Omen 17; White Screen of Death when Gaming

[eBandit]

I have recently taken delivery of an HP OMEN 17 and have has the disappointing expereince of the "White Screen of Death" when gaming at an apparently random time after starting a gaming session. 

Since getting the macine I have upgraded the NVME drive to a Smasung 960 Pro and the RAM to 16GB.  I have re-installede the machine from the image burnt through Support Assitant, Upgraded the BIOS to F.44 and installed the latest NVIDIA drivers (390.77).  I am running the supplied Windows 10 Home x64 which has been fully updated.

When playing World of Warships or World of Warplanes for ~30 minutes, the screen will freeze for a couple of seconds, then go white with multicoloured pixelation, before rebooting the machine.  This has happened 3 times in the last two days.  

I love the machine and really want to fix this issue, please help.

[sandytechy20]

@eBandit

Welcome to the HP Forums, this is a great location to get assistance! I read your post and see that you are getting white screen of death while gaming. I would like to help you resolve this issue. 

However, I will need a few details to provide an accurate solution,

1. When did this issue start?
2. Did you do any hardware or software changes?

Meanwhile:

Boot the computer into the Bios and check if the issue persists.

1. Turn on or restart the computer.

2. While the display is blank, press the f10 key to enter the BIOS settings menu.

3. The BIOS settings menu is accessible by pressing the f2 or the f6 key on some computers.

If it happens in the Bios, then it's a possible hardware failure,

I would personally suggest you contact our HP phone support for further assistance. If your product is Out of warranty then remember to choose the paid options to get the tech support number.

They might have multiple options to help you on this.

Please use the following link to create yourself a case number, then call and it may help speed up the call process:

Step 1. Open link: www.hp.com/contacthp/

Step 2. Enter Product number or select to auto detect

Step 3. Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"

Step 4. Scroll down and click: HP contact options - click on Get phone number and phone number appear.

They will be happy to assist you immediately.

If it works fine, then uninstall the display drivers from Device manager and then update the Bios, Chipset and graphics card drivers from hp website.

1. In Windows, search for and open Device Manager.

2. Select Device Manager in the menu.

   Figure : Device Manager

   
3. right click on the display driver and uninstall it.

Update the driver from HP website.

Click here and type in your product number to get the driver and download it.

If the issue persists, run test on graphics card from F2.

Click here and refer the HP Document for running test on the computer.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers.

[eBandit]

Thanks for the response SandyTechy20,

In answer to your request for more detail;

When did the issue start?  I have only had the machine a few days, it is second hand to me.  The issue has been occurring since I have had the machine.

Did I do any hardware or saftware changes? After a quick functional check I replaced the 128GB NVME with a Samsung 960PRO 512GB NVME and the memory with 16GB of Kinston.  Both are known good from my previous machine.  Following the hardware replacement I performed a factory reset using the image HP image I had burnt from the original NVME drive.  Following the re-install I updated Windows, installed Norton, World of Warplanes/Warships/Tanks and updated the graphics driver as recommended by the NVIDIA app.

Since my original post I have installed F.44 BIOS.

Experience to date suggests this has only happened when gaming.  I have installed MSI Afterburner to monitor the loads and temperatures of both CPU and GPU.  Both run at between 50 & 65 degrees celsius when gaming.  

I would like to update the chipset driver but am having issues with finding the appropriate support page.  My Model number is an HP Omen 17 w102na;  Y3W47EA#ABU.  I am unable to find a link to the correct page.  Can you help?  I will then install all correct drivers and report back.

I will also run the hardware tests over the course of today.

Thanks

[sandytechy20]

@eBandit

Thanks for the reply.

I appreciate your time and effort.

 With the product details, I'm not able to pull up any information, could you provide me with the correct product information, so that I can provide you the correct link to download the drivers for your PC.

Cheers.

[Photoray002]

Hello @eBandit

Looks like HP didn't post that specific model number. But if you're seeking driver updates manually, you can use this link to get the same drivers.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/omen-by-hp-17-w100-laptop-pc/12499486

I assume you didn't play any games before upgrading the hardware? That makes it a little more difficult considering it's a used laptop.

Did you run the Diagnostics and reinstall the video driver as sandytechy20 advised? What were the results?

Until then, if the Diagnostics don't report anything and driver updates don't help, I would try this…

Manually test the memory.

How did you upgrade the ram? Did you add to the existing 8 GB stick or did you replace with a matching pair?

I’m guessing you added to the existing. Did you “match the existing timings” of the original? Its best to match an existing stick when dealing with an HP.

Hopefully your model has the easy access memory door on the bottom.

Note:  Yes this method is trial and error and will take time to do.

I would remove both sticks and replace with only one (start with the original) and run the game to see if it has any issues.

If not, remove it and insert the new stick into the same slot. Run the game again.

If no issues, do this same procedure with the other slot.

Then add both sticks and run the game again.

1. If one stick works but the other one doesn't, it's a bad stick.
2. If both work in one slot but not the other, it's a motherboard issue.
3. If it works with either stick but not both installed together, it's a compatibility issue.

Let us know what you find.

[eBandit]

Hi SandyTech20,

Not sure what product details you want me to share.  I am reluctant to put the serial number on a public forum.  The product number from HP Support Assistant is Y3W47EA#ABU.  Although this is not recognised by your website, hence the call for help!

Steve

[eBandit]

Hi @Photoray002

Found the generic driver page but a little confused as to why the product number not recognised.  Y3W47EA#ABU!

I conducted a quick benchmark on the system with the original hardware and software install with no apparent White Screen of Death (WSOD) evident.

Ran the diagnostics on the Grfx, Memory and CPU with NFF.

The RAM upgrade replaced the 2 x 4GB sticks with 2 x 8GB sticks which had be utilised in my previous laptop with no issue.

Of note, since the original post and the additional testing I have had no more WSOD (famous last words!!)  but will continue to monitor and test appropraitely. 

[Photoray002]

OK thanks for the update.

The fact that the model number dosent come up in the HP Search is a glitch that HP needs to fix.

[eBandit]

So I've been doing some testing over the past day or so to try and find the issue.  I have done the following:

• Taken each memory stick out, run single channel on one and the other and still get crashes.
• Run a  full system diagnostic from the F2 menu, no fault found.
• Re-installed World of Warships, a game that seems to be the main protagonist, but one which I have never had issue on other hardware.
• Updated all drivers including Graphics and Intel Chipset.

Result, the system still locks up and then goes to a single colour for a second or two before rebooting.  I have now experienced a yellow screen!  Is this a hardware issue or software?  Keen to understand if I should take a day to reinstall everything?

[Photoray002]

It certainly wouldn't hurt to give a Windows reinstall a try. If there is some strange software corruption, a reinstall would eliminate it.

You have a few options for doing this.
1. F11 at power on will bring up the option to factory reset the C drive as it came out of the box.

2. If you created your HP USB recovery drive (better option), it will wipe the entire physical drive and return it as factory, including the recovery partition. You should create this USB recovery drive anyway if you have not done so yet. You will need a blank USB drive at least 16GB. Store it in a safe place.

3. Clean reinstall Windows via the MS Media Creation Tool. This will install Windows without any of the HP software. You can add any HP Driver or Software afterward if you choose.
NOTE: The Omen Command Center will not be installed with this method. If you wish to use it, it will require a little work to reinstall it.
You will need a blank USB drive at least 8GB.

Personally, I would try the 3rd option as it will be fastest (less updating required).
Run the USB installer and choose to Custom install. Wipe the disk and then continue with the install.
After install, let windows update. Then only install your game and test it.

If you still have the issue, are you still under warranty? IF so, contact HP Support asap.

Contact HP Worldwide | HP® Official Site