kurt1288

I was playing a game and I unplugged my power cord. Upon doing this, the screen flashed and the computer froze. When I restarted the computer, the screen just went black and turned off after the "Windows XP" splash screen. I have tried everything that I can think of to try and fix this problem. I have done:

uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers (many many times)
updated my BIOS
done a "non-destructive recovery"
Reseated my RAM
ran a memtest (came up fine)
tried an external monitor (lines displayed on it as well)
I've swapped my hard drive into another computer (exact same model as mine) and that computer ran fine

I can go into safe mode just fine. If I disable the graphics card, I can go into regular mode and just use the default drivers. But as soon as I enable the card, the screen is filled with vertical lines/bars. Then if I try to change any display settings, the monitor just goes black.

NOTE: These lines are ONLY displayed when I run with the graphics card enabled AND in regular/vga mode. These lines are not displayed during boot (even if the graphics card has been enabled before restart).

I realize that it can be (and probably is) a hardware issue. But I'd like to try and narrow things down and do everything that I can before I send it in somewhere (because it's no longer under warranty).

Computer Specs:
Windows XP SP2
Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 video card
1GB Ram

TriggerFinger

hi kurt1288,

yup could be the video card as you have run Memtest on the RAM and it showed nothing. i hope you ran Memtest for several passes. I have noticed that some RAM sticks get kookie when the system begins to heat up.

kurt1288

That's the thing, I've check my temps with and without the card activated, and they seem normal. Even before this problem started, I had sometimes just looked at my temperatures while playing games and they seemed fine. My computer never feels hot either.

TriggerFinger

sounds like it is the video card. perhaps you can just replace it. what's your system by the way? if it is not integrated may be you can get a replacement for the video card alone.

kurt1288

I have a HP Pavilion dv8000t notebook. The video card is a Nvidia Geforce Go 7600, which I assume is attached to the mobo

TriggerFinger

is the driver you installed?

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...1832444&dlc=en

kurt1288

Yes, I installed that driver. I also tried the driver from OMEGA drivers. But I had the same problem with that (actually Windows said something about the driver being for an older version of Windows and was no longer supported).

And as a note about drivers, whenever I've installed drivers I've always gone into safe mode, uninstalled the driver and followed that up with a run of Driver Cleaner. Then a reboot and cancelling the auto install Windows trys to do. So I know that I am correctly uninstalling and installing the driver.

TriggerFinger

you said it is shutting off (like power OFF) after the splash screen in normal mode but no problems in safe mode?

sure sounds like a driver issue... if i may suggest another operating system just to pin down if it is really your vid card... try using ubuntu live CD or PCLinuxOS...

kurt1288

The computer itself isn't shutting off. Just the monitor. I'll try to go into some more detail here.

Lets assume that I have the drivers install and have the video card enabled, aka booting in a completely regular way as if everything was ok. I see the HP logo screen, I see the Windows XP logo/splash screen. After the splash screen, I should see the login screen, but instead the screen just goes black and turns off. I can tell it turns off because I have tried the "completely normal" boot with an external monitor attached and after the splash screen the external monitor goes into a standby mode after displaying "No Signal".

Now lets say I do the following; boot in safe mode, disable the graphics card (in Hardware Manager), then reboot in regular mode. Now in regular mode I go to the Hardware Manager and enable the graphics card. Immediately the screen flashes and the columns of vertical lines appear on the screen (they're thin lines composed of small rectangles, that are reddish in color). These bars also appear on an external monitor if one is attached. Now two different things happen depending on what I do:

1) I can right click on the desktop->Properties->Settings tab. If I change any display settings, the monitor will turn off, but only after usually flashing weird characters on the screen (like a bunch of triangles) and a few small areas of green, blue, or red rectangles on the screen (the "weird characters" are displayed in a "DOS" type "interface"). Then upon restarting, the computer monitor just goes black after the splash screen.

OR

2) If I restart the computer after enabling the video card, after the splash screen, usually something like a bunch of white horizontal bars are displayed on the screen (in a white/black checker type format). I have left this screen for a few minutes and noted the following: the screen will flash off and on every few seconds and whenever it comes back on the white bars are displayed in the same way. Eventually the cursor is shown (looks fine). Then after a few minutes, the computer will display a BSOD will a reference to "nv4_disp.dll".

Keep in mind that #2 above only happens if I immediately restart upon enabling the video card. This is also the only time I ever see the BSOD.


The nv4_disp.dll BSOD, I know, seems to suggest a driver problem. But I've tried two different drivers and both have the same problem. I'll mention this though, I had a driver that was technically not for my video card when the problem first occured. I think I got it from laptopvideotogo or something like that. I had downloaded the version though that said it would work with my video card, so it wasn't just some random driver.

And Trigger, thanks. So far it's nice to see someone who at least is talking to me about it. HP doesn't even do anything. It's been quite frustrating.

TriggerFinger

kurt,

sorry if i sound that i may be pushing it... i just do not give up easily

at this point OK.. let us accept it is the video card (i cannot believe myself saying this ) considering the things that showed up in your tests. the lines you see and the random colors that you get can be a sign that your vid card may be dying.

but could you run one last test.. try the linux live CD. it would not take a lot of precious time, well probably an hour or two including the download and the burning to CD. if the symptoms remain under a different operating system, then we can put this to rest knowing it is indeed the video card.

kurt1288

You're not pushing anything at all! Keep throwing ideas at me, please. I've done everything that I can possibly think of, so another person thinking about it is helpful.

About the OS. Here's the thing, my hard drive worked on a different computer (exact same model though). Does my hard drive have the OS on it? So if it worked fine on another computer, wouldn't that mean that the OS was fine? I'm just thinking out loud.

I've never worked with linux (or any other OS for that matter). I have no idea how to set anything up. How would that work with XP?

TriggerFinger

you don't have to install anything at all... Linux live CD can run directly from your CD. it is sort of like giving you a taste of linux without having to install it on your hard drive. in fact you can remove your hard drive physically (if you want to feel safe) and boot/run linux live CD from CD drive.

come to think of it, we have nothing to lose because we already accepted that it is the video card..

just post back what happens... btw, you do not need to do anything other than booting the live CD (try ubuntu). it may ask you a few questions along the way. once you get to the desktop and no problems with the display or video, then your video card may NOT be the culprit.

kurt1288

I'll try the linux live cd thing and I'll post what happens in the next few hours.

EDIT. So far the download will take about a hour and 15 minutes.

Also, just thinking ahead, if I remove my hard drive and use the cd to boot linux, how will installing the driver for the video card work since there will be no hard drive to install the driver on?

TriggerFinger

linux would have the drivers ( in most cases... ). i tried it on my thinkpad and on my pavilion and linux live CD booted up with no problems (hdd removed).

kurt1288

Ok, good to know. I had the download at 58% (30 minutes left) and then it just stopped :(. So I'm having to download it again.

TriggerFinger

use flashget downloader... it's free

kurt1288

Will flashget do anything different than just having Firefox download it?

TriggerFinger

i use flashget for the resume function when it gets cut. it needs a plug in to work with firefox. firefox has a plugin for download manager... it's called flashGOT.

kurt1288

You, Trigger, are somewhat of a genius. I'm in Linux right now, running in 1440x900 with the graphics card enabled. It's soooo nice!

EDIT. If I go to System->Screens and Graphics and then click the "Test" button the screen is filled with this very weird black and white pattern and the dialog box is moved off the screen which I can move it my moving my mouse to the edge of the screens. But if I select No or Yes, it goes back to looking all fine and dandy. Don't know if that's working as intended or if it's messing up.

TriggerFinger

the test shows that your GPU (graphics or vid card) cannot handle such load or resolution ( i think)... so just set it to what is acceptable and useable. in time you will fall in LOVE with linux (just kidding). let it run for some time, burn it in for a few hours just to make sure it does not get kookie after it heats up.

since we know it is NOT your graphics card... you may consider installing your XP from scratch. get the latest and updated drivers from laptop's maker website. i think you are good to go.