W510 Screen has static horizontal lines shooting across it

[krauster]

I have a four or five year old W510. All of a sudden I was seeing this:

https://goo.gl/photos/gqgotpV4cuF7MK3v7

https://goo.gl/photos/F7nun1iH2t5KHLKD9

I turned the laptop on its edge to look underneath to see what size of a screen driver to use to possibly open it. Unfortunately I found that don't have any small screwdrivers around so I left the laptop on its edge. After a few minutes I was at least seeing images on the laptop but there are a lot of static horizontal lines shooting across the screen as I type this. Pretty unpleasant but it is usable.

What is this problem? Possibly a loose internal cable that I could open up and repair? Or is it a bad component?

Thx,
krauster

[dizmayed]

Slightly helpful advice (until you get an authoritative answer):

Your W510 shipped with one of three video chips (1). You can look up the multi-digit model number on the underside to determine exact specs of your W510. If you have discrete graphics you may be able to switch from discrete to integrated via the BIOS (a guess) for troubleshooting.

All of the W510s have VGA video output. When you have a chance, connect a VGA monitor to see if the problem is resolved (perhaps indicating an internal cable or screen problem).

Screwdrivers, etc. Thinkpads are truly marvelous bc the specific Hardware Maintenance Manuals show you how to dis-assemble your TP to its very last bits (2). You may well have an intermittent cable/screen connection. Pre-planning is important. Read the relevant HMM sections. Make sure you have some decent screwdrivers. Do not arm yourself with a Swiss Army Knife or libations. Re-read the relevant HMM sections. Proceed with caution bc it's very easy to damage the screw heads.

Thx fer listening.

1)Video chipsets (switchable graphics):

Intel HD Graphics in processor - integrated graphics
512MB NVIDIA® Quadro® NVS3100M - discrete graphics
1GB NVIDIA® Quadro® FX880M - discrete graphics

(2) https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/p ... 3y0536.pdf

[krauster]

I have lots of appropriate small screw drivers at home; enough to start equipping my casual travel bags.
I'll try a VGA cable to an external monitor when I get home.

I'm suspecting that this is a problem that others have seen, so what does it usually turn out to be?

Question: is there an actual little graphics card connected to the motherboard that might have dirty contacts? Or is the graphics processor just ICs soldered to the motherboard?

And is there some flat ribbon cable that's slightly dislodged or something like that?

I'm figuring horizontal static lines point to something.

and here is the link to an image showing the horizontal lines:

https://goo.gl/photos/eH4HM9copwjrCFiP6

krauster

[RealBlackStuff]

All graphic parts are soldered.
You may need to check the LCD-cable on the back of the LCD-itself.
If that has become loose, you might see those lines.
If not, your graphics chip has most likely gone haywire.

[krauster]

I've been living with these extremely unpleasant static lines for a few days waiting to get home to try hooking up the W510 to an external monitor to test whether its worth its a component gone bad problem or whether a loose cable which could be searched for by opening the screen bezel and removing the LCD assembly and checking behind it for cable connections.

short of that test, I decided in frustration to try turning it on its side again. I turned it on its right side and gave it a slight tap on the wooden table top. --- hell, static degrades to completely out of sync screen that is unreadable. Then turned it on its left side and gave the same tap and fortunately its working fine now. Seems something loose is now connected.

Of course the problem is not really solved but it is probably a loose cable and not a component gone bad. - me thinks.