Hi, I've been experiencing a similar problem although mine is normally triggered while playing a game. I've been getting a "kolidascope" effect radiating from the center of the screen which completly distorts all images. Once I return to Windows (if i can actually see the mouse), i have 1/4 inch vertical lines across my entire screen and a small box of these lines chasing the cursor. I've only experienced the garbled screen on start up once. I've done some trouble shooting with dell, and I've updated the bios and all drivers but no luck so far. I have the radeon 9000 card and it appears that alot of the 5150 with the GeForce card are also experiencing similar difficulties. I'm hoping that it is just a small glitch in some software somewhere and not a interface problem between the motherboard and the graphics card. If any one has any ideas of what might be going on or how to fix it I will be very greatful. Thanks in advance.
it seems that we are experiencing the same problem. However, you mention that you get this problem when the machine is "cold". Do you mean that it is cold as in "the machine has not been used for a while" or cold as in "the temperature in the area where you use it are cold"? Because when I think about it, I am experiencing this problem when I boot the computer for the first time of the day; subsequent boots have been flawless so far. Though, it should be mentioned that not all "first boots" are behaving like this, the screen may be okay some days and garbled some days. But if you mean that its cold in the area where you use it, I dont think thats my problem as the computer has so far always been in "warm" areas (I hope you understand what I mean).
Also, by looking at your computer specifications I see that we have basicly the same setup, I am unsure what BIOS Im currently using though. Will check it up later today. I havent yet tried to connect an external monitor, but I will attempt to do it as soon as possible.
cavancbc,
I have experienced something similar to your problem while playing games, specially NHL 2004 which sometimes gets totally unplayable in the middle of a game. The menu is still working but when I try to return to the game it is just a mess. Once I return to the Windows desktop everything will be alright. Starting the game again will make it look okay, at least for a while. I dont know if that problem is a "NHL 2004"-problem, but I havent found any information indicating so. Im not sure whether that problem is related to the "garbled screen at startup" problem aswell.
It manifests itself on the first boot of the day meaning when it is cold. The ambient temperature does not affect it. As in your case, mine is intermittent; however, it seems to be occuring at an increasing rate. The strange thing is that when the machine has been used for a period of time it reboots with no problems.
I still feel that the problem is either the video card or the marriage between the video card and the motherboard.
I wanted to just add that I do experience a similar problem to this when I play DAoC. The screen gets all garbled up. My friends in game tell me that they can still get the messages that I send then in game and my character still resonds to movement actions etc. The only solution I have is to reboot the machine :(
I have the GeForce 5200FX 64 meg board with the 15"uxga.
If you haven't already, please attach an external monitor to the VGA port on the back of the system. Then using the Fn-F8 key combination, toggle the video signal to the external monitor and see if the display is good on the external monitor. Check if the same problem appears on the external monitor.
If the same thing happens on the monitor, then please run the video test from the Dell Diagnostics. <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
Please make sure that you are running the latest BIOS for your system, and restore the defaults by hitting Alt+F after entering setup. Please also make sure that you are running the latest video BIOS and video drivers.
If the LCD shows a problem, and the external monitor does not, then the LCD probably needs to be replaced. If there is an error in the video diagnostics, then contact Technical Support for service.
I have come to the conclusion that we are having the exact same problem. It happens every now and then, but as you said, at an increasing rate.
DELL-Rollie,
I recently had this problem so I attached an external monitor to the VGA port. The display on the external monitor was as bad as the display on the LCD. I have been trying to go to the URL you provided for the Dell Diagnostics, but it failed and refreshed to another, blank, page. I have however downloaded the 32-bit diagnostics tool with GUI) that are available when I list the downloadable drivers on the support page, but I have not been able to start it due to some errors. Can you please provide some information on how to use that tool?
I was running BIOS A03 before, so I decided to upgrade to A25. I was however unable to jump directly to A25 so I had to install A24 first, which went OK. However, after I installed A25 and the system rebooted, the startup screen was garbled again. This is the first time the screen was garbled when the computer had been running for a long while. Normally the garbled screen only appear on the first boot of the day.
I have not restored the defaults in the BIOS yet, I will do that tonight. I am running the latest downloadable video driver that I have found so far (version 6.14.10.6371). Im not sure how I update the video BIOS, could you please tell me how that is done?
Just an update: I have restored the BIOS to the defaults (Alt + F) but the problem still exists. Could someone please explain where to download the diagnostics tool and how to use it, so that I can run the video test?
It has to be run under DOS and you have to download to a removable media, i.e., floppy, USB key, or CD. When you boot the machine, hit F12 and follow the on screen instructions to run the diagnostics after you have downloaded it.
thank you very much for the information on how to use the diagnostics. I have run all tests and they all passed. And the screen still garbles up on startups..
I get the samething; garbled screen on startup. Lots of lines going up and down and lines that are perpindicular to those. I have to reboot at least 1 time to get the screen back to normal. Has there been a solution to this? If so, refer me to a thread?
I seem to be suffering the exact same problem. My Inspiron 5150 has a garbled display for the first 4 or 5 minutes of the day, then works fine. Both the LCD and any external monitor attached shows the same garbled display, even though the rest of the system boots up fine.
I've wondered wether it could actually be a bad contact somewhere in the video card hardware, since the problem seems to go away when it heats up. I personally do feel it has a lot to do with temperature, since it usually garbles when I arrive at a client, when the laptop's been lying in the trunk of my car for an hour. Whereas, when it is lying at home, no matter how long it is off, it always works.
I have an Inspiron 5150 with the Radeon M9000 video card. (No idea what bios version.)
the only solution I can give on this topic is to have Dell replace your graphics card. In the beginning of 2004 I got Dell to replace my card, and initially the system looked alright. However, after a while the same problems occured again, so I replaced the card once more and I havent had those problems anymore (the last replacement took place about 3 months ago).
Jakpro
340 Posts
0
October 28th, 2003 22:00
I am NOT crazy after all! You are having the same problem as I am. Please read my post of earlier today:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=95515
Sounds as if you are having exactly the same problem. I wonder how many others there are out there?
Daniel
cavancbc
1 Message
0
October 28th, 2003 23:00
Jakpro
340 Posts
0
October 29th, 2003 03:00
Message Edited by Jakpro on 10-29-2003 09:32 AM
dedsi
22 Posts
0
October 29th, 2003 10:00
Jakpro,
it seems that we are experiencing the same problem. However, you mention that you get this problem when the machine is "cold". Do you mean that it is cold as in "the machine has not been used for a while" or cold as in "the temperature in the area where you use it are cold"? Because when I think about it, I am experiencing this problem when I boot the computer for the first time of the day; subsequent boots have been flawless so far. Though, it should be mentioned that not all "first boots" are behaving like this, the screen may be okay some days and garbled some days. But if you mean that its cold in the area where you use it, I dont think thats my problem as the computer has so far always been in "warm" areas (I hope you understand what I mean).
Also, by looking at your computer specifications I see that we have basicly the same setup, I am unsure what BIOS Im currently using though. Will check it up later today. I havent yet tried to connect an external monitor, but I will attempt to do it as soon as possible.
cavancbc,
I have experienced something similar to your problem while playing games, specially NHL 2004 which sometimes gets totally unplayable in the middle of a game. The menu is still working but when I try to return to the game it is just a mess. Once I return to the Windows desktop everything will be alright. Starting the game again will make it look okay, at least for a while. I dont know if that problem is a "NHL 2004"-problem, but I havent found any information indicating so. Im not sure whether that problem is related to the "garbled screen at startup" problem aswell.
Thank you both for your comments.
Jakpro
340 Posts
0
October 29th, 2003 12:00
It manifests itself on the first boot of the day meaning when it is cold. The ambient temperature does not affect it. As in your case, mine is intermittent; however, it seems to be occuring at an increasing rate. The strange thing is that when the machine has been used for a period of time it reboots with no problems.
I still feel that the problem is either the video card or the marriage between the video card and the motherboard.
Daniel
Azurian
3 Posts
0
October 29th, 2003 12:00
I wanted to just add that I do experience a similar problem to this when I play DAoC. The screen gets all garbled up. My friends in game tell me that they can still get the messages that I send then in game and my character still resonds to movement actions etc. The only solution I have is to reboot the machine :(
I have the GeForce 5200FX 64 meg board with the 15"uxga.
I wonder if the uxga is the culprit here?
Rollie_R
2 Intern
•
2.2K Posts
0
October 29th, 2003 13:00
All,
If you haven't already, please attach an external monitor to the VGA port on the back of the system. Then using the Fn-F8 key combination, toggle the video signal to the external monitor and see if the display is good on the external monitor. Check if the same problem appears on the external monitor.
If the same thing happens on the monitor, then please run the video test from the Dell Diagnostics. <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
Please make sure that you are running the latest BIOS for your system, and restore the defaults by hitting Alt+F after entering setup. Please also make sure that you are running the latest video BIOS and video drivers.
If the LCD shows a problem, and the external monitor does not, then the LCD probably needs to be replaced. If there is an error in the video diagnostics, then contact Technical Support for service.
dedsi
22 Posts
0
October 29th, 2003 20:00
Jakpro,
I have come to the conclusion that we are having the exact same problem. It happens every now and then, but as you said, at an increasing rate.
DELL-Rollie,
I recently had this problem so I attached an external monitor to the VGA port. The display on the external monitor was as bad as the display on the LCD. I have been trying to go to the URL you provided for the Dell Diagnostics, but it failed and refreshed to another, blank, page. I have however downloaded the 32-bit diagnostics tool with GUI) that are available when I list the downloadable drivers on the support page, but I have not been able to start it due to some errors. Can you please provide some information on how to use that tool?
I was running BIOS A03 before, so I decided to upgrade to A25. I was however unable to jump directly to A25 so I had to install A24 first, which went OK. However, after I installed A25 and the system rebooted, the startup screen was garbled again. This is the first time the screen was garbled when the computer had been running for a long while. Normally the garbled screen only appear on the first boot of the day.
I have not restored the defaults in the BIOS yet, I will do that tonight. I am running the latest downloadable video driver that I have found so far (version 6.14.10.6371). Im not sure how I update the video BIOS, could you please tell me how that is done?
Thank you.
dedsi
22 Posts
0
October 30th, 2003 07:00
Just an update: I have restored the BIOS to the defaults (Alt + F) but the problem still exists. Could someone please explain where to download the diagnostics tool and how to use it, so that I can run the video test?
Thank you.
Jakpro
340 Posts
0
October 30th, 2003 14:00
http://support.dell.com/FileLib/Type.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&Category=0&OS=WW1&OSL=EN&SvcTag=&SysID=INS_PNT_P4_5150&DeviceID=3841
It has to be run under DOS and you have to download to a removable media, i.e., floppy, USB key, or CD. When you boot the machine, hit F12 and follow the on screen instructions to run the diagnostics after you have downloaded it.
Daniel
Jakpro
340 Posts
0
October 31st, 2003 18:00
Has anyone rsolved this issue yet?
I would like to hear from tech support regarding my request for service.
Daniel
dedsi
22 Posts
0
November 1st, 2003 09:00
Jakpro,
thank you very much for the information on how to use the diagnostics. I have run all tests and they all passed. And the screen still garbles up on startups..
waa03
1 Message
0
June 20th, 2004 22:00
Thanks
pmlemmen
1 Message
0
June 24th, 2004 07:00
Hello,
I seem to be suffering the exact same problem. My Inspiron 5150 has a garbled display for the first 4 or 5 minutes of the day, then works fine. Both the LCD and any external monitor attached shows the same garbled display, even though the rest of the system boots up fine.
I've wondered wether it could actually be a bad contact somewhere in the video card hardware, since the problem seems to go away when it heats up. I personally do feel it has a lot to do with temperature, since it usually garbles when I arrive at a client, when the laptop's been lying in the trunk of my car for an hour. Whereas, when it is lying at home, no matter how long it is off, it always works.
I have an Inspiron 5150 with the Radeon M9000 video card. (No idea what bios version.)
Regards,
Peter.
dedsi
22 Posts
0
July 4th, 2004 23:00
waa03 & pmlemmen,
the only solution I can give on this topic is to have Dell replace your graphics card. In the beginning of 2004 I got Dell to replace my card, and initially the system looked alright. However, after a while the same problems occured again, so I replaced the card once more and I havent had those problems anymore (the last replacement took place about 3 months ago).
Hope this helps.