Random monitor shutdowns, event viewer shows dwm.exe as issue

[jnelsoninjax]

For the last few weeks, whenever I leave my system alone (idle) I have, on occasion, come back to both monitors in standby and do not come back on with mouse/keyboard activity. Up until this one this morning, the event viewer has not shown any possible issues, just the standard Kernel Power events due to improper shutdown, etc. Now today I get about 6 errors regarding dwm.exe, so I ran sfc and no integrity violations were discovered. Power management is disabled for turning off the display, and I have double checked that it is still configured that way. Windows is up to date as is the Nvidia drivers. I am not sure what else can be causing this issue.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

That would be the Desktop Window Manager (filename: DWM.EXE).  Perhaps a conflict with a third-party start menu, user interface tweaker or wallpaper management program?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

[jnelsoninjax]

  On 14/04/2022 at 16:36, goretsky said:

Hello,

That would be the Desktop Window Manager (filename: DWM.EXE).  Perhaps a conflict with a third-party start menu, user interface tweaker or wallpaper management program?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

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Thanks for the response, I was aware of what DWM was, the only program that I have that it might be conflicting with is DisplayFusion, which I use for multi monitor support, but I have been using it for sometime without issue.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

something like that more often then not points to an issue with the GPU or display drivers from my experience.

 

which GPU do you have? Could try a clean install of the drivers to see if that makes any difference

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

Have you tried uninstalling the third-party DisplayFusion app for testing purposes?  Even though it may not have changed, it is possible that Microsoft Windows or your Nvidia video card's device drivers contained a change that introduced an compatibility with the software.

 

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

[hellowalkman Reporter]

  On 15/04/2022 at 13:08, Brandon H said:

something like that more often then not points to an issue with the GPU or display drivers from my experience.

 

which GPU do you have? Could try a clean install of the drivers to see if that makes any difference

Expand  

I agree on this. For example, here is an instance where Intel drivers were causing DWM issues https://www.neowin.net/news/new-intel-3001011191-driver-fixes-stability-issues-in-windows-10-and-11-dwm-and-more/

 

Do you have some spare video cards that you can use or borrow from someone?

[jnelsoninjax]

  On 15/04/2022 at 13:08, Brandon H said:

something like that more often then not points to an issue with the GPU or display drivers from my experience.

 

which GPU do you have? Could try a clean install of the drivers to see if that makes any difference

Expand  

Asus ROG Strix 2080, I do a clean install of the drivers each time a new version is released

  On 16/04/2022 at 05:44, goretsky said:

Hello,

Have you tried uninstalling the third-party DisplayFusion app for testing purposes?  Even though it may not have changed, it is possible that Microsoft Windows or your Nvidia video card's device drivers contained a change that introduced an compatibility with the software.

 

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky
 

Expand  

Not yet, as the problem is so random that it has not happened again.

  On 16/04/2022 at 06:41, hellowalkman said:

I agree on this. For example, here is an instance where Intel drivers were causing DWM issues https://www.neowin.net/news/new-intel-3001011191-driver-fixes-stability-issues-in-windows-10-and-11-dwm-and-more/

 

Do you have some spare video cards that you can use or borrow from someone?

Expand  

I do not have a spare GPU, I also really need to RMA this card due to a fan issue, that apparently is common on this specific card, but since I do not have any other GPU, I would be without the system for however long it takes to get the card repaired/replaced.

[hellowalkman Reporter]

Well in case you need something to hold on to for a while, you can try the GT 730 2gb gddr5 variant from Asus

 

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-Profile-Graphics-Brackets/dp/B09GP8989B/

https://www.newegg.com/asus-geforce-gt-730-gt730-sl-2gd5-brk/p/N82E16814126537?Item=N82E16814126537

[SnoopZ]

  On 16/04/2022 at 14:36, jnelsoninjax said:

Asus ROG Strix 2080, I do a clean install of the drivers each time a new version is released

Not yet, as the problem is so random that it has not happened again.

I do not have a spare GPU, I also really need to RMA this card due to a fan issue, that apparently is common on this specific card, but since I do not have any other GPU, I would be without the system for however long it takes to get the card repaired/replaced.

Expand  

Just buy a super cheap GPU to enable you to use the PC for basic tasks.

[jnelsoninjax]

So I have had no problems for 2 weeks, then today it did it again while I was away. I have captured the event viewer errors and put them here: https://pastebin.com/kb7wvJ48

It looks like DWM.exe and the Nvidia driver seem to the responsible files.