Artifacts on screen....

[vanbret]

Hi guys,

I'm having a situation with an older compaq laptop that I'm hoping someone here will be able to tell me a little bit about.

In a nutshell, once you turn on the computer, the screen will eventually start showing various weird artifacts. It doesn't usually happen right away...sometimes it may be a minute or two, sometimes 10 minutes. But it does eventually happen every time.

And it's not just confined to when the system is running windows. It will sometimes start doing it beforehand.

I've got some pictures uploaded for you guys to see; hopefully it will help you to get a better understanding of the problem.

Here's the link to the pictures:

img34.imageshack.us/g/1003537s.jpg/

Oddly enough, I don't know if it's the actual "video card" that's the problem, since it's not something that happens right away.....maybe power related?

Oh! On that note; the system battery no longer holds any charge at all. If the computer isn't plugged up, it will loose power instantly. Don't know if that's important or not, but thought I should mention it!

I'm only going to post a few computer specs to start. Let me know what else you guys need to know:

Computer specs:
Compaq v4000t
video: radeon x700
1gb system ram ram

Thank you in advance for any assistance!!

-Bret

 

[Skyhooker]

My guess would be a bad or loose display cable - last one I had that looked like that, a replacement from ebay fixed it. I doubt the dead battery is related in any way.

 

[vanbret]

Quick update:

The laptop is now going to a blank screen....it's still running, but the screen went blank. This just happened 2x's in the last 30 minutes.

Maybe a heat issue?

 

[Skyhooker]

Heat also very possible. No offense meant, but you don't sound like a technician, and this site is meant for professional techs only. In any case, this sounds like either a good time to learn and practice the fine art of diagnosis, or find and pay a pro.

 

[GreenCycleComputers]

As stated previously I'd say 1 of 3 things
1. Bad/loose connected video cable. Easy enough to check just plug into an external monitor and see if if you still get artifacts.

2. Bad video (in this case a replacement is in order usually)

3. Overheating (check to see if it gets unusually warm and that all fans are spinning).

 

[meanderer]

From the pictures shown, I would deduce that
1. GPU is overheating, or
2. motherboard is going going.

why I come up with this:
There's a BIOS screen you showed that the artifact looks blocky, but when you are in windows the artifacts are much finer. My understanding of LCD screens is that they always act on per pixel. having text block artifacts in BIOS would indicate something in the motherboard side (otherwise it should have same artifacts like in windows) and it is software independent (BIOS vs Windows)

Unless my understanding about screens are completely wrong XD
ps. when I said BIOS I also meant DOS-like console displays.

 

[vanbret]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Skyhook - No offense taken; actually I am a VERY new tech (in the process of getting A+), and am trying to learn as much as I can from you seasoned vets! That's why I posted here. I don't have very much experience dealing with laptops....figured the best way to learn is to ask.

Meander & GreenCycle - Thanks a ton for the ideas; I will expand on these ideas and go from there later today. I'll post later what I find.

I did check the fans yesterday, and they are spinning. But this laptop has always ran considerably warm, due to the x700 GPU.

Last night I let the laptop run for a while elevated off the ground, with more space for air to flow...it seemed to go a little longer before the artifacts popped up. I definitely think heat is an issue; it must be affecting one of the components. I'll definitely try hooking up to an external monitor today to see if that offers any answers.

 

[Skyhooker]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Skyhook - No offense taken; actually I am a VERY new tech (in the process of getting A+), and am trying to learn as much as I can from you seasoned vets! That's why I posted here. I don't have very much experience dealing with laptops....figured the best way to learn is to ask.

Good, welcome to the profession and TN!

You may very well have to disassemble the machine to solve a heat problem - enough lint, hair and dust can build up on the leading edge of the heat sink vanes that it can resemble a layer of felt, and the only sure way to remove it may be from the inside. That's how I learned to work on laptops (it was my own overheating Toshiba), and it was one of the successes that gave me enough confidence to offer my services for hire.

I'd recommend looking for the links on this forum to the Podnutz laptop repair video series - it will be a great investment for you.

Good luck!


Sky

 

[GreenCycleComputers]

Don't know how helpful it will be but you might try one of those cheap $10-15 laptop coolers. I had a customer laptop that suffered from random reboots and they bought one of those vs buying the fan they needed (which was about the same price). It did however make their system more stable.