Computer issues

[losikid]

If your not a tech, then just read everything as blah blah blah, as its a strange issue

So, originally my brand new dell latitude e6420 came out of the box with a issues with the left speaker. They sent out a tech today to fix he, he replaced the speakers and the motherboard. He then proceeded to boot the laptop, ran diagnostics, ran ok. Booted windows fine. I asked him before hand if he could install some new ram i had, so he shut it all down, put it my new ram, rebooted the system, ran diagnostics and the screen went black, so he shut it off. Then he turned it back on to watch when it did it. Well it didn't shut off the next time, it froze when it was testing the clock or something (one of the very first tests). Thinking it was bad memory, he put the factory stick back in. He ran the diagnostics again and the black screen show'd its face again during the memory test. He was thinking maybe it was overheating because the back cover was still off. So he screwed the cover back on, then ran diagnostics again. Same thing, the black screen. So he called someone, that person had him hook up an external monitor, and boot the computer to windows. It booted fine and it showed the picture. He mentioned to the person he called he had the back cover off and thought it was overheating, i guess who he was talking to agree'd and figured that it was shut down long enough to hook up a monitor that it cool'd off. So the tech leaves. Thinking it was simply a overheating issue, i pulled the cover off, installed the new ram, put the cover back on, and ran diagnostics. It made it through the first section, it then asked if i wanted to run the extended memory tests, since i installed new memory i figured it be a good idea, so about a minute it, the black screen shows up. I let it stay on the screen instead of pushing the power button like the dell tech did. after about a minute the computer shut itself off. So i put the factory ram back in, and the back cover back on. It made it through the first section, but i ran the extended memory test as i was suspicious now, and it went to the black screen again. So i call the tech that has already left. He told me that i'd have to call dell and troubleshoot and if i can't figure it out then dell has to schedule a new service for him to come back out (he's been gone fore 10 minutes maybe)

So i call dell, on the phone for probably 3 hours with 5 different reps (the line got disconnected for the first 3, i changed to the house phone for the 4th, house phone died, so then i called with someone elses cell. Anyways after arguing with them about the issue happening in diagnostics, not when booting windows, they finally started to try and troubleshoot it. I ended up updating the bios. But it still happened after this. So shortly after i found it was also doing it after entering the setup menu (have to wait like 30 seconds). So dell told me to run the os for extended period of time, see if it does it in windows.

I forgot to mention above that after the first few times it stopped turning off the computer, instead it went to a white static screen...there was some pixels that were like color static, after a couple minutes of that it went to a pure color, one time it was white, another time it was a whiteish green depending how you had the screen tilted, and another time it was red/pink

So, abit of an update, while typing the above, my screen went black again (good thing google chrome backed up this web page), so it happens while in the os as well, not just the bios.

I'm thinking i got a toasted motherboard installed in my computer...any techs out there have an idea what else it could be? I'm doubting that installing different ram could cause the issues and keep the issues after installing the old ram back in.

[SINister]

Sounds like the video on the motherboard is bad.

[losikid]

So i was tinkering, i installed one stick of the new ram i have (I bought two 4gb sticks of crosair vengance ram...1600mhz), i booted windows and ran the use experince test (i figured this is going to push everything just as hard as the diagnostics did, but not in the bios), it worked fine. So then i swapped out to the other module, it almost makes it to the end, so i restart and try it again, gets about halfway through, so then i put the factory 2gb stick in, it lasts for barely any time in the testing, so i reboot try again, it doesn't get past login, reboot again, it quite during the bios loading screen.

I think it might be overheating...the fan works, would something else with a mobo exchange be causing the heat issues? Right now it'll black screen just running the os for awhile browsing the web

As for the above, there should be both onboard graphics and a graphics card...as i did upgrade from stock to 512mb

[BUBBA069]

It's the video. Either drivers dont match from old board to new or new board they put in is bad.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by BUBBA069

It's the video. Either drivers dont match from old board to new or new board they put in is bad.

I got a driver cd with my computer, should i reinstall the drivers?

[hbj069]

Yes, go to bios and reset how it boots, change from hard drive to boot from disc install disc and restart

[losikid]

So, i haven't had a chance to install the drivers...it'll go through the bios loading page and displays the boot menu for like half a second then goes to the black screen.

This is really starting to piss me off, i should of just dealt with the scratchy speaker noise, hopefully tomorrow when i call them they'll just send me a new computer. lol

On another note, i did manage to get into the setup menu before it started shutting down instantly. And, if i go into the system logs. All the power downs are unknow. There was one thermal event...i'm guessing that was because of my user experience test marathons But, it shouldn't overheat from running those a couple times in a row. It can't be no worse than if it tried to play a modern pc game on high settings...and only thing that should be limiting that is the grpahics and ram

here's specs

intel Core i7-2760QM, 2.40GHz, 6MB Cache
2.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 1 DIMM, (But i bought 2 4gb 1600mhz sticks)
nVidia NVS 4200M 512MB DDR3 Discrete Graphics
128GB Dell Mobility Solid State Drive, 2.5MM,
Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit
90W 3-Pin, AC Adapter (because i went with the quad core i7, dell said i had to upgrade to 90 watt ac...could the i7 be causing the issues, or should it all be the same mobo?)

[SINister]

Get the latest driver from the manufacturers website then uninstall the current drivers before installing the new version.

Copying the drivers over top of themselves doesn't guarantee that the corrupt file is replaced. There may also be files that windows creates after the install that will not be effected by just copying the package over itself.

[SINister]

Modern laptops can get really hot but if you didn't have the issue before the repair changing the mobo out isn't going to cause it to overheat.

[losikid]

Yea, it didn't do it before...i've had the thing sitting on a blanket for hours drawing stuff in inventor, didn't overheat...so i'm pretty sure sitting on my lap with all the air vents exposed allowing proper airlow, it can run the windows experience assement afew times in arow.

The heat seems like a possible issue though, as i noticed it wouldn't black screen in the normal diagnostics if it was cool to start with, but if it was already warm from the previous diagnostics, it black screen in the quick tests not the thorough test

I can't even boot windows now to try and get drivers...

[DickyT]

If it is happening in the bios it is not a driver issue. Drivers have no effect there. It really sounds like an issue with the video chipset, which means motherboard on most laptops.

Power it on and tap f12 when you get the dell logo. There is a diagnostics you can run from there. If you have an issue it will give an error code, write it down or take a pic of it. Give the error code if present to the dell tech when you call, it should save you that run around BS they try and pull.

[SINister]

If they replaced the mobo with the same one it really shouldn't have caused a problem. I go through 1-2 graphics cards a year and I've seen the type of colored screens you were getting from a dying card several times. Which is why I think it's hardware. With windows though you never know. Something during the repair could have corrupted windows or driver files.

If you want to try getting back into windows go into safe mode and uninstall the nVidia driver package and reboot. This will force windows to use a generic vga driver for the video card and may let you back into windows if that is the problem. From there you can surf to the nVidia website to get the latest drivers or if you have a thumb drive you can d/l on another pc and tranfer them to the laptop.

Start your computer in safe mode

[losikid]

Originally Posted by DickyT

If it is happening in the bios it is not a driver issue. Drivers have no effect there. It really sounds like an issue with the video chipset, which means motherboard on most laptops.

Power it on and tap f12 when you get the dell logo. There is a diagnostics you can run from there. If you have an issue it will give an error code, write it down or take a pic of it. Give the error code if present to the dell tech when you call, it should save you that run around BS they try and pull.

Thats the problem, i can't avoid the BS because the screen goes black or white static then shuts down a minute later. There is no error code.

Originally Posted by SINister

If they replaced the mobo with the same one it really shouldn't have caused a problem. I go through 1-2 graphics cards a year and I've seen the type of colored screens you were getting from a dying card several times. Which is why I think it's hardware. With windows though you never know. Something during the repair could have corrupted windows or driver files.

If you want to try getting back into windows go into safe mode and uninstall the nVidia driver package and reboot. This will force windows to use a generic vga driver for the video card and may let you back into windows if that is the problem. From there you can surf to the nVidia website to get the latest drivers or if you have a thumb drive you can d/l on another pc and tranfer them to the laptop.

Start your computer in safe mode

Its doing it in bios, way before it even boots windows, i can't even get in the setup for more than 30 seconds. I did manage to turn off optimus and i disabled the media card...now the screen freezes instead of going black...

It seems if i let it sit for 30 minutes or so turned off then it works ok for alittle while then starts acting up again...i notice the fan is blowing some HOT air around this time as well. I got it to boot up to windows here not too long ago, and started to download the nvidia driver for it, but it shut off while i was downloading. Also, i can't find the nvdia graphics in my device manager...would it have a generic name?

Also, i think the new card is soldered to the mobo, its not removable. I did some research before ordering, as i wanted a bigger graphics card, and from what its more then less permanently attached, so it could very well be a mobo issue as its not the gpu from before the mobo replacement. I was outside cleaning air filters for all my toys (atv's, dune buggies, my dd, etc.) while the tech was doing his thing, so i don't know what exactly was replaced/stayed the same

[BerticusPryme]

ok Losikid you have bad motherboard. I have seen this numerous times. The reason I can say this as I was a Dell tech support rep for 6 years. they gave you a faulty board or the tech did not install the heatsink properly/ bent one of the exchanger pipes. If the system is less than i think 14 days old you can call customer care and get a brand new one. After that I do beleve it will go to tech support. Call in and get a new system would most likely be easier in the long run vs sending a tech out. only issue with that would be it may take a little longer to do so.

[binaryterror]

Not necessarily a bad motherboard, though that's one good thought.

Because it starts then freezes, it is a heat issue...problem is from what. Runs longer when cooled off before hitting the black screen.

Most commonly the issue is lack of heatsink properly seated on the processor, especially in laptops. I've seen it happen and the processor shuts down to save itself from destruction. Sometimes you'll get 1 minute before going black, sometimes it can be 10 minutes.

[BerticusPryme]

Binaryterror is right on that one. Not saying the whole board is bad but the temp probe on the motherboard may be. It is heat related. Hell I have even seen them with bad solder job on the inside of the board and heat would cause lockups similar to this.

[hbj069]

also the tech may have pinched the wires from the mb to the screen, had this happen and caused major heat issues, blk screen etc. I think you should call them and get a replacement asap.

[BUBBA069]

Originally Posted by losikid

here's specs

intel Core i7-2760QM, 2.40GHz, 6MB Cache
2.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 1 DIMM, (But i bought 2 4gb 1600mhz sticks)
nVidia NVS 4200M 512MB DDR3 Discrete Graphics
128GB Dell Mobility Solid State Drive, 2.5MM,
Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit
90W 3-Pin, AC Adapter (because i went with the quad core i7, dell said i had to upgrade to 90 watt ac...could the i7 be causing the issues, or should it all be the same mobo?)

Could be the processor like Binary said, but could also be the video card.

Didn't realize you had a secondary card. The Video card you have in there is either not seated properly or the fan didn't get hooked back up when the tech swapped the motherboard.

That is whats causing the card to overheat and screen go black. Done enough times it will kill the card if it hasn't already

[losikid]

Originally Posted by BerticusPryme

ok Losikid you have bad motherboard. I have seen this numerous times. The reason I can say this as I was a Dell tech support rep for 6 years. they gave you a faulty board or the tech did not install the heatsink properly/ bent one of the exchanger pipes. If the system is less than i think 14 days old you can call customer care and get a brand new one. After that I do beleve it will go to tech support. Call in and get a new system would most likely be easier in the long run vs sending a tech out. only issue with that would be it may take a little longer to do so.

That makes sense...it was delivered the 23rd...how do i go about getting a brand new one AND is is possible i can keep my hard drive? I have alot of CAD software and other productivity software installed that i don't want to spend many hours trying to get them to issue a new license for them

Originally Posted by binaryterror

Not necessarily a bad motherboard, though that's one good thought.

Because it starts then freezes, it is a heat issue...problem is from what. Runs longer when cooled off before hitting the black screen.

Most commonly the issue is lack of heatsink properly seated on the processor, especially in laptops. I've seen it happen and the processor shuts down to save itself from destruction. Sometimes you'll get 1 minute before going black, sometimes it can be 10 minutes.

the system logs only show one thermal event though...this would probably be the one caused by my user experience assessment marathon with different ram chips. I agree its a heat issue though, the heatsink reasoning makes it come together

Originally Posted by BerticusPryme

Binaryterror is right on that one. Not saying the whole board is bad but the temp probe on the motherboard may be. It is heat related. Hell I have even seen them with bad solder job on the inside of the board and heat would cause lockups similar to this.

So does the processor and everything have its own thermal stuff built in? If the cpu or gpu was shutting down automatically, it could explain the one thermal event because in that case it was the temp probe that shut the system down?

Originally Posted by hbj069

also the tech may have pinched the wires from the mb to the screen, had this happen and caused major heat issues, blk screen etc. I think you should call them and get a replacement asap.

A replacement sounds like a good idea,

Originally Posted by BUBBA069

Could be the processor like Binary said, but could also be the video card.

Didn't realize you had a secondary card. The Video card you have in there is either not seated properly or the fan didn't get hooked back up when the tech swapped the motherboard.

That is whats causing the card to overheat and screen go black. Done enough times it will kill the card if it hasn't already

Yea it has the integrated i believe, and the nvidia. After i disabled optimus (this switches between the two correct?) and disabled the media card (i'm guessing this is the nvidia card), it would freeze up instead of going to the black screen.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by BerticusPryme

The reason I can say this as I was a Dell tech support rep for 6 years.

Do you have a phone number i can call to speak to someone who speaks usa english? Or did i have to get the pro support instead of basic?