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Re: Strange PC Video Fault

Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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On 01/08/2024 03:29, Paul wrote:
> On Wed, 7/31/2024 4:17 PM, Java Jive wrote:
>> On 31/07/2024 17:18, Char Jackson wrote:
>>>
>>> On Wed, 31 Jul 2024 13:22:05 +0100, Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> This is a deliberate cross-post concerning a presumed hardware problem.
>>>>
>>>> This happened on turning on this laptop this morning, it's a Dell
>>>> Inspiron 15RSE 7520:
>>>>
>>>>     www.macfh.co.uk/Temp/20240731_Dell_Inspiron_15RSE_7520_Video_Fault.jpg
>>>>
>>>> The pattern is rather unusual.  In the past, nearly always I've seen
>>>> video faults that concern one of the primary colours ...
>>>>     Dead red = cyan (turquoise) cast
>>>>     Dead green = magenta (purple) cast
>>>>     Dead blue = yellow cast
>>>> ... but this patterning is rather different.
>>>>
>>>> And it's not constant, but changes over time, for example it changed
>>>> somewhat as I moved the mouse, and in fact for a while now it's gone
>>>> altogether.  I suspect that temperature may have played a part in its
>>>> appearance immediately on switching on and its subsequent disappearance
>>>> as the PC warmed up, a loose connection possibly.
>>>>
>>>> Or the screen or the video card is dying.
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone recognise the rather unusual patterning and can be more
>>>> specific in their diagnosis?
>>>
>>> I have the same model of laptop, in continuous 24x7 service since early 2012. No
>>> video issues so far.
>>>
>>> What would you think about temporarily connecting a second display to the
>>> laptop*, with the idea being that it may help to determine whether you have a
>>> display panel issue or a GPU issue. I would think that a panel issue is a bit
>>> more likely.
>>>
>>> *There should be an HDMI connector and a VGA connector on the left side. I use
>>> VGA to drive a second display, but I've used HDMI in the past and it also works
>>> fine.
>>
>> Unfortunately I have no alternative display.  My external monitor caught fire some years ago and I never replaced it.
>>
>> However, I think you're right, because a number of things that I've observed during the course of the day all seem to point to the display:
>>
>>    -  If I disable the AMD Radeon HD 7730M as Paul suggested, there is no change, the screen still shows the effect.
>>
>>    -  When the display has been on for a while it seems less likely to show the problem, but when it has been blanked by the screensaver for a while, it's more likely to show the problem immediately after being turned on by moving the mouse or typing.
>>
>>    -  But the killer diagnosis is this: if I alter the angle of the lid, all hell breaks loose until I stop moving it!
>>
>> So now I must decide whether I think it's worth trying to source another, probably used, display and attempting to fix it ...
>>
>>    :-(  Unfortunately, these clam shell laptops are a PITA to take apart and repair.  Usually, changing a laptop display is a relatively quick job, because the lid will be held on by a small number of screws, and usually the display is connected under the keyboard and the WiFi and other possible aerials connect to the card(s) either also under the keyboard or else under an easily removable bottom cover  -  often the trickiest part is simply getting the aerial cables to feed through a small hole or cutout to get them beneath the motherboard  -  all of which means that you can just buy a lid/display as a unit off a used PC that has failed somehow else, and swap it easily with your broken one. However on these buggers you have to remove the palm-rest and the bottom of the case, lots of screws, and lots of other things to disconnect on the way and to forget to reconnect as you re-assemble it  -  that may even be why I now have this problem, because I went through all that to
>> change the fan 10 months ago, though I rather think it's actually the display screen itself rather than the connector, because the hinges are so tight that every time you open or close the lid it flexes slightly, and given the events of the day, I'm now suspicious that this flexing, over the years I've had the PC (from new), is the root cause of the display giving up.
>>
>>    :-(  Also, it's quite a limited screen resolution, and, having had to replace already two of the Dell Precision M6300s with their lovely big screens within about 6 months of each other, I now have two Dell Precision M6700s both of which are higher spec than this, and, although they don't have the same height resolution as the 6300s, the better of the two does have a higher screen resolution than this, so I was planning to turn it into my principal PC anyway.
>>
>>    :-(  Also, the Inspiron's speakers are knackered.
>>
>>    :-(  Also, it can't fit into a dock as can the 6700/6800/etc series.
>>
>> So I think I might just let it go.  Can't complain, if it's worth nothing now, it works out that it's cost me £69pa in depreciation, and that seems reasonable to me.
> 
> What part of the panel would that pattern come from ?

Dunno.

> Did you shoot the picture with a high speed camera ?

A Pixel 8a

> Does the pattern stand still, or does it vary continuously (jiggling, dancing) ?

Depends, mostly it's fairly static, but it has varied when I move the 
mouse, and it varies enormously when I move the lid, and sometimes I can 
make temporarily disappear thereby, only soon to return.  It comes and 
goes when the lid is stationery, but is more prevalent when the display 
first comes on after being blanked for a while.  The complexity of the 
screenshot I shared is partly due to the complexity of the login 
background picture.  After logging in, things look simpler and more 
regular.  Here is a photo of the screen while WinDiff is checking for 
differences between drive contents of the Inspiron and this M6700 which 
I have now moved over to using instead, so that if I ditch the former I 
can be sure of not losing any data (the differences you can see there 
are either spuriously caused by accented characters in the filename or 
else genuinely don't matter):

www.macfh.co.uk/Temp/20240801_Dell_Inspiron_15RSE_7520_Video_Fault.jpg

Note particularly:

   - The 'comparing ...' bar should not contain any green at all;

   - The regular repeated patterns in the title bar, of which the least 
and most intensively green are fairly stable, but those midway between 
sometime jiggle.

> [snip]
> 
> You can take a screenshot, with a print-screen or with a snippingtool,
> and see if the pattern is evident. It should not be, because
> the fault is downstream of that point. If you can see a problem
> at that point, it could be a system memory issue (and other
> stuff would have crashed).
I've already thought of that, a screenshot taken with <PrintScreen> or 
<Alt-PrintScreen> when viewed on another PC is free of the fault.

-- 

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website: 
www.macfh.co.uk

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Thread

Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-07-31 13:22 +0100
  Re: Strange PC Video Fault sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> - 2024-07-31 08:30 -0500
  Re: Strange PC Video Fault Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2024-07-31 09:54 -0400
    Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-07-31 20:09 +0100
  Re: Strange PC Video Fault Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2024-07-31 11:18 -0500
    Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-07-31 21:17 +0100
      Re: Strange PC Video Fault Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-07-31 21:30 +0100
        Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-08-01 13:12 +0100
      Re: Strange PC Video Fault VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2024-07-31 16:01 -0500
        Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-08-01 13:33 +0100
      Re: Strange PC Video Fault Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2024-07-31 22:29 -0400
        Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-08-01 14:30 +0100
          Re: Strange PC Video Fault Folderol <general@musically.me.uk> - 2024-08-01 14:35 +0100
            Re: Strange PC Video Fault Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2024-08-01 14:33 -0400
              Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-08-02 00:21 +0100
                Re: Strange PC Video Fault NY <me@privacy.net> - 2024-08-02 15:01 +0100
                Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-08-06 23:06 +0100
                Re: Strange PC Video Fault Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2024-08-06 19:05 -0400
                Re: Strange PC Video Fault NY <me@privacy.net> - 2024-08-09 22:40 +0100
                Re: Strange PC Video Fault Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2024-08-07 11:21 +0100
                Re: Strange PC Video Fault Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2024-08-07 19:20 -0400

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