My Toshiba Qosmio G30 suddenly developed the green screen problem
I have Toshiba Qosmio g30(no serious probs since purchase) that suddenly developed the green screen problem.The xp start up screen is green & black/dark gray pixels are also green. There is also some red pixel distortion in scroll bars and menu boxes.
I was using it fine today then i half closed the screen and left it to go on standby or hibernate. Anyway, when i flicked mouse to turn it back on, the green pixels were all over the desktop. PLEASE bear with me on my steps because i really don’t think it is a fatal hardware fault and don’t want to dismantle yet!
1)I thought video card driver corruption – installed new & original drivers but no joy. also tried other various tosh drivers for other parts.
2)problem the same in safe mode so started to get worried.
3)then approached the color management profiles thinking they had been corrupted somehow – short term fix but not happy. basically you can alter the settings to get rid of most black pixels…eg they will be v dark grey. the less there are the less the problem is visible. maybe there’s a prob deep inside windows, startup progs or registry that messes with pixel display/pixel shader? sadly i don’t think it’s that simple.
4)i can safely rule out water damage and have not dropped or bashed it.
5)I then suspected a damaged wire in the hinge mechanism but since i can have perfect blue (without even a single green pixel)i just doubt that any potential damage caused in the hinge would affect only black pixels…..and also only black pixels on all your pcs/laptops! playing around with hinge angle so far fails to solve problem but i haven’t entirely ruled it out since the last thing i did before it all happened was move the screen.
6)The static theory is certainly interesting but how would it have suffered such a problem? can heat / power supply or even sudden hinge movement cause this? Anyway, have tried touching inner frame/depress start fix but no joy yet. will experiment further with this but why would it only mess with the black/grey pixels and not green pixels instead?
7)I will soon try external monitor that should narrow down problem a bit more
8)in the meantime i am going into bios and will try a few other things…some rest for my laptop, a test of black pixels in photoshop etc, and some more static shck therapy!
ANY HELP would be greatly appreciated but surely we can’t all have the same faulty wires…it’s just such a specific problem.
QS remains is it software (windows, color management, drivers, registry, hibernate/standby/start up prob etc), or hardware ( lcd – graphics card communication, static charge, cable damage)
If these pixels appear on the screen as soon as you turn on the laptop, even before Windows starts loading, most likely your problem is not software related and there is something wrong with hardware.
First of all, you should test the laptop with an external monitor.
If the external video is fine and these green pixels appear only on the internal LCD screen, most likely you have a problem with the screen. You can buy a new replacement screen here.
If both external and internal images have the same defect, you might have a problem with the video card. Unfortunately, I believe the video card is integrated into the system board and when it fails, you have to replace the whole motherboard.
As I mentioned above, before you make any conclusions, test the laptop with an external monitor.
UPDATE. September 30, 2008.
Toshiba Qosmio G35 BIOS Update and GPU Repair Program
Do you need spare parts for your laptop? Search here by the laptop model and part description.Based on our Investigation, some Toshiba portable computers have Graphic Processing Units (GPU’s) that may exhibit one or more of the symptoms specified below.
If you experience a failure, you may see one or more of the following symptoms:
- Multiple images
- Random characters on the screen
- Lines on the screen
- No video with power onConsistent with our commitment to customer satisfaction, Toshiba is conducting a free GPU Repair Program for customers whose portable computers contain the subject GPUs in the model identified below and have experienced a GPU performance issue.
Qosmio G35-AV650
Qosmio G35-AV660
Qosmio G35-AV670For more information please contact Toshiba Support at 1-800-457-7777 or a Toshiba Authorized Service Partner near you.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:14 am
This is the worst notebook I ever had…qosmio g30-145 , I have read a lot of posts with the same problem as I have : video card dyeing (video ram gpu fried) with the same symptoms vertical green/red/blue lines/stripes on the display from boot up.
About 2 years ago I have bought my qosmio from Germany with 3500 euro, lot of money, and first problem occur about 1 month ago when I start playing games. Notebook is equipped with the nv 7600 gt mobile video card. Many people say that or the video ram or the gpu were fried (same problem with vertical lines on display from boot up, this is a hardware problem if you get this don’t try to flash your bios or something like else it didn’t work ) , after these lines the next step is u get b.s.o.d. (blue screen) from now on you qosmio doesn’t boot anymore until you disable the vga card driver (7600 gt) in windows (safe mode) with standard display adapter and you can work without 7600 gt mobile as long as you don’t have to play games or run 3d programs. Luckily I was in warranty and Toshiba changed the whole motherboard (that’s the only solution because the video card is together with the motherboard), this is very expensive if you are not in warranty!!! (About 700 – 900 $)
After I get my qosmio back from warranty, about 5 days ago (today is 30 April 2008) I just started playing a flight simulator ,after 10-15 minutes I get blue screen again , my notebook restarted automatically and again same vertical lines and stripes on my display and same bsod (blue screen).
It is ok for me because I still have warranty for 2 month’s but my question is what if this problem occurs after my warranty over, what I have read on a lot of posts there are many people with qosmio g30 series who has replaced 3 or 4 times the whole motherboard on warranty on then on his own costs.
Why is Toshiba closing her eyes, it is NOT our fault that we have bought to most expensive notebook of that time ,it is Toshiba’s fault , he designed these notebooks.
Toshiba is responsibly for these ………….
So Toshiba, do something but hurry up, until you don’t have anymore what to replace.
My next notebook will be definitely NOT a TOSHIBA… and I recommend this to you.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:07 am
My machine was fixed for free by Toshiba (2 months out of warranty). The person I spoke with to get the work done is located at the Canadian head office in Markham, Ontario, Canada (google it). He did not admit to any know problems with the G30 laptops but agreeded to fix mine. When you call, let receptionist know that you do not want to talk to the techies they normally put you through to, let them know you want to speak to the man who makes the decisions. I let him know about this page of complaints. Good luck to all!!!
April 19th, 2008 at 3:06 am
I have sent a letter to Atsutoshi Nishida (Toshiba’s CEO/president in Japan) regarding the problems with the G30. Hopefully I’ll get a response. You can get his addresss on my web if you want to write to keep his secretaries or translators busy
. (www.siloway.com)
April 12th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Hi again, glad to see Killrr is getting something under way, ps what magazine do you work for ? We need to get organized to put pressure on these monkeys, if everyone here with a blogg or website puts and article up and cross references this page and each other, we can start having impact on page ratings and so come up more often on google searches etc then people will hear more and more about the problem and Tosh have to take notice ! I’ve started on http://www.siloway.com, leave your comments to increase ratings +reference your own articles on the subject.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Got my machine back from Toshiba authorized service today, and guess what, video card is defective and fried the motherboard. $550 for the part and $130 to install it. Sounds familar huh. I am not prepared to replace a video card and motherboard that will likely have problems again, due to poor design by Toshiba. Toshiba is not recognizing a problem with the G30, only the G10 (similar problems), and remarked that they are very sorry I am out of warranty, and luck. I am going to push the issue with Toshiba as far as I can. Unfortunately for Toshiba I work for a major newspaper publishing company. This story will make great material for our Tech column. Everyone having these problems please continue to make lots of noise.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:11 am
after reading all your responses im pretty pissed! its very convenient that this all happens out of warranty!!!
guess i have an expensive door stop now
anyone know if toshiba is doing a recall? thanks to toshiba ive converted to mac!
April 8th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Owner of G30 who just today took it in to Toshiba tech. with many of the same probs. mentioned above. Video card problems was the first thing to come to my mind. I do not want to replace MB with video on it if the problem is caused by too much heat, it will happen again. First they ditch HD DVD rendering my HD DVD ROM in the laptop obsolete – $1000, and now I guess I am looking at a MB replacement which could cost $1000. I guess I bought a $3000 calculator. If Toshiba does not offer makegood of some sort it will be the last item with Toshiba on it that I ever buy, and I will make everyone I know aware of my situation. This deffinitely sounds like manufacturer fault, Toshiba should want to keep us happy and buying their products.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:06 am
I’ve had a few laptops and bought an G30-191, the bees knees in 2006 when they were more or less the most powerfull thing on the market, worked ok for a year or so then started to hyperventillate like mad, sent off to Tosh for repair, came back and was ok… for a couple of weeks. Now it has gone back into hyperventillation mode, I’m gonna start a Toshiba G30 problem section on my web http://www.siloway.com because I think that it is absolutely outrageous to sell a product for 2000 quid that works so badly! All are welcome to leave coms on my site, please keep language clean though… I know its hard when you’ve paid 2k for a paperweight but hey, I use my site professionnaly too.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Ah, also meant to say that since the replacement MB I have no media library in either Media Play or Media Centre (I understand they use the same library files), Media Player crashes continually and I’ve just found out the Qosmio direct buttons don’t work at all. Ha, says the repairer, not our problem, we just replaced the MB! Now, do i spend another goddness knows how much having these bits repaired only to suffer another MB failure? I think not, but if anyone has any suggestions as to resolving these issues I would love to hear them. (I have already tried uninstalling MP11 and the related programs and rolling back to MP10 as suggested by Microsoft, but now MP10 crashes on opening it). As to buying a Sony, well i had one of those before this Tosh. The problem there was the power socket detached and wouldn’t charge so gusee what, I needed a new MB! Sony’s problem is that only a certified Sony repairer can obtain the spare parts and the only one in Europe at the time (3 years ago) was in Holland. So I lost the laptop for 6 weeks and was another 450GBP out of pocket to put right a design fault. At least with Toshiba I have quite a few options of repairers!
March 26th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hi,
My (Nov 2006) G30 did not suffer the pixel problem, the whole thing just died and left the fan running top speed. As with all these others, I was advised the Motherboard had failed, all of 2 weeks out of warrantee. I then waited over 2 months!! for a repair. My Qosmio was bought in Canada but failed in the UK so this was used as an excuse. Then eventually it was returned but, I noticed from the paperwork, with a different type of MB. I wonder if there might be a reason for this?! I’ll cross my fingers that it lasts but it seems a ludicrous situation for a company the size of Toshiba to not own up and stop charging vast sums of money (all but 500GBP in my case) for a repair that is obviously due to a design fault.
Suggestions on a united front to make them wake up and take notice gratefully received!
March 25th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Hi all,
As my toshiba G30 is off getting repaired again (im getting 6mths out of a motherboard and this is the second one), taken a week so far and thats just delivering it, im reading all the posts on the net about what a wonderful machine they are. How many of us have been sucked in by toshiba? I think for the price of this brick toshiba should offer us a resolution. Im going to try the media.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Hi Guys, I bought 3 of these units not more than 6 months ago. i spent so much money on these three thinking that they were quality products being the best on the market at the time. I had the exact same problems as many above, only, it got so bad, that Vista could not start up. it would boot, and go straight into system recovery mode due to hardware failure. my Laptop has been in for 2 weeks now, and now, my second G30 is developing the same symptoms! I am awaiting the sales manager’s call to try resolve the situation. it is obvious that this problem is generic with so many of the G30’s from what i have researched, that i want to try and swap my laptops for something else. because quite frankly, to spend such copious amounts of dosh on oversized paperweights is bull!! I will never advise one to buy a toshiba product again!! ill stick to sony or dell for sure!! They produce far better quality products!!
March 17th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Hi Guys,
Same here had the laptop for two years and she died on me. First it started with lines, so I switched off the graphic card driver and left it with just the MS vga card driver, worked for another 3 months, and then it started happening on that, so I got myself another new laptop sony this time, and started to remotely connect to the toshiba, yes it worked for another 3 months, and today the bit_ch died.
I tried all sorts of things, I even put it in the freezer to cool her down.
Its simple in the future do not buy another Toshiba laptop, go with Sony or something more reliable.
Regards
Simon
March 2nd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
So good to know it will need replacing on a regular basis. That way I won’t make the mistake of relying on it ever. Ok seriously now, I can’t believe how a problem like this can slip through testing…worse maybe to think Tosh knew about it and released it anyway.
If they refuse to give me a different model or replacement, I think I might start up a website called toshibasucks.com or smashmytoshup etc. People could post videos of how they use a malfunctioning £2000 machine. I might set the tone by salvaging what i can and then smashing it to bits and sending it to Tosh HQ as a protest. I welcome more constructive suggestions though.
I wonder if they fitted a different video card, might this issue be resolved to at least get a few years use? Since I got it back from 1st repair I don’t think I have used it for more than 100 hours ! It’s a joke. No gaming really, just some videos, youtube etc.
Intersting what you said about latest drivers causing problems but surely the build is more a problem?
Anyway do you think g40s have same probs? I was thinking of going to spend £2500 on one tomorrow. YEAH LIKE **** I will ! I might try and get upgraded to one if they are different.
March 2nd, 2008 at 4:03 am
dont be happy just yet
i replaced my MB 4 times, yes 4 times !!! in less then 3 months
and i still get the same vga green lines, red lines, gray lines problem, sometimes it boots in safe mode, sometimes, not at all!
this hapens due to unstable 7600 drivers, if you update your driver you will get these issues a little faster, and teh card gets overheated allot when playing graphic heavy games, and in a while it could die just by browsing internet or watching a movie
first symptoms is, allot of red and green dots around the mouse pointer area.
now i am stuck with a g30 brick that works when it wants to…. i hate toshiba
March 1st, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Ok I think I started this thread (mine is long post at top).
Anyway I managed to get Toshiba in UK to offer me a “good will gesture” after I kicked up a fuss. basically they wanted to charge me about £400 to replace MB as well as 7600 go card ! The cheek of it.
I said that it simply wasn’t my responsibility that the MB needs to be replaced because the VGA card is soldered onto it, and after a few calls to customer service it all seemed fine.
I was overjoyed that they did this for me out of warranty although part of the deal was that I take out extended warranty for ??? . Sensing that something would only go wrong again I am glad I did so……
Earlier today, my wife was quite happily on internet when…um , er I don’t know really. The screen just went black and died!
I can restart in safe mode with no display probs
I cannot restart normally (XP screen has vertical grey lines in bar pattern all over screen) and then goes black.
I can start in “VGA mode” whatever that is, but only 8 bit display…16bit or 32 bit just gives black screen. If I even try those I have to restart.
I suspect another graphics card problem or maybe if I’m lucky a memory issue.
Stuff this I say ! A year ago I would say Tosh made great machines but this is turning into a turkey. NEVER AGAIN. I will be asking for a replacement on monday. I don’t care they can give me something that works.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:31 am
I have the same problem with my Q30. Left it by Toshiba Service Center. They have to replace the MB and i am out
so it run day and night. I am very disappointed with Toshiba, its a design fault (heat)!
of warranty since 3 month. My Qosmio was thought as a desktop replacement
Greez
Fred
January 15th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I guess I am just another story to add to the board. My G30 is 1 yr 5 mths old and soundsl ike it’s not worth another mother board. All the same symptoms, green squares, vertical lines, and “blue screen”. I didn’t go for the extended warrenty, toshiba, I thought, made good laptops! It’ll be the last for me as well. I called and complained, but noone would offer a free fix, or as much as some $ todwards the repair. This should be a recall issue, and should be dealt with in court!
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:51 am
Add me to the endless list of suckers who bought a Toshiba G30. The machine is in my opinion a Lemon. All of the above are symptoms of the integrated video chip burning out and taking the (very expensive to replace)MB with it. Toshiba sting you for a top premium when you buy and then screw you again when you need to fix it; 14 months old and out of warranty, what are you going to do except alert every one to the fact that the machine is rubbish.
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:59 am
i am on my forth Motherboard replacement in less then 2 months, and the problem still exists.
i don’t understand, they cant fix the problem, why bother and replace the MB when its bound to have the same defect again….
God forbids me to buy anything marked with Toshiba in it.
December 5th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I bought my Qosmio this January 2007 and the same problem happened a month after i bought it. i brought it into london drugs and they repaced the MB. In november it happened again!. They are still fixing it and it will be done in a week. It took them 3 weeks!. I bought the extended 3 year warranty and i hope if it happens again i will get a replacement.
I will never buy toshiba products again.
November 24th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
If you guys type the keyword ‘g30 graphic problems’, you can see a lot of the same thing happening almost around the world. I guess graphic card integrated into the motherboard (like the one in g30) are no good.
The only way to solve this problem is by replacing it or replace a new laptop. I don’t think i will ever get qosmio in the future.
Fireplace, “Just happened to me yesterday on my G30 but with a twist.
I can not load normal windows at all I can only boot in safe mode. Is it my graphics card?” – that happened to me as well.. I’m guessing it is a graphic card problem also.. have it checked by toshiba. If its still under warranty, it is still worth replacing the motherboard. If not, i dun think its worth it. I guess the motherboard cost as much as the unit itself. So worth buying another new laptop.
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Just happened to me yesterday on my G30 but with a twist.
I can not load normal windows at all I can only boot in safe mode. Is it my graphics card?
October 27th, 2007 at 8:50 am
i have the same problem, also Toshiba will replace the motherboard for my g30 in 20+ days
i turn the laptop on and see green and red dots and lines
i have to play with color and resolution to get it to work, but 10 minutes later it goes bad again…..
i don’t get it, why do they release these faulty laptops, what kind of testing do they have…..
October 9th, 2007 at 8:24 am
I have started having this problem on my Acer laptop. The symptoms are exactly the same. I noticed that the problem is temporarily solved by changing colors on the screen frequently (quick maximising/minimising, starting a game etc). Also, it decreases after long continuous usage. I felt this somewhat ruled out a problem with the connectors, could static buildup have anything to do with it?
October 5th, 2007 at 2:14 am
I had the same problem with you guys on my Qosmio G30 too.. It happened during July and I had Toshiba to replace the Motherboard for me, it took them 1 month to replace it.. My goodness! (They returned to only 1 month after after they receive their motherboard)
Anyway, after i received my laptop after 1 month, i continued working on it for another 6 days and this time different problem arose. When I turned on the laptop, nothing appeared on the screen but there was sound which can be heard. Only by pressing Fn+F5 the display will reappear. WHat sort of problem is that? I had the Motherboard replaced, why does such problem still arise?
Now still waiting for Toshiba to receive another brand new motherboard, luckily my unit is still under warranty.
October 1st, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Hi,
The fault you’ve got maybe related to the VGA chip on the systemboard.
This site has more details:
http://www.laptoprepair1.co.uk/laptop-vga-video-repair.html
August 17th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Hey Ya, Ive got the Toshiba G30 & I have the same problem with the green pixels. at first i though damit a virus but no after going though all the steps to fix it . Came to the conclusion that it was HARDWARE> Thus Taking it in for warrenty ( Thank Go* ) Cause . mB replacement.. and yes it seemes like it was cause from to much heat. – I noticed to that it seemed the laptop would generate more & more heat.. doing my regular cleaning of fans and vents. but Yes most likey this Board is getting to hot. and. having a melt down.. well at least the Video. memory. can stand the heat.. I was told there replacing the MB.. So thats my little story . Hope it helps a little with anyone having this same problem…
August 12th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I just got a 20″ flat screen and it’s doing the same to me. It’s not a laptop, but i have green flickering pixels all over the place and everything looks like the Matrix. And they’re only appearing over black and grey areas. I really think it’s the monitor and not software OR videocard related, as I had an old CRT monitor hooked up to the machine for years and it was fine until the day got the LCD.
July 9th, 2007 at 11:51 am
ok i have tested external monitor and no problem whatsoever. So from other posts it looks like an lcd issue. hmm. Anyway, i spoke to toshiba twice today and 3 repair outlets. Toshiba recommended a system recovery that i would hate to do unless necessary. most evidence still points to faulty VGA that will no doubt require a new motherboard and cost me between £300 & 500 depending on who I talk to.
One guy i spoke to said he has seen several laptops suffering from my exact symptoms and he is 100% sure it is vga problem. he says he has seen 7 like mine and only solution is new vga/ motherboard. he said it’s essentially a manufacturing fault…either it gets too hot(it has been much much hotter than yesterday though) or that sometimes because it is so heavy, if you pick it up with one hand there is the possibility that the casing can touch inners and cause problems. he says that it can be repaired but will almost certainly happen again….maybe in a month or maybe a year!
whatever it is i have to get it fixed. i am sure it’s not the lcd itself and more likely to be vga-lcd connection. still, i can’t see the logic if so many people have same problems….i would assume driver/windows problem.
Oh please any more solutions….pixel shaders, windows drivers or sthg…HELP ME PLEASE!