# Please Help! Windows 8 Switchable Graphics Issue!



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

Hello,

I just installed a new SSD with a fresh Windows 8 install in my friends laptop. It is an HP Pavilion dv7-4087cl that originally came with Windows 7. It also has an Intel HD graphics chip, and an AMD Radeon HD 5000 series chip, in a switchable graphics setup. Well lo and behold, it turns out I should have just stuck with 7 instead of 8, because there seems to be massive issues using the switchable graphics in 8!

To sum things up, HP doesn't have any 8 drivers so I tried the 7 drivers in compatibility mode. They installed fine and it seemed to work. Except two things - It defaulted to the Radeon at all times and not the Intel chip, and the biggest issue is when the computer is put into sleep in any fashion or somehow a switch is made between the two chips, the screen becomes blank (no display at all) and will not show up unless the system is rebooted. It seems "switching" kills it.

Now I did some research and found this is a common problem, so I followed some guides. The biggest one suggested uninstalling all driver present (which I think I did) and installing the Leshcat driver 12.9. This also did not solve the problem. I think I did it properly, the only part I might have messed up on is the uninstalling of the drivers, as I had no way of knowing if they really were gone. I even tried the newest Leshcat driver and that didn't work either. 

So I'm at a complete loss as to what to do. The system even did a system restore and brought it back to square one....and then I did it again and no change.

Does anyone have any Idea how to fix this issue? Or will I need to buy a 7 install and just do that (which I really don't want to do!)

Thanks,
Will


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Did the new SSD replace the current hard drive?


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Did the new SSD replace the current hard drive?


 
Yes, The old HDD failed. It is a brand new Intel 335 SSD.

Will


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

So then you would have lost the recovery drive so the only way back to Windows in a new CD.


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> So then you would have lost the recovery drive so the only way back to Windows in a new CD.


 
Let me clarify - I installed a new Windows 8 install to the new SSD. There is nothing on the HDD other than that. The issue is the switchable graphics and drivers are causing a switching issue causing the screen to go blank until the system is restarted. I need a solution to this, which I think will be through drivers. I just dont know what steps to take after doing what I thought would work.....oh computers :angry:

Will


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Make and model number of the PC?


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

If there are no drivers available from the HP site for Win 8 you need to use Win 7 for this model, most of these switchable graphic model use a modded driver for one or the other sometimes both video cards so that the switching happens correctly.


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

Wrench97 said:


> If there are no drivers available from the HP site for Win 8 you need to use Win 7 for this model, most of these switchable graphic model use a modded driver for one or the other sometimes both video cards so that the switching happens correctly.


 
There are people who have gotten around the issue, I just think I'm doing something incorrectly. I tried the aftermarket drivers and the HP drivers, but there must be something I am missing in the process, as others with the same hardware have gotten it to work. 

Will


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

This possible workaround involves updating he BIOS (perhaps to a beta) and then setting the graphics to switch manually.

HP Pavilion dv7-6135dx Switchable Graphics Fix (Bios) - YouTube

What does HP say about your model and Windows 8? Oh, 



> HP provides Windows 8 compatible software and updated drivers to support only specific computer models.


It seems that HP has left you in the lurch where Win 8 is concerned. I'll look around -- sometimes end-users develop modded drivers for systems that the OEM won't .


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Leshcatlabs has modded non-official Win 8 drivers for switchable graphics systems. You might wish to read through this very long thread on the Win 8 forums to see if they have come up with a solution to your problem. 

Solved Win 8 AMD Switchable Graphics FAQ


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It's like a never ending circle, they work until a windows update or driver update kills the third party mod.........................


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

MPR said:


> This possible workaround involves updating he BIOS (perhaps to a beta) and then setting the graphics to switch manually.
> 
> HP Pavilion dv7-6135dx Switchable Graphics Fix (Bios) - YouTube
> 
> ...


Yeah Im not a fan of how they handle things with the drivers. I'll check the video out. I updated the BIOS to the latest HP has but to no avail.



MPR said:


> Leshcatlabs has modded non-official Win 8 drivers for switchable graphics systems. You might wish to read through this very long thread on the Win 8 forums to see if they have come up with a solution to your problem.
> 
> Solved Win 8 AMD Switchable Graphics FAQ


 
That is the thread that I followed. I tried two versions of Leshcat that didnt solve the problem. I followed their instructions to the best of my ability. How "perfect" do the instructions need to be followe? Because the drivers "work" it just has an issue with switching and sleep mode. It shows both GPUs in device manager, and under the switching graphics window in Catalyst, it defaults to the Radeon and if you switch it IIRC it switches but not automatically. The biggest issue is the sleep mode issue, which I can only assume is caused by the switching issue.


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

I watched the video and his windows 8 video. I havent tried the driver on this thread yet - [Drivers] HP dv6-3XXX / dv7-4XXX / ENVY 17-1XXX (INTEL) 

I'm going to give it a shot. What is the BEST way to uninstall all drivers on the machine? And If you restart the computer can you force it to not install the wrong windows built in drivers?

Will


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

No it has to have a usable generic driver to display anything.

How to disable automatic driver installation on windows 8


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

I've been reading the tech forums for the past hour and it seems that switchable graphics and blank screens after sleep mode are not limited to one brand, nor to Windows 8. It appears that Lenovo released updated drivers that solved the problem for their Win 7 systems at least.



> - Fixed an issue where the LCD had blank screen after resuming normal operation from sleep state.


From what I can glean, leshcat has not fixed the black screen on wake problem yet.



> I am running it [leshcat] now and it seems to be OK, (only problem is that sleep/resume sometimes gives a black screen).


If leshcat or some other organization doesn't fix the problem or if HP doesn't release official Windows 8 drivers then older systems may be limited to Windows 7 for full functionality. This isn't new -- similar problems occurred when people tried to upgrade their Vista laptops to Windows 7 -- laptops are just more proprietary and highly integrated than desktop systems.


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

Here's a little update:

I installed the drivers listed on the website link I posted, the "official" drivers. It installed but during install it went blank and I couldnt make it come back up. I let it sit for a little while and pressed enter a few times (thinking it might finish the install) Then I closed the lid, putting it to sleep. Upon opening the lid, the screen turns on and I could see the mouse, but nothing else just a black screen. I'm afraid to restart it but I might just give it a shot.

Any ideas?

Will


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

OK!!!!! Ok so The driver I installed I uninstalled all of them and reinstalled this one - [Drivers] HP dv6-3XXX / dv7-4XXX / ENVY 17-1XXX (INTEL)

It works other than one thing. No sleep issues now. Here is the issue. The desktop is streched over two "displays" If I try to change it it goes blank and then I cant see anything then it switches back. Is there any way to like "code" it to only use one display for the desktop? Basically all edges of the display "stop" windows and the mouse, but the left side just keeps going....

Will


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

Does anyone have any ideas? I think this is as good as it will get for now, Just the two screen issue still persists....any ideas on a fix?

Will


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

You currently have *Extended Desktop* enabled. You can have either Mirror Clone look, where the laptop and External monitor have the same display on both, or you can have Just the secondary monitor and not the laptop screen showing, or the *Extended Desktop* where one screen is the primary and the other is an extension of the left side. You can change these settings by either clicking on the video icon in the task bar by the clock, or by going to* Start/Control Panel* and clicking the video icon there to open the video control panel.


----------



## Wills74Corvette (Dec 13, 2010)

spunk.funk said:


> You currently have *Extended Desktop* enabled. You can have either Mirror Clone look, where the laptop and External monitor have the same display on both, or you can have Just the secondary monitor and not the laptop screen showing, or the *Extended Desktop* where one screen is the primary and the other is an extension of the left side. You can change these settings by either clicking on the video icon in the task bar by the clock, or by going to* Start/Control Panel* and clicking the video icon there to open the video control panel.


 
I checked these settings and any time you try to make it a single desktop *when the AMD GPU is activated* it just goes blank then goes back - you cant change it. When on the intel GPU the desktop is "normal". I feel like this driver, the only one available, isnt....fully developed yet...

Will


----------

