sometimes horizontal lines on lcd

[retired]

Lately sometimes when I start this t23 sxga I'll get light blue thin horizontal lines all the way across screen from top to bottom. I can barely see bootup screen under the lines. It appears to boot up normally except for being covered by the lines. If I shut down and boot up again, it might happen again or it may be normal. When it boots up normal, it stays that way for my whole session. This happens about half the time, and it just started. Any ideas ? - does this mean I'm about to win the lottery ?

[rkawakami]

Send a few $$$ this way and I'll invest it in our own SuperLotto Plug CA state lottery . I'd offer to put it into the MEGA Millions system but you should be able to do that where you are.

The video problem you are looking at could be from a couple of sources:

- loose graphics chip on the motherboard
- loose or broken connection between the motherboard and the LCD panel
- some problem within the LCD panel itself

If swinging the lid about the hinges or slightly twisting the panel either doesn't fix or cure the problem, then you are probably looking at a graphics chip problem on the motherboard. You could try connecting an external monitor and see if the same display is present, however that would only really confirm that the problem is with the video memory. If the external display looks fine while the LCD has the horizontal lines, then there still can be an issue with one (or more) of the solder balls underneath the S3 video chip.

For a no-cost attempt at fixing the problem you can open up the system and re-seat both ends of the LCD ribbon cable. While you're at it, inspect said ribbon cable and see if you can see any cracks along the length, especially where it exits the base and proceeds into the lid (move the plastic barrel out of the way and look there too). You should use the Hardware Maintenance Manual for the safest way to open up (and re-assemble) the system:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... UYM3F.html

You can also obtain a copy of PC Doctor for DOS for the T2x systems from here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4YZM3F (diskette version)

or here:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_t2x/ibm_t22_pcdiag.iso (.ISO file that I host on my site)

Run the Video diagnostics and see if that reveals anything.

[retired]

rkawakami - thanks for the info - I will try your suggestions.

[retired]

ok - looks like I've it's ok now. i had installed a newer linux distro that wasn't ready for prime time and it played havoc with my graphics. Went back to a stable version and problem is gone - thanks.

[rkawakami]

Just curious (for the next time something like this problem is reported)... exactly what Linux distros were involved; both the beta and stable versions? I wouldn't think that intermittent horizontal lines would be coming from the video driver but if it didn't correctly support the SXGA+ resolution, then I guess that might be one reason you saw that problem.

[retired]

pclinuxos 2007 has been super stable for me. the problem started and ended with 2009. I'm back with 2007 till they get the bugs out.