Precision 5570, Frequent BSOD (VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE) on Battery Power – NVIDIA Driver Issue (nvlddmkm.sys)

This has started to happen probably after a windows update. Summarizing my experience to fix it. Maybe it will be helpful for others or Dell to identify the issue.

• Operating System: Windows 10

• GPU: NVIDIA (latest official 6xx drivers tested; reverting to version 555.99 did not resolve the issue)

• Power Source: Issue occurs exclusively when running on battery​

Issue Description:  Frequent Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors with the stop code VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE, specifically pointing to nvlddmkm.sys and dxgkrnl.sys. These crashes occur only when the laptop is operating on battery power, system nearly unusable in such conditions.​

The problem appears to have emerged following a Windows security update, which may have altered the handling of NVIDIA driver DLL files. Notably, the nvlddmkm.sys file now resides in a protected directory with restricted permissions, preventing modifications.​

Troubleshooting Steps Attempted, fixes:

• Reinstalled the latest official NVIDIA drivers. Nothing.

• Rolled back to driver version 555.99. Nothing.

• Adjusted power settings to several modes. Nothing

• Utilized ThrottleStop to use low power save mode enabling CPU clock modulation. Possible fix.

• Connected an external power bank via USB-C to supplement power. Good result. Possible fix.

• Manually copied nvlddmkm.sys to the system32/drivers folder and attempted to modify permissions (aware of associated security risks). Possible fix.

• Modified the TDR (Timeout Detection and Recovery) delay in the registry to 60 seconds, as recommended in Adobe's article: https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-painter/technical-support/technical-issues/gpu-issues/gpu-drivers-crash-with-long-computations-tdr-crash.html