Problem with garbled screen - Revision history

Ajkula66: /* Affected Models */

2016-11-16T15:40:27Z

‎Affected Models

Ajkula66: /* Problem description */

2016-11-16T15:33:49Z

‎Problem description

Kory: /* Problem description */

2009-10-27T22:36:50Z

‎Problem description

Brichorian: /* Solutions */

2009-06-30T09:26:52Z

‎Solutions

Headdunce: /* Affected Models */

2007-10-25T23:48:29Z

‎Affected Models

Henryhenry: /* Solutions */

2007-10-17T11:00:46Z

‎Solutions

SteveHoldener: /* Problem description */

2007-10-09T01:03:14Z

‎Problem description

Chezirroy: /* Affected Models */

2007-09-19T15:15:41Z

‎Affected Models

IBMPAUL: /* Solutions */

2007-08-14T16:12:24Z

‎Solutions

Jonathanfox5: /* Problem description */

2007-08-01T08:58:41Z

‎Problem description

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 ==Affected Models==
-*ThinkPad {{T60}}, {{T40}}, {{T41}}, {{T42}}, {{R32}}, {{R40}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}}, {{A30}}, {{A31}}, {{A31p}}
+*ThinkPad {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{R32}}, {{R40}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}}, {{A30}}, {{A30p}}, {{A31}}, {{A31p}} and to a lesser extent {{T43}} and {{T43p}}
 ==Affected Operating Systems==

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 It has furthermore been reported that there might be a relation between the temperature of the ThinkPad and the garbled screen, so that the display starts working fine when the ThinkPad has reached a certain temperature (like after 5 minutes of being powered on). Also by applying pressure to a certain point underneath the ThinkPad (on A30s its below the information sticker on the underside). This seems to affect the garbled screen even more, which is highly noticable on a LILO boot screen [http://www.drakonus.dragoncity.net/thinkpad like so].
-If the screen is exported via VNC the remote screen will also be garbled. However, this may not be always so. At least in an A31 screen got garbled right after returning from a text-only session (ctrl-alt-F1, cntr-alt-F7), but the VNC session previously opened on the same machine did not experience any change.
+If the screen is exported via VNC the remote screen will also be garbled. However, this may not be always so. At least in an A31 screen got garbled right after returning from a text-only session (ctrl-alt-F1, cntr-alt-F7), but the VNC session previously opened on the same machine did not experience any change. The reason for this is the fact that there are two separate channels leaving the GPU: analog for the VGA, and digital for the LCD/DVI. One can completely fail while the other remains fully or partially functional.
-Most likely this is a problem with the ATI videochip, can people who experience this indicate which chip their machines contains?<br>
+This problem occurred on some T4x series due to chassis flex.  If the laptop was held by the front of the unit, the weight at the rear would cause significant flex in the structure, which, in turn, caused the motherboard ("planar board") to flex, as well.  The USB ports may be affected, as well as the charging circuitry.  The plastic wrist rest may fracture near the rear the joint between the hard drive and optical drive, increasing the tendency to flex.  The soldering process was improved by the T43 line.
-This problem occurred on some T40's and T41's (perhaps T42's?) due to chassis flex.  If the laptop was held by the front of the unit, the weight at the rear would cause significant flex in the structure, which, in turn, caused the motherboard ("planar board") to flex, as well.  The USB ports may be affected, as well as the charging circuitry.  The plastic wrist rest may fracture near the rear the joint between the hard drive and optical drive, increasing the tendency to flex.  The internal structure was improved by the T43 line.
+The ThinkPads affected by this type of GPU problem - in the order of appearance - are as follows:
-There are other indications that this problem may be related to improper solder connections between the motherboard and the graphics GPU.  Most laptops utilize a technique known as Ball Grid Array (BGA) for soldering components like GPUs to laptop motherboards.  Some people have had success by sending their laptops in to have the BGA on the GPU resoldered.
+A30, A30p
 ==Affected Models==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 Most likely this is a problem with the ATI videochip, can people who experience this indicate which chip their machines contains?<br>
-Looking at the effected machines, this is probably an issue specific to the [[ATI Mobility Radeon 7500]]. However, this problem has also appeared on a T40 with the [[ATI Mobility Radeon 9000]]
+Looking at the affected machines, this is probably an issue specific to the [[ATI Mobility Radeon 7500]]. However, this problem has also appeared on a T40 with the [[ATI Mobility Radeon 9000]]
 This problem occurred on some T40's and T41's (perhaps T42's?) due to chassis flex.  If the laptop was held by the front of the unit, the weight at the rear would cause significant flex in the structure, which, in turn, caused the motherboard ("planar board") to flex, as well.  The USB ports may be affected, as well as the charging circuitry.  The plastic wrist rest may fracture near the rear the joint between the hard drive and optical drive, increasing the tendency to flex.  The internal structure was improved by the T43 line.
 ==Affected Models==

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 * Workaround: For X use the VESA driver instead of the radeon of framebuffer driver. For the virtual console the framebuffer doesn't show this problem either, see [[Talk:Problem with garbled screen#VESA Driver]]
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 I recently experienced this problem; in my case it sometimes also failed to boot at all and produced one-long-two-short-beeps.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 ==Affected Models==
-*ThinkPad {{T40}}, {{T41}}, {{T42}}, {{R32}}, {{R40}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}}, {{A30}}, {{A31}}, {{A31p}}
+*ThinkPad {{T60}}, {{T40}}, {{T41}}, {{T42}}, {{R32}}, {{R40}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}}, {{A30}}, {{A31}}, {{A31p}}
 ==Affected Operating Systems==

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:00, 17 October 2007
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	This is a problem with the VGA chip - It is also a BGA chip which means that there are no pins that go through to the other side of the board like the good old days! - You can try and re-heat the BGA chip on its surface with a paint stripper gun for a minute you will more than likely see the chip drop slightly because of poor original production it wasnt sitting propwerly when flowed - the stripper gun sounds harsh but it works - you can get an adaptor in the shape of a straw made out of steel for the end of the gun and I would strongly recomend using it or you might melt some of the plastic connectors around it - I have been an engineer on thinkpads for 12 years so you can take my word on anything I write...		This is a problem with the VGA chip - It is also a BGA chip which means that there are no pins that go through to the other side of the board like the good old days! - You can try and re-heat the BGA chip on its surface with a paint stripper gun for a minute you will more than likely see the chip drop slightly because of poor original production it wasnt sitting propwerly when flowed - the stripper gun sounds harsh but it works - you can get an adaptor in the shape of a straw made out of steel for the end of the gun and I would strongly recomend using it or you might melt some of the plastic connectors around it - I have been an engineer on thinkpads for 12 years so you can take my word on anything I write...
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		+
		+	----
		+	After reading that this issue is related to excess heat, I investigated power management under Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu users might want to look [http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_enable_your_CPU.27s_Power_Saving.2FFrequency_Scaling_features here] for details on how to enable proper power management under 7.04 (Feisty). After making the suggested modifications my T41 runs significantly cooler.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:12, 14 August 2007
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	Also see [[Problem with video related system lockup II]]		Also see [[Problem with video related system lockup II]]
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		+	This is a problem with the VGA chip - It is also a BGA chip which means that there are no pins that go through to the other side of the board like the good old days! - You can try and re-heat the BGA chip on its surface with a paint stripper gun for a minute you will more than likely see the chip drop slightly because of poor original production it wasnt sitting propwerly when flowed - the stripper gun sounds harsh but it works - you can get an adaptor in the shape of a straw made out of steel for the end of the gun and I would strongly recomend using it or you might melt some of the plastic connectors around it - I have been an engineer on thinkpads for 12 years so you can take my word on anything I write...