I have something similar to yours. I dont have the flickering all the time, but when I plug my M6500 into the docking station, my external screen starts flickering.I also have the quadro 2800m card and the driver 8.16.11.8737 - the same as yours?
In addition I cant find any Dell trackpad drivers?? I have the standard microsoft driver installed, meaning no scroll, no fancy extra functionality as they showcase in the ads. Does yours have drivers for the trackpad?
Hi, any news regarding the problem. Have git my M6500 a few days ago with the same problem. Dell didn't solve it, even after a first technician day and changing video card and mainboard....
Hi, any news regarding the problem. Have git my M6500 a few days ago with the same problem. Dell didn't solve it, even after a first technician day and changing video card and mainboard....
Let me know your experiences please.
cheers
dev
Hi
I have received no futher info from this forum, so no change. Screen flickers intermittently. Haven't contacted Dell yet until someone tells me exactly what the problem is so I can get it resolved. Not stopping me from using it, it's just annoying sometimes.
I had the same problem, but not with only one line, but with all lines of the screen. The cause was a bad cable, which connects the screen with the motherboard. All you can do is to request the screen to be replaced.
My M6500 goes back now to Dell for analyzation and repair. After 2 times replacing video card and LCD panel first and then all 3 motherboard parts and CPU second, they had no idea anymore what to do, so as they have 3 times for repair before a customer have the right to give it back, that's their last chance. The problem it takes again up to 10 business days after one week already used for their 2 repair excercises. I'm really upset about their way solving problems...
Considering the use of an external monitor on the system the issue will almost definatly not be with the video card. I suggest running the Built in Self Test (BIST) on your display system. To do this you simply need to do the following:
Initiating the LCD BIST
Initiate the LCD BIST by holding down the key while pressing the power button. This keystroke causes the system to turn on and immediately begin running the BIST.
The LCD BIST remains active for 20 seconds (the same length of time the PSA displays the LCD BIST), even if there are power-up failures
I couldn't locate your specific model of laptop for some reason, but the BIST is generally activated in a generic way. If the distortion appears during the BIST then the issue lies with the LCD.
Having the same problem with one of 3 M6500s we just received. (I haven't unpacked the other 2 yet.) Symptoms are identical to what you describe, except that colors displayed on the screen in BIOS and OS are also messed up... making it very hard to read.
This was not a problem right out of the box, it only started when I booted with the system docked and closed, driving an external monitor. Previously I had it running docked and opened using both the laptop display and an external monitor. The laptop LCD looks bad, but the external displays are just fine. Currently I have the system docked, closed, and driving 2 24" monitors via DVI.
I tried the BIST test (hold down D while powering on) and it looked fine. The PST test (hold Fn while powering on) didn't find any faults but was difficult to read because the colors of the screen are all messed up. Followed a troubleshooting wizard at the Dell support site which advised me to re-seat the LCD cables, but that didn't fix the problem either.
Chatted online with folks from Dell today. They first wanted to dispatch a new motherboard and LCD. My thought is that the discreet graphics card seems to be where the problem is. Will keep this thread posted with progress as we go.
Another thing I will try while waiting for the parts to arrive is to push the latest system BIOS, A04 which was recently released. I found another thread on a Precision T3500 (desktop) with a flickering Nvidia card that was fixed with a display driver update. Wouldn't be surprised if that ends up being the solution for this issue as well.
Also probably worth mentioning that I've also loaded Ubuntu onto the system. There are Nvidia drivers under that OS that possibly could be involved. Think I will disable those tomorrow, boot back in to XP 64 and re-apply the Windows drivers.
viezel
1 Message
0
January 19th, 2010 13:00
Hi
I have something similar to yours. I dont have the flickering all the time, but when I plug my M6500 into the docking station, my external screen starts flickering.I also have the quadro 2800m card and the driver 8.16.11.8737 - the same as yours?
In addition I cant find any Dell trackpad drivers?? I have the standard microsoft driver installed, meaning no scroll, no fancy extra functionality as they showcase in the ads. Does yours have drivers for the trackpad?
OldBob-Sco
2 Posts
0
February 17th, 2010 01:00
Hi
Did you get a solution to your problem? I have the same setup and experiencing the same thing and wondering if it's time to call the Dell engineer.
Cheers
Bob
developsky
2 Posts
0
March 13th, 2010 13:00
Hi, any news regarding the problem. Have git my M6500 a few days ago with the same problem. Dell didn't solve it, even after a first technician day and changing video card and mainboard....
Let me know your experiences please.
cheers
dev
OldBob-Sco
2 Posts
0
March 15th, 2010 03:00
Hi
I have received no futher info from this forum, so no change. Screen flickers intermittently. Haven't contacted Dell yet until someone tells me exactly what the problem is so I can get it resolved. Not stopping me from using it, it's just annoying sometimes.
Sorry I can't give more info.
nikolay.t
19 Posts
0
March 18th, 2010 07:00
I had the same problem, but not with only one line, but with all lines of the screen. The cause was a bad cable, which connects the screen with the motherboard. All you can do is to request the screen to be replaced.
Good luck
Nikolay
developsky
2 Posts
0
March 18th, 2010 11:00
My M6500 goes back now to Dell for analyzation and repair. After 2 times replacing video card and LCD panel first and then all 3 motherboard parts and CPU second, they had no idea anymore what to do, so as they have 3 times for repair before a customer have the right to give it back, that's their last chance. The problem it takes again up to 10 business days after one week already used for their 2 repair excercises. I'm really upset about their way solving problems...
Marcer
27 Posts
1
March 18th, 2010 11:00
Considering the use of an external monitor on the system the issue will almost definatly not be with the video card. I suggest running the Built in Self Test (BIST) on your display system. To do this you simply need to do the following:
Initiating the LCD BIST
Initiate the LCD BIST by holding down the key while pressing the power button. This keystroke causes the system to turn on and immediately begin running the BIST.
The LCD BIST remains active for 20 seconds (the same length of time the PSA displays the LCD BIST), even if there are power-up failures
I couldn't locate your specific model of laptop for some reason, but the BIST is generally activated in a generic way. If the distortion appears during the BIST then the issue lies with the LCD.
BrentJacksonD1
1 Rookie
•
6 Posts
0
July 22nd, 2010 20:00
Having the same problem with one of 3 M6500s we just received. (I haven't unpacked the other 2 yet.) Symptoms are identical to what you describe, except that colors displayed on the screen in BIOS and OS are also messed up... making it very hard to read.
This was not a problem right out of the box, it only started when I booted with the system docked and closed, driving an external monitor. Previously I had it running docked and opened using both the laptop display and an external monitor. The laptop LCD looks bad, but the external displays are just fine. Currently I have the system docked, closed, and driving 2 24" monitors via DVI.
I tried the BIST test (hold down D while powering on) and it looked fine. The PST test (hold Fn while powering on) didn't find any faults but was difficult to read because the colors of the screen are all messed up. Followed a troubleshooting wizard at the Dell support site which advised me to re-seat the LCD cables, but that didn't fix the problem either.
Chatted online with folks from Dell today. They first wanted to dispatch a new motherboard and LCD. My thought is that the discreet graphics card seems to be where the problem is. Will keep this thread posted with progress as we go.
Another thing I will try while waiting for the parts to arrive is to push the latest system BIOS, A04 which was recently released. I found another thread on a Precision T3500 (desktop) with a flickering Nvidia card that was fixed with a display driver update. Wouldn't be surprised if that ends up being the solution for this issue as well.
Also probably worth mentioning that I've also loaded Ubuntu onto the system. There are Nvidia drivers under that OS that possibly could be involved. Think I will disable those tomorrow, boot back in to XP 64 and re-apply the Windows drivers.