Dell Latitude D820

SparkerR · 11-20-2008, 08:13 AM

I bought a Dell Latitude D820 from a friend a while back. since then I've noticed 2 issues with this laptop.

1> sometimes the screen will repeatedly flicker dark for about 1/4ths of a second, then back the whatever brightness setting im using. If i turn the LCD brightness all the way down so it cant get any darker then it doesnt flicker anymore. I also noticed that performance suffers when this happens "mainly gaming performance".

2> Whenever I put any down pressure on the AC adapter cord plugged into the back of my laptop, the screen goes black and it appears my laptop goes into standby. The only way to get it back is to hold down the pwr button to turn the laptop off, then again to turn it back on. This only happens on down pressure, and I have been placing a AA battery or a pen under the cord to keep upward pressure on it.

If anyone has any ideas as to what is causing these issues please help me :)

also.. I get the same results with the screen in XP/VISTA/UBUNTU/MANDRIVA so I dont think its a driver issue since all 4 OS's use diffrent drivers for this gpu.

**TriggerFinger** · 11-20-2008, 08:32 AM

Hi,

I am not so sure about item #1 but for item #2 it seems that your DC jack connector (see laptop side, where ac adapter output jack plugs in) needs to be replaced. The DC jack becomes loose in time but others are just no good material-wise... see eBay and you will find lots of DC jack connectors for sale.

As for the screen, does it behave if you use an external monitor?

SparkerR · 11-20-2008, 04:11 PM

is the jack somthing I can fix? like is it sodered? as far as the screen goes I dont remember the symptoms showing on an external monitor. if I hook the laptop up to my old trinitron and have it displaying on the laptop's LCD as well the screen on the laptop still glitches but the external monitor doesnt. the little performance hit is noticed on both screens though

**TriggerFinger** · 11-20-2008, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SparkerR

is the jack somthing I can fix? like is it sodered? -- AFAIK it needs some soldering. So if you are any good at it then may be it is an easy fix for you.

as far as the screen goes I dont remember the symptoms showing on an external monitor. if I hook the laptop up to my old trinitron and have it displaying on the laptop's LCD as well the screen on the laptop still glitches but the external monitor doesnt. the little performance hit is noticed on both screens though -- may be the glitches is a sign of a dying backlight or inverter. The performance hit is of course a result of so many things like CPU, RAM, GPU, HDD, etc.

SparkerR · 11-21-2008, 01:21 AM

is it possible that an inverter board can overheat?? I forgot to mention earlier that the screen doesnt glitch all the time. it seems to start doing it when the laptop has been on for a while or playing games.

jenn2009 · 05-12-2009, 10:39 PM

SparkerR... question number 1 if you have a nvidia video card that could be the issue. dell is actually having a problem with the onboard nvidia cards. for some reason on alot of d630's,620's 820's and 830's.if your in warranty call them they will send you out a new motherboard. and the performance when your tryin to play a game would slow right down because there not made for that at all made for mainly business users, better off with an xps if thats what your into.

SparkerR · 05-23-2009, 04:09 PM

For the first problem, I found out that whats happening is my laptop switches to battery power for a split second "While plugged in"". That causes the screen to go dim and performance takes a hit because the laptop tries to save battery power. So it comes down to problem 2. I think if I fix the second problem the first one would be solved as well. any ideas?

**TriggerFinger** · 05-23-2009, 04:16 PM

It switches to battery while plugged in? The last time I had that was when my ac adapter was not giving enough power to the laptop. I had to change from a 56W to a 72W. After that everything was OK.

If it is switching to battery, it can be set in Power Options that the screen would not dim or performance would not slow down (sort of telling the system that even if it is on battery, it should not conserve on battery power).

SA Spurs1 · 05-24-2009, 12:20 AM

If your LCD flickers and your external monitor does not then it is an issue with your LCD. You might take it apart and reseat the flex cable because it may be losing connection. If you look in your BIOS setup menu by pressing F2 at boot you can go to battery power and I believe there might be a setting for the brightness of when the system is running on battery power. Dim video may also mean your backlight may be beginning to go out.

SparkerR · 05-27-2009, 07:21 PM

I use a 90watt AC adapter which is comonly used for docking stations but are also used for latitude/XPS systems.

The only problem is the LCD dims RIGHT when the laptop appears to run on battery for a split second. When the laptop reconizes its running on AC again the screen lights back up. So I dont think its a issue with the video card, inverter, or back lighting. Ill go ahead and buy that part and get it sodered and see what that gets me, Thanks for the help guys.

11-20-2008, 08:13 AM	#1 (permalink)
SparkerR Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 6 OS: Ubuntu 8.04	Dell Latitude D820 I bought a Dell Latitude D820 from a friend a while back. since then I've noticed 2 issues with this laptop. 1> sometimes the screen will repeatedly flicker dark for about 1/4ths of a second, then back the whatever brightness setting im using. If i turn the LCD brightness all the way down so it cant get any darker then it doesnt flicker anymore. I also noticed that performance suffers when this happens "mainly gaming performance". 2> Whenever I put any down pressure on the AC adapter cord plugged into the back of my laptop, the screen goes black and it appears my laptop goes into standby. The only way to get it back is to hold down the pwr button to turn the laptop off, then again to turn it back on. This only happens on down pressure, and I have been placing a AA battery or a pen under the cord to keep upward pressure on it. If anyone has any ideas as to what is causing these issues please help me :) also.. I get the same results with the screen in XP/VISTA/UBUNTU/MANDRIVA so I dont think its a driver issue since all 4 OS's use diffrent drivers for this gpu.

11-20-2008, 08:32 AM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,791 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Dell Latitude D820 Hi, I am not so sure about item #1 but for item #2 it seems that your DC jack connector (see laptop side, where ac adapter output jack plugs in) needs to be replaced. The DC jack becomes loose in time but others are just no good material-wise... see eBay and you will find lots of DC jack connectors for sale. As for the screen, does it behave if you use an external monitor? __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE Last edited by TriggerFinger; 11-20-2008 at 08:33 AM.

11-20-2008, 04:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
SparkerR Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 6 OS: Ubuntu 8.04	Re: Dell Latitude D820 is the jack somthing I can fix? like is it sodered? as far as the screen goes I dont remember the symptoms showing on an external monitor. if I hook the laptop up to my old trinitron and have it displaying on the laptop's LCD as well the screen on the laptop still glitches but the external monitor doesnt. the little performance hit is noticed on both screens though

11-21-2008, 01:21 AM	#5 (permalink)
SparkerR Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 6 OS: Ubuntu 8.04	Re: Dell Latitude D820 is it possible that an inverter board can overheat?? I forgot to mention earlier that the screen doesnt glitch all the time. it seems to start doing it when the laptop has been on for a while or playing games.

05-12-2009, 10:39 PM	#6 (permalink)
jenn2009 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 1 OS: vista	Re: Dell Latitude D820 SparkerR... question number 1 if you have a nvidia video card that could be the issue. dell is actually having a problem with the onboard nvidia cards. for some reason on alot of d630's,620's 820's and 830's.if your in warranty call them they will send you out a new motherboard. and the performance when your tryin to play a game would slow right down because there not made for that at all made for mainly business users, better off with an xps if thats what your into.

05-23-2009, 04:09 PM	#7 (permalink)
SparkerR Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 6 OS: Ubuntu 8.04	Re: Dell Latitude D820 For the first problem, I found out that whats happening is my laptop switches to battery power for a split second "While plugged in"". That causes the screen to go dim and performance takes a hit because the laptop tries to save battery power. So it comes down to problem 2. I think if I fix the second problem the first one would be solved as well. any ideas?

05-23-2009, 04:16 PM	#8 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,791 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Dell Latitude D820 It switches to battery while plugged in? The last time I had that was when my ac adapter was not giving enough power to the laptop. I had to change from a 56W to a 72W. After that everything was OK. If it is switching to battery, it can be set in Power Options that the screen would not dim or performance would not slow down (sort of telling the system that even if it is on battery, it should not conserve on battery power). __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

05-24-2009, 12:20 AM	#9 (permalink)
SA Spurs1 Tech Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 155 OS: Windows 7 Pro x64	Re: Dell Latitude D820 If your LCD flickers and your external monitor does not then it is an issue with your LCD. You might take it apart and reseat the flex cable because it may be losing connection. If you look in your BIOS setup menu by pressing F2 at boot you can go to battery power and I believe there might be a setting for the brightness of when the system is running on battery power. Dim video may also mean your backlight may be beginning to go out.

05-27-2009, 07:21 PM	#10 (permalink)
SparkerR Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 6 OS: Ubuntu 8.04	Re: Dell Latitude D820 I use a 90watt AC adapter which is comonly used for docking stations but are also used for latitude/XPS systems. The only problem is the LCD dims RIGHT when the laptop appears to run on battery for a split second. When the laptop reconizes its running on AC again the screen lights back up. So I dont think its a issue with the video card, inverter, or back lighting. Ill go ahead and buy that part and get it sodered and see what that gets me, Thanks for the help guys.