8100 display

Question

So, My 8100 for the longest time, when powered on would have a gray horizontal strip across the bottom of the screen and the rest of the screen would be black. The machine would not boot, or would take forever to get past this part in the booting process then start up with no problems. Eventually, if I powered the machine off and back on, the screen and the laptop would boot fine with mo screen problems. Recently, I have been getting, a more colorful display when starting up. I now get vertical colorful lines through out the whole screen. The colors are never the same colors, and the lines are always different sizes… at first if I were to reboot the machine it would allow the machine to boot normally, now I get nothing but these vertical colored lines each time. I know that my machine is booting fine its self, as I can blindly navigate the machine as well as properly shutting it down just by knowing what keys to push, so the machine is fine under the colorful screen. So I wonder is it my screen its self that went out, or is it the video card that needs to be replaced… perhaps could it be anything else, and how would I go about fixing the machine.   Thank You Message Edited by nickkii08 on 08-11-2005 12:41 PM

ejn63 · Answer

It could be either the panel or video card - attach an external monitor. If it works, it's the LCD panel. If it doesn't, it's the video card.

Before you replace a video card, reseat it inside the chassis.

ejn63 · Answer

The 8100s have separate video cards, not integrated video. The 2500s have a similar chassis with chipset-integrated video.

Ancient 1 · Answer

My Inspiron 8100 has no video card, but rather an integrated chip.  Maybe yours is different.

Ancient 1 · Answer

Really?  I have a Mobility Radeon 7500 Display Adapter with only 64 Mg.  Is that a separate video card that can be upgraded?  I have always been told I can't upgrade, but I would certainly love to.   Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread, but could you also explain the difference between a video card and a graphics card?

ejn63 · Answer

It's a separate card; video and graphics cards are interchangeable terms.

Whether it can be upgraded or not depends on whether Dell sold another card (or a card from a model with the same style socket).

There are several cards for the C-chassis (8100, etc.).

IWANTBLUE · Answer

I think i have a similar problem.... It happened ages ago but after rebooting a number of times, it worked again and has been ok for months.... then about 3 months ago it happened again after reboots, no luck I gave up , but it worked fine in the morning till a few days ago.... now it is a problem 90% of the time, Flexing the frame of the lappy affects it and 'can' cure it, but not allways, so i suspect its the card(video) or at least the 'seating' of it...   GRRR  its been fine for the last half hour, and has gone green while i'm typing :(   I stripped out the screen and cable a couple of nights ago, as it went completely, just couloured blocks everywhere.... couldnt find anything obvious (hinge was loose but thats all) cable was fine and tight,,,,, Still didnt work so striped keyboard and took off heat shield/dissipater(sp) on video card but resisted (scared) removing video card at this time... reassembled and it worked for a bit, but now regularly goes red or green lines everywhere every few mins :( I guess I'll have to try reseating the video card but screws were tight and after removing them, nothing seemed loose?? I hope its not terminal, cos it might be old, but i love my 8100 :) however the hard  drive is full, 25/27Gb so may need to get another comp anyway now :( i dont understand if its a 'seating' problem why dosent flexing affect it every time?? Good luck with yours by the way, and sorry for the semi-hyjack, but as it was so similar i thought i'd add to yours ... Any help for me greatfully recieved ,Cheers Nick

bmz · Answer

I'm having the same problem and it has been happening for A LONG TIME. If I flex the case slightly, it gets better. If I very gingerly set it back down, sometimes it stays OK for awhile & some times it doesn't. I have reseated everything. Dell support didn't know what was going on either. Of course, it didn't start doing this until it was just out of warranty. Could this be a flaw in the manufacture of these laptops?

IWANTBLUE · Answer

thats it exactly bmz!! however now mine is so bad that it takes ages to get to a boot screen rather than a mosaic :( support have said ' it seems like the video card is faulty ' you will have to send it back to get the motherboard replaced' ????? is this because dell dont stock then card any more? i have ordered a second hand card (video) in the hope that this might cure it, as removing the video card and replacing has been the only way i can get it to boot the last three times :(   i will check out dell's price if the card dosent work, but i doubt very much it will be worth the effort which is a shame, as i dont want or need a new lappy, i like this one :(   have you tried the reseating on yours? bmz?   Nick

IWANTBLUE · Answer

WELL MINES FIXED :D

I ordered a second hand card from e-bay @£55 and fitted it yesterday, all seems well through a couple of shutdowns and numerous 'sleeps'...

the new card, had a revision number of 01 rather than the rev00 on my original, so hopefully it is a little bit newer and will last me out :)

also all the properties windows etc all show 64mb now rather than one of them showing 32 mb, so i suspect one of my memory chips was faulty :)

need to find out HD info now for a slave unit :)

IWANTBLUE · Answer

thought I'd reserect this from the dead so to speak as this ahs happened to me again :(

Im loathed to spend out this time as the lappy is now showing its age and lack of spec... however as before...I still like it :s I gues youre bound to be attached after 7 years rofl...

cheap second hand card available from thestates, but tahst a 32Mb :(
The 64Mb cards are still rather steep :(

Shame... Its great lappy :(

Ancient 1 · Answer

I installed a new card in mine after dealing with the 'mosaic' issue for too long, and it works fine.  Still costs less than a new lappy, and this model seems to be a real workhorse, except for the video card.

IWANTBLUE · Answer

YEAH DONE THAT ONCE :)

and well worth the £55 at teh time 2-3 years ago

Ive just bought a second hand 32mb from the bay only to realise he dosent take paypal rofl... so more delays...
if that works, I may go for a new 64... I'll see how it goes...

I only really use it for the net so the 32 may well be fine...

I did notice that this one only showed up as 32mb in the bios screens, but now ive got it going again it seems to be 64 again...

im tempted to resolderflow the contact rings on the boards, but if a new card works straight off the bat I'll let sleeping dogs lie hehe

and yes its a good little workhorse for sure..

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