Garbled Screen (Please Help)

ggottfri · Jan 24, 2005, 10:55 AM

[color=#000000]Hello, I posted this message in the drivers section and didn’t realize there is a laptop section. Any advice on this problem would be greatly appreciated. [/color][color=black]I have a Fujitsu N3010 notebook (2.8 GHz, 40 GB hard drive, 256 MB, Radeon Mobility 9000 64mb, Windows XP Pro). I’ve been having a really bad problem lately with my screen display. While surfing the net the other day the screen suddenly turned garbled and distorted on me. The pixels became blocky and sorted in horizontal rectangular blocks all through the screen. The resolution of the screen however did not change size. I rebooted the computer and everything was fine until it happened again a few days later. This time the reboot did not work. The Fujitsu start-up logo was even garbled up during start-up. I installed the new Omega drivers and this time while the desktop was still distorted, each new window I would open was not. Slowly the desktop came back to normal. Now the computer randomly goes back to the distorted display and after several reboots sometimes becomes clear again. Another thing is that when I either take the laptop out of standby or disconnect the AC cord the screen freezes. This has been a nightmare. The laptop was running perfectly one minute then suddenly all this. Even worse it is no longer under warranty. If there are any suggestions before I pay an arm and a leg to have it looked at I would appreciate it. Thank you.[/color]

Samir · Jan 24, 2005, 03:52 PM

I'm aware of your previous post, your M9000 is most probbably dead! Check out, does this problem of yours appears after any 3D usage? (games, 3D screen saver) This was the case with my Amilo D; after any 3D stuff, even after stupid 3D screen saver, 10 - 15 minutes, same artifacts would appear... When i switched to desktop, after opening / closing few random windows, problem dissapears, display clears... Seems that your M9 RAM is broken... In ma case, only service did help, i tried every driver, downclocking RAM, better cooling...

Maybe you shold try to place your laptop to some better place for improoved cooling, just for test...

Good luck!

Vikingod · Jan 24, 2005, 04:01 PM

Post some screens if you can, that would really help diagnosis. It does sound like a dead card though. Same just happened to my M9000, thank god I am under warrenty. Good luck

ggottfri · Jan 24, 2005, 05:28 PM

[color=#cccccc][color=#000000]Thanks for your advice guys. I guess I have no choice but to have it serviced. I'm just wondering if the garbled screen and freeze when I disconnect from the AC or come out of stand-by have anything to do with each other. What a bad coincidence if they're two separate issues and what a fortune it'll cost to fix. I might as well just get a new laptop (with extended warranty).[/color]

[/color]

swimtech · Jan 26, 2005, 02:26 AM

If you hook up a known good external monitor to the laptop then boot the machine to see if the same problem occurs on the external monitor you can tell if the problem is the built in LCD /inverter or the video chip/video ram

If the problem does not happen on the external monitor, the problem is with your laptop's LCD display or the inverter. If the problem happens on the external display too, then the problem is the video chip/ram inside the laptop, which is probably part of the mainboard.

You could also have a loose cable connection on the mainboard coming from the LCD or a loose connection on the back of the LCD panel itself. I would check this too as your problem comes and goes - which indicates a loose connection.

jafaro · Jan 29, 2005, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggottfri

[color=#cccccc][color=#000000]Thanks for your advice guys. I guess I have no choice but to have it serviced. I'm just wondering if the garbled screen and freeze when I disconnect from the AC or come out of stand-by have anything to do with each other. What a bad coincidence if they're two separate issues and what a fortune it'll cost to fix. I might as well just get a new laptop (with extended warranty).[/color]

[/color]

Is it me or does this sound like a powerplay problem?

Samir · Jan 29, 2005, 10:54 PM

Sound exactly like PowerPlay gone mad... Most probbably that it's related to broken M9 chip and/or M9 RAM...

GianniRed · Mar 16, 2005, 01:58 PM

Hey there, I'm having the same damn problem with my system. I gotta ask, what is powerplay? I'm still trying to rectify the problem in anyway I can, as I am in Ukraine right now and shiping this sucker back for service would be an extra 100 bucks. SO any other possible solution would be welcome.

Samir · Mar 16, 2005, 05:14 PM

PowerPlay = ATI Mobility chip clock stepping, for optimal notebook batery life...

scorg · Apr 19, 2005, 02:28 AM

Going to bring this thread back up.
Ive noticed on my Amilo A with R9000M in it, that its Powerplay that is causing the screen to become all currupted whenever the laptop is booted up from battery or is reverted to battery power after the power cable is removed.
Happened with Fujitsu-siemens default 3.7's, 4.12 and5.2 (omega) these being the only drivers ive tested with.
Seen a fair amount of doom and gloom over the R9000M chip here but is it in anyway powerplay being lame ?
Into final month of warrenty on the laptop here so need to know whats the best to do here

Samir · Apr 19, 2005, 11:52 AM

Try installing regular Catalyst 5.4, using Patje's modder, this should disable PowerPlay... Only disadventage of this could be shorter battery life...

scorg · Apr 19, 2005, 02:56 PM

I think I can live with that. Yesterday was the first time powerplay had been used so I dont know how long or extra I could of got with using powerplay enabled

Jan 24, 2005, 10:55 AM	#1
ggottfri DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	Garbled Screen (Please Help) [color=#000000]Hello, I posted this message in the drivers section and didn’t realize there is a laptop section. Any advice on this problem would be greatly appreciated. [/color][color=black]I have a Fujitsu N3010 notebook (2.8 GHz, 40 GB hard drive, 256 MB, Radeon Mobility 9000 64mb, Windows XP Pro). I’ve been having a really bad problem lately with my screen display. While surfing the net the other day the screen suddenly turned garbled and distorted on me. The pixels became blocky and sorted in horizontal rectangular blocks all through the screen. The resolution of the screen however did not change size. I rebooted the computer and everything was fine until it happened again a few days later. This time the reboot did not work. The Fujitsu start-up logo was even garbled up during start-up. I installed the new Omega drivers and this time while the desktop was still distorted, each new window I would open was not. Slowly the desktop came back to normal. Now the computer randomly goes back to the distorted display and after several reboots sometimes becomes clear again. Another thing is that when I either take the laptop out of standby or disconnect the AC cord the screen freezes. This has been a nightmare. The laptop was running perfectly one minute then suddenly all this. Even worse it is no longer under warranty. If there are any suggestions before I pay an arm and a leg to have it looked at I would appreciate it. Thank you.[/color]

Jan 24, 2005, 03:52 PM	#2
Samir kX Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 521 Rep Power: 0	I'm aware of your previous post, your M9000 is most probbably dead! Check out, does this problem of yours appears after any 3D usage? (games, 3D screen saver) This was the case with my Amilo D; after any 3D stuff, even after stupid 3D screen saver, 10 - 15 minutes, same artifacts would appear... When i switched to desktop, after opening / closing few random windows, problem dissapears, display clears... Seems that your M9 RAM is broken... In ma case, only service did help, i tried every driver, downclocking RAM, better cooling... Maybe you shold try to place your laptop to some better place for improoved cooling, just for test... Good luck! __________________ MU3NKA 3A HAPO6!

Jan 24, 2005, 04:01 PM	#3
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,161 Rep Power: 94 System Specs	Post some screens if you can, that would really help diagnosis. It does sound like a dead card though. Same just happened to my M9000, thank god I am under warrenty. Good luck __________________ *How You Can Help DriverHeaven By Using Digg*

Jan 26, 2005, 02:26 AM	#5
swimtech At Your Service... Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,010 Rep Power: 106 System Specs	If you hook up a known good external monitor to the laptop then boot the machine to see if the same problem occurs on the external monitor you can tell if the problem is the built in LCD /inverter or the video chip/video ram If the problem does not happen on the external monitor, the problem is with your laptop's LCD display or the inverter. If the problem happens on the external display too, then the problem is the video chip/ram inside the laptop, which is probably part of the mainboard. You could also have a loose cable connection on the mainboard coming from the LCD or a loose connection on the back of the LCD panel itself. I would check this too as your problem comes and goes - which indicates a loose connection. __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Jan 29, 2005, 10:54 PM	#7
Samir kX Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 521 Rep Power: 0	Sound exactly like PowerPlay gone mad... Most probbably that it's related to broken M9 chip and/or M9 RAM... __________________ MU3NKA 3A HAPO6!

Jan 24, 2005, 05:28 PM	#4
ggottfri DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	[color=#cccccc][color=#000000]Thanks for your advice guys. I guess I have no choice but to have it serviced. I'm just wondering if the garbled screen and freeze when I disconnect from the AC or come out of stand-by have anything to do with each other. What a bad coincidence if they're two separate issues and what a fortune it'll cost to fix. I might as well just get a new laptop (with extended warranty).[/color] [/color]

Mar 16, 2005, 01:58 PM	#8
GianniRed DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	I have same problem, what's PowerPlay Hey there, I'm having the same damn problem with my system. I gotta ask, what is powerplay? I'm still trying to rectify the problem in anyway I can, as I am in Ukraine right now and shiping this sucker back for service would be an extra 100 bucks. SO any other possible solution would be welcome.

Mar 16, 2005, 05:14 PM	#9
Samir kX Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 521 Rep Power: 0	PowerPlay = ATI Mobility chip clock stepping, for optimal notebook batery life... __________________ MU3NKA 3A HAPO6!

Apr 19, 2005, 02:28 AM	#10
scorg DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	Going to bring this thread back up. Ive noticed on my Amilo A with R9000M in it, that its Powerplay that is causing the screen to become all currupted whenever the laptop is booted up from battery or is reverted to battery power after the power cable is removed. Happened with Fujitsu-siemens default 3.7's, 4.12 and5.2 (omega) these being the only drivers ive tested with. Seen a fair amount of doom and gloom over the R9000M chip here but is it in anyway powerplay being lame ? Into final month of warrenty on the laptop here so need to know whats the best to do here

Apr 19, 2005, 11:52 AM	#11
Samir kX Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 521 Rep Power: 0	Try installing regular Catalyst 5.4, using Patje's modder, this should disable PowerPlay... Only disadventage of this could be shorter battery life... __________________ MU3NKA 3A HAPO6!

Apr 19, 2005, 02:56 PM	#12
scorg DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	I think I can live with that. Yesterday was the first time powerplay had been used so I dont know how long or extra I could of got with using powerplay enabled