Problem Laptop Graphics Issue

Discussion in 'Software' started by JonnyMX, Dec 24, 2009.

  1. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Good thought - but if I can't even get into BIOS, I'm not overly hopeful... :(
     
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  2. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    It sucks, doesn't it?

    It's especially annoying as I lost my last PC over an unidentifyable graphics issue.
    Kept getting a random BSOD whenever I tried gaming etc and nothing seemed to fix it. Went through about three graphics cards and every driver there was.

    So it's not as if this is a new and exciting experience for me...

    :rolleyes:
     
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  3. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Did you run the extended Dell diagnostics - the gui version?

    NB
     
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  4. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    Its a long shot that probably won't work but attach an external monitor to your laptop and click the function key etc to swap it to the screen. . . . . .could maybe be the screen
     
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  5. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Now, there's a good idea.
    I'll try that before I get my screwdriver out.

    Not the cheapest of things to get fixed if it is the culprit though!

    :(
     
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  6. dazza786

    dazza786 Megabyte Poster

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    I've got dual monitor on my desktop and find that it actually makes the issue worse..
    just my findings though
     
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  7. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Well, good call by jk.

    Managed to connect the laptop to my TV.
    At this stage I was getting the 'rainbow' screen EVERY time I turned it on - not even getting the Dell splash screen.

    But put it on my telly, and I was getting picture.
    Not perfect, a bit of a pin-stripe background, but I could SEE!

    Windows was doing a desperate repair job, on the grounds that it had been force restarted about 20 times.
    At the end, it restarted and came back perfect.

    Jolly good, I thought, and turned it off and went for lunch.
    Turned it back on, rainbow.

    Sh1t.

    But better this time, managed to boot into safe mode and re-installed the original Dell graphics driver from the website. Fine for a while, then a couple of restarts where I couldn't even get output to the TV.

    Then I managed to start it in 'limited resolution' and it was fine.
    Ran every type of diagnostic I could think of, everything fine.
    Went into the Nvidia contol panel, all fine.
    Asked if I wanted to go to a better resolution, said yes, went to better resolution, everything fine.

    Then screen goes black and doesn't recover.
    Restart - rainbow.

    Really getting narked now...

    :x
     
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  8. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    See this :-

    http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1028703/nvidia-g84-g86-bad
    http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/99597?comment_start=6&comment_count=20

    Like I said failure rate was high on last generations of mobile Nvidia GPU's.

    If you still have a warranty I'd get it serviced ASAP.

    I take it its out of warranty ?

    DELL released new BIO's updates that make the fan spin 24/7 just to shut people up and do damage limitation until people are out of warranty. (I looked into this myself 6 months ago when my fan started spinning 24/7.)

    The 8400 gs shares memory with the motherboard so you could try memtest as bad memory could cause the GPU to fail, also bad drivers could show the same symptoms.

    However my money's on hardware failure at this point, did you try a linux Live CD and do burn in tests for a few hours ?

    As for temperature affecting electronics, I'd have thought the part that would be affected the most would be the battery and maybe screen, I would not expect the GPU to suffer much. However the temperatures normally would have to go pretty low by english standards to cause real damage.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2009
  9. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Hmm.
    That's not good news, but thanks for the tip.

    I'll need to check the warranty, but it's probably over a year old now.

    I'll give the rest a go, but I don't really want to remember Xmas/New Year 2009 as being 'trying to fix my laptop'... :eek:
     
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  10. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Apparently DELL engineers are busy day and night replacing GPU's and there's lots of refurbed NVidia laptops floating around, large barge pole comes to mind...

    Maybe avoid DELL next time, consider low wattage chips on small nanometre scales too...

    Stick it in the loft and buy a new one then ! Then break out the booze ! :biggrin
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2009
  11. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    [​IMG]

    Looking at it, I first assumed it was physical damage, as the black line always appears in the same place.
    However, in some instances I've been able to get it working, so it can't be...
     
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  12. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Well, I've managed to hook it up to my telly - although the picture isn't great I can at least see it.
    Rather than a 'rainbow' effect, it's now more like a pinstripe.

    I ran the full set of Dell diagnostics.
    Everything checks out fine, except for the video test.

    I'm getting an error code 5300.0119
    'Detected a fialure while writing and reading to video memory. Video mode: 103h (800x600x256) address AA50h, expected to read 0h but read 100000h instead'

    The last bit varies and goes through several iterations with different addresses etc.

    I'm now thinking shagged graphics card...

    :x
     
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  13. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    It could be onboard memory or shared memory thats failing, anything happen If you swap the system memory sticks around ? Does the address change ?

    I expect the video hardware is borked though, some laptops require new motherboards as the GPU is soldered on, others have a replaceable daughterboard.

    Generally repairs tend to be uneconomic out of warranty...
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2010
  14. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Spot on mate.

    Eventually I gave up and got onto Dell.
    Fair play, they got right back to me but couldn't suggest anything I hadn't already tried - so I just sent them what I had and they concluded that it was the graphics chip too.

    As you say, out of warranty repair was more than the laptop was worth.
    They offered me a one year warranty for £100 with this repair thrown in, which I thought was pretty fair.

    Within a couple of days a guy came out to the house and swapped the mother board over and we're good to go.

    Thanks Dell! :thumbleft
     
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