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Area 51m display issue

post #1 of 32
11/4/06 at 3:23pm
Thread Starter 
I just inherited an Area 51m. Both with the LCD and on an external monitor, the display shows up with lines and a serious amount of graph like lines that make it unuseable as a laptop or desktop. These lines show up in Safe Mode as well.

It has an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600/9700 graphic display adapter, which I have tried updating as well as uninstalling and reinstalling.

I am not able to log on to the Alienware Support pages because I am not the original owner. It has a warranty until July 2007 but am not sure if I will be able to use that either since I am not the original owner. I did not get any recovery CD's with the computer.

The previous owner was kind enough to give it so I am trying not to contact them if possible.

This is my first experience with Alienware and some of the online reviews of customer support do not leave me to feel so optimistic.

Anyone have a feel if it is worth repairing, or just too much of a headache?
All ideas and suggestions welcome....Thank you

Update:
My Model number is 766SN3

This morning the display was working properly for about 45minutes when I first turned it on. Then it went haywire(Grids line, unreadable) again when I just slightly moved the laptop.

any ideas?
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post #2 of 32
11/5/06 at 2:31pm
When I first read your post it sounded like the graphics card was bad, but your comment at the end about just barely moving it leads me to believe the LCD or LCD cable are bad or have a short in them. When it goes funky, do you try wiggling the screen? Not too much so you don't break it or anything, but sometimes that can make it work. If you're brave enough, you might take the LCD apart and pop the keyboard off and take a look at the wiring to see if any connections are loose or dirty.
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post #3 of 32
11/5/06 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your ideas. I may just feel brave enough to open it up, plus I always learn something during these times. The gentle wiggle didn't do anything. Although I wiggled too and it made me laugh and feel better.

The only thing I don't get is why it is not working properly on the external monitor as well?
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post #4 of 32
11/5/06 at 5:16pm
I actually just had something very similar happen to my laptop, same model - I posted in the wrong forum about it, though. Everything works when my laptop is perfectly flat, but if I tilt it or apply pressure to the area just above the keyboard, the screen goes nuts! It is definitely related to video card *somehow*, but i can't find instructions on how to pop the top panel off of my laptop...
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post #5 of 32
11/5/06 at 6:24pm
I saw this problem w/ my high school laptops a lot and it was the cabling from the vid card to the monitor and DVI/VGA ports. I'm almost sure its the cabling and a pinch or crimp in the wiring. Might try reseating the card too, you just never know.
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post #6 of 32
11/5/06 at 11:30pm
Thread Starter 
Modal

I hope to being getting help from Alienware Customer support tomorrow, If I am successful at transferring the warranty and can get help I will share with you what I find out. At the very least I am hoping they will give me access to the online downloads (manuals, specs, etc) which I will then share with you because we have the same model.

I was told that a new video card was already put in. (if this is accurate I am not sure) So I am hoping they will step me through checking the cables for crimps and loose ends (thanks BFishch06).
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post #7 of 32
11/5/06 at 11:47pm
I hate to tell you, but the warranty doesn't transfer from the original owner under any circumstances. I doubt they'll even talk to you, but good luck. I'm afraid you might just have to check it yourself. There should be a number of connectors and pins that you'll to check out from the card all the way back to the monitor and external port.
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post #8 of 32
11/6/06 at 12:14am
BFisch, i'd love to check out those connectors unfortunately the case doesn't reveal any further screws or obvious latches once you've removed the keyboard and other exterior service panels (CPU/GPU, HDD, miniPCI & RAM). So, gotta get a service manual somehow (i'm gonna try emailing Uniwill, who manufactures the chassis under N766, but who knows). Thanks for the offer, donnaparker- I will definitely post if i am able to figure this out, please keep me in the loop if you find anything!
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post #9 of 32
11/6/06 at 12:32am
I know HammerHead had a 766 chassis and I'm sure he'd be willing to give out a few pointers. PM him and he'll get you headed in the right direction. AW doesn't service the 766's anymore anyways.
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post #10 of 32
11/6/06 at 12:33pm
the problem you describe seems to be related to the VGA connector to the LCD, this connection is below the keyboard, you can follow this article to remove the keyboard http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/a...i=&p_topview=1

you should see the connections at the top
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post #11 of 32
11/6/06 at 2:03pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you I just took it all apart and put it back together. And it does seem to be better. I moved it all around the display is working properly. I will let it run for awhile and see what happens....

I really appreciate the help!!!
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post #12 of 32
11/7/06 at 1:33am
update:

I sucked it up and took the entire laptop apart- down to the motherboard. What a pain in the ass. So many hidden clips/latches and screws. Sorry, i'm travelling so i couldn't take pictures. Anyway, I completely disassembled it, and eyed every damn square centimeter of exposed board, and couldn't find anything that looked like a loose connection (something that is sensitive to a little pressure or tilt *seems* like it should be obvious on this thing. I cleaned all the dust off, put it back together (I have three extra screws now- oops!) and booted it up... luckily no flames or sparks!

It "works" now in the sense that if i prop it up by the sides (a book edge under the left/right sides of the laptop) the graphics are fine. If i set it on the table, it goes nuts! I have no idea where the damn connection is, but it is a sensitive *#(@$&($#@*.

Anyway. Too much work to do now to play around with this, so I will take it apart again step-by-step, take pictures, and put up the disassembly instructions sometime next week... I hope.
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post #13 of 32
11/7/06 at 9:09am
Thread Starter 
I am feeling your pain, although you did make me laugh with your extra screws. I ended up actually missing one....hmmmm maybe this crazy alien sent it to your house.

After many hours of bliss I did see the monitor go haywire again last night after I was using the CD..."How dare I use my CD." I agree with you, something is very senstive.

Now I did not take mine apart as much as you did, and got the same result. All I did was take the key pad off and the easier metal tops that were showing underneath. And I reseated that huge Video component on the underside of the Alien. I am wondering if it is the Video component, maybe it can move easily.

I will experiment today if I have time and let you know. My Video component was taped in place when I opened it so I removed the tape. Thank God this not my only computer right now or I would be so frustrated. But it is so much better then my other aging beast as far as speed quality, etc.
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post #14 of 32
11/9/06 at 1:43am
Yep, my monitor started going nuts after a little while, too, and without me touching the laptop (wireless inputs). That, together with the discovery that turning it off and setting it upside-down (on a soft surface, now!) for a little while got it to start working normally (for a short while) leads me to one of two conclusions:

1. Something is slowly "sagging" downward over time.
2. The fan(s) are pushing something in the wrong direction.

These aren't necessarily mutually exclusive options. Anyway, the only way to really test this out is gonna be for me to take it apart again, bit by bit, and see if I can get it to work once I get it down to the internals. That'll take some care, because I'm not sure if some screws are responsible for connecting units to the same grounding strip, but that shouldn't matter too much when it runs off of the battery. Though there's always that potential for fiery death and sparks . Look for an update from me sometime after this weekend (gonna be very busy until next Monday).
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post #15 of 32
11/9/06 at 1:37pm
Thread Starter 
Hi Modal,

I just got off the phone with alienware tech support. The previous owner of my machine was kind enough to let me use his alienware account to access tech support. I told them everything we have been discussing. They think it is some or one of the bus connection(s) on the motherboard and want to replace the whole motherboard.

Now I just have to get up the nerve to ask the previous owner if he wouldn't mind calling to change the shipping address....ugggg....I am sure the last thing he wants to do is call alienware. From what I can tell he has not had a good customer support experience there. He said it will take 3 - 4 weeks....Yikes....That seems like a long time.

I asked if they could send me the parts and I could do it myself but they said no.

I might just have to buy something else
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post #16 of 32
11/14/06 at 12:58pm
Have you guys tried blowing compressed air into the vents where the processor and video cards are? I had these same problems on my 766, it is heat related (at least mine was). I always looked in the vents and they looked clean to me but I ended up frying a video card, after I replaced it I blew out the "clean" vents and a ton of crap came out. The system has been running ALOT cooler now and its been about a year since I had any problems.

Good luck!

-Mark
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post #17 of 32
11/16/06 at 3:16pm
Well, I'm taking it apart again, finally got the time... here's just hoping the connection problem is something that can be fixed at home; I do believe it is something on the motherboard, but it's going to be an adventure pinning it down. I'll let you know what I find + pics.
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post #18 of 32
11/17/06 at 6:12pm
So, took it apart again and searched, and searched.. still nothing. Today I was crawling around boards and groups and I think I found what the problem is: since the connnection problem isn't visible, it must be underneath one of the chips soddered to the mainboard (crud), which are attached using what's called a Ball Grid Array (BGA). These things do occasionally fail, and apparently have been doing so in the Xbox 360. Do these artifacts look familiar?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYv6b7MndJk

So, yeah, I'm gonna try it out. Nothing to lose at this point... hopefully I won't melt anything I'm not supposed to. I'll do it sometime this weekend, post results (aftermath) afterwards.
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post #19 of 32
11/18/06 at 9:32pm
Yes! It worked! (for now)...

Long story short, I disassembled the whole damn thing, and treated my motherboard the same way those guys treated their XBox 360's motherboard (see video linked above). Nothing...

So, (what I SHOULD have done to begin with), I took the video card out, took it apart, and heat-treated it... I warmed it up with the heat gun set to 450F for a minute, then 650 for 30 seconds and up to 850 for about two minutes. Then I throttled the heat back to 650 for 30 seconds, 450 for 30 seconds, and then let it cool down on its own. I kept the hot air gun about 6 inches away most of the time, except when I focused the heat directly on the GPU (I pretty much emulated the video).

So, now, it works. Laptop is back together and I only have one extra screw (I stripped it so I didn't bother putting it back, it was a non-essential screw anyway). Hopefully I heated it up enough, and I won't have to go back and fix it anytime soon, but we'll see.

I'll go into more detail and try to put up some pictures sometime soon. But, if you were having the same problems I was having, it may be that you just need to treat your video card to some hot air!
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post #20 of 32
11/18/06 at 9:46pm
Some quick useful links about reflowing BGAs:


Reflow guidelines (shows temperatures and dwell times)

This is probably easier to control than a heat gun, just not as localizable:
Toaster oven reflow
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