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Video Corruption (even on BIOS screen)


lrbarrios

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I'm having a very strange and annoying problem with my Dell Precision M50. For the longest time, everything ran just fine. The other day, I started getting video corruption (flashing or 'static-like' vertical lines, discoloration, blocky appearance, etc.) while in Windows. I would reboot and everything looked fine, until I pressed Ctrl+Alt+Del. The moment I applied pressure to the keyboard, the screen would freak out, sometimes locking the computer up. I then went into the F2 Setup BIOS and noticed that every 4th character was missing from the text screens. Sometimes characters would be there, but they were mis-shaped (e.g. an 'M' may have a couple of pixels missing from the right side). In the case of the mis-shaped characters, if one letter was mis-shaped, ALL occurences of that letter would be identically mis-shaped. I could also see the vertical line issue on this screen. I know it's NOT a Windows driver issue. If I connect an external monitor, it will also show the same problems.

I opened the case and found the video adapter. It was quite hot and even had a 'hot smell' to it. I reseated it and powered up. Same problem. With the case open, and the computer showing the problem, I started applying pressure to various areas of the laptop. When I did this, the problem would start and stop. Almost everytime I pressed on the video adapter, the vertical static lines would start to appear. When I stopped poking around, the lines would stop. Sometimes, however, the lines will just start on their own. Everytime I launched World of Warcraft, there was major video corruption at the title menu (sometimes crashing the computer). All of this led me to think that the problem was the video adapter. I purchased and received a used adapter from eBay. I've installed the 'new' adapter. After the computer booted up, everything looked fine. Launch WOW and it crashed. When I could finally get Windows to boot again, it said that it had just recovered from a serious system error and it mentioned the nVidia driver as being the problem. Sometimes I would get a Blue Screen of Death saying the same thing. In these cases, I think it has something to do with the 'new' adapter.

I've put the old 'suspect' adapter back in the laptop. I booted it up and have been watching the temperatures. The CPU and GPU, both, never exceed 150 degrees at 2GHz and 75%+ CPU load (virusscan and WOW simultaneously). It ran flawlessly for at least 3 hours. I thought maybe this was just a case of a loose connection and reseating the old card (again) had fixed it. As soon as I moved the laptop, the video corruption appeared. Everything has started all over again. Am I dealing with bad video memory (where is the video memory and can it even be replaced). Or is there possibly something else going on here (perhaps a fracture on the motherboard). Any help or suggestions please!!

lrbarrios

:)

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Is the replacement card a different graphics card?

You might want to fully uninstall the drivers before you swap cards and install the driver for the new one. (sounds like just a driver issue)

You might want to try drivercleaner or a similar program. (however I never needed it when I swapped from a broken 440 go to the Quadro4 700 Go in my M50)

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That happened to me about two years ago but with one ATI Graphics Card. After some months of research and technical support with ATI (drivers, reinstalations, etc) they (and I too) concluded that one of the memory chips on the graphics card was corrupted maybe by overheating. They change me the card for a new one.

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happend to my emachine, i would press down my keyboard so that the laptop would start, i opened it and the chip soldered on the board was under the keyboard, disassembled it and found a crack beneath, seems your chip or board is dead

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Guest papercat

Hi Irbarrios I had the same problems, actually 100% identical. I returned my Dell XPS Laptop three times because of it, I told them that my Graphic Card was damaged, however DELL replaced my motherboard (first time), laptop screen (second time), when DELL finally replaced my graphic card voila Laptop is working as usual. I can assure you with 100% probability, it is your graphic card.

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You could be looking at permanent motherboard damage rather than a graphics card issue.

Either the Northbridge may be faulty or faulting out or due to the inactivity dust had collected inside the case which has caused a static discharge between components causing a component of the motherboard to short circuit and burn out, more or less a power capacitor or signal distribution diode.

I had this same exact problem appear on a Pentium III VIA motherboard 3 years ago with an accurate recreation.

My advice... find a way to dump the Hard Drive if you have anything important on it and get a new laptop. The repairs or even motherboard replacement is going to be extremely costly.

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I'm betting with these M50s its the card physically breaking or overheating, not mobo damage.

Especially since the case on mine creaks, and the card does get very hot due to no dedicated fan for it.

It could just be that my M50 needs some screws tightened, but neither of our 17 inch laptops (brother has XPS M170) creak or feel like they will bend if you pick them up by one end. (I always try to pick mine up by both ends of course)

This clevo of mine however, ah the cooling bliss... :)

Maybe you guys could try not tightening the graphics card's screws so much in your M50 next time, but put a nice thick cushiony heat conducting pad between the metal keyboard and the GPU.

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Thanks everyone for your input. I'm starting to lean towards the idea that it may be something wrong with the motherboard itself (near the video adapter). I cranked it up last night and it was working fine (while playing WOW) for about 2 hours. All of a sudden, CRASH!! Oh, and I am using the machine in a docking station with an external keyboard and mouse. So I'm not even touching it to cause it to start acting up. Weird. I just purchased a D630 to get me going again. Do you think it would worth trying to find a replacement MB on ebay? I really like this M50 and hate to toss it for something this 'minor'. I just can't call it a reliable machine anymore.

lrbarrios

:)

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Irbarrios: It sounds like you're having a problem very similar to what I experienced as my C840 was only several weeks old. Dell thought the problem might be the connector of the flexi-cable which plugs into the graphic card, since it was pressure sensitive. To check that out you must remove the panel under the LCD screen, and I believe the keyboard as well. If you remove it, be sure to reseat it with out cocking it in any way as the plug structure is very fine and delicate. The other alternatives would be to dissassemble the LCD screen itself to check the seating of the flexi-cable within the LCD housing where it plugs into the screen. That's a job for persons with suitable experience, otherwise you're likely to damage something. The Dell site has the directions available. Lastly, as in my own case, the problem turned out to be the LCD screen itself, as it was acting up when the LCD frame was twisted [under warranty of course].

Here's wishing you luck with your search!

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Guest papercat

You should consider an out of warranty repair from Dell (on time charge) $299 if (motherboard or screen have to be replace ) otherwise its $199. In my case DELL replace virtually every single part (motherboard,graphic card, screen).

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Irbarrios: It sounds like you're having a problem very similar to what I experienced as my C840 was only several weeks old. Dell thought the problem might be the connector of the flexi-cable which plugs into the graphic card, since it was pressure sensitive. To check that out you must remove the panel under the LCD screen, and I believe the keyboard as well. If you remove it, be sure to reseat it with out cocking it in any way as the plug structure is very fine and delicate. The other alternatives would be to dissassemble the LCD screen itself to check the seating of the flexi-cable within the LCD housing where it plugs into the screen. That's a job for persons with suitable experience, otherwise you're likely to damage something. The Dell site has the directions available. Lastly, as in my own case, the problem turned out to be the LCD screen itself, as it was acting up when the LCD frame was twisted [under warranty of course].

Here's wishing you luck with your search!

Darmdorf: In your case, did you try connecting to an external monitor? If so, was the problem present there as well? If so, I don't understand how a faulty LCD panel can cause problems on an external monitor. That's why I ruled out the LCD panel. Maybe I shouldn't have. It looks like I've got some more testing to do... Thanks.

lrbarrios

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