Intermittent: sudden change in display settings 1

[OsakaWebbie]

My husband's 6-year-old Sony Vaio (model PCV-RX55 if that matters, but it's a Japanese model so you probably wouldn't know it anyway) is starting to have a strange problem, and he asked me for help because I'm more of a geek than him (role reversal ). Twice (about a month ago and this morning) it suddenly changed from its normal 1280x1024 pixel 32-bit color mode to 640x480 and some low number of colors (I didn't check the settings myself, but it looked horrible, like maybe 8-bit). The first time he just rebooted and it recovered. This time he tried changing the display settings back and it failed (black screen until it timed out and resumed at the low resolution). Then he tried to reboot but the computer hung during shutdown, forcing him to use the dreaded power button. When it rebooted it came up in 1024x768 (I don't know what the colors were), but then he was able to change the settings to 1280x1024, and since then it has been rebooted twice and behaved properly. Somewhere in that process he also got an error message from Microsoft with the option to report the data - when he did so, the troubleshooting web page that came up suggested that he might need an update for his NVIDIA driver, and although we both suspected a hardware problem, he tried heeding their advice - he went to the NVIDIA website, which auto-detected his card and recommended a driver version (ForceWare Release 70 version 71.89 WHQL), but when he tried to install it, it said (my translation from Japanese): "The NVIDIA Setup program did not find any drivers compatible with the currently existing hardware. Setup will now close." I tried the install again myself just now, with the same result.

But anyway, it sounds to me like something hardware-like is starting to get old and flakey - my amateur first guess is display memory, but I don't really know how to confirm that as the cause if/when it happens again. The Device Manager doesn't seem to list the display memory size, and even if it did, I don't know whether the number would change on the fly if some of the memory stopped working, or if the device info would simply say what memory it has "officially". An Internet search did teach me the DxDiag command, whose relevent pieces of data are listed below, but again, I don't know whether or not the number would change if half the memory suddenly went on the fritz.

The machine is running Windows XP SP3 (Japanese), and here is stuff from DxDiag:
[ul]Card name: NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 with external TMDS (Sony)
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: RIVA TNT2 Model 64
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_002D&SUBSYS_40011043&REV_15
Display Memory: 32.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.13.0010.1630 (English)
DDI Version: 7
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 11/1/2001 10:48:00, 2004617 bytes[/ul]
How would you troubleshoot a problem like this? There may not be anything I can do now while it's behaving, but I want to be armed with a troubleshooting plan for the next time it goes crazy. If the cause is indeed hardware in the process of dying, it would be good to figure that out before the display goes totally blank or something.

 

[OsakaWebbie]

Update: It's getting worse - the very next time the computer was booted after I wrote my original post, it came up in 640x480 4-bit, with some message in one of those little thought balloons from the status tray that I didn't get a chance to read before it went away (which was probably informing me that it changed the display settings - I don't know). DxDiag still said there was 32MB of display memory (but as I said before, I don't know if that number is based on an actual check or just what the model of card is supposed to have), and the Device Manager and the Display Settings dialog still say that the card is operating properly. I tried changing the settings back, but again it produced only a blank screen for a while and then back to the lowest setting. Then shutdown hung again. But a few minutes later my husband booted it up again, and although it booted in low-res mode, this time he was able to change the settings back.

It sure seems like something wrong with the card, whether memory or something else. If you concur, do you have any advice for how to determine which currently sold display cards will be compatible with a medium-old computer like this - the rest of the computer is still in good shape, so I don't want to replace it, but I've never shopped for a display card for an existing computer before.

 

[SimonDavies]

Unfortunately it sounds like you have a dry joint somewhere on the board (video), if that's the case there won't be much you can do with it apart from sending it back to Sony for them to have a look at it.

It's likely that it's only going to get worse however, so I would ensure that you save all of your important data off onto an external drive sooner rather than later.

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[Lemon13]

when its booting in 640*480 its the safeboot (sos) switch, this happends when
the videodriver is damaged or
the videocard has a problem

check eventviewer for video error, reinstall the driver, but most probably its a faulty video like simon says,
i recommend also a full backup and contact sony what the costs might be, a new one might be cheaper, but have a look at ebay, there are loads of replacement parts for sony.

good luck

 

[OsakaWebbie]

When I turned the computer on today it behaved for about 5 minutes and then went to crummy mode. Carefully using the limited real estate, I backed up the data (which took hours, since the PC predates USB 2.0), then shut down the computer, took out the card, visually inspected it (nothing visibly wrong except considerable dust), and then called Sony. They weren't much help - they said a repair would perhaps cost around $500 and take a week, and they were unwilling to give any clues about compatibility with third-party cards.

After that, I put the newly dusted card back in the PC and fired it up with the cover still off so that I could look at it for reference while I did internet research about cards, motherboards, bus interfaces, etc. (I had a lot to learn). Strangely enough, I used the computer for about 3 hours (and it has been sitting there for two hours since then) and it never acted up. But does that mean that removing the card, dusting it, and putting it back could have fixed the problem? Too early to tell, but it makes one wonder... Meanwhile, I have learned that my motherboard is an ASUS P4B266-LM with a 1.5V-type AGP 2.0 graphics card slot, and since I'm not picky about memory or advanced specs (32MB has been plenty for everything he does), a used AOpen GF4MX440-V64B that a reputable computer store is selling for $20 in their e-Shop might be just the thing (that card was released just seven months after my model of computer, so I'm assuming that will increase the chances of compatibility; plus, it's cheap!).

 

[SimonDavies]

First of all apologies as I thought it was a laptop, as it's a PC you can fit any AGP graphics card in the slot.

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[OsakaWebbie]

First of all apologies as I thought it was a laptop

No problem - I didn't think to explicitly say it was a desktop, so you would have had to pick up subtle clues.

...you can fit any AGP graphics card in the slot.

It's not quite that simple - the Wikipedia article on AGP taught me quite a lot to watch out for. Most currently available AGP cards are AGP 3.0, a.k.a. 8x, but my slot can only handle 2.0 (a.k.a. 4x). And my slot runs at 1.5V, so I have to make sure I don't get a card that needs 3.3V. I was unable to determine how sensitive my BIOS and other parts of my motherboard would be with different graphics chipsets, so in my investigation I mostly looked at GeForce cards, since that's the chipset brand of the current OEM card. Yahoo Auctions (there is no eBay in Japan, and shipping from the U.S. would eat me alive) had someone who seemed to be selling her VAIO piece by piece or something - she had been auctioning the exact same OEM card - but the auction was over before I found it.

My husband used his computer for several hours this morning with no hiccups, so maybe the problem really was dust, or a connection that needed a good rub (the removal and insertion action).

 

[SimonDavies]

Well that could be down to whats called Thermal Creep, essentially when components heat up and cool down the expand and contract moving ever so slightly in their slots when they do so, over time they can cause spurious issues. Removing cards and reseating them will fix that and ensuring that dust etc is also cleaned out can do nothing but good.

I would have a look for something like BFG NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra OC 256MB AGP which is backward compatible with 4x AGP and should be relatively cheap.

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[OsakaWebbie]

You must be a big-time gamer or something - I guess that's probably true of most people who spend time on the "Video Issues" forum. I have absolutely no need for anything even approaching that card, which, by the way, I found nowhere in Japan's cyberspace actually for sale, and the only price I found (old website, when they were sold new) was what would have been about $650 at the typical exchange rate at that time. I have bought whole computers for that much money - I don't spend it just on a graphics card. Remember, this current card, a simple, non-overclocked AGP 4x card with 32MB of memory, has done everything we have asked of it in its two lifetimes (the first was as my video editing and DTP workhorse, and then I handed it down to my hubby only when new software I bought wouldn't run right on it for some reason that I no longer remember - it wasn't a speed or graphics issue but something else). If we need to replace the card, the 64MB one I found for $20 will do just fine. Or if I have to buy new, there was one with 128MB (and no doubt much faster than the one we have) for $80 that would be my top limit.

Anyway, another day has passed, increasing the chances that it was just "thermal creep" and our current card will continue to serve us well, along with the rest of the computer (I have been impressed with the reliability of that Sony - the monitor that came with it suddenly quit 4 days after the warranty ran out, but everything in the main box has worked great for 6 1/2 years, in spite of my constant abuse, as I often ran video encoding jobs all night and I probably burned 600-800 DVDs in its drive).

Caio! Or more appropriately for Japan, "Mata, ne!" (see ya later)

 

[SimonDavies]

Konichiwa,

As it happens I am a gamer but that wasn't the reason for showing the card, it just happened to be that I went to their website looking for their old AGP cards.

In all honesty if you do need to replace it have a look at the Matrox range of cards instead (and if worst comes to the worst I will even send you an old AGP 4x card, I have a garage full of old kit and am sure to have something there).

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[OsakaWebbie]

Arigatou, Simon - that's very kind. (For the cumulative effect of several thoughtful attempts to help, you get a star.) But it looks like the card is actually okay and it was just thermal creep - it has been a week since I removed and replaced the card, and it has not acted up at all.

Karen

P.S. I like the quip in your signature - tell that to the people in charge of the Japanese educational system!