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View Full Version : Possible Video Problem, Please Help


Foosman
03-01-2007, 07:26 PM
Hi. As of this morning I was running a 9300 with 2.0 gig processor, 6800 Go (using the 81.98 drivers from Dell's website), and 2 gigs of Gskill ram that I bought last week to replace the original 1 gig that came with the setup.

When I boot, I get the standard windows XP pro start screen, but it has about ten groups of four vertical, dotted blue lines that run the length of the monitor. If I allow the computer to continue the boot process, it changes to a series of horizontal lines very briefly, then goes to a black screen. The HD continues to turn, so I assume that everything is working, but I just can't see it. I can boot into safe mode with networking.

So far I have uninstalled the drivers for the 6800 and installed the 81.98s from laptopvideo2 go. I have tried one of my new sticks of ram alone, then the other, and finally I have removed them in favor of the original ram. For a boot or two I was able to disable the 6800 and go with vga mode and an otherwise normal boot, but then there was a .dll error and now I can only go safe mode. I tried running with a battery in and without.

A week or two ago I noticed that things seemed to be running hot, so I bought one of those fans that sits under the laptop while I work. It seems to have helped with the heat. I play a lot of BF2142, so I imagine things are getting a workout.

I did buy the completecare and the system is under warranty, but I would rather avoid sending it back, so that I don't have to worry about losing hard drive data. I've been considering upgrading to a bigger HD for a while now (currently have 80 gigs, 5400 rpm), so if I can't solve this another way I may put a new HD in and do a clean install.

To summarize:
Funny blue lines on boot, then nothing.
I've replaced my video drivers and tested completely different RAM.
Are there any fixes I'm missing? Any other things I can try?
If I can't fix it, should I try the warranty or do a clean install on a new HD?


Thanks in advance for reading all of this and for any help that you can provide.

dave-p
03-01-2007, 07:59 PM
It seems to be pointing to the Video Card

If it is not a problem try a fresh install and see what happens

Yoob@NBF
03-01-2007, 10:55 PM
You did not specify if you were getting the problem in safe mode only that you were able to boot into it. If you happen to get the issues in the safe mode it is DEFINETLY a videocard issue. Plugging in an external display such as a TV, Monitor, and other external devices helps determine if you have a videocard, flexcable, lcd issue so give that a shot and see if your getting the same dots crawling on the external display as well. Im also moving this to the support section.

Foosman
03-02-2007, 08:27 AM
Thanks, and sorry about posting in the wrong section.

I wasn't getting the issue in safe mode.

After fighting with this for a few more hours, including attaching an external monitor, I finally logged on to the Dell Support Chat. They had me reinstall the drivers from their site and retry the external monitor. When none of that resolved the issue, they dispatched a tech. So now I am waiting for a replacement 6800. If that resolves the issue I'll report back in case anyone has similar symptoms. Thanks again for the suggestions.

dgcaste
03-11-2007, 09:40 PM
Don't worry about having to ship your computer, Dell's kind of lazy so they'll ship you the replacement part so you can change it out and then they might ask you for the broken one so they can refurb it.

Not a bad deal since the dell laptops are easy to service and their online instructions and user manuals are excellently written.