Dell E6420 with Nvidia Nvs 4200M on Mavericks

[Darvinko]

I know some of the E6XXX models had graphics issues with the newest Bios and noted yours was at the current version, so just a thought. Jakes is at A19, but with HD 3000 graphics.

[veedub89]

OK...  So..  Today, I went back and recorded what is happening with my system.  Sorry for the quality of the video.  I just had my iphone handy.  And to save space for the board, these are uploaded to my google drive.

 

The first video is done at bios rev A21.  I have bios at defaults, Jake's bootpack without any changes other than editing the boot plist for my 1600 x 900 screen.  And SwitchResX installed.  I rechecked to make sure that I was using his duallink DSDT, and the SSDT for for my i7-2720qm from the bp.  Sometimes, as you will see in this video, it takes a few seconds to get the error to happen.  I had to open a bunch of apps, to get it to happen, but it does.

 

I took the drive out without changing anything, put my windows drive in, and rolled back the BIOS to rev. A19.  Then put the Mavericks hard drive back in, and double checked to make sure that the BIOS was still in its default state.  Rebooted, and I got the same graphics glitches happening.  Dummy me, I didn't actually capture a video, as my phone dropped back to photo mode.  But I re-recorded it later as I will explain.

 

Then I pulled the drive out again, rolled the BIOS back to A17(there is no A18). Put my mac drive back in. And this is the resulting video.  The glitch happened right away this time.

 

Then I pulled the drive out, rolled the BIOS back to A16.  Then put the mac drive back in, and rebooted.  Here's that video, and again you can see that it is happening right away.

 

Then I put the BIOS back to rev A19 after realizing that I hadn't actually recorded it at this BIOS before.  Rebooted.  I have the suggested AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext installed this time.  And I moved the EDID override file back to where it is supposed to go.  That's what I was trying to show when I ran out of room to record any more video on my phone.  It does coincide with the same id that shows up in SwitchResX.  I've checked the EDID vendor id, and product id against what shows up in windows, so I know that is right.  Here's that video.

 

I didn't want to roll back the bios any further, as I have explained previously, that I have tried all this at rev A14, A08, and A06.  I just did this to document that it had been done without resolving the issue.

 

Is there any way that this could be a hardware issue?  Like the lcd panel? or the cable?

[veedub89]

I think my suspicion may be confirmed.  I just went on the dell support site, and checked the part number of the display panel.  It's saying that it is WJ139, and made by AU Optronics according to the original configuration list.  When I bought this laptop, one of the hinges was really loose, and the lid had a few dents and scratches in it.  I found a brand new replacement lid on ebay, and ordered it for about the same price as a new pair of hinges($20).  It had the cable already attached.  So that is what has been causing me to think that it might not be a good cable. or possibly could be the LCD.  BUT, when I replaced the cover, I also took pictures of the back of the LCD for future reference.  The LCD in it is a LG panel, and I cant find any cross reference part numbers to match to the panel that should be there.  Maybe this panel is not fully compatible?

[Bronxteck]

if possible watch your GPU temps when the error occurs with like fakesmc and hardware monitor.

[veedub89]

I can't when I have Jake's DSDT in there.  FakeSMC doesn't show it for some reason.  I can get the GPU temps when I am using my working extra without Optimus enabled.  Just not when Jake's bp is in there.  When I put the new mobo in, I was cautious to make sure I watch the temps.  I only use Arctic silver thermal paste on the CPU too.  I even put new thermal pads on the graphics chip, and northbridge chip to make sure it was well protected.

I looked further into the LCD panel possibility.  I pulled the lcd out, and realized that they had a sticker over the LG part number.  It cross references as a dell pn. GJ494.  They used them in the 6420s.  But....  I found a spec site for both panels.  The only differences between the two are brightness, and response time.  The panel in my system now has a response time double that of the one the is supposed to be in there.  16ms vs. 8ms.  Could the response time difference be what is causing it?

 

This is the specs of the panel that is in there now. :Dell PN. GJ494

 

This is the specs of the panel that should be in there. :  Dell PN. WJ139

[Darvinko]

In case you are dealing with a potentially corrupted kext in your installer, download the Extensions (from S/L/E) and replace yours, then run myFix Full if you haven't already tried this. NVidia's website does not list a Mac driver for the Quadro NVS 4200M, it does offer an option to find the drivers for your NVidia products, which may offer an update to resolve it

[veedub89]

I downloaded the nvidia mac driver, and tried to install it.  It just told me that my hardware wasn't supported.  

 

I then remade the installer on a different usb stick.  Re-downloaded the boot pack again, and reinstalled the system one more time to check for corruption.   That didn't fix the issue.  btw, I'm still at bios rev A19.

 

Then added the edid info file again, and rebooted.  That didn't work either.  

 

Re-downloaded the AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext file that Jake suggested, and reloaded it.  No help.  

 

For fun, I deleted the corresponding files to the modded files in my E/E directory.  No help.  

 

Then I removed the modded AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext from E/E, knowing that I didn't have the corresponding file in S/L/E anymore.  After rebuilding, and rebooting, I finally no longer have the artifacts showing up.  Only problem is that I lost QE/CI, and sleep no longer works.  

 

I then put the original file back in S/L/E.  I know have QE/CI back, but now the artifacts are back.

[Darvinko]

Unfortunately, I do not know enough about how the FB kext was modified, but it seems like there is an issue there with either the kext (did you try re-downloading it?), or with how the kext relates to your display. The refresh rate may play into it, which may be modifiable within the kext.

[Bronxteck]

try with different smbios configurations maybe the card is better supported emulating another model then your current one

[veedub89]

Unfortunately, I do not know enough about how the FB kext was modified, but it seems like there is an issue there with either the kext (did you try re-downloading it?), or with how the kext relates to your display. The refresh rate may play into it, which may be modifiable within the kext.

I have re-downloaded it several times with no luck.  I have gone back into the AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext, and first looked at the info.plist with PlistEditPro.  Under IOKitPersonlities/AppleIntelSNBGraphicsController/FeatureControl there are the following keys.

DPM

FBC

GPUInterruptHandling

Gamma

IgnorePanelTimings

MaximumSelfRefreshLevel

PowerStates

RenderStandby

SetRC6Voltage

UseInterruptFilter

Watermarks

 

I changed the IgnorePanelTimings from 0 to 1.

 

Ran Myfix, Quick and rebooted.  Still had the artifacts.

 

Then I went into IOKitPersonalities/AppleIntelSNBGraphicsController2/FeatureControl, and also changed the IgnorePanelTimings from 0 to 1.  Ran Myfix, Quick, and rebooted.  Still had the artifacts.

 

There was one more IgnorePanelTimings under IOKitPersonalities/AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB/FeatureControl.  I changed it from 0 to 1.  Ran my fix, quick, and rebooted.  Still get the artifacts, but they were a more difficult to make happen, but they were still there.

 

Then I went back to the modified kext that Jake posted where one of the connectors is removed.  Made the same changes as above.  Then I went and modified it to remove all the connectors except the LVDS connector from the kext.  It now has become very difficult to make the artifacts show.  I have to open many programs to get them to show up.  But even then they have been pretty quick to go back away.  I still get the main ring stuck error in the console that I posted about earlier, and the system pauses for a quick second.  But it is much more usable.

 

I’m not sure what all those keys mean, so I don’t know which keys to have a try with.  The IgnorePanelTimings key just seemed like the obvious choice.  Knowing that these changes are making a difference, I am really leaning heavily again to the panel being the cause of my troubles.  I've just spent so much on upgrades, and the mobo replacement, that I'm a little hesitant to jump into ordering a replacement at the moment.