Help: Display Trouble

RedSwirl · 05-12-2007, 06:43 PM

I have a DELL Inspiron 8600 Laptop with an ATI Radeo 9600 Pro Turbo video card with Windows XP Professional and I'm wondering if anyone here has had the same problem as me or can help with my problem.

For the last few weeks for some reason I've had a bunch of weird horizontal lines appear all over my computer display. They always come and go no matter what programs or how many programs I have running and they only appear after I've logged in (they don't appear at the BIOS screen or anything pre-login).

I've only just now gotten the time to fully investigate the problem

This is what my desktop looks like most of the time:

I have already called Dell about this and the person there who helped me had me uninstall all video drivers from the computer and then reinstall new ones for my video card from support.dell.com.

Even after that however the horizontal lines still appear.

Do you think this may be a problem with the video card itself or the monitor? What are the chances that I might have to get one or both replaced?

RedSwirl · 05-13-2007, 09:26 AM

I should also mention that when I talked to Dell they had me go through a whole diagnostics test that tested both my video card and my screen (kinda like that DirectX test) and It passed everything in that test.

dai · 05-13-2007, 12:44 PM

there is a fair bit on google with this card seems to be heat related
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=13582
http://www.bay-wolf.com/8500videoheat.htm

RedSwirl · 05-13-2007, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dai

there is a fair bit on google with this card seems to be heat related
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=13582
http://www.bay-wolf.com/8500videoheat.htm

That's talking about mods though. My computer came standard with this card.

dai · 05-14-2007, 11:19 AM

i think it is heat related that's why i gave you the links

RedSwirl · 05-17-2007, 10:20 PM

Okay, now it's gotten to the point where certain text, menus, and web pages won't show up all the way, like whole words or menu selections on the start button are appearing blotted out.

dai · 05-17-2007, 11:38 PM

see what this test brings up
http://www.testmyhardware.com/mobility_radeon.html

RedSwirl · 06-12-2007, 11:08 PM

Months later and I still have not had time to get this problem resolved since I've had work and other stuff that has constantly required the use of this computer.

Just now though I got a message saying that an "avdiag2" display driver did not work properly and the issue needed to be reported to Microsoft. Is that a driver issue or truly a sign that my videocard is dying?

I still don't see how this can be heat related though. There doesn't seem to be any correlation between the heat of my computer and the appearance of the artifacts. There are times when the whole computer is cool and there are artifacts all over the screen as well as other times when the computer is relatively hot and will go hours without a single artifact showing up.

If I must, I will probably have time to get the card replaced after next week.

RedSwirl · 06-21-2007, 04:23 PM

For some friggin' reason, whenever I call Dell or any kind of help, the problem magically goes away just long enough for them to be satisfied, then comes up again.

The first time I called Dell like six weeks ago we went through the whole diagnostics test for both the screen and the graphics card. Both tests checked out perfectly with no problems. Then we went ahead and replaced all my video drivers. After that the problem went away but came back a few hours later after I'd been online a while.

So just now I got off the phone with Dell again. I connected the comp to an external monitor and the same problem was there too. We went through the diagnostics text and it all checked out again. So the Technician updated the BIOS and as soon as I got back to the Windows XP login screen the problem came back. That seems to be where it shows up, usually right as I'm logging in. The lines don't appear at all when I'm at the BIOS, diagnostic, or anything that comes before the Windows XP startup menu.

Do any of you still believe that this issue could still be software related? My Virus protection software (Norton) did expire back in January (i konw i know). Maybe something is continually corrupting my video drivers...

Anyway, if I call the same technician again he says he can get my videocard replaced.

dai · 06-21-2007, 06:10 PM

get the video card replaced,if it's a card you are lucky most it's a chip and that means the m/b
dump norton and go with avg free
www.grisoft.com

05-12-2007, 06:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
RedSwirl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 93 OS: Vista Home Premium	Help: Display Trouble I have a DELL Inspiron 8600 Laptop with an ATI Radeo 9600 Pro Turbo video card with Windows XP Professional and I'm wondering if anyone here has had the same problem as me or can help with my problem. For the last few weeks for some reason I've had a bunch of weird horizontal lines appear all over my computer display. They always come and go no matter what programs or how many programs I have running and they only appear after I've logged in (they don't appear at the BIOS screen or anything pre-login). I've only just now gotten the time to fully investigate the problem This is what my desktop looks like most of the time: I have already called Dell about this and the person there who helped me had me uninstall all video drivers from the computer and then reinstall new ones for my video card from support.dell.com. Even after that however the horizontal lines still appear. Do you think this may be a problem with the video card itself or the monitor? What are the chances that I might have to get one or both replaced?

05-13-2007, 09:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
RedSwirl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 93 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: Help: Display Trouble I should also mention that when I talked to Dell they had me go through a whole diagnostics test that tested both my video card and my screen (kinda like that DirectX test) and It passed everything in that test.

05-13-2007, 12:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,569 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Help: Display Trouble there is a fair bit on google with this card seems to be heat related http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=13582 http://www.bay-wolf.com/8500videoheat.htm __________________

05-14-2007, 11:19 AM	#5 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,569 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Help: Display Trouble i think it is heat related that's why i gave you the links __________________

05-17-2007, 10:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
RedSwirl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 93 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: Help: Display Trouble Okay, now it's gotten to the point where certain text, menus, and web pages won't show up all the way, like whole words or menu selections on the start button are appearing blotted out.

05-17-2007, 11:38 PM	#7 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,569 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Help: Display Trouble see what this test brings up http://www.testmyhardware.com/mobility_radeon.html __________________

06-12-2007, 11:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
RedSwirl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 93 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: Help: Display Trouble Months later and I still have not had time to get this problem resolved since I've had work and other stuff that has constantly required the use of this computer. Just now though I got a message saying that an "avdiag2" display driver did not work properly and the issue needed to be reported to Microsoft. Is that a driver issue or truly a sign that my videocard is dying? I still don't see how this can be heat related though. There doesn't seem to be any correlation between the heat of my computer and the appearance of the artifacts. There are times when the whole computer is cool and there are artifacts all over the screen as well as other times when the computer is relatively hot and will go hours without a single artifact showing up. If I must, I will probably have time to get the card replaced after next week.

06-21-2007, 04:23 PM	#9 (permalink)
RedSwirl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 93 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: Help: Display Trouble For some friggin' reason, whenever I call Dell or any kind of help, the problem magically goes away just long enough for them to be satisfied, then comes up again. The first time I called Dell like six weeks ago we went through the whole diagnostics test for both the screen and the graphics card. Both tests checked out perfectly with no problems. Then we went ahead and replaced all my video drivers. After that the problem went away but came back a few hours later after I'd been online a while. So just now I got off the phone with Dell again. I connected the comp to an external monitor and the same problem was there too. We went through the diagnostics text and it all checked out again. So the Technician updated the BIOS and as soon as I got back to the Windows XP login screen the problem came back. That seems to be where it shows up, usually right as I'm logging in. The lines don't appear at all when I'm at the BIOS, diagnostic, or anything that comes before the Windows XP startup menu. Do any of you still believe that this issue could still be software related? My Virus protection software (Norton) did expire back in January (i konw i know). Maybe something is continually corrupting my video drivers... Anyway, if I call the same technician again he says he can get my videocard replaced.

06-21-2007, 06:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,569 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Help: Display Trouble get the video card replaced,if it's a card you are lucky most it's a chip and that means the m/b dump norton and go with avg free www.grisoft.com __________________