Ive been working on a video card problem that I have been having with my laptop for over a month. The CPU has been pegging after 20 mins or so of work and the GPU in this monster is running crazy hot. Keeping this laptop in your lap for more than 30 mins or so while utilizing heavy graphics applications - not an option unless you like yo thighs crispy fried.
After trying everything I could possibly think of including some wacky ideas posted by random strangers on the world wide interwebs - (not that you can't be trusted), I completely wiped the laptop and reloaded using the most stringent wipe and reloading techniques ever documented and published by mankind. Didn't work. Same problem.
After much hand wringing, some cigarette smoking and with my senses honed razor sharp by several adult beverages - I ran across a blog post on Dell's customer service "blog" - cause Dell is uber hip and happenin and they now "Blog" communications to the customer. (Next week they stop blogging and all customer facing communications will be initiated via Twitter and word of mouth at Starbucks).
The post detailed a problem they have with the Latitude D820 and NVidia Quadro NVS 110M GPUs. The same problem (gasp) that has Nvidia fighting a class action lawsuit. Dell has extended the warranty on the machines sold with this video card by a year. I could have used an email, Dell. You have my address. You know I have this computer with this video card - the all important Service Tag - remember? But Dell is "over" emails for customer notifications...its all about the "blog". AYFKM?!?
With this knowledge in hand, I inititate contact with the service department via instant message. The following takes place:
This is an automated email sent from Dell Chat. The following information is a log of your session. Please save the log for your records.
Your session ID for this incident is 262ayfkm.
Time Details
03/17/2009 04:01:24PMSession Started with Agent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661)
03/17/2009 04:01:31PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Hi! Thank you for contacting DELL Chat Support. My name is Charlotte. How can I help you today?
Can I have your phone number and email address please?"
03/17/2009 04:01:44PMBuhlindaC: "1-800-my #"
03/17/2009 04:01:50PMBuhlindaC: "Buhlindac.com"
03/17/2009 04:02:12PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Thanks for that information.
Kindly give me 3-5 minutes to pull up your records here.Thanks
While waiting, can I have a bigger picture of the problem you are having as of the moment?"
03/17/2009 04:02:40PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Is this for LATD820?"
03/17/2009 04:02:48PMBuhlindaC: "my laptop video card is having a problem."
I live to regret these words.
03/17/2009 04:02:52PMBuhlindaC: "and yes it is"
03/17/2009 04:03:04PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "I see.I'll do my best to assist you with that."
03/17/2009 04:03:10PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "I need to verify the ownership.Can I have the name of the person or the company name under which this computer was registered?"
03/17/2009 04:03:44PMBuhlindaC: "BuhlindaC - BuhlindaC Worldwide enterprises"
At this point, there was a longish pause - 2 mins - with no response. I begin to wonder if Charlotte and I have lost our session together.
03/17/2009 04:05:44PMBuhlindaC: "hello?"
03/17/2009 04:06:12PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "To give you an update, your Hardware warranty is still active up until 3/10/2010"
03/17/2009 04:06:23PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Can you give me a bigger picture of the problem?"
03/17/2009 04:06:25PMBuhlindaC: "thats good news"
I've been working with Dell support for a while. I went through a certification process with them to become an Enterprise technician years ago and am always torn when I get to this moment. They are pretty locked into a process at this point in the support process and unless you have a tech ID to give them, they are going to force you through a troubleshooting process no matter what you tell them. So I resist the urge to give her the specific problem and hope to lead her there gently.
03/17/2009 04:07:08PMBuhlindaC: "the laptop cpu utilization reaches 100%"
03/17/2009 04:07:16PMBuhlindaC: "and pretty much locks the machine up"
03/17/2009 04:07:19PMBuhlindaC: "eventually"
03/17/2009 04:08:14PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Alright.You said that it was a video problem right?"
Video CARD - Video CARD!!
03/17/2009 04:08:25PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "What happeneds on the video display?"
03/17/2009 04:08:52PMBuhlindaC: "an error comes up at the bottom in the part of the taskbar where the clock is located and says Display driver nvlddmkm has stopped responding and has recovered"
03/17/2009 04:09:09PMBuhlindaC: "then the cpu utilization resumes normal levels"
03/17/2009 04:09:19PMBuhlindaC: "the system event log displays the following error"
This is where I attempt to gently lead her to the resolution. I am thinking "shouldnt her system have alerted her to this warranty issue by now?"
03/17/2009 04:09:21PMBuhlindaC:
"Log Name: System
Source: Display
Date: 3/17/2009 4:52:43 PM
Event ID: 4101
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: BuhlindaC.Buhlindac.corp
Description: Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered.
Event Xml:
nvlddmkm
03/17/2009 04:09:42PMBuhlindaC: "i have completely wiped and restored the laptop and the problem persists"
03/17/2009 04:10:54PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Alright.Can so basically, the computer can boot to windows?"
me:HUH?
03/17/2009 04:11:24PMBuhlindaC: "the computer has no problems booting"
03/17/2009 04:11:36PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Do you have any external monitor to try and test with?"
me:huh?
03/17/2009 04:11:55PMBuhlindaC: "there is no problem with the video display"
03/17/2009 04:12:01PMBuhlindaC: "i am typing to you on it right now"
03/17/2009 04:12:10PMBuhlindaC: "the problem is the video driver"
03/17/2009 04:12:20PMBuhlindaC: "crashing"
03/17/2009 04:12:22PMBuhlindaC: "over and over"
03/17/2009 04:12:30PMBuhlindaC: "it is the dell driver"
03/17/2009 04:12:32PMBuhlindaC: "most current"
03/17/2009 04:12:45PMBuhlindaC: "from the website associated with this laptops service ta"
03/17/2009 04:12:46PMBuhlindaC: "tag"
03/17/2009 04:13:24PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "I see."
03/17/2009 04:13:30PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "What drivers have you installed?"
See Above - think we covered that!!
03/17/2009 04:13:43PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Does this happen only in start up?"
Me:HUH?? WTF?
03/17/2009 04:14:24PMBuhlindaC: "it happens while I am working"
03/17/2009 04:14:29PMBuhlindaC: "never in start up"
03/17/2009 04:14:38PMBuhlindaC: "periodically while I am working"
03/17/2009 04:14:41PMBuhlindaC: "throughout the day"
03/17/2009 04:14:55PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Okay.Do you have an external monitor to try if the same image will be on the screen?"
me:HUH? I feel the wind shift...this is not moving in the right direction!!
03/17/2009 04:15:09PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Are you using the same system chatting with me?"
03/17/2009 04:15:21PMBuhlindaC: "see above"
03/17/2009 04:15:21PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "Have you tried booting in safemode?"
03/17/2009 04:15:28PMBuhlindaC: "i already answered both of those questions"
03/17/2009 04:15:34PMBuhlindaC: "and I do not have a problem booting"
03/17/2009 04:16:35PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "No, but have you tried booting in safemode if you will get the same error message?"
Me: Holy Shit
03/17/2009 04:16:50PMBuhlindaC: "the error message is random"
03/17/2009 04:17:00PMBuhlindaC: "i may not have the message for two to three days"
03/17/2009 04:18:30PMAgent (LIBs_Charlottel_146661): "What driver did you updated?
AYFKM?!?!?!?
03/17/2009 04:18:37PMSession Ended
If you require further assistance, please visit us at support.dell.com
Posts
