Black Screen While installing Intel Graphics Driver

[ghan2]

Hello,

This is another instance of a common problem. I need your help.

Problem: laptop lvds screen goes black while installing intel graphics driver.

Hardware: Asus Q501LA laptop

CPU: intel core i5 4200U (this has intel hd graphics 4400)

RAM: 6GB (4GB soldered + 2GB removable)

OS: Windows 10 (This computer came with Windows 8. Updated to 8.1. Updated to 10. A couple of clean installs of Windows 10 over the course of time.)

HDD: 120G samsung EVO 840

I've been using this computer for a while without any problems. One week ago internal display turned off by itself. I didn't install anything. The computer was not connected to internet. Windows update service was disabled. I always use intel driver update utility to update drivers. And, by that time latest drivers were installed.

From this point on, I tried several things but couldn't solve the problem. Here is my observations:

-- Hard reset does not change anything. Windows loads but the screen remains black. (backlit is off)

-- sleep/wakeup does not solve it. computer properly sleeps and wakes up but nothing changes on display side.

-- windows recovery --> safe boot works. Because intel driver is disabled by default.

-- it is possible to remove the driver and delete the files in safe mode. After a restart windows starts normally with MS basic driver loaded. There is no HW acceleration but it is at its native resolution.

-- Trying to connect an external monitor worked for a while. If I restart it with an external monitor connected, MS basic driver duplicates the screen. If I try to install intel graphics, both displays go black(HDMI shows "no signal"). Sleep and wakeup or hard restart creates a fuzzy mess on HDMI and still nothing on internal monitor. Trying another sleep/wakeup solves the fuzzy signal problem on HDMI and I can login to windows. Here, with external monitor connected, Intel driver works fine. But I cannot switch displays or change modes. Internal monitor is not detected. When I properly restart the computer, I end up the the same fuzzy image on HDMI monitor. If I try to describe the image: It is like an analog video with sync problem. There are fast horizontal shifts. Nothing is recognizable. No grainy noise. It somehow loaded with colors and patches from windows login screen. How can a digital interface show such thing is beyond my knowledge. It is clearly not a connection problem. The same HDMI cable and the monitor work fine with other computers.

-- I tried to do a fresh windows 10 install. Tried many versions of intel driver. Nothing has changed.

-- I opened up the laptop. cleaned the motherboard with alcohol. cleaned the fan. re-applied thermal paste. I removed the components one by one. Nothing has changed.

-- I checked the LVDS cable with a multimeter. The cable is intact.

-- Tried important windows updates incrementally. Nothing changed.

-- ASUS does not provide drivers for Windows 10. So, I tried Win8 and Win8.1 drivers( compatibility mode). These drivers do not create black screen problems immediately but after sleep/wakeup or restart black screen appears. External monitor shows fuzzy mess.

-- BIOS update or altering any available bios options did not solve the problem.

-- Replacing Bios battery did not solve the problem.

-- Disconnecting Li-ION battery did not solve the problem.

-- Removing ram module or wifi module did not solve the problem.

-- Disconnecting the auxiliary boards such extended module for usb connections, card reader, headphone jack did not solve the problem.

-- Disconnecting the touchpad did not solve the problem.

-- I couldn't disconnect the keyboard because the on/off button is on the keyboard.

-- Disconnecting the touch screen module did not solve the problem.

-- Disconnecting the webcam module did not solve the problem.

I believe it is not a hardware problem. Because, I installed ubuntu and everything is working without any problem. Multiple display mode works. HDMI sound works. HW acceleration is enabled. Ubuntu uses drivers provided by intel. So, my conclusion is that Intel fails to release a proper driver for windows 10. I don't have any solid opinion about why it started to happen. Same version of windows and same version of the driver works without a problem and suddenly it is black screen.

Will I get any support from intel or is this going to remain as just another instance of the "Black Screen of Death" problem?

[idata]

Hi gkaya: Thank you very much for joining the Intel® Graphics communities. We will be more than glad to assist you in order to try to fix this problem.

In regard to your question, remember that the Intel graphics drivers are generic, meaning they might or might not work with your system. That is why we always recommend to manually install the drivers provided by the manufacturer of the laptop, since they were customized in this case by ASUS to work with that specific system. Besides that the Intel® driver update utility sometimes is not that accurate in finding and installing the proper drivers, specially if the board inside the laptop is not an Intel board. I looked for drivers on the ASUS's web site, and as you mentioned, the laptop does not support Windows® 10. Under that scenario, any type of problems could be expected since the proper drivers for that operating system are not available, then it will not work properly. In that case, if the graphics driver provided by Microsoft works fine, then we recommend to use that driver on your computer. Now, you also informed that you installed Windows® 8 and 8.1, I assume you already tried the drivers provided by ASUS, but just in case you can find them here:https://www.asus.com/Laptops/Q501LA/HelpDesk_Download/ https://www.asus.com/Laptops/Q501LA/HelpDesk_Download/If the problem persists after that, since the processor works with Intel® HD Graphics 4400 we can also try driver version 4624, it works for all the Windows versions you are using:https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26682/Graphics-Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-40-?product=81497 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26682/Graphics-Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-40-?product=81497 Any further questions, please let me know. Regards,Alberto R

[idata]

gkaya: I just wanted to check if the information posted previously was useful for you and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Any questions, please let me know. Regards,Alberto R