XPS 8940, Nvidia RTX 2060 6GB, lock up starting again!

<Profanity is never needed nor allowed on our Forum. DELL-Admin>

Hi everyone!

I'm from Québec-canada so please be gentle i'm not native english so it could be funny to read. i read EVERYTHING possible on this problem. It seems we all turning around a problem who nobody can fix. I have a real decent setup and i love it. but random lockups drives me totally crazy. I'm like the guy who removed everything. bare bones computer. no GPU (but the integrated gpu) one oem stick of ram who came with the computer. only the PCIE ssd (who came with the computer too) etc... all was OEM. 

I installed a fresh iso from microsoft and logged my microsoft account. Using the pc for listening youtube videos and play little games like "homescapes" and other games like that. 

No gain, just pain. it was still locking up randomly. sometimes 2, 3 days without locking up. and then, launching an application or just scrolling on facebook or on youtube, LOCKUP. got to hold power button, wait for the relearn procedure and then, reboot. 

so i got all my stuff back in it. (32GB (4 stick) of corsair ram, my tiny GTX 1050 Ti, my second ssd (for data) etc, etc etc. Still experiencing lockups. 

so tell me WHY we are hundreds of people having the same problem? there's no real solutions working and DELL does nothing to help us. We all paid a lot to buy those systems.  Mine is now out of warranty. the money i spent to make this unit like i wanted it, i'll never see it again!

Even sometimes i go to dinner and when i'm back (no programs running) i come back and it's locked up!

Is there a way to be helped by DELL? i'm not alone, we're a LOT of people having the same issues and DELL stay SHUT about the situation of thousand people havind this issue! We are a lot of people who sent a lot of money at dell's accounts for buying this. 

Yeah it's quick, silent and i like it ! but we can't stay like this!  Everyone here tried everything and no one (Even DELL) found a real solution who worked for everyone. i'm so of this situation. Yo, dell! Where are you for your customers? 

There's a screenshot of my setup. Hope there's going to have a solution soon because it's a nonsense from dell, doing nothing !

@Tazzzzzz​ 

Not sure what to tell you?

If I read correctly, you have lock ups when no Nvidia card is in and using the Intel on-board Video adapter?

As far as I know, all that had a problem with an Nvidia card AND a specific BIOS versions that either removed or disabled the Nvidia and used the Intel on-board video DID NOT have lock-ups/freezes. Put the Nvidia card back, poof, the problem returns.

That would make you situation different, with possible other sources of the problem.

You did not give some info that could be pertinent here. 

What Version of the BIOS do you have installed?

Am I reading your Speccy right, you have two displays connected? Have you only used the Samsung and have the problem, even with the HD730?

Do you find ANY errors around the time of your 'lock-up' (you can determine that time by looking at the clock on the Systray) in the Event Viewer other than the Error 41 for an Improper Windows Shutdown?

Do you have a .DMP file in C:\Windows\LiveKernelReports\WATCHDOG that matches the approximate time of your freeze?

@Tazzzzzz is also using a Samsung NVME 970 SSD with BIOS set to RAID, but Samsung SSDs and their Magician software are known not to like RAID.  Don't know if that's a contributing factor here or not...

Don't change the setting because PC could become unbootable!

@ispalten​ 

As all the guys told the only event wrote was  system stopped incorrectly or something like that. 

i remember at the beginning i had this computer there was no PCIE nvidia card in it! and it froze once. after that i upgraded all the system with the GTX mentionned in my screenshot. 

Bios and drivers are all the last ones... (Version 2.14.0 Date 2023-08-08) and no GPU drivers offered by DELL because it's not an oem card. got to download the latest one on nvidia website.


If the Nvidia cards are'nt supported by those machines, how could we play games other than the integrated graphics!? 

Locked up 2 times today. once it was on a youtube video. i missed something and use my arrrows to back for 5secs, LOCKED UP! (gotta be honest, she recieved a nice punch on the top)

I'll wait for further informations. if i need to remove this GPU, this computer will be useless.  :(

@RoHe​ 

Nope ! 

i never installed Samsung magician because of this problem. 

on my system, when i throw it on AHCI, it falls automaticaly on RAID so... 

i forgot to mention that i BENCHED and burnt tested CPU GPU and ALL the stuff for HOURS ! 

Never locked up...  But youtube, web browsing, writing letters, this system makes me say bad words when locking up!

Okay guys!

I totally removed the GPU i bought 2 years ago. currently on the onboard GPU (it s*cks bad!)

i'll see if it locks up again! 

@ispalten​ 

Bios and drivers are all the last ones... (Version 2.14.0 Date 2023-08-08) and no GPU drivers offered by DELL because it's not an oem card. got to download the latest one on nvidia website.

If the Nvidia cards are'nt supported by those machines, how could we play games other than the integrated graphics!? 

@Tazzzzzz​,

Well that BIOS Version SURE is suspect... and a lot of 'new' users have shown up here after installing that BIOS.

So, here are my suggestions:

• First thing, BACK LEVEL the BIOS to V2.13.1, that is D/L it and install it. You may be told you have a newer version but do it anyway.
• Test... if ALL OK, then go on.
• Put the Nvidia card back in. If you deleted the driver, re-install it, but you can also run with the Windows default driver for the card.
• Test... and make sure the card is in use, not the Intel one.

You have a GTX 1050 Ti, right? Well, Dell DOES have a Game Ready driver for it.

Just because you didn't install Magician doesn't mean the Samsung SSD is working "normally".

And unless you reconfigure Windows for AHCI, PC probably wouldn't boot with BIOS set to AHCI.

I also tried updating to 2.14.0 and had some weird issues with constant reboots, until Windows finally loaded. When I ran Support Assist again, it still said the 2.14.0 update was available. Almost the like upgrade failed and the system reverted back to the previous version on its own. Now that I am seeing all these threads about, I will never install this version. Failed BIOS updates is one of my greatest fears on computers lol. It rarely happens, but when it does it stinks.

@ispalten​ 

Thanks sir

Honestly you're kind enough to try guiding me trough these steps but i have a huge problem.

my patience left the building few months ago lol

i have this problem fot at least 1 year... reading forums and try things so i think "we" made out part.  it's DELL's job now. 

Yesterday i first uninstalled the device... got on dell's service page and there was no drivers available for the GPU. i tried 2 times... Nope!

Got back on windows update, when it tried to install the driver themselve it got an installation error. after that, i hard-rebooted the pc, did'nt want to pass de DELL logo with turning logo infinitly and i got to hard reboot again so i got the GPU OUT of the case, reconnected the cables on the integrated GPU and i'll wait for dell to get out of its dreams and work for us ! 

it's not like they are not aware of the problem... they are! so for what i need to do right now i'll stay with intel integrated graphics for a while and see if the problem fixed itself. 

because i know myself. if i begin to play in the drivers and bios things, it'll end with a ebay sell "damaged (totalled) dell XPS 8940 for parts... maybe the screws still good! 5 bucks" lolllll

but no joke i'll wait. i'm not the kinda guy who'll play with all that and see popups from everywhere and EVEN microsoft updates still offers me the firmware (bios) that i'm already on it... so...

Thanks for the help!  i'll keep an eye on the situation and see if all's fixed. my patience will slowly grow up dans maybe one day i'll grab back the GPU :P

@RoHe​ 

Thanks but this is not the problem actually for sure! 

benchmarks, burnin tests shows that all is perfectly fine and 100% used (speed) (kinda around 3500mb/s) no stability problems because i'd had blue screen. never got that. 

Samsung magician is not absolutely crucial neither necessary. 

if i switch the AHCI mode, first it'll not boot anymore and i'll need to reinstall all this system but thanks for your help. 

Intel optane software shows that everything is working properly. (Pcie NVME link speed 4000mb/s, no problems detected)

:)

@Tazzzzzz​ 

@ispalten​

i have this problem fot at least 1 year... reading forums and try things so i think "we" made out part.  it's DELL's job now. 

Yesterday i first uninstalled the device... got on dell's service page and there was no drivers available for the GPU. i tried 2 times... Nope!

Well, Dell has NOT left the building, they just left us hanging... have not said peep about the problem IF they are even looking at it. All they have said is use our tested drivers for the Nvidia card, worked for some, not for others.

Yes, you uninstalled the card, so the Dell Update or the Support page will not know you have one. To be expected. Sometime you just need to go to the support page and see what IS available, especially if you added h/w, like a video card, and did not purchase it. Suspect you might have looked under your Service tag or used Dell Update, or even Support Assist to see what drivers are available. I used the method of entering the XPS8940 on the Support page for the model and then view the available file, select W11 and then reviewed the list and found the driver I posted above.

NOTE: Dell has RELEASED BIOS V2.15.1 today it seems. I'm NOT touching it until I see some POSITIVE comments on it. Note also it is a .1 release, which means to me, the .0 release either had a problem and needed to be FIXED or the .0 was in the works and they have addressed the V2.14.0 problems in an update to a .1 release.

As like always, Dell did NOT mention anything fixed in this BIOS other than some Security fixes.

Fixes & Enhancements

Hi all! Exciting news - BIOS Release v2.15.1 is now available!

To optimize compatibility, exclusively download additional drivers from the Dell website.

We invite you to test this new version and share your valuable experience with us.
Thank you for your patience.

@DELL-Nat M​ 

Is it supposed to resolve the nvidia lockups on our computers ?  the update just says security updates so will it fix the issue ?

@ispalten​ 

I installed the update this morning (new firmware)

i'll wait before getting my GPU back in the computer because i don't want to do it for nothing... and wait for the DELL-Nat M​  to answer if it'S just for security or to fix the issue

3 days now on integrated graphics and no freeze at all!