D630 with split screen

Question

I have a D630 that has recently developed a split screen. At boot the screen has a white line horizontally across it.This line is 3.5in from the bottom edge of the display.

The upper half and lower half of the screen display the same thing except the lower half has a small part of the information off the bottom of the screen. The split screen begins at boot and is there until it shuts down.

Is this a failure of some kind? Or have I inadvertently activated a screen "feature"?

Thanks.

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi tj1420,

Please reply us with the snapshot of the LCD screen so that we can check and assist you further.

Also, we will have to perform the ‘LCD BIST’ (Built in Self-test) on the computer. Please follow the steps mentioned below to run the “LCD BIST’.

Turn of the computer.
Press and hold down the ‘D’ key on the keyboard and press the Power button.
You will see different colors on the LCD screen. Please check if the issue reoccurs on the screen.

In addition, please connect the system to an external monitor and check if the issue reoccurs.

tj1420 · Answer

Hello Ravi,

See attached picture of the split screen.

The ‘LCD BIST’ causes the LCD display to cycle through the following screen colors: red green blue white black red green blue white and then the machine boots. These screens are not split.

An external monitor connected to the laptop appears to function normally, the screen is not split.

Thanks.

lexluthermieste · Answer

Thanks for posting the picture. The LCD screen is not likely the culprit in this kind of situation, but it couldn't hurt to unplug and re-seat the LCD connecter to the board, which is mounted under the keyboard. Unplugging and re-seating the RAM couldn't hurt either.

Have you tried updating the BIOS to the most current version? This issue can occur when a BIOS has encountered a single bit error. Run the BIOS update. If that doesn't work you have a hardware defect and need a replacement board.

ejn63 · Answer

This is either a bad screen or a bad video chip -- if the system has Intel video, it's more likely a bad screen. If the system has an nVidia chip, it's more likely a bad chip (meaning a replacement mainboard will be required). The nVidia chips in these are well known for faulty engineering and they do fail in such a way that an external screen will work when the internal one does not.

tj1420 · Answer

Device Manager shows the display adapter is an NVIDIA Quardo NVS 135M. Looks like main boards can be had for around $30. Any gotcha's to look out for in replacing that board?

tj1420 · Answer

The laptop already had version A17 BIOS. I loaded the A17 version from the Dell web site over the existing BIOS, no change in screen behavior. I'll try the LCD connector and reseating the RAM. Thanks for the advice.

lexluthermieste · Answer

The D630 boards are not all that fussy to replace, but the whole machine does need to come apart. Make sure you group your screws and whatnot. Let us know how it goes.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

D630 with split screen

Was this post helpful?