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Fun laptop flicker issue Dell 3560

S

Solace

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
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xentr_thread_starter
This is a fun one that baffles myself. The screen will intermittently flicker. Yea big deal right? screens die, cables wear etc...

Now the isolation,

Occurs in bios
Occurs in OS

Drivers clearly not at fault.

Occurs on power and while plugged in

Not a power draw issue and even then I'm sure I would be getting more problems if it was.

Worn cable? Not likely, I left it idle in the same position and moved it around and it still occurs after being fine for whatever duration... If the cable was in a funky position it should trigger until hinges move and applies the proper connectivity or snaps...

So clearly we point to hardware failure one would think... Sadly Dell are fucktards like every other vendor and you can not force dedicated GPU or the IGPU anymore like I could do on an older Asus laptop I had. Would be nice to force either or to help isolate what is occurring.

Now for the fun last fact,

If I plugin an HDMI as a secondary monitor it is 100% stable. My partner gamed multiple sessions for 6 hours+without a hiccup yet if I turn my TV off, BAM it starts occuring randomly. So that also makes me rule outthe display/cabling at fault. There is no way that level of stability sits in place and returns the second I turn my TV off as the sceondary monitor that is mirroring the original display.

I'm led to believe that the IGPU is no longer engaged when the HDMI is pluggedin and the IGP is failing on the chip... At best you can force a GPU in nvidiaprofile settings but I'm not so sure that takes precedence outside any GPU application and also if I recall even whilegaming it still flickered... Although then I did not force the T500 GPU in nvidia settings.

TLDR:

This is gotta be due to thefirmware update.
I, despite being able to debug the most obscure shit in theworld. Have no idea what is wrong, mostly due this is probably firmware related and I lack insight on the hardware. Anyone else with any insight or debugging idea's would be appreicated.

Keep in mind nothing is OS/Driver related (zero event viewer messages too). I also tried disabling the LID CLOSE feature (I was wondering why the fuck my machine kept turning off when I disabled it in windows and BEHOLD, its fucking hardcoded into the BIOS). The only reason I have this shit device is my workplace was too stupid to coordinate pickup and never responded to my last email after departure... Dell is beyond intolerable in so many aspects.
 
xentr_thread_starter
Behold,

I think I just figured out that the BIOS is switching between the dedicated GPU and IGPU for no fing reason and likely due to my most recent firmware. I went to change some stuff and no NVIDIA cpanel existed. Manually launching the Cpanel claims no attached GPU exists for nvidia... Time to see if TV on engages my T500...
 
xentr_thread_starter
Dumbest issue of the decade. Nothing seems to have helped as the OS no longer thinks a nvidia GPU is connected to a display again... Might crack the thing open and examine if the card is damaged or something. I still feel like I should be getting some BSOD if it was damaged and it is a matter of the bios failing to negotiate or detect the device on newer firmware.
 
Hi,

if you boot a linux live distro to test the laptop, can you configure anything related to the nvidia gpu?

If you are sure it's the bios update, can you rollback to the previous one? Some laptops permits it.
 
xentr_thread_starter
I was about to say I think it is the battery but it literally just flickered 2x as I was about to hit reply... I swapped the battery in hopes that its a shit design and the battery feeds components and was fluctuating. I also got my cpanel back after the new battery however it just kicked in again.

There is no point in booting another OS and no I'm not dual booting to try to see if some other kernel can solve the issue. I'm fairly certain something might exist on windows to stimulate the HDMI port if needed. I might do a bigger tear down later and look over some stuff on the mobo.

There is one other report claiming software/firmware updates solved the issue on reddit. 99% certain firmware related. Dell can go die in a fire. Also the warranty is mega past due so its a DIY.
it is the 3560 precision.
 
The HDMI part actually makes me think this is more likely the internal display path than the GPU itself.

A stable external screen doesn’t really rule out the laptop panel side, since HDMI and the internal display usually use different signal paths and sometimes even different power states. The built-in screen is typically running over eDP through the Intel graphics path, so if that cable, connector, or panel power is flaky, plugging in HDMI can make the issue seem like it disappears.

Since it also flickers in BIOS, I’d still lean away from Windows and drivers entirely.

My first suspicion would be the eDP cable or connector near the hinge/board side, with the BIOS update maybe just changing timings enough to make an already marginal hardware issue show up more often.
 
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