BSOD when Nvidia GF GTX 950M is used: Driver Power State Failure

[J_Bob798]

Hi!

Two months ago, I bought a new laptop for college. As an engineer running Solidworks and the like, I thought it would be beneficial to purchase a laptop with a dedicated graphics card. Unfortunately, from day one, I ran into issues using the dedicated GPU. I have read through many, many, many forums, but none of their solutions have fixed my problem. I feel as if I have hit rock bottom on this problem. I will try to provide as much useful information as I can, using my knowledge of what all was in the forums I have read.

The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite S55t-C with the following hardware/software:

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ
OS: Windows 10
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M (dedicated), Intel HD Graphics 530 (integrated)
Nvidia Driver Version: 21.21.13.6909
Intel Graphics Driver Version: 20.19.15.4474
Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265

Whenever I run an application that is set to use the Nvidia graphics card, the application will eventually freeze. A minute or two later, windows will go BSOD, stating DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, then restart.

I have used WinDbg to open a minidump file created after one of the restarts, so I have that information if it is useful, but it's really really long, so I won't paste it in here unless someone requests it.

My 'workaround' has been to go into the Nvidia Control Panel/Mange 3D Settings/Global Settings and set the integrated Intel graphics card as default. This works, but it bugs me that I paid extra for a dedicated graphics card that I can't use.

On a slightly related note, I have also used Event Viewer to search for Warnings and Error messages before and after the BSOD occurs. While the computer is running, there is a steady flow of Warnings from WHEA-Logger (event ID 17), at a rate of about 1-6 every minute, depending on how much the computer is being used at that moment. That is the most prominent message, but I will list these others that occur before a BSOD, in order of appearance.

(Level/Source/Event ID)
Error/Application Error/1000
Error/EventLog/6008
Critical/Kernel-Power/41
Warning/Kernel-PnP/219
Error/DistributedCOM/10016
Error/TPM/12

I don't know if this information from the Event Viewer is relevant, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to mention it. The flood of WHEA-Logger warnings definitely looks fishy to me, but I've hit a wall in trying to fix it.

Any help that anybody is able to give would be greatly appreciated. As I said, I've been working on this on and off for two months and I have no more leads. Maybe somebody more experienced than me can pick this up and run with it.

Thank you!
Jonathan

 

[James Mason]

contact Toshiba and have them replace/fix it.

You can try explaining to support what the problem is, but it sounds like the GPU may be broken.

 

[J_Bob798]

contact Toshiba and have them replace/fix it.

You can try explaining to support what the problem is, but it sounds like the GPU may be broken.

Thank you, I will contact Toshiba support.

If anybody else who reads this thread has experience on the matter, please feel free to give it!

 

[giange77]

HI. I am having similar problems with an Asus Pc having the same chipsets. Basically the laptop seems not to use the dedicated Gpu but just the internal Intel card. From what I could read it seems a problem of drivers that shall be soled by Nvidia. Even though similar problems have been experienced by various users in the past with other chipsets configuration. Could you find a solution?

 

[James Mason]

Make your own thread about it to get help.

 

[soggypaddle]

contact Toshiba and have them replace/fix it.

You can try explaining to support what the problem is, but it sounds like the GPU may be broken.

Thank you, I will contact Toshiba support.

If anybody else who reads this thread has experience on the matter, please feel free to give it!

Hey, I am having the EXACT same issue. Was Toshiba able to do anything about it? Or did you just end up getting a new laptop?

 

[bite_1]

Hi!

Two months ago, I bought a new laptop for college. As an engineer running Solidworks and the like, I thought it would be beneficial to purchase a laptop with a dedicated graphics card. Unfortunately, from day one, I ran into issues using the dedicated GPU. I have read through many, many, many forums, but none of their solutions have fixed my problem. I feel as if I have hit rock bottom on this problem. I will try to provide as much useful information as I can, using my knowledge of what all was in the forums I have read.

The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite S55t-C with the following hardware/software:

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ
OS: Windows 10
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M (dedicated), Intel HD Graphics 530 (integrated)
Nvidia Driver Version: 21.21.13.6909
Intel Graphics Driver Version: 20.19.15.4474
Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265

Whenever I run an application that is set to use the Nvidia graphics card, the application will eventually freeze. A minute or two later, windows will go BSOD, stating DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, then restart.

I have used WinDbg to open a minidump file created after one of the restarts, so I have that information if it is useful, but it's really really long, so I won't paste it in here unless someone requests it.

My 'workaround' has been to go into the Nvidia Control Panel/Mange 3D Settings/Global Settings and set the integrated Intel graphics card as default. This works, but it bugs me that I paid extra for a dedicated graphics card that I can't use.

On a slightly related note, I have also used Event Viewer to search for Warnings and Error messages before and after the BSOD occurs. While the computer is running, there is a steady flow of Warnings from WHEA-Logger (event ID 17), at a rate of about 1-6 every minute, depending on how much the computer is being used at that moment. That is the most prominent message, but I will list these others that occur before a BSOD, in order of appearance.

(Level/Source/Event ID)
Error/Application Error/1000
Error/EventLog/6008
Critical/Kernel-Power/41
Warning/Kernel-PnP/219
Error/DistributedCOM/10016
Error/TPM/12

I don't know if this information from the Event Viewer is relevant, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to mention it. The flood of WHEA-Logger warnings definitely looks fishy to me, but I've hit a wall in trying to fix it.

Any help that anybody is able to give would be greatly appreciated. As I said, I've been working on this on and off for two months and I have no more leads. Maybe somebody more experienced than me can pick this up and run with it.

Thank you!
Jonathan

I am having the same problem with the same hardware and AutoCAD 2017. I found this thread looking for a solution. This is very frustrating and it looks like I'll be sending it back rather than investing any more time in troubleshooting.

 

[yoman5656]

I am having the exact same problem I have the Toshiba S55T with the Intel i7 6700HQ and I am trying to use Autodesk Inventor 2016 and it will load up work for a minute or two and then crash with a driver power state failure. I have already talked to Windows and Toshiba for over an hour with no solution. I wonder if it is a problem with the Nvidia GTX 950m graphics chip...

 

[Shaun_29]

Hi!

Two months ago, I bought a new laptop for college. As an engineer running Solidworks and the like, I thought it would be beneficial to purchase a laptop with a dedicated graphics card. Unfortunately, from day one, I ran into issues using the dedicated GPU. I have read through many, many, many forums, but none of their solutions have fixed my problem. I feel as if I have hit rock bottom on this problem. I will try to provide as much useful information as I can, using my knowledge of what all was in the forums I have read.

The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite S55t-C with the following hardware/software:

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ
OS: Windows 10
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M (dedicated), Intel HD Graphics 530 (integrated)
Nvidia Driver Version: 21.21.13.6909
Intel Graphics Driver Version: 20.19.15.4474
Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265

Whenever I run an application that is set to use the Nvidia graphics card, the application will eventually freeze. A minute or two later, windows will go BSOD, stating DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, then restart.

I have used WinDbg to open a minidump file created after one of the restarts, so I have that information if it is useful, but it's really really long, so I won't paste it in here unless someone requests it.

My 'workaround' has been to go into the Nvidia Control Panel/Mange 3D Settings/Global Settings and set the integrated Intel graphics card as default. This works, but it bugs me that I paid extra for a dedicated graphics card that I can't use.

On a slightly related note, I have also used Event Viewer to search for Warnings and Error messages before and after the BSOD occurs. While the computer is running, there is a steady flow of Warnings from WHEA-Logger (event ID 17), at a rate of about 1-6 every minute, depending on how much the computer is being used at that moment. That is the most prominent message, but I will list these others that occur before a BSOD, in order of appearance.

(Level/Source/Event ID)
Error/Application Error/1000
Error/EventLog/6008
Critical/Kernel-Power/41
Warning/Kernel-PnP/219
Error/DistributedCOM/10016
Error/TPM/12

I don't know if this information from the Event Viewer is relevant, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to mention it. The flood of WHEA-Logger warnings definitely looks fishy to me, but I've hit a wall in trying to fix it.

Any help that anybody is able to give would be greatly appreciated. As I said, I've been working on this on and off for two months and I have no more leads. Maybe somebody more experienced than me can pick this up and run with it.

Thank you!
Jonathan

"Own the same model Toshiba, this is a replacement they sent me another broken product. They pretty much confirmed its a bad nvidia card, so if your under warranty get ahold of toshiba, took me awhile to get them to actually agree with me about the gpu but you'll want it fixed certainly.

 

[Daniel_390]

I am so glad I found this site, I'm having the exact same problem with my Toshiba S55T

I have tried everything, spent days searching for a error.

After it reboots to factory setting for the billionth time I am going to try run with the Intel card if that works I'm going to be so relived as I found a solution

I thought it was the updates windows put out that I can't uninstall

So you don't have any problem with the new one they sent you?

 

[Shaun_29]

No my replacement laptop is the having this issue, i'll be sending it back today or tomorrow. It's a bad nvidia card so if its under warranty you'll want to contact them.

 

[Daniel_390]

Hi just letting you know I managed to fix it. I'll start with what I tried, after each try I tried the program but still failed.

1-7 did not work

1 update all drivers
2 update all windows drivers and components
3 Reinstall program
4 delete drivers, reinstall drivers to old then new
5 delete all windows updates
6 Reset PC to factory through Toshiba support in windows, tried without then with updating drivers and windows update
7 Reset PC to factory on start up tried without then with updating drivers and windows update

I read this post, so tried my programs with the Intel card they all worked

This option worked for me, I downloaded a torrent of windows 10 reformatted all hard drives, reinstalled windows, disabled windows updates do this before you connect to any internet. Updated all drivers through a driver program. Get the Nividia and Intel update tools from THEIR websites. Went to Nvidia program selected program I want to run to run with Intel card, worked. then tried it to run with Nvidia card and it Worked!!!

From there I thought having this illegal copy of windows isn't fair so I download windows 10 off the windows 10 website, formatted drives again and reinstalled it, lucky Toshiba save the windows key to the bios so you automatically get activated. My programs still run sweet, I still haven't allowed windows to update I am to scared to

Have tried all programs that previously BSOD and they run sweet.

I first recommend you going to the nvidia program and selecting all programs that may run with your program to use the NVIDIA card (do not select the autoselect option)

If that doesn't work format hard drive and reinstall windows making sure you dont let windows update

After that rant in short here was my problems

The updates caused a malfunction with drivers, Windows 10 had updates that were impossible to remove even after doing a Toshiba reset to factory settings, maybe they automatically save somewhere and don't get removed.

Or you just need to select all programs that may run with Nvidia card to run with it do not select the automatic option

I still haven't allowed windows to update and I have downloaded some of the programs off the Toshiba website not all of them

My computer actually runs so much better than when I first purchased it, I think all that crap Toshiba products and apps you can't remove ruin it's power

 

[J_Bob798]

Hey everybody, I actually was able to fix the problem that started this thread! I'm sorry I didn't get back to this thread after I had fixed it, it was only several weeks after posting my initial question that I solved the problem, and having not received any notifications that people had actually replied to the thread, I forgot that I had created it.

I determined that the cause of my problem was that when the graphics card drivers would attempt to bring one of the graphics card back from a sleeping state, it would fail and fire off the driver power state failure error. My solution was to turn off all power conservation features on my computer. I did this through the windows settings, through the NVidia graphics card settings, and through the Toshiba settings that one can navigate to during startup. Basically, what this did was prevent the computer from ever putting the graphics card into a low power state. Yes, I have noticed that the computer has a lower battery life after this fix, but given that the graphics on the computer for my work with SolidWorks is always top notch, I am content with my situation.

Again, I'm sorry that I'm so late to getting back to this thread, but I hope that this solves your problems, and the problems off those who come across this thread in the future. Thank you all!

 

[Indal]

Hey everybody, I actually was able to fix the problem that started this thread! I'm sorry I didn't get back to this thread after I had fixed it, it was only several weeks after posting my initial question that I solved the problem, and having not received any notifications that people had actually replied to the thread, I forgot that I had created it.

I determined that the cause of my problem was that when the graphics card drivers would attempt to bring one of the graphics card back from a sleeping state, it would fail and fire off the driver power state failure error. My solution was to turn off all power conservation features on my computer. I did this through the windows settings, through the NVidia graphics card settings, and through the Toshiba settings that one can navigate to during startup. Basically, what this did was prevent the computer from ever putting the graphics card into a low power state. Yes, I have noticed that the computer has a lower battery life after this fix, but given that the graphics on the computer for my work with SolidWorks is always top notch, I am content with my situation.

Again, I'm sorry that I'm so late to getting back to this thread, but I hope that this solves your problems, and the problems off those who come across this thread in the future. Thank you all!

How can i set it from the Nvidia Control Panel and Windows 10 settings? How i prevent from going into low power state.
I am having the exact same issue

 

[J_Bob798]

How can i set it from the Nvidia Control Panel and Windows 10 settings? How i prevent from going into low power state.
I am having the exact same issue

Go to your Windows settings, select the "Power and Sleep" tab, click "Additional Power Settings" at the bottom, click "Change plan settings" next to the plan that you already have selected, then click "Change advanced power settings" on the next window. I suggest putting both your "Wireless Adapter Settings" and your "Intel(R) Graphics Settings" to Maximum Performance both on battery and while plugged in.

Now, in your Nvidia graphics settings, set the Nvidia graphics card as the global setting.

I think this is what I did, but it has been so long, I apologize if this does not work for you. Either way, let me know!

 

[Indal]

How can i set it from the Nvidia Control Panel and Windows 10 settings? How i prevent from going into low power state.
I am having the exact same issue

Go to your Windows settings, select the "Power and Sleep" tab, click "Additional Power Settings" at the bottom, click "Change plan settings" next to the plan that you already have selected, then click "Change advanced power settings" on the next window. I suggest putting both your "Wireless Adapter Settings" and your "Intel(R) Graphics Settings" to Maximum Performance both on battery and while plugged in.

Now, in your Nvidia graphics settings, set the Nvidia graphics card as the global setting.

I think this is what I did, but it has been so long, I apologize if this does not work for you. Either way, let me know!

Thanks for the response,i have messed with all these and even more except the "Intel(R) Graphics Settings". I will do some testing now.

 

[Indal]

How can i set it from the Nvidia Control Panel and Windows 10 settings? How i prevent from going into low power state.
I am having the exact same issue

Go to your Windows settings, select the "Power and Sleep" tab, click "Additional Power Settings" at the bottom, click "Change plan settings" next to the plan that you already have selected, then click "Change advanced power settings" on the next window. I suggest putting both your "Wireless Adapter Settings" and your "Intel(R) Graphics Settings" to Maximum Performance both on battery and while plugged in.

Now, in your Nvidia graphics settings, set the Nvidia graphics card as the global setting.

I think this is what I did, but it has been so long, I apologize if this does not work for you. Either way, let me know!

Aaaaand now there is a different problem. Now the Laptop goes into bssod with
Video_tdr_failure at nvlddmkm.sys

It seems that Windows 10 and Nvidia doesnt work very well,i will most probably roll back to Windows 7

 

[buzz-cp]

...
My solution was to turn off all power conservation features on my computer. I did this through the windows settings, through the NVidia graphics card settings, and through the Toshiba settings that one can navigate to during startup. Basically, what this did was prevent the computer from ever putting the graphics card into a low power state.

How can i set it from the Nvidia Control Panel and Windows 10 settings? How i prevent from going into low power state.
I am having the exact same issue

...
Now, in your Nvidia graphics settings, set the Nvidia graphics card as the global setting.

I want to say up front THANK YOU! I have been having this exact same problem since I got my laptop Feb 2016. I am pretty sure we have the same/very similar machine based on your specs. I was excited to get a very good processor and graphics in a laptop but frustrated at the BSOD. I tried updating all the Nvidia drivers etc etc and gave up on Adobe software until yesterday when I wanted to mess around with photoshop again.

I just want to add/clarify for any others that I also changed the Power Settings under Nvidia Control Panel. See screenshot.

The laptop never was great off the battery anyway but that is the least of my concerns.