Windows 10: Windows 10 feature update with old Nvidia display adapters, solution to black screen hangs

Microsoft is delaying Windows 10 2004 on computers that have old Nvidia display adapters. This is a step in the right direction.

In fact it is possible to run Windows 10 on computers that have some old Nvidia display adapters, but it takes some effort. I have some Dell Precision M6500 workstations with Nvidia Quadro FX 3800M and FX 2800 M controllers sometimes designated NB10E. Driver 342.01 can be downloaded from Nvidia's web site. It takes some effort to make the driver stable, which I will discuss below. Dell's web site provides 189.21 for Windows 7, designated as ISV certified, whose meaning I don't know but it was more stable than versions that came later, except that it occasionally caused BSODs and it had security holes. Nvidia continued developing the Quadro driver for several years but didn't do enough testing. Dell doesn't care, why should Dell care about peons who buy such cheap low class throwaway PCs?

Anyway, these models of Nvidia display adapters had a feature built into their hardware called PowerMizer. When the PC is idle, the chip operated min minimum performance, maximum stability, low power mode. When demands became more active, the chip switched to medium power or high power mode, but the chip couldn't handle the transition, so the screen turned black. Dell's forums and some other sites have lots of discussions of M6500 screens turning black under heavy load. To add to this, the driver couldn't handle the hardware crash. Instead of resetting the display adapter like Microsoft learned to do in Windows 7, Nvidia's drivers crash the rest of Windows. The keyboard and mouse become non-responsive, though you can see the hard drive lamp continue flashing for a while until some part of Windows settles down.

Very old Nvidia drivers older than the ones we're discussing here provided a GUI control panel where users could manage PowerMizer options to try to improve stability. Nvidia stopped offering PowerMizer Manager a long time ago.

A third party stepped in and provided a downloadable PowerMizer Manager tool. They recommend that users set PowerMizer to medium performance so the chip will never try to switch power levels, and disable detection of overheating. I'm sure these settings stabilize the chip and driver and Windows, but I'm more cautious. I use PowerMizer Manager to set PowerMizer to minimum performance and I do not disable detection of overheating. When I install Nvidia's driver 342.01 and use PowerMizer Manager this way, my computers do not suffer black screen hangs.

Now about Windows 10. Some feature updates of Windows 10 preserve the registry settings that were added by PowerMizer Manager. However, some feature updates delete the registry settings. After deleting the registry settings, when the Windows 10 feature update installer reboots the PC, you get the black screen hang at the time when Windows tried to display its message about do not turn off your PC.

Therefore one more step is needed.

When starting the feature update, of course you want your PC plugged in as well as having the battery fully charged. But after the reboot, when Windows is about to let you log in, pull the plug. When running on battery, the Nvidia chip will refrain from trying to switch to high power mode. If your battery is still good enough, it will let you reach the point of logging in and running PowerMizer Manager to set the necessary registry entries again, and reboot. At that point you can plug your PC in again.

So, there is a way that Nvidia or Dell could stabilize the Quadro FX 3800M and FX 2800 M chips enough to solve the black screen problem, at the cost of lower performance which we have to do anyway to avoid the problem. But again, why would Nvidia or Dell care?

Now, surprise of surprises, Microsoft says they're working on the problem. After several rounds of Windows 10 feature updates reinstaing the problem though some feature updates didn't reinstate the problem because they preserved the necessary registry entries, now Microsoft says they care. So, it would be possible for Microsoft to preserve the registry entries that are set by PowerMizer Manager. It would even be possible for Microsoft's Windows 10 feature update installer to create those entries all on its own, to improve Windows 10 reliability on computer that have Nvidia Quadro FX 3800M and FX 2800 M controllers. I don't know if they'll really care, but it's interesting to see an announcement saying they care.

Meanwhile, this posting tried to explain how we can deal with it ourselves.

:)

 

Issue with black screen, dual display, ATI Integrated GPU

Hi,

I suggest you to follow the below methods and check if it helps.

Method 1: I suggest you to go to device manager and disable the display drivers, check whether the issue persists or not.

• Press Windows + X keys and click
  Device manager.
• Click to expand Display adapters, right click the second adapter and click
  Disable.
• Restart the computer and check whether the issue persists or not.
• Repeat the same steps to disable the first display adapter and check if it helps.

If you find the issue is with anyone of the display adapters then, I suggest you to update the display drivers from the manufactures website for Windows 10 and check if it helps.

Method 2: I suggest you to follow the steps form the below article for
“Black Screen” issues and check if it helps.

Troubleshoot black screen problems

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/troubleshoot-black-screen-problems

Please get back to us with an update on this issue, we will be happy to assist you further.

Thank you

 

Black Dots appears on screen

The thread which u provided is when windows hang but in my case it doesn't hang it works fine but as u see in first picture icons,taskbar are displayed

 

Windows 10 Update Black Screen Failures Caused by Display Adapters?

For the below pictured 2012 ACER All-In-One, Windows 10 updates crash repeatedly with the black screen as shown. Setup automatically rolls back following a hard shut down.* Disconnecting power and waiting hours will occasionally let the setup continue, but only briefly until another black screen or a freeze at 81 percent is followed by rollback. This scenario dates back to the initial Windows 10 build through the current 10.0.16299.15 -- Fall Creators Update 1709.* Black screen and other freezes occur with the internal Windows Updater, the Media Creation Tool (MCT), or DVD-based ISO created from the MCT. Up to now I've always managed after many frustrating hours stretching to days to pull in each update.* But 1709 is proving relentlessly difficult.



In the photo above no HDD activity is indicated, only power and networking indicators. There are multiple potential causes for such a black screen during Windows Updates but Microsoft's stated leading culprit is the display adapter. The adapter can reportedly become an upgrade blocker. The recommendation is to either update the video card driver to the latest version or to uninstall the video card driver.
My question for the forum: This unit, an Aspire Z1620-UR31P, has whatever video chip integrated into either the motherboard or the CPU. Mine is Intel HD Graphics. I pressed Windows key + X > Device Manager > Display Adapters, and selected update for that adapter.* The report came back that the best driver is currently in use.* So, dare I select Disable Device or Uninstall Device, or am I seeking more trouble?* Keep in mind the freeze at 81 percent is frequent and suggests multiple issues.* In the photo below note how the circle has disappeared and all is frozen with only power light on.* (FYI I turned off WiFi in this attempt, obviously to no benefit.)



Any inputs most welcome.* Black screen troubleshooting is hell.* I will note that this Z1620 is my leisure unit.* My more capable ACER Aspire E1 (laptop) updates cleanly and smoothly for every Windows 10 update.* But I do media consulting and prefer having a Windows-based backup unit.