T60 display - seeing red dots/dashes on the screen

[twister6]

My old T60 (15" IPS screen) having a weird symptom, started a few days ago. In random parts of the screen I'm noticing red dots/dashes which do disappear once I refresh the screen (switch between windows or minimize/maximize the window). It actually happens more often on scrolling bars of the window, I guess darker parts of the screen? Other then that, screen brightness is OK. What could it be? LCD backlight acting out? Video card? Can't be a driver? Its definitely not permanent or pixel related because those appear in random spots, and go away after refresh. Any advice, please? What to try, how to test, how to fix? Thank you!!!

[ajkula66]

I'd be guessing the entry-level-stage of VRAM corruption, but would really like to see a picture of the problem...

Can you snap a few shots and post a link?

[twister6]

Sorry for an awful picture quality, just quickly snapped up close of a few screen parts. You see a bunch of red dots, which disappear as you scroll the bar or refresh the screen, totally random stuff.

[ajkula66]

Yep. I see that.

And I'm 99% certain that it is what I stated in my previous post.

You'll need a new motherboard sooner than later, I'm sorry to say.

[twister6]

Yikes, no other way to fix it? Where can I get a new motherboard and how easy would it be to replace it? Thanks!

[ajkula66]

I've got a couple of them available, feel free to PM me.

How easy would it be...take a look at HMM and decide for yourself:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62733

Good luck.

[Kasm279]

You might try reseating/replacing the LCD cable first. I don't know if LVDS would do this as well, but I've had this happen with DVI cables that weren't plugged in securely.

[twister6]

I figured since refresh of the screen fixes the problem, I would lean more toward VRAM issue suggested by George. Although, if its related to video card, wouldn't that mean changing only ATI x1400 video card instead of swapping the whole motherboard?

[ajkula66]

The card is soldered to the motherboard.

Unless you have someone with a re-balling station, it can not be swapped...and if you do, I'd love to hear about it...

[twister6]

Didn't realize it was soldered. D@mn Still haven't made up my mind about mobo swap. The price is right and job it piece of cake to do it myself; it's the other "political" factor of it being my wife's laptop lol!!! I might just end up giving her my T400s and getting a new T430s...

[ajkula66]

Should you decide not to repair, let me know.

I'm always looking for good-looking 15" T60/p shells for my FrankenPad projects...