Nvida 8400M GS only working with WDDM

bobkn said:

Very strange.

Does that laptop use the "optimus" drivers?

No Optimus drivers installed and i don't think it supports Optimus technology.

Hi and thank you all for the help.

Now I think theres a hardware error.
I just tested to make a clean install of Windows XP 32 bit and downloaded the supported driver from Dell (R205204)
This should totally be working but its not:


This must be some kind of hardware related problem with the graphic card. Something like it's getting overheated because the load is harder when you installed the right drivers.

I removed all the dust from the fan and the heatsink for the heatpipe so cooling should be good enough.

pebbly said:

HI vovven, This all points to a faulty GFX card , You could try the "baking" method see if you can fix it that way ,Many of the Nvidia 7 and 8 series mobile GFX cards were produced using a "cheap" solder that caused micro fissures to appear in the tracks ,hence the cards would malfunction ,They can be professionally "reflowed" but at a high cost

I doubt that this laptop has a discrete graphics card. Do you propose baking the whole laptop? Or removing the motherboard and baking that?

I suppose that the Vostro is off warranty. If I was trying to revive it, I'd probably get a replacement motherboard for it from one of the eBay storefronts: looks like it'd be $100-$150US. I have no idea whether that approach is useful to non-US residents.

pebbly said:

HI vovven, This all points to a faulty GFX card , You could try the "baking" method see if you can fix it that way ,Many of the Nvidia 7 and 8 series mobile GFX cards were produced using a "cheap" solder that caused micro fissures to appear in the tracks ,hence the cards would malfunction ,They can be professionally "reflowed" but at a high cost

If i try the "baking" method i need to bake the whole motherboard

I was thinking of trying the "heat gun" method first. Now i just need to get a hold of a heat gun :)

Hi all,

So i did the solution with the heat gun and it worked (i don't know for how long it will work)

Here is the solution:

I removed the fan and the heat pipe, I also removed the memory because it's close to the GPU:


I used aluminum foil to protect other parts from heat and cut out a square for the GPU:


Then i heated it up quite well with the heat gun:


Then i let it cool down for 30 min and the putt all the parts together and booted it up.

Now it is working! Running Win 7 x64 and the latest drivers from Nvidia
Lets just hope it stays this way

I would have guessed that it would be a crazy thing to try.

It doesn't absolutely prove that you fixed a broken solder connection, but if it works...

Thanks for posting back.