Latitude D620, no video even at preboot

If the system uses an nVidia chip, the video chip is known to be of faulty design and commonly fails.

If the system is less than 12 months out of warranty, Dell will replace the mainboard:

http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2008/08/18/nvidia-gpu-update-dell-to-offer-warranty-enhancement-to-all-affected-customers-worldwide.aspx

If it's more than that, you will have to pay for the replacement - I would strongly suggest that you install an Intel-video board - another nVidia board will likely fail again.

 

I have the same problem.  A dell external screen but on boot up there is nothing on the laptop screen.  Pressing function F8 switches the video to the external screen.  It is corrupted with vertical lines and often defaults to 640x480 resol;ution (default).  I too got this problem whilst using Google Earth, but not exclusivel;y so.  The problem cured itself until now by running start up diags sometimes but that doesn't help any more.  My fan was also very dusty and fluffy and I have cleaned that out- it may be that the video hardware has failed and it got hottest whilst being driven hardest - e.g. Google Earth.

I'm not sure which way to go just now - I don't know how much a mobo is and even whether that will fix it.

Ken

Do you have the NVidia video chip? That sounds like the same problem. If you repair the Nvidia MoBo it sounds like it could happen again at any time and the only real repair is to change the MoBo for one with Intel video chip which is probably going to cost more than it's worth.  I am really ticked off by this as I have lost my laptop and cannot afford to buy another one. A new Latitude E5400 is about a grand depending on configuration and I just cannot afford it.  DELL should offer some kind of deal, maybe a deep discount on a new laptop or repair or replace with a refurbished unit of the same model, to those of us who have lost our computers due to their faulty design. I feel cheated and let down. Dell acknowledges the design is at fault but says it is just tough luck that my computer did notr fail in time for the warranty.  Any chance Dell might do something for us?

Thankfully I was able to pull out the SATA HDD and just plug it in to another computer and copy all the data.

By the way, I have a hard time accessing this forum because when I try to log in it rejects my (correct) password and then I have to reset it and wait 24 hrs so it has taken me days to be able to post this. Frustrating.   But not as much as having lost my laptop.

Hi - thanks for your response.

 

Yes - I have the Nvidia,  and I have borrowed another D620, swapped hard drives and everything works, so it's not a config problem.  I suspect it must be the video hardware as I have no video either on my monitor screen, nor the additional Dell 20" screen - at any stage through boot or after.

A refurbished mother board is about £125 in the UK and I suspect that would fix it.  Clearly Dell have a problem with this seemingly regular failure, either in or out of warranty period and it will give them a bit of bad press - but that's all.  I don't know if the video chip-set on the mother board is plug-in and therefore easily changeable, and how much that would be.  I don't even know where the video chips are on the mother board. Maybe Dell would offer an explanation and a possible cheapest solution for those of us who are suffering with a seemingly known and common fault?  Maybe Nvidia could also?  Free driver chips might offer a reasonable and cheap option - if they're available and pluggable.  Can't see many people being able to resolder chips successfully.

So - at least now I know my problem lies with something on the system board and probably the video area.  I don't expect any help from Dell that would offer a solution so I need to get another computer.  Now I have my data from my hard drive I don't expect it'll be a Dell after this.

Maybe you could get another mother board with the Intel chip-set on it.  Swapping the mother board is relatively straight forward if a bit fiddly and time consuming.  I suppose it would depend upon each individual's dexterity.  Maybe you can get a re-furbed one from somewhere at a much reduced cost rather than replacing the whole laptop.

No problem with my password - and I think I got a call from the Dell help-desk soon after posting this, but the message left on my answer phone was too difficult to understand - very speedy words and difficult diction.

Alf - If you say that the chip comes un-soldered then if I can locate the specific video chips I'll have a go at  re-soldering them. It's worth a try.  I'll take the mother board out again and try.  If I have any luck I'll let you know.  I certainly think it's a heat problem - my fan was clogged with dust.  I don't think this is a user problem but a natural result over time with an airflow design like this with no removable filter.  Laptops aren't expected to be used in clinical conditions after all.

I will be surprised but pleased if overheat has destroyed the solder joints.  I suspect it will be a chip failure due to overheat.  Where did you get your un-soldered analysis from?

Ken

Please check again.  The version of the board with the Intel GPU does just fine - the very problem is with the nVidia chip itself, as nVIdia itself finally admitted, after it was cornered and couldn't escape the reality of the massive number of failures.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1028703/nvidia-g84-g86-bad

Dell extended the warranty by one year over and above what you purchased - so if your system is less than a year out of warranty, have the board replaced.  Yes, GPU is part of the mainboard -- as it is on all mass produced notebooks these days - and yes, the boards are expensive (though if you think Dell is bad in this regard, HP, Sony, Toshiba and Apple all charge between $800 and $1,100+ for a logic board replacement.

Should you chose to replace the board at your expense, buy the Intel version - no one knows which GPUs are "fixed" and which are faulty -- and many engineers believe that short of a complete redesign, the nVidia chip cannot be fixed - that is, they're ALL faulty.

 

I promise my previous post was divided into paragraphs. I have no idea what happened. I am beginning to think Dell hates me ;)

Well, it seems the board software will not recognise my paragraphs. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1GQWwqPR3U

Ken, the information I have I got from looking around the Internet and talking to several repair places. I cannot vouch that it is all correct because sometimes incorrect information gets widely repeated and circulated but several repair places and internet sources all agree that a possible repair is to resolder the video chip. The repair shops I consulted stressed that it should be considered a temporary repair and that they would not guarantee it. There several are videos on Youtube showing how to do the repair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4fggTK-0I Unfortunately this is outside of my capability and I do not even have the tools or expertise to attempt the repair. If I could do it then I would try as it would be only my labor but I am not ready to pay a repair shop about $150 for a temporary repair which might last only a few days or weeks. My D620 failed and then, after many tries, worked again for a couple of days during which I did not turn it off. Once I turned it off it did not work again. This makes me suspect a bad contact rather than a bad chip although I suppose a dead chip due to heat is also a possible cause of failure. Most sources I have consulted seem to agree that the problem is with the soldering and that the chip should be ok. I am disappointed that Dell would leave us out in the cold just because our laptops did not fail soon enough. So I would have been luckier if my laptop had failed sooner. Oh well.

All - I have replaced the system board and everything works fine - I even had to do nothing to reconcile the difference between the Intel video chip on the new system board compared to the Nvidia on the old one.

I am quite sure that the issue is heat related causing a chip failure as you all had already told me anyway - thanks.

The fan, previous to this repair, was very often going like crazy, but now is hardly going at all.  I put plenty of thermal compound between the chip and heat sink and I suspect that's where the failure lies.  Be sure that if you can hear your fan going regularly then you should fix the thermal conductivity issue to the heat sink as a precaution and may just prevent any damage occurring.

 

The problem I suspect is thermal compound failing after time - the blue stuff applied at initial manufacture looks to go hard and I suspect reduces its effectiveness.

So - I'm very happy - thanks to this little conversation I've fixed a problem.  System board cost me £150.00 sterling - OK.

I had to fit my CPU chip from my old system board and now I get F1 issue on boot where it tells me that CPU not supported - F1 to continue.  I do this and everything seems to work fine afterwards - don't know what that is or how to fix it.

Also - when OS is up I get a message saying system components have been updated successfully - reboot now?  If I reboot I get exactly the same each time, so I ignore that as well.  It doesn't seem to be a problem, it is just not a clean situation and I'd like to deal with it.

Anyway - thanks to you for your help, guidance and ideas.

The only thanks to Dell is that this forum is here.  Nothing offered in way of solution.

 

Ken