ivy bridge cpus are backwards compatible with sandy-bridge cpus, question here is why my msi would not boot with 2nd gen, unless MSI is an exception at this?

 

set from iGPU only to PEG only in bios and got black screen only, obviously while machine boots ok and installs drivers it does not utilize GPU whatsoever.

Tried leaving it at switchable graphics setting in BIOS after reverting to stock .10 BIOS ROM, booted to windows, ran GPU-Z render and while it shows both intel and nvidia GPUs present it fails to utilise dGPU as GPU temps stay low and core clock remains 135mhz during GPU render test via GPU-Z, any ideas? I feel its time to try some new VBIOS roms? its half size 230m from HP laptop... your thoughts?

 

It's the section in NVIDIA driver that causes this.You need to find right section for your card then it will boost normally.

 

I did quickly modified some older version driver inf file to take this GPU and install otherwise it would not install, but after this , I dont know, its more so that I need VBIOS flash now or we're entering a zone of diminishing returns for all the efforts spent

 

Ok so sounds via HDMI work immediately and all seems fine , so does via Bluetooth.
Shaved the heatsink , will mount GPU permanently so I can try tinker with it more but I have low hopes at this point...

 

Tried over 6 different vbios versions , same , no positive outcome , GPU does not get utilised at all.
GPUiinstalls every time ok but GPU switching does not happen when under load...

If I chose to disable iGPU from Windows Dev manager my video goes completely blank, after restart screen shows windows desktop ok , shows intel GPU disabled and Nvidia enabled but graphics looks like it still does not use any driver but standard graphics driver instead of utilizing Nvidia driver. Will try download latest driver and mod inf see if I get that to run at all,...

 

I told you already it's because of section. As long you don't try different sections it will never utilize correcly, you can try and flash however many vBios you want it wont work.

 

What section are you talking about , tell me , I don't follow

 

drivers have sections, if you don't choose the right section in your .inf mod the card can't boost etc.

 

I assume I have modified inf file well and driver installed ok, however it being optimus based machine I may have done mod wrong doing it to older driver version therefore switching graphics does not happen... However that does not solve the problems of audio routing ,still no sound and I don't care about dGPU being used or not, sound is thing that matters.

I have located audio chip ALC867 or something like that underneath dGPU , 48pin chip, I suspect it may have went faulty when GPU failed etc, getting one exact replacement from eBay is just few bucks on ebay but just don't want to mess with the board just yet, more optimistic just doing DIY on external audio card internally with small amp chip and wire those dynaudio speakers direct, or otherwise try grab some cheap 660m and try again...

 

Did you end up fixing this problem? I just started a thread and have the exact same issue but on an GT780. The original 570m failed with a blown power switching part, installed an MSI vbios flashed 670m and now running a Dell Firepro M8900 card and no sound at all. Tried different drivers, linux distro's and no sound at all. Playback device all set to speaker, heck even plugging in a mic or headphone into the jack doesn't trigger a notification of jack plugged in through the Realtek sound manager.

Bios running latest non raid and EC firmware updated and can't figure out the problem.

 

Hey, no not yet , since it's a side project now I'm just going easy on it.

plan #A I'm working on right now, I borrowed Nvidia quadro k5000m 4GB gddr5 from a friend of mine, he's sending it over to me so I should play with it in next week or so. I know I'm not supposed to flash it with any other vbios but quadro, so I will try just wing it and see if it works, since my gt70 had 675m Nvidia, I need to try to find out, these GPUs should be optimus compatible.

Plan #b I'm already waiting on: usb audio card/dongle, on two little amplifier PCBs also(usb 5v powered) and if Nvidia GPU fails to fix the sound issue I will internally wire mod the usb audio card and little amps, directly wire to 2.1 dynaudio speakers setup, and bridge audio jack's inside laptop so I can still run earphones and mic as intended.

It's kinda complicated when you think of it but should not be a problem. For all I believe it's GPU only issue, as audio via HDMI works perfectly, but Nvidia gt230m and quadro k2000m did not help at all... It's suppose to be the generation of GPU that's responsible for some audio trigger routing etc. Also, Bluetooth audio also works 100% so that's that for now

 

Ah , ps

Especially nvidia gtx 6xxm is same gen architecture as quadro k5000m, so , fingers strongly crossed at this point

 

Hmm haven’t thought of bluetooth audio..for me at least hdmi sound output with the AMD firepro card did not work. Never tried it with the 670m though.

The problem is odd though because when I go to test sound in playback devices, the volume indication (green stepped bars) show its playing music but no sound output.

Just like your gt70, the Realtek alc sound chip is right under the gpu card.

I have looked online and various others fixed the problem by updating the EC firmware or resetting it (draining battery or button through hole in bottom cover). The battery drain obviously didn’t work. It’s as if somebody disabled the realtek sound chipset in the bios.

 

Yes, I did read and tried all that, and nothing worked for me, but do not take my experience failures as the ultimate fact, thats just my experience with my issue, it may or may not be unique , I don't know. you should try it all out for yourself before deciding it didn't work for you either.

I don't think audio chip got disabled in bios, what I would dare say, audio output was set to some other than normal output settings when GPU failed, and audio got stuck in that mode, perhaps audio was running/set via HDMI only therefore it stays this way untill similar/same compatibility GPU is installed again and output settings can be somehow toggled on off again , I don't know for sure, just speculating at this point, need to try...

I have amd firepro m4000 GPU which is hd77xxM equivalent but I read that gt70 systems loose audio using AMD GPUs , so I didn't even try... Especially this firepro is not Enduro capable.

PS : if you get your system fixed with bios/EC update alone I would like to hear your success storey .

I somehow believe the only.way to fix this issue is to use same GPU or of the same generation , that's what I'm going to try and do now.

 

Yeh its odd. I have read the same thing with some posters reporting that AMD gpu's lose certain functionality when used in these laptops and especially when MSI cannot 100% support them because they use nvidia gpu's with there own vbios.

I flashed my M8900 to 6970m clevo and Dell vbios which is what the card really is and this didn't fix the problem. AMD Catalyst and Firepro drivers install fine and I can run 3dmark benchmarks no problems, just no sound.

When I tried the 670m which is an identical card to the 570m that was blown (both cards are Fermi and the 670m just has faster clocks), the original Dell vbios gave me problems with installing any nvidia drivers, it would not detect the 670m at all. I then flashed an MSI 670m vbios an MSI rep provided on this forum to another poster who was requesting it. It fixed the problem with the drivers not being able to install but no sound. They are both from the same generation as well, so I was thinking maybe its a vbios issue so I tried flashing an older MSI 670 vbios and while nvflash successfully flashed the card, restarting the laptop resulted in a black screen, aka card was hard bricked. But I plan to desolder the SOIC-8 sized bios chip and buy a programmer from ebay to force flash the original Dell ROM. Atm I'm running the M8900 as a temporary solution.

I made a post on the MSI forums but I doubt anyone is going to respond, seems most people have upgraded from the GT780 to the newer laptops.

 

you can always prepare blind flash usb stick, and then just visualize and type the commands have vbios flashed and wait appropriately before rebooting, should have your gpu fixed. Especially when 570 = 670 I would have tried crossflashing with 570m vbios and tried that

otherwise, would you consider selling that 670m to me if youre not up to fixing it or have little use for it? Where are you based (pm me regards price etc)

Well, if all hopes are lost after both of us trying GPUs to fix the issues, it will be a breeze to run internal usb sound card and two little amp chips, one stereo for L/R speakers and another downmix to mono and to SUBwoofer driver or just bluetooth your sound to some nice speaker

gt780 is still a fine machine

 

my quadro k5000m still havent hit my doorstep so its gonna be most likely some time next week... will keep this thread posted with what happens once I have it here

 

UPDATE:

so I have received my friends K5000M, it was dell 4GB version, installed with normal nv gpu drives installer , all as usual and very smooth and swift, then ran some GPU benchmarks, amazing temperatures and good score, GPU does get utilized properly, yet still no sound, so, since this was 6th gen nvidia GPU, I have now officially given up trying to mend audio issue with replacing GPU's and will resort to great workaround I have planned all along with DIY chips and mini-amp etc

WIll keep this thread posted once that takes shape and its all running and done.

 

Have tried the blind flash as I know my way around the bios boot and nvflash commands off boot and a no go. Going to have to try borrowing or getting somebody I know with a SLI capable laptop to try and flash it for me. I hadn't considered flashing the 570m vbios at the time because I found out after the bad flash that both cards are based on the updated Fermi architecture with the 670m bit faster with clocks, only the GTX675m is the mobile version of the GTX670 card.

I would like to try and get the bios going on first before selling it and where I'am (Aus) shipping and what I paid for the card will be a bit steep.

The Realtek sound chip is directly underneath the vgpu and I've been look at ways of just trying to test the IC output pins to mobo chipset but no go as there isn't any method mention, even in the specification sheet.

Have you tried getting ahold of a stock MSI mobile gpu to see if it fixes the sound issue?

EDIT: Come to think of it I've got an idea, I may be able to buy one of those external PCI-Express to mobile connector/USB adapters and run a desktop card in the adapter with external PSU, leave the faulty GTX670m in the vgpu slot and maybe the laptop will boot up using the external gpu that way I can use nvflash and see if it actually detects the 670m, what do you reckon?

 

i reckon its law of diminishing returns at play, play with it if you will but just ask yourself if machine is worth all the extra efforts.

I will do what I stated out earlier, im done with experiments at this stage

 

Really really strange.Yeah keep us updated on the mini amp thing, I'm interested to see how that wll turn out

Might be something for 95% of the clevo users.

 

Hey, I will do.

As odd as it sounds, still waiting on all those parts for the DIY project...if this continues as its been , perhaps I will receive in another 3-4 weeks time... pure boring.

meantime I just got another laptop and that is solely a DIY project now and then once finished I will just sell it on..