Screen displays vertical lines on Inspiron 8200

Question

My system chrashed while I was gaming. After rebooting the startup screen (Press F2) is displayed with vertical lines. The startup screen is 640x480 on a 1024x768 background (black border around startup screen) and once you enter the BIOS settings and exit (making no changes) it restarts the startup screen with full display. Unfortunately it seems that my boot sector crashed as well, but that is the least of my problems, as I believe in backing up regularly. I can boot with a stiffy to run my PowerQuest image and I don't have any problems, leading me to believe that the Motherboard is working to a certain extent at least. The problem is also not software related. I have not done anything with the BIOS either. Further troubleshooting I have done: I have swapped the memory and even bought a new DIMM as one of the 2 DIMM's had given the ghost awhile back. Same problem. I connected an external monitor onto the laptop and this results in the same vertical lines. Sometimes (at random) when I start up it all seems to work fine with no vertical lines, but then again sometimes when I start-up nothing appears.   If I were to bet money on what I think it is then I would put it on the video adapter. Could someone confirm this for me please? Any help would be appreciated.

ejn63 · Answer

It does sound like a failed video card, but before you replace it, try reseating it.

Roy NN7DX · Answer

I had a vertical line problem with my desktop, a Dim8400, and it was the video card... I tried reseating it and that didn't work. A new replacement card fixed it.

zelmar · Answer

Thanks ejn63.   I reseated the video card and now it's working again. I have to also say that because 2 of the keyboard screws come from the bottom of the laptop through to the top, it sometimes also causes the video card to be unseated. With specific to one of the screws that is also used for the memory slot cover, which I can only imagine some people would remove when upgrading.   Thanks for the help Regards

zelmar · Answer

I would like to inform all others having this problem.

Description of Problem:

Vertical lines(bars) when the splash screen is displayed when turning on your system.

Text is barely readable when entering BIOS mode, due to the vertical lines.

Also note that in a DOS screen it could result in a screen full of " - " characters.

Note: There is nothing wrong with your drivers or the BIOS. This happens before the OS is started.

Solution:

The video adapter is on it's way out. Reseating the adapter does/could produce a temporary stable environment, but the moment the video adapter is exposed to more complex pixel handling the system chrashes.

Actions:

I contacted DELL and and was told that they can only supply me with a similar Video adapter. This was very costly and I went searching for other possibilities.

If you plan on installing the video adapter yourself (very easy and much less hastle than having DELL doing it) you lose any warranty on the video adapter.

Buying it seperately from a independant retailer does not void the warranty of the video adapter.

My costs to replace the video adapter was € 100.

Result: Fully functional Inspiron 8200 and one very happy owner.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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