Moving Colored lines on Laptop 1

[theoryofben]

Hello,

I have a Gateway 400VTX Laptop. A few weeks ago, it started showing these colored horizontal lines that move from top to bottom in a wave fashion. It makes it vitually impossible to do anything on the laptop.

It happens as soon as it powers on, so I assume that it is a hardware issue. But I'm no hardware expert.

I took the keyboard off and unplugged the display connector from the motherboard and plugged it back in to ensure that it was a good connection. Still no go.

My questions, has anyone seen this before, and how do I determine if it is the motherboard, the cable(to the lcd) or the lcd itself?

Any help would be greatyly appreciated.

Thanks.

Ben

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[felixc]

If you put a monitor at the VGA connector, is the video okay?

 

[micker377]

I've seen this in T.V.s, when the 3.58mhz chrystal goes bad (that's what keeps the color info sycronized with the video info). Like felixc says, try an external monitor. Either way, sounds like a shop (expensive) problem.

 

[micker377]

Forgot to ask - when the color bands "crawl" up the screen, does the main image (b&w) stay steady? Or does the whole image "wave"?

 

[theoryofben]

The the main image doesn't move up with the lines, but it does have a "wave" to it.

I'll try to explain: It's almost like you had a sheet pulled tight and that sheet has an image on it. It's kinda like someone is running a stick up and down behind the sheet creating a wave. I know that's not very clear, but I suck at explaining these things.

I will definitely try to connect it to an external monitor today. Thanks for the help guys. I'll post back after the monitor test.

Thanks again,

Ben

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[theoryofben]

ok, when I connect an external monitor, it won't even display anything on it. I told it to output to a monitor and the lcd goes blank, but nothing happens on the external monitor. Does this help?

Ben

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[micker377]

In what way did you tell it to "output to a monitor"? On my Gateway, you have to set it for external in BIOS, and the it's a Fn key to actually switch to the monitor.

 

[theoryofben]

I'm assuming that it is enabled in the bios, because I have connected it to a projector before.

I just use the Fn key to switch over. But when I use a projector, the lcd screen normally doesn't go blank like it did here. So it seems that something is wrong with my video card or motherboard and not necessarily the lcd.

Does that sound right?

Ben

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[micker377]

Is the Fn key sequence: Laptop - Monitor - Both?

 

[theoryofben]

not sure about the sequence. I just normally press Fn and the F7 key to activate it (when using the projector).



Ben

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[micker377]

What (if anything) happens when you press Fn/F7 - Fn/F7 - Fn/F7?

 

[theoryofben]

When I press Fn/F7 the lcd goes black and nothing happens on the external monitor. When I press it again, the lcd comes back on.

Before the trouble, when I pressed Fn/F7 the lcd would go off for a second, then come back on and the external monitor (projector) would come on.

Ben

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[micker377]

I would start suspecting a shot video chip. Since this is built into the main system board, you have to COMPLETELY dis-assemble the laptop to replace the main board. Depending on how new this computer is, I'd get an estimate for repair. Since it does still "work", backup (or pull) the hard drive for future use.

 

[theoryofben]

Thanks for the help.

I'll take it to the repair shop and see if it will be cheaper to fix it or sell it for parts.

Thanks again.

Ben

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."
Friedrich Nietzsche