Thinkpads Forum

So I have a 14.1" T61 with the nVidia 140M. I know what you're thinking, GPU failure, but hold on.

I'm not getting the beeping, no-power-on problem. The problem I'm having is that after extended periods of use, the screen turns black. Then red, green, blue, white, then shows some greyscale sliders, and general "display test patterns". Sometimes, at random points, it will just go back to normal and continue working as normal.

I searched and searched but I couldn't find any info about this or even anyone having the same issues. Is this a different method of failure for the nVidia GPU? Or maybe just a bad display connector or something?

Hate to disappoint you, but you DO have the nVidia bad-GPU-problem.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Hate to disappoint you, but you DO have the nVidia bad-GPU-problem.

No disappointment here, I just need to know what it is so I can get it back in service. I might see if I can pick up a late production nVidia or GMA mobo from eBay. Do you know off hand if the Intel GPU-based motherboard can be swapped in without modification?

If the Intel mobo comes from the same size laptop as yours, yes, it's a drop-in replacement.

Please connect an external LCD screen by the VGA port and check whether it happens again. If not happen, the problem of the lighting tube behind the laptop's LCD. If still happens, the problem of GPU.