Razor Blade 15 Periodical Black Screen | Razer Insider

Razor Blade 15 Periodical Black Screen


Hello.

I recently purchased a Razor Blade 15 RTX 2080 (*removed for security purposes). Now I have the problem that from time to time the screen gets black. Then I have to press the power button a few times so that I can log in again. Then I'm logged back into the system and can continue working from where the screen failed.

Do you have a suggestion for a solution to this problem?

Greetings, Manfred

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133 Replies

Hello

I purchased the Razer 15 (advanced) on 9/11/19 and I'm experiencing the same issue as everyone else on here. This is extremely frustrating as these systems cost at least $3,000. I've tried everything in this thread and I'm seem to have the issue (every) time I unlock the computer from being asleep. I have all the updated drivers. Is there a solution yet?
Like many of you I also am suffering from the black screen issue on my Mid 2019 2080 max-q blade that I just brought in early September. In my personal experience, I only ever experience this issue if I let my laptop sleep in any form, whether it is closing the lid, letting my laptop going to sleep, or using the sleep button. Only shutting down and then restarting the laptop temporarily prevents this issue until I let it go to sleep again. My only way around this was to set power options to never let my laptop go to sleep and having to shut down my laptop whenever I take my laptop anywhere. But it still sucks that I cannot ever use such a basic function on a laptop otherwise I get the black screen issue every other minute after letting my laptop going to sleep. I did contact Razer support to get a case going but their last response was on September 21st. Hopefully there a fix soon for all of us soon.
I was wondering if anybody exchanged their laptop and still had the issue persist? I did a full recovery, clean install of drivers last night. I also noticed that my wifi was cutting out sporadically prior to this. Both the screen and wifi issues continued until I put my power setting on "Best performance." After that connection was solid and screen didn't go black for the rest of the night. Going to test tonight to see if I can replicate with certainty. If it is a software issue I would not want to exchange because the hardware is otherwise excellent and I'd prefer not to lose my laptop again after just purchasing it.
Well, same thing. Better Performance worked all night last night. Then today coming home after work, BSOD every 30 seconds.

RAZER QUALITY CHECK YOUR PRODUCTS BEFORE SELLING TO THE PUBLIC!

Now I've got to return this hunk of crap. Fun times.
While I'm waiting for my replacement, run the Intel UHD Graphics Control Panel App. Under the refresh rate, switch from 240 to 60 Hz. I know it's not the cream of the crop but so far no black screens popping up.

Please let me know if anyone else has tried this with success. Then we can narrow the issue down.
I bought my Mercury White blade 15, full HD, RTX 2070 in July of this year. I expected to be using it for gaming but turns out it has more been a $3000 web browser for school. I was working in Chrome yesterday and the display just went black. I started a support ticket through the chat on my phone, I don't have an external monitor to use for testing. It's very unsettling to see so many people having an issue with this system having the display go black. I'm incredibly frustrated!! I need to continue my open case but it's looking like there isn't a resolution at this time. Has anyone been through a repair/replacement/refund process due to this issue? For a two month old laptop I should not having to be dealing with this.
siteinteractiveSand972
I bought my Mercury White blade 15, full HD, RTX 2070 in July of this year. I expected to be using it for gaming but turns out it has more been a $3000 web browser for school. I was working in Chrome yesterday and the display just went black. I started a support ticket through the chat on my phone, I don't have an external monitor to use for testing. It's very unsettling to see so many people having an issue with this system having the display go black. I'm incredibly frustrated!! I need to continue my open case but it's looking like there isn't a resolution at this time. Has anyone been through a repair/replacement/refund process due to this issue? For a two month old laptop I should not having to be dealing with this.

Pretty pissed there isn't a customer support number where I can actually talk to someone instead of having to do a chat support session or email.
Userlevel 7
siteinteractiveSand972
Pretty pissed there isn't a customer support number where I can actually talk to someone instead of having to do a chat support session or email.


Hey there! I replied to your PM. Let's continue from there.

Hi everyone! If you want to talk to our Support Team, please click this link and change the preferred country at the top-right corner of the page.
ThomasHedegaard
Thanks @Razer.Speedcr0ss - but can you please also give an overall update in this public conversation so that people know the current status of this issue? It would be nice to know whether Razer has any clue on what's going on, or whether they still don't know anything. Any kind of update would be nice. Thanks. Cc @_crashbandicoot @SJerc

@Razer.Speedcr0ss do you have any thoughts on this one?
bought advance blade 15 rtx 2070 with 240hrz monitor a week ago. i got to say I was excited to replace my old clevo laptop.

however i started getting issues.screen flickers sometimes and sometimes laptop display just turns off.
laptop seem to be still running (just no display on the built in monitor), i tried plugging in to an external monitor and there was an external display. also happened when i was watching a video and the audio would still run.

i've reached out to razer and already tired restoring and disabling windows update updating the graphics drivers turning off panel refresh and dispay power saving technology
Ive asked for options but the suggestion was to have it shipped to them for "Replacement" but ill have to pay for taxes and duties when it shipped back to me. customer service accused me of trying to get refund with out sending the items back

seeing how there are a lot more people experiencing the same issue I feel cheated and majorly inconvenience.

ps black screen issue happened to me twice while writing this thing
ThomasHedegaard
@Razer.Speedcr0ss do you have any thoughts on this one?


@Razer.Speedcr0ss do you have any thoughts on this one yet?
I have the same issue. screen goes black as soon as I start using battery multiple times. became worse after windows update!
Any solution???
I've spoke too soon regarding my situation . The blanking came back for me and I was plugged in. In the past, I have seen it either on battery or plugged in. Reflecting on my case when I didn't experience the problem, I was mostly using programs that really didn't trigger the gpu. I've reset my laptop to prep it to return, but now I want to know if anyone has tried to use the Nvidia control panel to manually select gpu's versus letting Optimus automatically figure out our needs. My gut is that Optimus is playing up as other laptop manufacturers get the same issue here and there because of it.
Still having this issue and incredibly frustrated! I have updated my bios, updated graphics driver, changed power settings, used the troubleshooter to change power settings and more. Support is now wanting me to change when my laptop goes to sleep and hibernates as well as disable fast startup. I should NOT have to be making all of these configuration changes to a 3 month old laptop. I am furious that this starts happening shortly after I came out of the return period. In a 1/2 hour time period the display went black 7 times!!! I want to return this laptop and get a refund. I purchased Razer care elite when I bought this thing, I feel like it should cover my desire to return it after the return period. I can't see this going anywhere but worse than what it already is.
siteinteractiveSand972
Still having this issue and incredibly frustrated! I have updated my bios, updated graphics driver, changed power settings, used the troubleshooter to change power settings and more. Support is now wanting me to change when my laptop goes to sleep and hibernates as well as disable fast startup. I should NOT have to be making all of these configuration changes to a 3 month old laptop. I am furious that this starts happening shortly after I came out of the return period. In a 1/2 hour time period the display went black 7 times!!! I want to return this laptop and get a refund. I purchased Razer care elite when I bought this thing, I feel like it should cover my desire to return it after the return period. I can't see this going anywhere but worse than what it already is.


i have the same issue, Mine was still under the 14 days warranty in the middle of the process razer assured me that as long as i started the refund process before the 14 days warranty ends then it's ok. then they didnt reply to me until the end of the warranty (despite server follow ups) to let me know that i needed to return it physically so now time travel back a few days and then fly to hongkong to return it. talk about inconvenience.

all this was after one of their support team accused me of trying to get my money back without sending the laptop back.
Userlevel 7
tjchua
i have the same issue, Mine was still under the 14 days warranty in the middle of the process razer assured me that as long as i started the refund process before the 14 days warranty ends then it's ok. then they didnt reply to me until the end of the warranty (despite server follow ups) to let me know that i needed to return it physically so now time travel back a few days and then fly to hongkong to return it. talk about inconvenience.

all this was after one of their support team accused me of trying to get my money back without sending the laptop back.


Hey there! I replied to your PM. Let's continue from there.
ThomasHedegaard
@Razer.Speedcr0ss do you have any thoughts on this one yet?

@Razer.Speedcr0ss do you have any thoughts on this one yet yet?
Userlevel 7
ThomasHedegaard
@Razer.Speedcr0ss do you have any thoughts on this one yet yet?


Hey there! I can provide steps to isolate the laptop's concern. However, if the issue persists, I have to create a case ID and forward it to the support team. Please send me a PM anytime.
@Razer.Speedcr0ss Given that there are several of us with the same issue, maybe some sort of formal statement from Razer with some facts would be nice. As an example, something along the lines of "we currently have 23 official cases open for this issue. Out of all of the claims for this specific issue, we have 3 different display manufacturers and have isolated there are zero issues with the actual display. Furthermore we have also received 3 units from warranty claim filers, each representing each of the display manufacturers to review the assembly to ensure there are no assembly line issues. As of this date, we believe we may have a software issue and have been collecting usage and software installation patterns to determine a pattern. If you have not filed a claim, we strongly encourage you to do so."

Not really expecting a quick fix given the randomness of the issue, but at least something to demonstrate that the issue is indeed being seriously looked into to give your customers some warm and fuzzies as the whole "PM me" approach doesn't sit well. Not everyone has been fortunate enough like myself to have purchased the unit at an extreme discount, which in turn has made it a bit easier to bit the bullet and take a chance to let the return period lapse. Now that I've committed to keeping my laptop, I will pay more attention to what I'm doing if the issue happens, again since I was mainly focused on benchmarking laptops to determine which one I liked the best. From my past experience, it didn't seem like it mattered if the laptop was plugged in or not, Synapse was in Balanced or Custom mode, whether Intel XTU was being used or not, or if the laptop was being stressed or not. It's definitely a major head scratcher but I do think it's a SW issue. Anyway, just providing some feedback, so hopefully it doesn't come across harsh. Best of luck in addressing this weird issue.
SJerc
I've spoke too soon regarding my situation . The blanking came back for me and I was plugged in. In the past, I have seen it either on battery or plugged in. Reflecting on my case when I didn't experience the problem, I was mostly using programs that really didn't trigger the gpu. I've reset my laptop to prep it to return, but now I want to know if anyone has tried to use the Nvidia control panel to manually select gpu's versus letting Optimus automatically figure out our needs. My gut is that Optimus is playing up as other laptop manufacturers get the same issue here and there because of it.


I think this fixed it for me, I went into Nvidia Control Panel -> Manage 3D Settings -> Preferred Graphics Processor and changed it from Auto-Select to High-Performance NVIDIA Processor and haven't had a black screen for the past couple of days. After dealing with this issue for so long and trying so many different fixes, I still find myself expecting the screen to turn black any second now. Hopefully this helps the rest of you who are having this issue as well, I'll update here if I start seeing the issue again
the2parker
I think this fixed it for me, I went into Nvidia Control Panel -> Manage 3D Settings -> Preferred Graphics Processor and changed it from Auto-Select to High-Performance NVIDIA Processor and haven't had a black screen for the past couple of days. After dealing with this issue for so long and trying so many different fixes, I still find myself expecting the screen to turn black any second now. Hopefully this helps the rest of you who are having this issue as well, I'll update here if I start seeing the issue again


Hah, we're all expecting it to blank at any moment because we've been conditioned like lab rats. If it doesn't reoccur for a long while then it strongly points to Nvidia's Optimus. What version on you on? I'm on 436.48 and I have noticed that Nvidia has been releasing recent updates for stability issues in a few game titles almost as bad as iOS 13 releases. The screen blanking didn't really occur much for me, but I was running 2 different laptops through the paces to decide on a winner to keep. That means, I was rebooting, shutting down, and restoring the factory image pretty often which would make any memory leak issues less likely to show up. When the issue did show up, it was during times of leaving things running long enough to use the laptop like an actual laptop versus a test subject. lol
SJerc
Hah, we're all expecting it to blank at any moment because we've been conditioned like lab rats. If it doesn't reoccur for a long while then it strongly points to Nvidia's Optimus. What version on you on? I'm on 436.48 and I have noticed that Nvidia has been releasing recent updates for stability issues in a few game titles almost as bad as iOS 13 releases. The screen blanking didn't really occur much for me, but I was running 2 different laptops through the paces to decide on a winner to keep. That means, I was rebooting, shutting down, and restoring the factory image pretty often which would make any memory leak issues less likely to show up. When the issue did show up, it was during times of leaving things running long enough to use the laptop like an actual laptop versus a test subject. lol


I'm on 436.48 as well. It was occurring pretty often for me, usually right after I woke up my laptop from sleep. Restarting usually helped for a while, but after 15-30 minutes of use it would start blanking again. Occasionally it would just blank randomly while working on something, but that didn't happen too much. I'm just hoping this is finally the fix, I've been trying to fix it for a month or so now
the2parker
I'm on 436.48 as well. It was occurring pretty often for me, usually right after I woke up my laptop from sleep. Restarting usually helped for a while, but after 15-30 minutes of use it would start blanking again. Occasionally it would just blank randomly while working on something, but that didn't happen too much. I'm just hoping this is finally the fix, I've been trying to fix it for a month or so now


Was it happening while on 436.48? Also when you updated to 436.48, did you toggle it for a custom install so that you can check mark the option for a clean installation? My current setup on my laptop after I factory restored it, is pretty vanilla. Just have Gears of War 5, MSI Afterburner, HWiNFO64, Intel XTU (-130 mV), Termius SSH client, Avira Free Antivirus (add-on junk components like Avira VPN uninstalled), and Brave Browser (HW acceleration turned off) on top of the up to date Windows 10 and Razer stuff. I have all default settings for the Intel Graphics Control Panel. When on battery, my Windows power mode is set to Better Battery. When plugged in, it's on Best Performance. So far, it's been 2 days since the last power cycle with regular web browser usage and several 1-2 hr gaming sessions under both Synapse custom modes of either CPU/GPU all set to high and low. So far, the screen blanking hasn't occurred and I've kept Nvidia Optimus set for auto switching since the system restore. Be good to see other's settings and sw usage to figure a pattern. Will update this thread if it occurs for me, again and will continue to note my system changes.
the2parker
I think this fixed it for me, I went into Nvidia Control Panel -> Manage 3D Settings -> Preferred Graphics Processor and changed it from Auto-Select to High-Performance NVIDIA Processor and haven't had a black screen for the past couple of days. After dealing with this issue for so long and trying so many different fixes, I still find myself expecting the screen to turn black any second now. Hopefully this helps the rest of you who are having this issue as well, I'll update here if I start seeing the issue again

I am trying this today and will post back later if it seems to fix it.
Update: I tried the2parker's suggestion to go into Nvidia Control Panel -> Manage 3D Settings -> Preferred Graphics Processor and changed it from Auto-Select to High-Performance NVIDIA Processor

My typical 'black screen' scenario would be watching full-screen Youtube videos when the charger is unplugged. Not sure if that's a cause, but that's when it most commonly happens.

Anyway, so far, so good. Playing full screen Youtube vids on battery without a black screen today. I'll post back if it occurs again or if I have more info on it.