BSOD on Asus Zenbook S14 (Core Ultra 258V) when leaving is detected

[urostor]

Hello,

I have been getting a persistent BSOD with recent Intel Graphics drivers on Windows (never on Linux). I don't have the photo of the BSOD because it disappeared quickly, but "Igdkmd64.sys" was written on it, so I figured it must be due to the Intel GPU drivers.

The driver versions with which I am sure it happened were: 32.0.101.679x-6877. At first it seemed to happen at random, but I finally isolated this to the dimming behaviour when non-presence is detected by the laptop.

I browsed through the available drivers and saw that in version 32.0.101.6734 these optimizations were highlighted: "Power management optimization for Intel® Core™ Ultra 200V series (codename Lunar Lake) handheld gaming devices for improved performance and frame pacing with lower power modes."

I selected the previous WHQL driver (32.0.101.6651), removed the old driver using DDU and installed this. The issue disappeared. However I am not really happy with having to use an older driver to make my PC usable.

Of course I don't know if it was this optimization that caused the issue, and I am willing to try to isolate which version has this problem (install newer drivers one by one). If this is a known issue, please let me know, and if it is resolved in any future versions, I would also like to be informed.

Thanks

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hi urostor,

Thank you for posting in the community. I have a few clarifications and questions regarding this issue:

1. Based on the subject of the thread, "when leaving is detected," could you elaborate on what this means?
2. When updating to versions 32.0.101.679x-6877, did you use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) or select the "Clean Installation" option?
3. Does the BSOD occur even when the system is idle, or does it happen during specific activities?
4. Have you tried using the driver provided by your OEM?
5. Have you attempted to revert to the latest driver and used DDU for testing?

Please note that this is an OEM device, so we will try to assist you with general troubleshooting steps. However, if the issue persists, you will have to contact the Original Equipment Manufacturer of your device. Additionally, your device manufacturer may have altered features, incorporated customizations, or made other changes to some components for better compatibility with your system.

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[urostor]

Dear Dhanniel,

Thank you for the quick reply. I will respond to your points one by one.

1. I have elaborated in the original post a bit, please take another look. It seems to be connected to Windows detecting non-presence, ie when I hold my hand in front of the proximity sensor, which makes the laptop dim the screen for example. The relevant Windows settings are here I think:

I suppose that this presence detection might trigger some changes in the GPU power mode too, which might be causing the BSOD, but this is just a guess. Again it is difficult to know for sure but it seems to happen when I slightly close the laptop (so that the screen is still on) or look away (which is supposedly detected too). To diagnose it further I would have to install the drivers that fail and risk data corruption by causing many blue screens...

2. I mostly used Intel Driver & Support Assistant, not clean installation, but in case of updating 32.0.101.6876 to 6877 I used DDU in Safe Mode - the problem was still there after updating (after rebooting to normal mode to install the driver, I had the network disabled to prevent Windows from installing anything)

3. It seems to happen during what I described in point 1. When the system is idle, there is no presence detected, so the mode does not change.

4. The driver provided by OEM can be found here: https://www.asus.com/pl/laptops/for-home/zenbook/asus-zenbook-s-14-ux5406/helpdesk_download/?model2Name=UX5406SA - currently, the version available is 32.0.101.6556. I am doubtful they made any customizations. I can check this by verifying the checksums of each file that the installer contains and comparing with files from your installer. The version that I use now and does not have the problem is 32.0.101.6651, which is more recent. I am sure that if I reverted to even less recent version provided by ASUS, the problem will not exist, because it started with a later version. But I do not see why I should be limited to using a less recent driver version if there are no OEM customizations there. There are functions that I use and were not available in previous drivers, for example OneAPI level zero.

5. After installing 32.0.101.6651 I have not yet tried installing the most recent one (32.0.101.6881). I can do this to confirm it still happens.

Thank you

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hello urostor,

Thank you for providing clear answers and explanations to my inquiries. Could you please confirm whether the issue also occurs when using the OEM driver? Additionally, since you've identified the problem as related to the dimming behavior in Windows settings, could you try updating to the previous driver where the issue occurred and then disable all three settings shown in the image for testing? When updating, please use the "Execute Clean Installation" option or DDU for a proper driver installation.

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[urostor · Accepted solution]

Dear Dhanniel,

In the meantime (before your answer) I used DDU to remove 32.0.101.6651 in Safe Mode, then installed 32.0.101.6881 and the problem seems to not occur. I did not touch the Windows options you suggested to change. It is fixed for now.

Thanks

[DhannielM_Intel]

Hello urostor,

I'm glad to hear that your issue has been resolved. I will proceed to close this inquiry. If you require any further information, please feel free to submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Dhanniel M.

Intel Customer Support Technician