I have Acer E5-772G-57RD laptop with Intel Core i5-5200U @2.2GHz, Nvidia GeForce 940M (2Gb VRAM) and 4Gb DDR3 L memory running Windows 7 Professional 64bit and my problem is the following:
I installed the latest version of blender, 2.78a at this point, and every time I go to user prefferences, more specifically in the system tab blender crashes. I get the following message “The “Nvidia GeForce 940M” device is not removable and cannot be unplugged” as shown in this screenshot:
I have just recently updated nvidia graphics drivers to the latest, 375.xx version. Note that before that i was running on version 364.xx and every time i opened system tab in prefferences window it was not blender that crashed but the whole windows went to BSOD(that happaned on every blender version i tried, which were all the 2.7x versions. Also, now whit updated drivers, when i try to run the GeForce experiance software provided by nvidia the hole system goes to BSOD with message “DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL”. Here is the windows provided info about the crash after that happens:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1050
Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: d1
BCP1: 0000000000000000
BCP2: 0000000000000002
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: FFFFF8800F092B65
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1
Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\112616-15116-01.dmp
C:\Users\Davor\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-36473-0.sysdata.xml
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C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt
I googled this problem a bit and I’m led to belive its some kind of interference between drivers but I’m still clueless on how to pinpoint which ones and what to do regarding my case specifically. If I left out some info needed let me now and I’ll give it to you.
First bit of cautious advice would be to grab a new copy of the Nvidia drivers then head to safemode, uninstall the current set then reinstall the new ones.
That and/or call the support line for the laptop.
it could be the extra software nvidia puts with the driver. after normally uninstalling all nvidia related things, reinstall but only check the “Display Driver” option.
MAKE SURE TO RESTART AFTER UNINSTALL.
it could also be a virus of sorts. you just might need to reinstall your operating system, so you better start backing up.
I tried what you suggested. Uninstalled drivers and all other nvidia commponents in safe mode, and reinstalled them with only drivers and without geforce experience, but after i did that, when i boot up in windows normally there were no drivers installed even though in control panel programs and features list i did have nvidia drivers listed. But in reality there were no drivers since al other apps that use gpu now used cpu. So i once again reinstalled them this time not in safe mode. After that i was at square zero, still got that “nvidia is not removable” message and still dont know what to do.
It is strange because all the games run perfectly fine on gpu, as well programs like SolidWorks and Catia, but when i try blender, it crashes. So i decided to install 3ds max and start modelling in that but to my surprise i got the same message as with blender and it also crashes. So to sum it up, gpu works in games, SolidWorks and Catia, but crashes in Blender and 3ds max.
Laptops are more adept (well, kinda-sorta…) at switching between the low-power on-chip graphics hardware and a more power hungry dedicated video card. But that gets in the way of programs which use the video hardware directly. Even in pass-through mode (which is frequent in Autodesk software) tools will still report the on-chip hardware. Some programs have more a problem with this automatic switching than others.
Short version, you need to find a way to disable the on-chip hardware.
I am able to get blender working by right clicking on the .exe and selecting “run with graphics processor -> integrated graphics”. I dont get crashes but ofcourse i also cant use nvidia graphics card to render stuff which isnt really a solution.
can you elaborate what exactly do you mean by " you need to find a way to disable on-chip hardware" im completly clueless what to do.
oh, you have a dual gpu optimus thingy. my laptop has one and its a real PITA. in regards to disabling the on-chip hardware, thats bad, unless your out to save battery and forfeit the nvidia. thats done by poking around at the BIOS, usually not a good place to be for beginners.
The Procedure:
-first get the latest intel HD AND nvidia drivers (make sure to pick the right models)
-uninstall “NVIDIA Graphics Driver XXX.XX” and restart
-uninstall “Intel Graphics Driver” and restart
-(optional) reboot into safe mode and run a graphics driver cleaner. nowadays this isnt always necessary.
-install the intel driver and restart
-install the nvidia driver and restart
To get the most of it:
-open the nvida control panel to “Manage 3D Settings” and select “High Performance NVIDIA Processor” as your preferred gpu
-set the “Power Management mode” to “Prefer Maximum Performance”
-set the “Shader Cache” to OFF
-(optional) set “Texture Filtering Quality” to “High Quality”
if this doesnt work, try the above method, but with the ACER support drivers instead.
Thank you so much daedalus, did exactly what you said and it works now. I havent tested it on 3ds max yet but it works on blender so it should work there too. Thank you !
