Source
r/MSILaptops•
arijitlive

New GE66 Owner, having weird issue - need help

Request

Hi, I have bought a new GE66 (best buy one with 6-core, 2070 super) and having a strange problem. Every now and then the screen is freezing, and it's only freezing the display, windows is still working in background.

I can start program by pressing WINDOWS key and type calc and press enter, which opens calculator but I cannot see it in the screen. I can move mouse or open notepad and type something, screen doesn't refresh. It's simply stuck.

Once I press power button, the laptop goes to sleep mode. Then I press the power button to bring the laptop back on, it is in lock screen and if I login, then I can see calculator is opened or notepad is opened and whatever was typed, it was there.

Yes, all the drivers are updated using MSI app as well as going through the device manager method.

This is getting in the frustrated region now. I am on the verge of returning the laptop, but I thought to check with the sub if anybody faced this weird issue before?

​

TLDR:

Things I have already did -

  • Reformat and clean install Win10. (may 2020 build)
  • Updated all the drivers using MSI app, then device manager, then force update latest nvidia/intel drivers.
  • Currently no third-party apps except windows & MSI apps. Still happening.
  • Screen freezing happening once in every 10 minutes almost. Only way to recover is to go to sleep mode (using power button or lid close), then come back from sleep and put password to re-login.

UPDATE:

The issue looks like is fixed. I turned off "panel self refresh" option in Intel's graphics utility both under Battery and Plugged-in sections. For last 2+ hours, not a single screen freeze. Thanks to u/werdmonkey4321

Posted Jul 5, 2020, 4:23 PM UTC · edited

28
slyapo•

Try to reformat using clean install of windows

1
arijitliveOPGE66 - 10SFS•

I already did that. I will update the original post, what I have done.

1
jdsawyer1181•

Sounds like a trip back to best buy for a exchange is necessary. I have the same laptop and it's been flawless.

1
werdmonkey4321GS66 RTX2070 Super Max-Q(shunt mod 115-125W) with i7-10750H•

Have you tried turning off Panel Self Refresh in the Intel Graphics Utility? It might be the culprit, though its a long shot.

1
arijitliveOPGE66 - 10SFS•

I turned the self-refresh settings off in both battery and plugged-in mode, and in last 55 minutes, I haven't seen a single lock up. I hope this is the fix, but I will give it some time and will update the post. But early signs are promising.

Edit: Oh and ... Fuck intel for poorly optimized driver.

2
werdmonkey4321GS66 RTX2070 Super Max-Q(shunt mod 115-125W) with i7-10750H•

Glad to hear its working so far.

The self panel refresh feature seems to be really buggy and it affects a fairly wide array of laptops/models with a wide variety of different effects, freezing and random flashing are some of these issues. My Matebook X Pro and my friend's Razer Blade Advanced also had issues, but mostly with it randomly flashing to black.

It's either an issue with the drivers themselves or the feature conflicts with some other settings and drivers. In any case, you shouldn't experience any issues as long as those settings are disabled, but Intel should definitely investigate it because it seems quite pervasive.

1
arijitliveOPGE66 - 10SFS•

Thank you for the explanation. I mostly had business laptops (Thinkpad et al.) in past 10+ years and with either quadro graphics or igpu. So I never faced such issues in my life. I guess these are the side effects of gaming gpus. I am okay with that settings off, I don't think I need self refresh, the screen looks great anyway.

1
arijitliveOPGE66 - 10SFS•

No, I will turn it off now.

Quick note, based on advice from different sub, I found when screen freezes, I can recover it by restarting graphics driver (Windows + ctrl + shift + B key). It unfreezes the screen again. So this could be a driver issue and I am running both intel & nvidia latest drivers. This is frustrating, I am getting screen lock every 10-15 mins.

1