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15714
August 27th, 2008 21:00
XPS 1710 video artefact and memory issues
My XPS M1710 has been giving me some trouble of late.
I've got a few video artefacts: scattered multicolored dots on the screen as soon as BIOS starts right through to Win XP and Ubuntu desktops. Also getting random garbled multicolored text in command prompt, BIOS, Diagnostic, and recovery console modes. The dots appear from the moment my BIOS starts up, always at the same places, and increase in number as the system heats up. This seems to be a clear sign of video memory damage.
My Hard disk is also showing signs of damage: was getting an unmountable boot volume error. After running a partial chkdsk (stopped it midway after it had been running for 12 hours) and fixboot + fixmbr commands from the recovery console, I was able to boot win XP Pro again. But after a day of of work I got the Blue screen again with an ntfs.sys error. Now its doing the ntfs BSOD each time I boot. Chkdsk is now telling me that there's an unrecoverable buffer on the HD, and I can't reinstall windows (the ntfs format is freezing at 68%).
My BIOS diagnostics has been indicating some faulty buffers on one of my RAM cards as well as on my Hard disk. The diagnostics is also showing errors on the video memory test.
My vid card is the 256Mb geforce GO 7900 GS. I know that the vid card also uses some of the main RAM (shared memory).
I'm trying to figure out if the video artefacts problem is due just to the dedicated video ram being damaged or because of the main RAM / Hard disk. Is the video memory diagnostic test only for the dedicated memory on the video card itself?
I know for sure that one of the computer RAM cards is faulty: after I removed it the memory diagnostic came out clear for the other RAM card. But even with the faulty RAM removed, the video artefacts are still there and the diagnostic is still indicating a video memory error. Logically that seems to mean that the dedicated memory on the video card is partially fried as well. Am I correct to infer this?
would appreciate any pointers. Replacing the HD and RAM is relatively inexpensive, but having to replace the graphics card on an XPS is pretty hefty ($299 second hand)... although the graphics card could wait till I save up some cash, since the dots aren't that huge a problem yet.
arkein
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August 27th, 2008 21:00
ejn63
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August 27th, 2008 21:00
They'll all be refurbished - there are no "new" replacement parts.
ejn63
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August 27th, 2008 21:00
From the sound of it, the video RAM is bad - the card needs to be replaced.
arkein
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August 27th, 2008 21:00
Thanks, yeah, that's what I thought...
seems like heat damage too.
As I said, I can still work with it for a while longer since the artefact problem is not too visible on the desktop yet.
But does Dell sell new replacements for the 7900GS or is it all refurbished parts?
DAVe3283
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October 22nd, 2008 04:00
I have the exact same issue. I started Half Life 2 and changed the resolution in game to 1920x1200. It changed and ran for about 1.5 seconds, then froze up. The fan was on high, although it turned on low after 30 seconds. I held down the power button to turn it off, and when I turned it back on, the screen was covered in artifacts. It looks exactly like this: http://picasaweb.google.com/tahlsr
That's not my system, but mine is doing exactly that.
If I try and boot Windows Vista, it will bluescreen whenever the graphics driver tries to load.
I used nvflash and reflashed the stock video bios (it always had the stock bios, I figured it might help), but it didn't make any difference, nor did reflashing the bios (A07 to A07).
Did buying a new card fix your problem? I read about several people getting new cards that didn't fix the issue.
arkein
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October 22nd, 2008 05:00
Hi,
I actually didn't buy a new vid card as it was still doing the job adequately enough and the vid memory damage was not as bad as in the pics you linked to (fewer random dots and less garbled text).
Those pics definitely seem to indicate massive vid RAM damage...
My Hard disk and one of my RAM cards were also damaged. The damaged HD was the cause of my BSOD on boot up.
Once I replaced those I could boot normally again and was left only with the vid artefacts.
Replacing the damaged RAM seemed to resolve part of the video artefacts as the vid card offloads some of its memory onto main RAM.
Diagnostics on my vid card still indicate Vid card memory damage, but the card still works and the artefacts are negligeable. The random dots tend to multiply when the vid card gets too hot. I got myself a laptop cooler and now only have one last recalcitrant dicolored dot that won't go away on BIOS screen. I don't see it anymore once Win XP is running through, so no big deal.
In my case I'd bet that the artefacts would be fully resolved if I replaced the vid card with a fully working card. But I don't really need to just for a single dot. I'd rather save up the money for a new system in a couple of years.
In your case I'd first try and make sure that you don't have other hardware problems first. Run your full diagnostics for each component and do a chkdsk. Also check out this site: http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/artifacts.html
As for those who couldn't fix the issue with a new card, that means that it wasn't the main/only hardware problem.
Good luck!
arkein
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October 22nd, 2008 05:00
DAVe3283
11 Posts
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October 22nd, 2008 21:00
The weirdest thing happened today: I let the system cool overnight, and turned it on this morning, but the artifacts were still there. I was able to boot to safe mode because it didn't attempt to load the video driver, and copied my files off just to be safe. When I restarted the computer later (after it was warm again), the artifacts were gone, and now everything works normally.
The rest of my hardware passes diagnostics and runs fine, so I think the card is on it's last leg. I will probably pick one up ASAP, because I love this computer other than the random issue I just had, but at least I can still use it until the new one gets in. I am just wondering why the thing started working again randomly...
Thanks for the detailed replies to my question!
~David