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M7700 GPU Problem... help!

post #1 of 16
3/23/10 at 5:27am
Thread Starter 
Hello everybody!

I just recently came across my M7700 that was sitting in my closet gathering dust so I thought that I'd try to give it a whack and fix it!

The problem was that the video card was showing a bunch of random characters, crosshatching on the display, I tried using compressed air and cleaned everything out from head to bottom and it still didn't fix it.

I tried "baking" it and it helped for about 5 minutes and then went back to normal. So I tried fully taking apart the laptop and "baked" the graphics card again, put everything together and now I don't have any display!

Is there any suggestions to breathe new life in my M7700? I was looking at ordering a new card but it uses a Clevo propitiatory connection and not MXM which sort of puts a crimp on my plan.

The CPU and CPU fans works, there is now no display and FN+F2 yields 0 results.

Thanks!
-D4551-
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post #2 of 16
3/24/10 at 5:01am
I would say give the baking one more chance. This time leave the poor card alone until it is completely cool off. Can you tell us how you bake it?

cheers ...
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post #3 of 16
3/24/10 at 6:36am
Thread Starter 
Haha I got the card to function again with the distorted graphics, ended up using NVFLASH to downclock it and then the bios, it actually worked for about 10 minutes and then it shut off. I'm not in the process of trying to reflash it to the backup I have and we'll see how it goes.

I have a 5.3 REV motherboard though that I flashed the bios to 1.00.12 and I just bought a 7900GTX 256MB GPU off of eBay for $50 that will be in on the 31st. The bios update was supposed to add support for this card so we shall see!

As far as the baking I covered the plastic parts with tinfoil, add 4 tin foil balls along each edge of the GPU and then put it on a cookie sheet and let it bake for 8-10min at 385 degrees.

Ideas?
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post #4 of 16
3/24/10 at 8:01am
Baking time/procedure sounds good. Did you leave it in the oven until it is completely cooling off before "moving" it?

cheers ...
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post #5 of 16
3/24/10 at 3:19pm
Thread Starter 
The good news is that I got it back up and operation after performing a reflash. It seems to be effecting how the GPU displays everything so I'm not sure if it's a bios issue or solder issue... perhaps both.

When I bake it I let it sit in the oven with the oven door open for about an hour making sure it completely cools off.

The weird thing is that there are these characters that take up large block across the screen as well as the crosshatching and discoloration which seems to point to the data its sending out is being corrupted by something.
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post #6 of 16
3/24/10 at 5:23pm
Same thing happening with external monitor as well?

cheers ...
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post #7 of 16
3/24/10 at 5:50pm
Thread Starter 
Just tested it and its the same image. So it doesn't seem to be any cords or wires that have gone bad.

By the way thanks for all you help, it's greatly appreciated!

I've been using it for the cd player on this for the last little bit of time and I forgot just how amazing the sound quality is on this unit!
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post #8 of 16
3/24/10 at 5:59pm
Well, it looks like that the GPU is on its way to be completely out then. Bummer.

Information is free, so why not sharing it. Right?

cheers ...
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post #9 of 16
3/24/10 at 6:11pm
Thread Starter 
Thats what I figured, I'm just hoping the 5.3REV board with the xx.12 bios update supports the 7900gtx I got, we shall see! Still, for 4 years running everyday I have to admit $100 to keep it operational is not bad! $50 for the graphics card and $50 for a replacement chassis (have to keep the Alienware looking pretty dont we?) :P

I agree, luckily this forum has been a plethora of information and I've learned how to disassemble the laptop, flash the gpu, ways to keep it running nice and smoothly! The funny thing is my friends thought I was nuts for baking an electronic piece haha.

What I wish though is that there could've been a way to upgrade it to a core2 duo/quad, that would really extend the operating life of this beast haha.
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post #10 of 16
7/10/10 at 8:24am
What type of video card do you search for when looking for a replacement? I would love to upgrade the card someday down the line but I'm not sure what to look for. I know that if I simply buy a stock piece off some site like ztronics they will try to charge around $400+ for it, and that's just not worth investing in a machine that I originally paid $2,500 and turned out to be a complete rip off.
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post #11 of 16
9/13/10 at 9:49am
Hey my M7700 has been black screened and has been an expensive CD player for a bit and I just got a V6.1N Motherboard to replace my V5.3 after 4 hours of carefully taking apart and putting back together I still have a black screen BUT the clock in the front seems to be workig again...how do I know for sure if its the MB that is a lemon or if its now my video card thats bad? Its not the display I tried external display. When I power on the DVD drive spins a bit and the HD activity light flickers alittle then then nothing no beeps just black screen.
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post #12 of 16
9/13/10 at 11:44am
I would take a guess that it is the GPU

cheers ...
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post #13 of 16
9/13/10 at 11:56am
But anything specific that stands out to tell me its the GPU or anything that can help me with the process of elimiation....like "yeah if the MB is bad the clock stops working but sicne now the clock in the front works your MB should be ok." I just don't want to keep throwing money into a dead laptop...I mean at this point the hardware is getting close to obsolite (I got a HP 17" with a GF 8800 512mb and a Core 2 Duo processor for like $1200 that I have beeen using since my M7700 died)
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post #14 of 16
9/14/10 at 7:40am
It is not much (or a brainer) to say that it is a motherboard issue (in your case), which in 90% of the cases traces back to bad GPU. Since you can play with the GPU on its own, it is safe to say that the GPU takes the dive.

cheers ...
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post #15 of 16
9/14/10 at 9:59am
yeah last night I tried putting a bootable CD in and it had activity so im thinking its the damn video time to get one to replace it.
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post #16 of 16
9/14/10 at 3:20pm
Have fun tinkering. Scrounge eBay for replacements, and bake the ding whilst waiting

cheers ...
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