T41p... graphics all weird

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Dead1nside · #1 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:39 pm

Hi guys,

After installing Age of Empires II (not sure if this is the reason or was just a coincidence) my graphics went funny, fuzzy and the colours were messed up, still possible to see the GUI at some points. But not clear.

Rebooting, to no avail. Afterawhile it went normal again but after hard reseting it (holding down power switch for 5secs) the problem has come back. Even at the startup level the IBM logo has gone funny, and the computer then goes to black screen.

Testing in Linux this has also happened. I'm thinking this is now a hardware problem, or possibly a screen problem. Or maybe both.

Anyone have any ideas? I hope IBM don't try and palm me off saying I shouldn't have installed Linux or Age of Empires or some nonsense. Thanks for any replies. Very troubled by this, luckily am still under warranty.

christopher_wolf · #2 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:44 pm

Ah, it sounds like a hardware problem with the GPU.

Neither AoE or Linux can mess up the *BIOS Splash Screen* graphics.

I would say your best bet now is to call up IBM and relate to them the symptoms; they should open a repair service ticket for it.

EOMtp · #3 Post by **EOMtp** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:45 pm

IBM will advise you to remove the hard drive before you send the unit to IBM for repair of the type of problem you describe. Nothing you installed will be visible (even if the screen worked!).

Dead1nside · #4 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:01 pm

Now the machine does not appear to boot... as in I can't see anything anymore.

I've tried booting it with the recovery discs but I wouldn't be able to see any progress.

So should I phone up, tell them my computer doesn't even boot, and before that the graphics went funny, weird bright spots on the screen etc. then follow their advice?

Thanks.

#5 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:25 pm

Dead1nside wrote:So should I phone up, tell them my computer doesn't even boot, and before that the graphics went funny, weird bright spots on the screen etc. then follow their advice?

Thanks.

Yes, I would. That's what the warranty is for.

Dead1nside · #6 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:44 am

Now it doesn't even boot but gives me a POST code: beep-beep-beep, no difference in the pause length.

Thanks for your help guys.

cmarti · #7 Post by **cmarti** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:58 am

Dead1nside wrote:Now it doesn't even boot but gives me a POST code: beep-beep-beep, no difference in the pause length.

Thanks for your help guys.

Same thing happened to me when i install Star Wars Battle Front 2 on the T40 and the next day the GPU was fried.

IBM replace it on warranty.

Dead1nside · #8 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:47 am

Why do you think this happens? I didn't even get to play the game.. and I'd played more demanding games than that (Quake 3) on it.

Have you had any problems since?

Do you reckon I could get them to replace the screen while they're at it, it's got loads of weird spots on it. White spots.

christopher_wolf · #9 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:51 pm

In Cmarti's case, that was a, hilariously or not depending on your point of view, fatal bug in the ATI driver that probably went along with a hardware problem. It would get caught in an infinite loop; but, hey, it would boot fine.

In your case, I am pretty sure that the game didn't cause any harm at all and neither would Q3 (which isn't the most intensive game you could put on and still manage to play at a certin FPS). It sounds to me as if it is a problem with the GPU where the planar flexes in such a way as to cause random disconnects from the die to the board. You can try booting the system up and flexing it in various places to see if you can change the garbled graphics, but that will only confirm it plus you will be changing the garbled graphics to yet more garbled graphics, which I am not sure is of any benefit.

Dead1nside · #10 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:58 pm

What's the usual lead time in getting it repaired? Thanks for this.

christopher_wolf · #11 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:24 pm

Basically the same amount of time for a system planar replacement, though it can vary depending on whether or not you are near one of their service centers.

It shouldn't be too long if they get enough details about it beforehand to ascertain that it is a hardware problem involving the GPU on the mobo; after that, it is a straight planar replacement and testing to make sure everything works.

The turnaround can vary from within one week to two weeks. It really shouldn't be any longer. Although there are some posts here that describe *exactly* how long it took.

cmarti · #12 Post by **cmarti** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:37 pm

Dead1nside wrote: Have you had any problems since?

No i can play them fine now but i have to keep the track of how many hours my kid is paying the game. ( Now it's out of warranty )

Dead1nside · #13 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:45 pm

Thanks. Well I use my laptop for programming work whilst at school, so I hope it's not out of action for more than a week. Do they usually send a courier out to collect and return it?

Since my laptop's second hand will this affect it anyhow, or do I just give them my address, and previous ownershiop is ignored?

cmarti · #14 Post by **cmarti** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:20 pm

In puerto rico they send fedex it only took three days to receive it back repaired.

Did you call IBM?

Dead1nside · #15 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:27 pm

Phoning tomorrow, they've only got 9-5 Mon-Fri support.

Dead1nside · #16 Post by **Dead1nside** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:09 am

Phoned up, after a problem with scheduling an engineer the system board was replaced. I asked them to use my Arctic Silver 5 paste, so I'm expecting good things.

On first glances it seems stable.

cmarti · #17 Post by **cmarti** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:39 am

Dead1nside wrote:Phoned up, after a problem with scheduling an engineer the system board was replaced. I asked them to use my Arctic Silver 5 paste, so I'm expecting good things.

On first glances it seems stable.

Are you going to reinstall or play the game again?

Dead1nside · #18 Post by **Dead1nside** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 8:45 am

Reinstalled Age of Empires, there's a weird chequerboard effect in the Fog of War. Apart from this everything runs fine, Q3 puts temperatures at 60degC. Which is a bit high, but since it's a laptop it's not so bad.

Are there any benefits in using the IBM certified FireGL drivers? Or can I just install the normal Radeon drivers with the tweak?

cmarti · #19 Post by **cmarti** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:35 am

Dead1nside wrote:
Are there any benefits in using the IBM certified FireGL drivers? Or can I just install the normal Radeon drivers with the tweak?

From what i have read the best drivers for gaming are the omega drivers.

Dead1nside · #20 Post by **Dead1nside** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:09 pm

Thanks, yes I've run those before. I was just wandering about comaptibility. Hoping that it'll also solve this graphical glitch too.

cmarti · #21 Post by **cmarti** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:19 pm

Since my GPU failure i only use to the IBM drivers, so far i haven't suffer any problems.

T41p... graphics all weird

T41p... graphics all weird

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