A31 2653 ... intermittent video problems

[Dantzr]

Just bought a 2653-q5u from someone on eBay for $140. Got tired of being outbid on so many units that when this one popped up as a "buy it now" 10 minutes after it entered the auction scene... I bought it then! P4-M 2.0 ghz 1gb 15inch wifi and more.

Anyways, the seller said that it had an intermittent video problem where it occasionally would go to grid but most times would be fine. I crossed my fingers and hit the by now button. Now I am worried. Won't be able to identify the problem any better until I get it Thursday or Friday. Need some help.

The seller, when communicated with him after the sale was finalized, said that the gridding will go away if you move the screen back and forth. Said he thought it was the LCD flex cable but wasn't sure. Sounds right to me...I don't know why.

My question is this... does it sound like a cable problem, or maybe something else equally simple to fix? Or could it be a motherboard problem?

And a stupid question... Are the base and motherboard the same on a 14 inch and a 15 inch screen setup? I found a base with motherboard (from P4-M 2ghz 2652) for less than a $100 but that seller doesn't know if it will fit my 15 inch or not. Can anyone help me here?

Thanks all for any and all help. I love this forum!!!

mike

[ajkula66]

You might have bought a lemon...but let's not judge it before we see it.

On A3x units, 9 out of 10 times intermittant video issues are GPU-related, and the only fix is solder re-flow or motherboard replacement.

Motherboard is the same size for 14" and 15" A31 units, but buying one without knowing the seller is extremely risky. Also, your machine has 15" IPS LCD (FlexView) and is powered by a 32Mb GPU as opposed to 16Mb GPU on standard A31 units. All 14" mobos come with 16Mb GPUs.

Should your motherboard prove to be a problem, there are people who offer professional re-flowing services like jamiphar on this forum. It is money well spent if the machine is pristine otherwise.

Good luck.

[Dantzr]

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully this is not a major problem. i will just have to wait and see what is actually the problem when it gets here. But I thank you for giving me a heads up. I hope the term "Lemon" doesn't apply here. But we shall see!

Thanks again!!

[sjthinkpader]

If the machine starts ok but have garbage on the screen after warming up, you may want to install the freeware NHC and watch the CPU temperature while it is running.

If the machine is running more than 50 deg C under nominal load, the heatsink/fan may be clogged with dust. Just clean it out and recheck the video and temperature.

[Dantzr]

Well, now my mind (and wallet) aren't shrinking in fear!! At least not as much!

Nice to know that it could be as simple (andFREE!!) as this to fix it. Got my fingers, tonsild, legs, eyes and anything else I have 2 of (painful or not) crossed that your suggestion will be the fix-it needed.

I am going out to find that freeware right this moment!

Thank you!

[sjthinkpader]

If temp is normal around 40-45 deg C or so and you still get garbage, then it may be what ajkula66 described.

[Dantzr]

Well... got the machine and everything is as it was stated.... although "intermittent problems" turns out to be more "intermittent okay", but I knew that I was getting into more of a worry than a class of perfection when I bought it. Although I have been working on desktop computers, both professionally and as a hobbyist, other than installing memory I have never worked on laptops at all. Figured this would be one way to get "up to speed" so to speak. All I can say now is... and how!

I have spent the last week or more perusing the boards here trying to see if anyone else has had the problems I am having and what they did to correct it. Other than a setting change here or there, the knowledgeable members' advice given me here (see above) as I suspected is right on. Being optimistically "quick fix" hopeful as a rule, I knew that I wasn't gonna find one. And I didn't.

I priced used LCD screens as well as motherboards from reputable sellers (Montana4Me, Synaptic Systems, etc) and hoped that the screen was the problem. I had considered using replacement as a form of 'process of elimination' but figured this would take my inexpensive 'puter and put it in the 'shoulda bought new' category, so I went back and perused to see what i could find.

Then, I got smart...or at least I think so. Should have tried this first but sometimes the mind works in wondrously inept ways.

I plugged my desktop monitor into the laptop and sent the signal over to it. I thought that if it came out great on that screen that I could rightfully assume that my problem was the screen and I could replace that and voile...my puter would be cool! Well, the gobbledygook that showed on the laptop screen is even more pronounced on the big screen. Going from my 15 inch laptop screen to the 19 inch desktop screen is astoundingly fatalistic.

Needless to say, I am now assuming that, as those above me here have suggested, that it is the motherboard I have to deal with. Am I right in this assumption? Is the video connection on the outside of my laptop connected differently than the laptop LCD connections?

And, as I am not all that knowledgeable in many things... just what is re-flow? Is there a big difference in the success rate of re-flow compared to replacement of the MB?

Okay... I know I am a little nuts and extremely long-winded. I hope someone has been able to wade through my mess here and can help me once again. I am your more than capable hands!

Thanks all,

Mike

[ajkula66]

Contact forum member jamiphar (James) for re-balling the solder around the GPU on your machine. He's done a great job on couple of my ThinkPads.

Good luck.

[proaudioguy]

I've been through several system boards with this issue. I found a Canadian company that has the 32 meg boards on ebay for $95. They say they came from IBM as basiclaly leftover parts. Since IBM isn't servicing these machines any more I figure it's logical. They said they have never had aboard come back. I'm hoping it works out. Otherwise I'd say sending it to James would be a great idea. He also epoxies the GPU edge to help keep it from happening again.

The issue is related to something called a Ball Grid Array. You can look this up on Google. The GPU chip is thicker and more ridged than the PC board it's soldered to. Several things happen. Over the years the heating and cooling, flexing of the board by lifting one handed, which is also compounded as the plastics starting to dry rot, cause the edge and especially the corner solder balls to break loose. I had fixed one by using a heat gun. It lasted another year, but cannot be fixed that way again. I tried to do another board and completely gaked it up, so it's definitely a hit and miss solution if you want to do it yourself. Jamiphar has the tools and skills necessary to do this for you. If you send him just the system board, he only charges $100. which is well worth it.

I consider this a design flaw, and feel IBM should have replaced all affected system boards with a revised board, but that obviously wasn't as cost effective for them as just simply ignoring it. They are not alone as Apple and X Box have had similar problems. I firmly believe the graphics chips should be mounted to a separate PC board that is perhaps thicker and much smaller than the rest of the system board. It would cost a bit more, but it would be far less likely to be flexed.

[ajkula66]

proaudioguy wrote:

Since IBM isn't servicing these machines any more I figure it's logical.

I'd beg to differ with the above statement, since I've had a motherboard replaced on an A31p as recently as January of this year, under warranty, by a depot. Along with LCD and keyboard and a couple of other plastic parts...so they still do it, and the parts are still available, although I wouldn't be placing bets on for how long this will be the case...

[proaudioguy]

My machine was from 2002. Since the system board part number is identical, I seriously doubt it had a 5 year warranty into 2008. You obviously had a 2003 machine. This was one of the earliest A31s with 32megs and SXGA+. I stand by my original statement which you quoted. This still however doesn't mean what they said is TRUE.