Dell inspiron 9300 17" possible lcd and gpu problem.

[kilo two nine]

Hey, i have a dell inspiron 9300 laptop 17" display, with a ati radeon x300 64mb mobility video card, and i am having problems on boot up with windows, i get long vertical blue , white , and red lines going through the screen and will not go away, they do not flicker or nothing, they just stay.

dont get me wrong the laptop works, i am using it right now in safe mode with networking. it only works without lines in the 3 safe modes, and VGA mode.
the bit rating is : 32 and the resolution is 640 by 480.

I have used a spare monitor, a CRT one, hooked it up via vga cable, powered the lcd and got the same result without the use of a external vga cable.

I have ran the windows diagnostics, and said everything was ok , ( by the way i am using windows xp service pack 3, 32 bit version of windows) i may have done the video card test wrong i do not know.

and i have used a spare laptop hard disk drive and reinstalled windows, with the same results, vertical lines.

I have come here to ask for some help, as i am out of ideas on what i can try or use. i am open to any kind of help or questions i know there is alot to read, so thanks for reading and any possible help / answers!

 

[scout_03]

it could be the x300 or the panel when did you dust off the last time

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

I own a laptop repair company...

This is an easy one.... IF the lines are ALWAYS in the same place ...its NEW screen time...

All the best Brett

 

[kilo two nine]

Two days ago, i took the whole laptop apart, lifted the motherboard out, the lcd panel very carefully, and cleaned everything inside and out.
I just tested somthing, i took out dim B , turn the laptop on, and i had the same result in vertical lines, but i have enough time to count them, 40 blue lines in segments of 4 each, and 4-6 small red lines.

I switched out the ram with the dim B pluged it into dim A and got a much, much different result! there were not 40 blue and 4-6 red vertical lines, there where black, gray , blue , red and green i think lines, prob a hundred of them maybe.

Not sure how that can help!
thanks!

 

[kilo two nine]

Hi

I own a laptop repair company...

This is an easy one.... IF the lines are ALWAYS in the same place ...its NEW screen time...

All the best Brett

Hi, i have tested the laptop by pressing the FN and LCD screen button on a external monitor after i powered the laptop up, and got the vertical lines , but i did notice somthing new , the microsoft letters and what not , where all well.. deformed? not really sure how to explain that or if it means anything.
thanks!

 

[scout_03]

then try memtest for your ram

 

[kilo two nine]

then try memtest for your ram

is that a program i download? or is it built into windows?
thanks!

EDIT:
i do have two sticks of ram from a very old dell uh inspiron 1100 , two 256mb sticks, should i try those?

 

[mtxpeterson]

From my experience, I would most likely bet on it being a GPU issue. I have pixel trash from time to time on my Dell XPS, which also shows up on an LCD monitor through the VGA port. Forgot to add that I did clean my laptop and put new thermal compound, and that seemed to help a bit.

 

[scout_03]

windows memory test is a way to find something memtest is the real one free http/www.memtest.org/ choose the one you need

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi, i have tested the laptop by pressing the FN and LCD screen button on a external monitor after i powered the laptop up, and got the vertical lines , but i did notice somthing new , the microsoft letters and what not , where all well.. deformed? not really sure how to explain that or if it means anything.
thanks!

Hi

You need to explain a little clearer....

Were the lines on the EXTERNAL screen AS WELL when it was plugged in or on the Lappy screen ONLY ?

And you didn't answer my question.... are the lines ALWAYS in the same place ???

A photo would help...

All the best Brett

 

[kilo two nine]

Hi

You need to explain a little clearer....

Were the lines on the EXTERNAL screen AS WELL when it was plugged in or on the Lappy screen ONLY ?

And you didn't answer my question.... are the lines ALWAYS in the same place ???

A photo would help...

All the best Brett

sorry, uh yes they are on the LCD and the external monitor.
I can try and get you a photo, but i do not know how to post it.. sorry!
and no they were not in the same place, one stick of ram posted 40 blue ones and 4-6 red ones, the other stick posted alot of black lines, and the windows picture showed gray, blue,yellow and black lines.

and i will try the memtest and get back to you guys!
thanks!

 

[Brett928S2]

sorry, uh yes they are on the LCD and the external monitor.
I can try and get you a photo, but i do not know how to post it.. sorry!
and no they were not in the same place, one stick of ram posted 40 blue ones and 4-6 red ones, the other stick posted alot of black lines, and the windows picture showed gray, blue,yellow and black lines.

and i will try the memtest and get back to you guys!
thanks!

Hi

If the lines were on both, its NOT the screen, more likely the card...it probably needs a refloat.... or replacement...

It could be ram related as I don't like the fact you got different results with both sticks....but I doubt it...

All the best Brett

 

[kilo two nine]

Uh, ive done alot of research into computers in the past few years, but i've never heard of a refloat? what is that?
thanks!

 

[Brett928S2]

Uh, ive done alot of research into computers in the past few years, but i've never heard of a refloat? what is that?
thanks!

Hi

Assuming you are in the USA (I am in the UK), you may call it something different...its when the graphics card or chip is removed (mostly from laptops, and where the heat has made the actual chip "float" upwards CAUSING GRAPHICAL ERRORS, we refloat it, with what looks like a square hair dryer and then when the solder has got hot enough , the chip SHOULD (not always) go back DOWN into its original position...where we bond the edges of it with a special high temp bonding agent (glue)

All the best Brett

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

To see videos of refloating..Google DV 6000 and refloat....the most famous laptop EVER with this problem ALL the time...we wont even sell them anymore...

All the best Brett

 

[mtxpeterson]

The dreaded Nvida chip. Reflow is a rather intensive fix I would recommend an expert to it carry out. I done this before, but without the right tools it is only a temporary fix. I guess knowing your options is good, but this is a last resort in my opinion.

 

[kilo two nine]

wow, that was amazing.. but i dont know if the gpu is bad yet, i am still trying to download and figure out the memtest.
so if anyone knows of a decent and easy to use gpu diagnostics? thanks.
i'll get back to you guys shortly thanks!
and thanks much for that video link, very very interesting and how stupid of hp to use ONE heatsink and not only that but that heat shielding was so small it was pitfull.. thanks to dell my laptop is easy to take apart and clean, 2 heat sinks and 2 fans yay!

 

[Brett928S2]

The dreaded Nvida chip. Reflow is a rather intensive fix I would recommend an expert to it carry out. I done this before, but without the right tools it is only a temporary fix. I guess knowing your options is good, but this is a last resort in my opinion.

Hi

Even with the correct tools its NEVER guaranteed to work....

If we do it for a customer (in my lappy repair company) the ONLY guarantee we give ...is that IF it works, then fails again, we will re-float it , ONCE more within 90 days for free.... then new motherboard time (not forgetting that is the same motherboard that has the problem in the first place..... or its drop it in the bin time...

We explain this VERY carefully to the customer BEFORE we do it....

All the best Brett

 

[kilo two nine]

Hey, so i ran the memtest, and 2 passes, 0 errors.
So does that mean the ram is ok?
thanks!

EDIT:
Ok so i just read that it needs 5-6 pass, one stick of ram at a time so.. gotta redo it.

 

[kilo two nine]

Hey, ran the memtest for 6+ passes per stick of ram, two sticks, no errors.
so does anyone have a idea or somthing? any kind of program to use on the video card for stress testing, diagnostics, anyhting?
thanks much!