X40 - Weird random LCD issues

[Tasurinchi]

Hi Thinkpadders

I've lent my X40 to a friend of mine and he started having weird problems with the LCD since a couple of days.

- Every now and then, the screen will show green pixels at random spots like shown here and here
- Sometimes, the screen will show pink spots/pixels if there's a white background, see a picture here and here
- Sometimes he gets like a green rain on certain parts of the screen (he calls it the "matrix effect" )

These issues happen for a while, and then suddenly everything goes back to "normal" again. Me thinks a software issue is very unlikely, as this weird behaviour pops up using Win7 and Linux Mint as well (machine is a dual boot).

Any idea what can that be? LCD broken? LCD cable going south? Inverter busted?

Thanks in advance for the help/hints!

Cheers

Tasurinchi

[rkawakami]

It's definitely not the inverter. That part only provides the power to drive the backlight. From looking at the pictures, you might be having a video memory problem; although I guess it's possible that the video cable and/or the panel itself could be the source. I would try connecting an external monitor and see if the pixel defects also show up there. If so, then I'd suspect the video memory. I think that PC Doctor for DOS has a test for that. If the external video looks fine while the problem still shows up on the LCD, then look at the cable and panel. Re-seat the cable on both ends and see if that clears up the problem. If it doesn't and it appears that physical movement (tilting the screen and/or applying pressure along the edges of the lid) makes the defects appear, then consider swapping out the cable as it's cheaper than the panel .

[Tasurinchi]

Thanks Ray for the help! I'll try and see what results my friend can get.

[Tasurinchi]

My friend created a couple of videos to show the "rain". He's living in Spain so don't get scared of the Spanisch texts around

video 1
video 2

[rkawakami]

To me, the "matrix effect" looks like a video memory problem. With the X40, using a portion of the main memory for video, I'd suggest running a memory diagnostic like memtest86+ and/or swapping out the module(s) with some other ones and see if the problem goes away. The same goes for the pink dots when just moving the cursor over the window buttons; that's assuming that the button is supposed to change shape/shading when receiving "focus".

ref: http://www.memtest.org/

[Tasurinchi]

The same goes for the pink dots when just moving the cursor over the window buttons; that's assuming that the button is supposed to change shape/shading when receiving "focus".

That's correct, I think at least the colour of that button should change.

If it's really a memory problem then the solution could be "cheap & easy", as I can swap the RAM, right? Unless the onboard memory is kaputt. I know that X41s would deactivate the internal memory if you put a 2GB RAM stick, I don't think the X40 has a similar feature, does it? (I know there are no DDR-333 2GB sticks).


Thanks Ray again for the help!

Cheers

[Tasurinchi]

My friend took away the 1GB stick from the back of the X40 and things got even worse

example 1
example 2
example 3
example 4
example 5

Does this mean that the internal RAM went bust? Or definitely the LCD cable?

[rkawakami]

Those are very strange screen artifacts. I don't think that it's the LCD cable or screen seeing as how the removal of the socketed memory has made things worse. Any chance you can get your friend to run memtest86+ on it?

ref: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

edit: If the memory check comes back without any errors, then I'd run the video tests in PC Doctor. You can get the program from here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-56222 (.ISO file for making a bootable CD)
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-54093 (Diskette version; requires three floppies)

If PC Doctor gives a clean bill of health, then we're back to a hardware issue with the display, cable or motherboard (assuming the external video does not show the same problem). I suppose that a timing problem and/or loose or dirty connection somewhere in the display panel could cause the wrong pixels to be displayed along the transition lines between two different colors.

[Tasurinchi]

Sorry for the late response, I hope my friend can test this during the weekend (was a busy week for him) and see if we can get this things sorted out! Thanks again Ray for the help!

[Tasurinchi]

My friend had lots of trouble trying to get memtest86+ and PC Doctor to boot from an USB flash drive (he has no external CD/DVD device and no ultrabase). Finally he run memtest86+ from a Linux Mint bootable flash drive and found no errors so far: click me

I'll put the PC Doctor results as soon as he get to work it on a flash drive...

[Tasurinchi]

My friend did another video with the weird problem (warning: background music!) video

We were skyping today and I was explaining him where the LCD cable connects with the LCD itself when he found out that applying soft pressure at the back of the LCD bezel would fix the problem! (in case the X40 was working ok it would "activate the matrix effect")

Now I don't know if the LCD cable is busted or if it's loose at the panel connector. Any thoughts?

Cheers!