Predator 15 G9 593 freezing during driver update

GRIMS · August 2020

I had this issue about 2 months
Where I had a windows update then my display driver freezes
all programs are running, only the display stopped.

SPECS: GTX 1070 i7 16gram
Predator 15 g9593

Ive tried clean installation of windows (1709, 1903, 2004), drivers (DDU), set things to maximum performance... nada

Only thing working is the stock driver from acer (nvidia 384.94)
aside from that every update that deals with display adapter gets an error 43 or freezes

My only solution was to use older version of windows (1709) where i don't get my monitor freezing whenever I update the driver
then install it in legacy..

Then when I update the drivers to latest, I need to uninstall it in the device manager and restart, since it won't recognize the driver by initial install

the same problem occurs whenever I restart or shutdown. The driver stopped responding and I get this dark display where I cant adjust the brightness

Any solution would be gladly appreciated

aphanic · August 2020

Let's see what we can do about this, it piqued my interest.

There's clearly some incompatibility here somewhere between the drivers and card itself, Acer might have customized something that's preventing it from working correctly with newer drivers.

I have some questions for you:

Are you running on the latest firmware upgrade? Sometimes updates to the firmware of the machine also contain updates to the vBIOS of the cards, if you're not using the latest one it may be worth a try upgrading.
Which kinds of drivers are you installing, the standard (legacy) version of them or DCH ones? NVIDIA is one of the few manufacturers still providing current standard drivers but they have to be downloaded from nvidia.com instead of geforce.com or they won't show up. Maybe that makes a difference.

For example:
- Latest standard (non-DCH) studio drivers: https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/162470/en-us
- Latest standard (non-DCH) game-ready drivers: https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/162103/en-us
Not knowing which releases you have tried it's hard to recommend one over another, but for completeness please post the IDs of your card:

GRIMS · August 2020

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/0v/p63qete9xjg9.jpg

Thank you for your interest in my case

•I have the latest BIOS from acer (BIOS 1.14 )
•I am running 446.14 right now since its the most stable with some programs (again, whenever I restart, I still get error 43)
•Ive manually installed the latest drivers from nvidia.com also tried the geforce experience but same result
•I also tried the drivers from advance driver search dating up to Nov2019 and also tried old drivers from Guru3d.. still no go
•Also cleaned the fans, repasted the thermal paste.. same result
•I installed the OS in legacy mode because its the only place where i can uninstall the display driver from device manager, then get it working when i reboot

aphanic · August 2020

Yep, for those IDs (VEN IDs NVIDIA, DEV IDs the card and SUBSYS Acer) it seems the latest Acer released were some pre 400s, but newer than the ones listed for your machine, they were for an Aspire VX5-591G, v398.26 (I'll leave a link in case you need them or result useful for something). Those should at least allow you to get to a newer release of Windows.

I think 2004 had an upgrade lock on NVIDIA cards running drivers older than 358 I think it was, but the original ones provided for your laptop were past that already. Those I linked should be perfectly compatible too by the way, there's an entry for your exact card.

Since you're in legacy it's worth a try to see if any of the standard ones I posted above work. Worst case scenario boot into Safe Mode and DDU the hell out of them, then reinstall the 446.14 you have now that work well... until you restart

At least in the studio ones there are entries for the exact card as well, with the same subsystem identification which are the ones that would be installed. I didn't verify the game ready ones, but I imagine they'd be the same. In the meantime I'll try locating a database I had on NVIDIA drivers, see what I can find in between those release, in case you feel like trying until you find the last ones that work properly :P

GRIMS · August 2020

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/41/0x14b3ac4603.jpg

v398.26

aphanic · August 2020

WTF... and in a clean installation of Windows as well, either your card is really picky or something is up; I'll package all of the drivers I have that have a profile for that exact card. Goddarn it, one of them is bound to work.

aphanic · August 2020

I have found just 3 that have entries for that exact card, but I'm not too optimistic after seeing the results from the test with those other Acer provided ones, I wonder what kind of things differ in the design of that card vs. the others...

In any case, I left them here: https://mega.nz/file/9ZUHwaCT#KvYNLZw0QuImn5UAD4OHyEXEoNm4xRJPSiEPE7sqBgs

Versions are 391.35, 451.67 and 451.77 (similar to the current ones but different somehow). Best of luck!

GRIMS · August 2020

Hey man, again, cant thank you enough for your attention to this
Sorry for the late reply, I just woke up

Unfortunately the problem still exist with all the given drivers

Ive tried:
•Clean Install (DDU)
•Disabled driver signature
•disk install via device manager
•Express & Custom (clean) install in nvidia installer

confirming all drivers would work by the 'uninstall & reboot' method (but still no fix)

Its weird because I had this latop since 2017 and I only got this problem this year (upon start of corona virus, lol)
only thing that is working at any given time is the stock acer VGA 384.94

Though, I can use it in windows 2004, some new programs are not compatible w/ it
Now im still on activated 1709, but cant play new games that needs new firmware

Thanks for the drivers!, ill keep them, i saw video of someone modifying the installer to the right fit
but its on hindi, lol...

Also I saw this, (i think we may have the same issue? not sure, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2J3yhGhMkU)

again, if you have any suggestions, it would be highly appreciated
All the best,

GRIMS · August 2020

Here are some threads same with this issue:

•https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/595012/predator-g9-593-freezes-upon-nvidia-driver-update-current-version-22-21-13-8494
•https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/589422/whole-system-freeze-up-after-driver-update-predator-g9-593
•https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/356182/predator-g9-593-freezes-upon-nvidia-driver-update-/?topicPage=2&commentPage=1

I believe all were unsolved

aphanic · August 2020

Oh man... I just skimmed through those threads, seems like your issue isn't isolated.

I'm afraid I'm out of drivers that target that exact card, I have plenty more, specially over the years and they would work on different mobile 1070s, but I only sent you the ones that specifically mentioned your card, as in a GTX 1070 made by Acer, on the thought that if any of them was to be compatible those would have the greater chances.

But they didn't, and looking at the JayzTwoCents video makes me think it's a hardware fault of some sort? And only an Acer engineer that could run more advanced things on their end could help then... but we're fresh out of those in the community forums so you may need to stick to those 384.94.

Drop by LaptopVideo2Go, and talk about your issue there, maybe someone there has a better insight on what's going on and/or can provide you with some modded drivers for you to try.

xapim · August 2020

GRIMS do not try the latest nvidia drivers as they are not optimised for your 1070 they are only optimised for the latest gpus i myself still using 416.94 no issues here and only updated once never again hope some older drivers work just keep trying maybe try to install it under safe mode also check if is there any bios updates for your own models and its notes to what it fixes good luck

GRIMS · August 2020

Hi guys, thanks for the encrouragement, lol
upon digging i found out that drivers: 385, 387 & 388.59 works

i can run programs w/ opengl
i cant run it via vulkan since i think its outdated

ill continue my search to the unknown

hope i can get the updated versions
*weird because i was running all the latest drivers since last year..

anyway thanks again guys

GRIMS · August 2020

Here are some threads same with this issue:

•https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/595012/predator-g9-593-freezes-upon-nvidia-driver-update-current-version-22-21-13-8494
•https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/589422/whole-system-freeze-up-after-driver-update-predator-g9-593
•https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/356182/predator-g9-593-freezes-upon-nvidia-driver-update-/?topicPage=2&commentPage=1

I believe all were unresolved

Abdoett · November 2021

Have you fixed it yet

GRIMS · November 2021

Nope. it just completely died after a few months. probably a motherboard issue. i bought a new laptop because the cost of replacing it was too much

xapim · November 2021

GRIMS thats always the best option donor mobos are expensive and you also dunno how much will they last as they are used refurbished so yeah

Abdoett · December 2021

GRIMS said:

Nope. it just completely died after a few months. probably a motherboard issue. i bought a new laptop because the cost of replacing it was too much

since u re well aware of this issue i hope u can help me
what s the best option that i can do ?
am using now Windows 10 Pro 19043.98 and nvidia 384.94
it works fine but u know can t run new games and apps
bought the laptop used in august 2021 so i don't know when it began to freeze