Black screen of death: Troubleshooting help?


  1. Posts : 10
    Windows 10
       #1

    Black screen of death: Troubleshooting help?


    Hi everyone,

    I am having problems with a DELL 4200 and an eeePC 901, both of which occasionally just switch to a black screen while I'm working, so I eventually have to restart the computer and thereby lose all work that wasn't previously saved. HD indicator stays off whatever I push and press, so this is not just the display failing.

    Obviously, both computers have little in common (different manufacturers, different hardware etc.). What they do have in common is:

    - Windows 10 (32 bit version on one, 64 bit on the other)
    - Samsung Evo 850 SSD drives

    Apart from some common software, like Irfanview or Libre Office, which aren't really likely suspects imho, that's about it.

    Does anyone have an idea how to troubleshoot this? If I had to guess, this is probably about some incompatibility with the Samsung drives. I've already learned that I can't use "sleep" with my Evo SSDs (sleep, as in: where the computer goes in low-energy mode but power stays on), as the system is likely to crash upon wakeup. Hibernation (where everything is saved to drive and the computer shuts down) seems to work, but the symptoms when the system eventually does crash randomly (?) are reminiscent of what I saw with sleep mode (although not the same), so maybe it doesn't work that well after all.

    Unfortunatley, hibernation is quite important to me, so I'd hate to avoid using it for weeks or even months just to second-guess whether or not it is actually the culprit (current crashes aren't that frequent). So I was wondering if anyone has some more troubleshooting tips for me? Crash logs show nothing. Driver Verifier has already been used, but found nothing. Samsung Magician has been set to NOT start with Windows 10, but that didn't help.

    Thanks!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 23
    Windows 10 Pro 1703 x64
       #2

    Whyfly said:
    Hi everyone,

    I am having problems with a DELL 4200 and an eeePC 901, both of which occasionally just switch to a black screen while I'm working, so I eventually have to restart the computer and thereby lose all work that wasn't previously saved. HD indicator stays off whatever I push and press, so this is not just the display failing.

    Obviously, both computers have little in common (different manufacturers, different hardware etc.). What they do have in common is:

    - Windows 10 (32 bit version on one, 64 bit on the other)
    - Samsung Evo 850 SSD drives

    Apart from some common software, like Irfanview or Libre Office, which aren't really likely suspects imho, that's about it.

    Does anyone have an idea how to troubleshoot this? If I had to guess, this is probably about some incompatibility with the Samsung drives. I've already learned that I can't use "sleep" with my Evo SSDs (sleep, as in: where the computer goes in low-energy mode but power stays on), as the system is likely to crash upon wakeup. Hibernation (where everything is saved to drive and the computer shuts down) seems to work, but the symptoms when the system eventually does crash randomly (?) are reminiscent of what I saw with sleep mode (although not the same), so maybe it doesn't work that well after all.

    Unfortunatley, hibernation is quite important to me, so I'd hate to avoid using it for weeks or even months just to second-guess whether or not it is actually the culprit (current crashes aren't that frequent). So I was wondering if anyone has some more troubleshooting tips for me? Crash logs show nothing. Driver Verifier has already been used, but found nothing. Samsung Magician has been set to NOT start with Windows 10, but that didn't help.

    Thanks!
    Just my 2 cents here, but I am using a Samsung Evo 850 SSD drive with Windows 10 just fine. I am on an Asus motherboard that is only a few years old with the latest BIOS and chipset drivers.

    I have solved sleep issues on my PC by going to my system/motherboard manufacturer support website and searching for the latest drivers. Make sure you are using the drivers for your system and not some offered by Microsoft, except as a last resort

    The chipset drivers provided by your manufacturer are probably the most important to the power issues. If that doesn't help, maybe as a check your BIOS version and see if there is a newer one available. Flashing a BIOS can be risky or completely brick your system, so be sure you know what you are doing if you attempt that.
      My Computer


 

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