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Technofreak

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#240357 3-Sep-2018 22:37
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Late yesterday the screen on my laptop started acting up.

 

The desktop picture was tearing badly and impossible to see the icons, this included items on the task bar. Initially I thought it was related to f.lux which I had recently installed, so I uninstalled that with no improvement. Then I thought perhaps the CPU/GPU was over heating as I had been using it in a location where the vents were partially blocked.

 

Last night I did some initial testing by plugging in an external screen and the image on that screen was OK. It's a different resolution and when it plugged in the laptop screen resolution also changes. 

 

Tonight I pulled the laptop apart to check the screen cable and connections and couldn't see anything obvious. I've put it back together in a temporary fashion and booted it back up.

 

The problem still exists. I've noticed some unusual things. For example opening Opera makes the screen image stable and completely readable with no tearing what so ever. If I open another app, Word, Excel, Outlook, Adobe Reader (it doesn't matter which one) the screen becomes torn again. If I minimise that app the screen becomes readable again providing Opera is maximised to full screen.

 

The screen accessed from CRTL ALT DEL is always stable with a very small amount of tearing at times.

 

At times when the screen isn't torn the icons on the desktop have ghost images.

 

About the only app that gives a stable normal picture is Opera.

 

Tonight when I tried the external display all the screen tearing problems went away and other than the incorrect resolution for the screen the problem went away.

 

I've checked for a graphics driver update, but it appears I have the latest driver. I've done a restore but no difference with that either.

 

It seems to be a software/driver issue but I cannot figure out what.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks for any help anyone can give.





Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5


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Rickles
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  #2083893 4-Sep-2018 15:58
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Maybe the resolution and/or scan rates got screwed somehow (usually a new program or update causes this).

 

Go to Settings/Display, and check all the settings are correct for the Inspiron




Technofreak

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  #2083937 4-Sep-2018 16:06
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Thanks.

The research I've been doing tends to point in that direction. That's my next course of action when I get time to have a look this evening.




Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5


Technofreak

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  #2084068 4-Sep-2018 21:13
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Here's some photos of my problem. Click on the picture to get a larger version.

 

Click to see full size 

 

This one shows the worst case example

 

 

 

Click to see full size

 

This one shows the ghosting of the desktop icons and tearing along the taskbar. I think the fact I have Opera only partially minimised is the reason the screen is viewable compared to the first picture.

 

 

 

Click to see full size

 

In this picture with Opera maximised to full screen the picture is good.

 

I've checked the screen settings but cannot find any issues there.

 

 

 

 





Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5




Rickles
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  #2084085 4-Sep-2018 21:42
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Have you tried uninstalling the display adapter (in Device Manager) and rebooting so that the drivers etc reinstall themselves?


Technofreak

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  #2084100 4-Sep-2018 22:28
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That wasn't very successful, the drivers didn't reinstall. Ended up stuck with a very low resolution and had to do a system restore. Hmmmm





Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5


Technofreak

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  #2084520 5-Sep-2018 19:48
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Bump





Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5


Technofreak

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  #2084541 5-Sep-2018 20:34
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It seems if I change the screen resolution from the recommended 1366 X 768 to 1360 X 768 the screen issues go away.

 

Hmmmm

 

 

 

Looks like I spoke too soon. With nothing open the screen shows a tendency to tear and flicker at 1360 X 768 with an app open to full screen size the tearing and flickering is gone and at 1280 X 768 the problem seems to be completely gone.

 

 

 

I'd spent the night updating the BIOS and drivers. Even though it appears these have up dated I still get a message saying there are updates available - the same updates as before.





Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5


 
 
 

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).
Rickles
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  #2084614 5-Sep-2018 22:53
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Definitely looks like a graphics/display adapter gone awry.  The resolution sounds a bit off as my Inspiron runs at 1920 x 1080 as 'recommended'.

 

Assuming not hardware fault, try going to the Dell site and getting auto-update/s?  I use the Dell Update program, but you should be able to enter your model or click auto-detect HERE

 

 

 

 


Technofreak

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  #2084625 5-Sep-2018 23:08
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Rickles:

Definitely looks like a graphics/display adapter gone awry.  The resolution sounds a bit off as my Inspiron runs at 1920 x 1080 as 'recommended'.


Assuming not hardware fault, try going to the Dell site and getting auto-update/s?  I use the Dell Update program, but you should be able to enter your model or click auto-detect HERE


 


 



This is a 14Z so I'm pretty sure the recommended resolution is correct.

I've been using the Dell update programme and been checking via their website.




Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5


timmmay
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  #2084671 6-Sep-2018 07:26
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Try running a live Linux distribution to see if the screen works better. If it's not working there it's almost certainly a hardware problem.

 

My experience is once a laptop does this you toss it out and buy a new one. I've never managed to get one working again. I have limited experience with this though, only had to do that a few times.


1101
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  #2084722 6-Sep-2018 09:50
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Does it have an AMD or NVidia graphics chips. It sounds like a fault with the graphics chip
If so, its fixable, but may cost more than its worth .
There are specialized laptop repairers that can do board(chip) level repairs , but sometimes they re-fail after a year or so .

 

as noted above , it probably isnt worth the cost of repairs .
Not very helpfull, sorry .

 

 


Rickles
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  #2084736 6-Sep-2018 10:02
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     >This is a 14Z so I'm pretty sure the recommended resolution is correct.<

 

Quite right, the native resolution is 1366x768.

 

As @1101 says, probably chipset/hardware/motherboard …. I think that machine came out in 2011, so 6 or 7 years usage is a bit tough to try a CGA claim, although a call to Dell NZ might get you a reasonably priced repair?  I once had a Dell where the CD/DVD drive fell over and they sent me a new one even though a little over 5 years old, so worth a crack?


martyyn
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  #2084749 6-Sep-2018 10:14
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I used to see symptoms like that years ago on Dell D620's after they had overheated, something to do with cracks in the solder IIRC.

 

A cheap fix was to take them apart and heat the motherboard in an oven (covering precious parts in tin foil) but it was always hit and miss at to how well it lasted.


Technofreak

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  #2086617 9-Sep-2018 20:56
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I've been away for the weekend hence no response from me.

Thanks for the replies.

This laptop looks like it has an Intel 4000 graphics chip. The drivers appear to be up to date.

Some time back I swapped out the original 128gb hard drive . I still had that disk so reinstalled it. The problem is still present.

I'm guessing it's a faulty chip or the driver is corrupted .

I've heard of the oven fix before. Might be worth a try.




Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS 
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5


Batman
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  #2086652 10-Sep-2018 06:34
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I once has dots appearing on my screen

Turned out to be faulty ribbon

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