Toshiba A205-S4707 LCD Artifacts - Please help, at wit's end here.

[vaticanslayer]

I'm trying to repair an older laptop (3 or 4 years old), a Toshiba A205-S4707. I've checked everything that I can check (at least what I've thought to check) and I have not found the problem yet. What it's doing is that when it gets to the Windows 7 boot-up screen everything on the screen artifacts, creating visual distortions that renders the screen unusable. The screen itself displays no artifacts when in Safe-Mode or while in the Bios. It is only when a higher graphical standard is initialized that this problem occurs (at least, that's what I'm assuming based on what I've seen).

This is what it looks like when Windows 7 starts to boot:

What I've tried:
1. Hooking the laptop up via the VGA cable to an external LCD monitor works fine, the LCD monitor has zero artifacts and looks absolutely normal. I believe this rules out the graphics chipset itself but not certain.
2. Buying a new LCD screen for the laptop - the new LCD screen didn't fix anything. The new LCD screen functions the same as the old one in that it looks fine up until it gets to the Windows 7 boot-up screen and everything artifacts (Fine in safe mode/BIOS).
3. Buying a new inverter for the laptop - replaced the old inverter with a new one that matched model/make of old inverter. Same result happened (when Win 7 boot-up screen appears, the screen artifacts. Fine in safe mode/BIOS)


Can anyone here suggest *anything* else to try? What could be causing it not work in higher graphical modes but run fine in Safe Mode/BIOS and display to an external monitor fine even in higher graphical modes?

Thanks for any help anyone can give. So tired at this point... 😴

 

[nhasian]

vaticanslayer, thank you for giving us plenty of detail about your problem, the troubleshooting you've already done and even a picture! This will assist us greatly in helping you. Since you mentioned that the bios and safe mode do not have any problems, I'm gonna guess its a driver problem. Perhaps you could try a test for me, if you can boot off of an Ubuntu or Fedora LiveCD or usb thumbdrive. I expect when it boots to the Gnome Desktop that you will not have any trouble with the display and it will be using your laptops native resolution. This will confirm that it is a problem with windows or the video driver in windows.

 

[vaticanslayer]

vaticanslayer, thank you for giving us plenty of detail about your problem, the troubleshooting you've already done and even a picture! This will assist us greatly in helping you. Since you mentioned that the bios and safe mode do not have any problems, I'm gonna guess its a driver problem. Perhaps you could try a test for me, if you can boot off of an Ubuntu or Fedora LiveCD or usb thumbdrive. I expect when it boots to the Gnome Desktop that you will not have any trouble with the display and it will be using your laptops native resolution. This will confirm that it is a problem with windows or the video driver in windows.

Thanks for the suggestion my good fellow, I will try this as soon as I can.

 

[vaticanslayer]

Update: It looks like I've found what triggers it, as odd as it sounds. Whenever the lapto's AC adapter is plugged in, the artifacts happen when trying to boot into Win 7 normal mode. On battery power alone, the laptop can boot up into Windows 7 normal mode fine.

Also just to double check I tried booting to Fedora/Gnome Desktop, and it artifacts in that environment as well, but only when the adapter is plugged in. With battery power alone, it boots up to both Win 7 normal and Fedora/Gnome Desktop environment without issue.

It's not the AC power supply itself - I have a universal power adapter spare that I just tested it with and the artifacting happens whenever the laptop is plugged in and a full boot into Windows 7 or Fedora/Gnome Desktop.


So... anybody have *any* idea what can be causing a power adapter to cause the laptop to artifact?

 

[vaticanslayer]

Final update: Finally fixed this, forgot to make a post about it. Turns out it was the DC power jack that was somehow causing a short whenever the power adapter was plugged in, causing the weird artifacting. After I replaced the DC power jack with a newbie, everything is golden now.