Dell laptop starts with green vertical lines through all LCD display
I have a Inspiron 9400/E1705 with a nvidia geforce go 7800, when i start the system (DELL logo) appears green vertical lines through all lcd display, when i tried to test the 3D the display die and then a blue screen say the hardware is something wrong and the driver, i’m not sure if the card is bad, because it works for a time and then failed, i tried to reinstall O.S.(windowsXP) and drivers and it works for a while and then fail so now i have uninstalled the nvidia driver when i started windows the display is good with no lines but poor resolution due to video card is uninstalled.
If you see vertical lines as soon as you turn on the laptop and they run through the Dell logo, most likely this is a hardware related problem and this problem is not related to the operating system or the video card driver.
Test your laptop with an external monitor. Attach the monitor to the laptop, turn on the laptop and press Fn+F8 to switch the video signal to the external screen. If you see the same green vertical lines on the external monitor, most likely you have a problem with the video card.
July 11th, 2009 at 3:22 am
Hey everyone -
This thread was super helpful. I have a Dell e1705 and two weeks ago; I left it running for about 2 hours with the lid down and when I came back to it – the screen was black.
Couldn’t get the display to return so I was forced to do a hard boot.
That’s when the artifacts appeared and I could only boot up in Safe Mode.
Just did the Dell Diagnostics check as suggested above and it looks like it’s the video card.
Will also try reducing the clock speed using rivatuner.
At least now I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I really didn’t want to toss the Dell since I had no issues with it until this video card problem.
Thanks
!
June 15th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
The videoRAMs and/or GPU are toasted – but you may be able to reduce the clock speed of the core GPU/VRAM using rivatuner and use it for non-3d intensive tasks. Otherwise you have to replace the video card if you want to keep playing 3D games.
Some of these might help make the machine stable enough for light graphics programs:
- In the Nvidia driver, enable powermizer.
- install rivatuner and reduce the clock speed of the core GPU and/or VRAM rate for text modes, 2d modes, and heavy 3d modes
- turn off directdraw and direct 3d acceleration
May 6th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Camila,
First off, the Dell guys are mistaken: the video card assembly CAN be replaced on an E1705 – I’ve had mine swapped once and I removed it for cleaning a couple times. In fact, I just had it out about an hour ago.
To echo what Laptop Freak has said, it’s not a software problem (Windows, Linux, etc) if you’re getting these goofy screen artifacts immediately upon boot-up. If you see it during that very first Dell splash screen then it’s going to be a hardware problem.
Also, you can eliminate the laptop LCD as a problem by plugging in an external monitor and using Fn-F8 to activate the screen you just plugged in. I think Laptop Freak also mentioned this earlier.
Anyway…
For those of you with distorted video on Dells, there is a built-in diagnostic utility that will allow you to run a bunch of different tests on your system. To access this utility, press and hold the Fn key while pressing the power button. A couple of the “Lock” LEDs just below the screen will flash; at that point you can let go of the Fn key and the power button. If you call Dell for tech support, they’re probably going to have you do the same thing.
The utility will start and will run a bunch of basic tests. The tests can take a while, maybe 10 minutes or so if you have a lot of RAM, but when finished an advanced diag utility will open. From here you can choose to run a complete system test, or you can cherry-pick the tests you want to run. I had the same goofy video artifacts many of you describe so I ran the video test.
In my case, my system is coughing up error code 5300:0119, video memory fault at so-and-so location. In other words, GPU and/or video RAM are toast. BTW, this is an Inspiron E1705 laptop with GeForce 7800 Go GPU. It is NOT permanently attached to the mobo and can be replaced (on this model, anyway).
This is the third time in about 2 months I’ve had this problem, thankfully under extended warranty. The air vents are clean, the fans are working, and it screwed up this last time (today) while I was away from the laptop for several hours. I think that’s the key – I closed the lid with the lappy running and I think it got a bit toasty in there. So don’t do that. Either leave the lid open or shut down/hibernate the laptop. Now that I think about it, I’ve been doing that more and more lately so it’s altogether possible this has been the problem all along.
For those of you out of warranty who choose to buy a new GPU assembly, Dell has some disassembly instructions on their website. Let me see if I can guide you through the website:
1. Go to support.dell.com and click the Product Support link on the left.
2. After the page updates, click the link labeled “Select a different product”.
3. A new window will open up. Enter either your service tag, or use the Select Model option to pick your model.
4. That window will close and your model should now appear in the original window. Choose the Manuals link.
5. Click the English button. Choose Service Manual, either view or download.
There you go – you now have the instructions for completely tearing apart your laptop. It’s not difficult at all – just be patient and be sure to keep track of all of the little screws. Unless you’re taking apart the LCD screen itself you shouldn’t have to fight to get any of the stuff removed, so if you find something that’s not coming off easily take another look around on the laptop for the screw(s) you didn’t see the first time.
April 28th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Fabio,
Did you change only the video card?
Isn´t it welded on the motherboard?
I have the same problem with my Inspiron E1705 an the guys from Dell told me it´s impossible change only the video card…
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:19 am
I have found a SOLUTION to my problem about the display of (old) Dell Inspiron 8500 (I wrote my problem last Feb. 20th, 2009 see below), easy, I have contacted Dell and I have bought a new graphic card and now it works properly. The warranty is expired but Dell follow my question without problems.
Only two SMALL problems: the new card is refurbished and they don’t advise me in the quotation but only after the delivery and payment. The 2nd is they didn’t advise me about the different Brand so I had to loose some time and then change the drivers and s/w for the new model (technical service help me to find the drivers on Dell web site). The old not working card is gone back to Dell. The price of the card from Dell was the same or lower than eBay offers.
Pressing the keyboard with OLD graphic card the bad lines on display was changing and warming up the images was improved.
I hope it will help someone. Bye!!! Fabio
April 7th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Just a follow up to my last post. Had the Dell geek around here and he replace the graphics card on my M90.
Fixed it straight away, no more lines.
Given these cards are power hungry they require lots of cooling. The cooling vents I noted when he swapped out the card, was full of dust and so I am sure I overheated it at some point.
This was a hardware fault in my case and nothing I could do in software would fix it. Hope this helps.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
yas,
Sounds like a problem with the video card.
It will not help. When you run recovery disc, you are reinstalling Windows, but your problem appears even before Windows loads. You have a hardware related problem, it’s not related to the software.
You’ll have to test the laptop with an external monitor. If the same problem appears on the external video, you have a faulty video card.
Again, it’s not a software related problem.
April 7th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Hey everyone – I have the exact same problem, except on a Toshiba P100-ST9012 (long out of warranty). At boot, several vertical green dashed lines (in groups of 3) going across the Toshiba logo. Then as it loads Windows these disappear. But then the computer just hangs and sits there.
Running in safemode works. Disabling NVidia works. Flashing the bios worked twice… for about a week each time. Reinstalling Windows worked once, for a week.
Has anyone tried a total reinstall from the computer recovery disc? (Should I try digging it up?)
Or is it indeed a hardware problem? Loose memory problem? Is that fixable?
If not, is it possible to download a generic driver that at least gives you external display support?
(Figure if I can’t fix it, I may as well connect it to a monitor to get a higher resolution or something. 1024×768 looks horrible on a 1600×900 screen…)
Thanks so much!
April 5th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Yep same problem as Jim with his Dell M90. Still working to find a solution it just appeared from nowhere as caused a BSOD. Rebooted with these green lines down the screen and now wont boot. Seems to get stuck on hard-drive checking?? Will post back if I find a solution.
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:22 am
My issue: Dell laptop Inspiron E1705, Nvidia, expired warranty. While I was working on the laptop the screen just went black. When I tried to turn it on I got sets of 4 dotted vertical lines all over the screen, not on the Dell logo. The laptop it tries to turn on Windows and the screen goes black. In safe mode it’s OK, I defragmented it once and then it worked for a day and now nothing helps. On the extended test I had error code 5300:0119,detected a failure while writing and reading video memory. Video mode: 101h, 103h, 105h, 107h, 111h, etc. Also error code 3600:0649 for an invalid AC adapter (which is weird cos. it’s the original Dell adapter). Also I had a runtime error 216at 08f2aeod. I have read all the posts but I’m still not clear on what to do. Help?!
February 20th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I have similar problem on my old Dell Inspiron 8500: vertical wrong lines before loading windows and after. The problem is about HW or FW (firmware), but I have notice that hitting the PC (not with the hammer
something change, so I have the suspect something (graphic card) is moved inside the machine, I guess it’s a bad contact of graphic card, or some boards in the next days I will open the machine to try to fix the problem if I’m right. Bye.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:10 am
I am using a tv with my Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop, however, I only get the backdrop on my TV, not the desktop icons, etc. What should I do?
October 21st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Reporting back:
It appears to be faulty video card! It was OK for awhile then it came back. On one laptop I was able to install MCE but could not exceed a certain resolution. The other one would work sometimes but then it wouldn’t. I would see vertical green lines through the boot screen and Windows loading but would then go blank. If I started in safe moode it would boot. I ran Dell Diagnostics and it gave me video error failures. Bad video card.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Just curious to see if we all have one thing in common: Vista BIE Install with Vista Loader 2.1.3 (Windows Vista Activator 2008)? Think this is the culprit. It modifies our bios and creates the problem. When I installed OEM original XP MCE on my E1705 and M1710 (yes, you read right. I have 2 laptops with the same problem) it goes away. I’ll post back later. I got some ideas.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Hi
I’m having a similar problem with my Gateway P-6831 FX
laptop. It has been, for about a day now, had green pixels in replacement of black. These pixels constantly flicker when I use my computer. These dead pixels also form broken lines across everything that is supposed to be black and even a few dark colours. I could really use your help and advice if you feel happy to assist me to fix it. Of note, I do not have an extra monitor or tv to hook it up to.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:51 am
So I have an E1705 with a Gefore 7800 go too…and I am having the exact same problem. When I boot the computer I get the lones all across the screen and then it won’t load windows. Well I think it loads windows but my screen goes black. It even connects to my wireless. But witht the screen still black. It will go into safe mode. What do I do? Change the graphics card? The ram? The harddrive? HELP!
September 14th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
hey guys! I have the same dam problem on my dell e1705…the vertical lines won’t go away and i can only bootup in safe mode…i did a diagnostic and it appeard to be a hard drive problem so i bought a new one and it the lines were gone! But only for like 10min and it happend again on my new hard drive…
Please help me… My warranty has expired…
August 15th, 2008 at 7:52 am
To whoever runs this website.
I have the same problem on the same laptop and am wanting more information from Santiago about how he got Dell to replace the parts with an expired warrenty. Is there any way you can put me in touch with him?
Thanks,
Bob
June 30th, 2008 at 5:25 am
I have a dell laptop that recently started displaying a thin vertical green line that goes down the right side (about an inch and a half away from the edge). If you tip the screen a different way, you cant see it, but it stays there and is there everytime it is powered up. It is a lattitude 510/610. Any help out there??
March 21st, 2008 at 9:52 am
Hello. Recently, I noticed that during any gaming situations, my laptop screen will eventually (usually after about 10 minutes) start to flicker black, and then restore itself every few minutes. While it hasn’t caused any serious situations, other then the irritation of the constant flicker to black, but I would like to resolve the issue.
It was fine until relatively recently, around the same time my hard drive seemed to lose connection and required a re-imaging to repair.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I own a Dell Inspiron 4150 with a 14 inch display.
My LCD panel was recently cracked.
I have been pricing laptop screens on Ebay, but i was wondering if the panel itself can be taken out of the casing and used to replace my broken one. In other words, if they are the same size, can LCD panels be interchanged?
February 25th, 2008 at 2:45 am
So, I finally got my laptop repaired. I called Dell, and even though warranty had expired, they replaced de video chipset, and the RAM, and now everything is working just fine. My advice, call Dell, complain, and get the parts replaced.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Stuart,
1. Make sure the CPU is seated properly and is LOCKED in the socket on the motherboard.
2. Make sure the memory module is properly seated in the slot on the motherboard. Reseat the memory module.
Not sure about that. But if you are going to play with the switches, make a note and write down the original position for each switch so you can set everything back to the original state.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:03 pm
hi all.
i have a sony vaio laptop. it had a graphics chip problem so i purchsed anothermotherboard for it, upon fitting it, it now powers up with nothing coming out of the display or externally. it has a row of 8 dipswitches on the motherboard would it be these just need setting in right order? put them the same as my old board but powers on but no display or anything!
sony laptop model number is vgn-a215m.
thanks.
December 30th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Hello, My son has a Gateway Lap model 7405GX and when it is turned on the display is distored with lines running vertical through the display, even when an external monitor is hooked up to it.
December 5th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I found a partial solution. It seems to be a problem with the Geforce memory that got screwed. Changing the video card should solve this, and as it’s not integrated it’s possible to do.
Until you find a new card, you can enter Windows in safe mode and disable the video card. Then when you boot, Windows will load with VGA driver. It is REALLY slow, but you can get to use your computer. You can get to a resolution of 1600×1200. If you have the 1920×1200 17″ screen you may want to disable expand resolution from the BIOS, so image doesn’t get distorted (On the other hand, you will get two black lines at the sides). This is the best I could do by now.
December 2nd, 2007 at 7:49 pm
THANK GOD
I have been looking everywhere for someone who can shed light on my situation. I have a Dell Inspiron E1705 and I’m getting the same problem. I called Dell but they wanted me to pay them 40 bucks to help.
Is the video drive integrated into the motherboard on my model as well? Or can I just replace the video card itself? Its an nvidia GeforceGo as well. I’m starting it in safe mode right now to see if i can do anything whatsoever to help it.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Jim,
The laptop displays lines on the screen?
Do you know if they replaced the video cable?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I am having same problem with Dell M90. Dell replaced LCD screen and NVDIA G-card under warranty but it is still coming up. So they replaced LCD, G-Card, and motherboard. No good. Same problem.
Any thought?
November 24th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Hi, I have a Fujitsu Siemens D8830 Laptop and I was wondering if it’s possible to upgrade the Graphics Chip. Where do I find it within the Laptop?
Any help would be greatly appreciated