Need Graphics Card Help - DPChallenge Forums

01/16/2012 08:43:38 PM · #1

I'm in need of some help, and I know you guys are always a super resource...!

I have a brand new laptop... just bought it in November: HP DV6-6173cl

I was unplugging a USB port this afternoon, and got the blue screen of death, and it did one of those scary memory dump things. Everything is now working properly, EXCEPT the graphics card. It's apparently using some generic settings... I am able to see the screen and everything, but it will only go into 800x600, or 1024x768 modes, which are both not good (the first one is gigantic, and the second one stretches the screen).

The device manager puts an exclamation point over the display adapter, and in the details it says it has been "disabled because it has reported problems." Well, great... problems! The driver is ATI Technologies version 8.830.6.2000. Clicking "update driver" tells me that this is the current driver. There are also options to disable or uninstall the driver.

I've tried going to HP's site to download driver packages, but I have no idea which of the 6 options I should be installing. I've already installed the "Catalyst Control Center," which seems to do nothing... and another package I downloaded wouldn't install because it wasn't the right system or something (I found these drivers by searching HP by the model of the computer... so it seems stupid that the results wouldn't be compatible).

I don't even know where to begin to fix this, or how I should be going about it. Every so often I get a pop-up that reminds me that my graphics card isn't working right. I wish it would pop up and say, "Hey! Here's what to do next!" :)

01/16/2012 08:53:39 PM · #2

Alan, try going to the HP website (hp.com) and inputting your HP DV6-6173cl laptop model and then clicking on the link for drivers etc. It looks like they have new versions available. You can download just the driver or the larger download for the Catalyst program which is basically the control panel for adjusting your video card.

Dave

Message edited by author 2012-01-16 20:54:31.

sempermarine

Apple iPhone 5s

01/16/2012 08:55:20 PM · #3

Have you tried to uninstall the device driver? or disable it and then shutdown. (Power off) then restart. This can be done in device manager by right clicking. I had this happen to me before with a desktop and it solved the issue. Good luck!

never mind... it looks like Dave may have found your solution.

Message edited by author 2012-01-16 20:56:14.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

01/16/2012 08:59:33 PM · #4

Originally posted by sempermarine:

The only problem with that is if you use disable you are not disabling the driver you are disabling the hardware which obviously would not what we want here. Also, uninstalling the driver, doing a reboot will only have the OS reload the same driver that was uninstalled because it doesn't delete it out of the driver pool. You would really have to do that manually to clear it and prevent it from being found again.

Dave

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

01/16/2012 09:47:03 PM · #5

I would use CC Cleaner to uninstall the driver and "Catalyst Control Center,". Then download the updated drive without the "Catalyst Control Center." I have had (in the past) problems when having Catalyst Control Center installed. So I just download the driver.

Message edited by author 2012-01-16 21:48:33.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

01/16/2012 09:52:42 PM · #6

It probably doesn't matter whether he disables the graphics adapter. It seems to already be disabled. The laptop is probably running on the basic on-board graphics. It's possible there is a hardware issue with the ATI graphics adapter. What I would try is completely uninstalling and reinstalling the adapter:
- Download the latest driver and put it where you can find it easily
- Open Device Manager and select Action>Scan for hardware changes. This should re-find the graphics adapter. When asked where to get the driver, select the location for the latest driver you just downloaded
If this does not solve the problem, it may well be a hardware issue.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

01/16/2012 09:55:21 PM · #7

system restore to the most recent save point BEFORE the crash.

Message edited by author 2012-01-16 21:56:37.

cowboy221977

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

01/16/2012 10:13:49 PM · #8

If it is a new laptop...it should be under warranty...Call the company...back up your files and let them fix it.

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

01/16/2012 10:22:49 PM · #9

Well, unfortunately I've already done most of the things mentioned here, and after about an hour with the HP guy it looks like I'm screwed. It is under warranty (I've only had it since November, for heaven's sake), but the system simply isn't recognizing the graphics card. I'll try a full system reinstall as the HP guy suggested, but it's going to be a major PITA to reinstall everything that I had just gotten customized to where I wanted it.

This sucks.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

01/16/2012 10:31:29 PM · #10

Originally posted by alanfreed:

I'll try a full system reinstall as the HP guy suggested, but it's going to be a major PITA to reinstall everything that I had just gotten customized to where I wanted it.

This sucks.

Don't do it!
Well, at least not until you ghost the boot drive to another. Bottom line, reinstalling the OS is *very* unlikely to fix the issue. It's like the Dell tech support operator telling you to "reboot and see if that fixes it."
At least if you ghost the drive to another, and you reinstall and it does not fix it, you have your system configuration saved. Now it's safe to let them go at the hardware, you know that you can simply rebuild the boot drive as it was from the image.
HP *should* be able to easily troubleshoot this. They should be able to remove your drive, replace it with another drive with a boot image pre-loaded, and boot. If the problem persists, it's hardware without any doubt. You could do the same thing by getting another ddrive, installing it and loading the OS on that. But you'd have to buy a drive. Still would be preferable to re-loading gall your apps.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

01/16/2012 10:33:01 PM · #11

Originally posted by alanfreed:

Did he have you go into the system BIOS and see if the laptop is set to use the onboard motherboard graphics controller (which you don't want since it uses shared memory and it slower). Make sure in the system BIOS it's set to see..and use any dedicated graphics card installed. It's possible that with the USB glitch that it somehow reset the settings, and it needs to be re-enabled before Windows will see it.

Dave

cowboy221977

Canon EOS-60D

01/16/2012 10:40:20 PM · #12

Originally posted by alanfreed:

your 1st mistake was going with HP...I will never buy another HP product...mainly because of their cust service. I bought a printer....2 weeks later it quit feeding paper...It was under warranty and they charged me 25.00 to tell me it was broken....I will never buy another HP product

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

01/16/2012 10:43:30 PM · #13

Originally posted by cowboy221977:

Originally posted by alanfreed:
Well, unfortunately I've already done most of the things mentioned here, and after about an hour with the HP guy it looks like I'm screwed. It is under warranty (I've only had it since November, for heaven's sake), but the system simply isn't recognizing the graphics card. I'll try a full system reinstall as the HP guy suggested, but it's going to be a major PITA to reinstall everything that I had just gotten customized to where I wanted it.

This sucks.

your 1st mistake was going with HP...I will never buy another HP product...mainly because of their cust service. I bought a printer....2 weeks later it quit feeding paper...It was under warranty and they charged me 25.00 to tell me it was broken....I will never buy another HP product

With regard to customer service, you can say the same thing about pretty much any laptop manufacturer. "Customer Service" is an oxymoron to these companies.

01/16/2012 10:46:10 PM · #14

Originally posted by cowboy221977:

I've bought HP products including three printers in the last 12 years and they never gave me any problems. I also use an HP LP2475w 24 inch IPS screen as my main monitor and it's been trouble free for over a year now. A year ago this past November I also bought Tammy an HP laptop that hasn't required one minute of trouble shooting or intervention on my part, and she uses it every day. Couldn't tell you about HP customer service because I've never had to call them. Like any other company people have problems and others don't. There isn't anyone on the planet that can name a company that doesn't have both complaints and praise on any given forum. That's how the ball bounces. :)

Dave

01/16/2012 10:52:55 PM · #15

He had me update the BIOS, and he did have me make a couple changes in there... something to do with setting something to "fixed" instead of something else.

I bought this at Costco, which has a 90-day return policy. I'll make a trip there tomorrow to see if I can exchange it for an equivalent laptop.

I appreciate your advice,

kirbic, but most of that is frankly right over my head and my abilities, unfortunately.

One way or another it looks like I'll be reinstalling everything again. Joy.

I'm backing stuff up right now... thankfully it's not like I have accumulated all that much new stuff since November.

In other news, my daughter's laptop bit the dust today, too. It's like some weird, isolated magnetic field hovered specifically over our house and screwed everything up just for us. I'm just sick over this whole thing, particularly since I'm DJing a banquet on Saturday night and I NEED a reliable machine for that.

Originally posted by DCNUTTER:

Did he have you go into the system BIOS and see if the laptop is set to use the onboard motherboard graphics controller

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

01/16/2012 10:58:24 PM · #16

Alan, the laptop is PO'd at you for bringing it back to Pa after taking it with you on vacation to Florida. You have to bring it back to Florida for it to work right again.
Seriously, I hope you get this solved without too much more hassle.