Video/graphics hardware error

[gnowak]

Hello.

My Laptop A30 2652 is experiencing periodical errors on the display. I am pretty sure it's a hardware error, because it is experienced at the early start-up and in the BIOS menu. At different places on the screen "!" signs pop-up and disappear sporadically and some txt "graphics" appear as interlaced, which shouldn't be possible in txt mode. I run Kubuntu 6.10 if that is any help. At times when this error is at it's worst, the laptop freezes. When I give the laptop a couple of bumps, the error seems to disappear for a while. When I play back any video files, every second line is missing, but my desktop looks fine.

I have disassembled my laptop to the bone, and dis attached my screen and then reattached it to be sure that no loose connections are present. This procedure didn't help, and I am wondering if it's a cable problem or a problem somewhere else in the laptop? This laptop is too old for IBM/Lenovo support, so I am looking for a find the error yourself solution

Any suggestions are very appreciated. Thanks!

[AlphaKilo470]

On the A30 and A31s, it's common for the GPU and/or video ram to ovnseat from the motherboard or stop functioning properly due to heat. I have an A30 with the same issue and an A31 that works fin when I press on the gpu chip.

[AlphaKilo470]

If you can, try removing keyboard and palmrest/bezel. After that, re-attach keyboard (with bezel still gone) and turn the system on and use something such as an ink pen (with cap on) to press down on the GPU (located under bottom right corner of the CPU fan assembly and see if that has any affect on the video. (see HMM [see FAQ for that] for instructions on taking apart if you need them)

My ThinkPad A31 had minor video glitching (not nearly as bad as my A30 or many A3x laptops I hear about) and I fixed it by sticking a thick piece of metal with thermal pads on each side between the CPU's heatsink and GPU thus forcing the soldier points to make contact on motherboard. I also used thermal grease on the metal piece and have the heatsink doing triple duty to help cool CPU, GPU and keep pressure on the GPU. My A31 has had no issues since doing this "fix."

[gnowak]

Thanks for the tips! Sorry that I haven't replied to the posts yet, but I thought I had notification enabled... but it wasn't.

I will try this out in the near future, and get back to this thread with my results