M17x R2 GPU or LCD Problem

Hi folks

I’m hoping someone can help, I have a problem with my Alienware M17x R2 where the LCD does not work yet an external monitor does albeit with graphical glitches/artifacts.

The Laptop is 3 years old now and my specs are:

Intel Core i7 Processor 720QM(1.60GHz,6MB cache)
4096MB (2x2048) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
320GB (2x320GB) Free Fall Sensor Raid 1 "Mirror"(7200RPM) Dual HD
1GB ATI GDDR3 MOBILITY RADEON HD 4870
17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200p) - RGB LED


History of the problem is that 3 days ago I started to get green squares on the screen whilst using the laptop in either 3d or 2d applications, I turned the laptop off and left it to cool down for a while thinking that maybe the GPU was overheating.

Once I restarted the laptop, the screen was blank. I thought it was a problem with the unit booting as there was no Alien head appearing & no bios info, but once I restarted it a second time with the power lead disconnected I got the usual two beeps I get when there is no power connected.

So with power reconnected and an external monitor attached I managed to boot up but only in safe mode. If I tried to boot in anything other than safe mode I would get a BSOD with an error code mentioning ATIKMPAG.SYS

Whilst booting into Windows (before it got to desktop in safe mode) it would have 2 quite wide solid vertical green bars on the screen, these bars disappeared once at the desktop but were replaced by weird horizontal lines/graphical glitches.

I have taken the unit apart and cleaned the vents, and I have checked the connection on both the LCD panel and the Alienware logo and made no difference whatsoever.

So now I left assuming it’s either the LCD panel that has failed or the GPU? (HD4870) If it’s the panel that has failed then why are there graphical glitches even on the external monitor. And if it’s the GPU then why does the LCD panel not work albeit with glitches/artifacts?

Or could both be dead? (gulp!)

Any help is much appreciated.

 

Dead GPU. Do you have one or two cards? If you have two you can switch out the main card and try working the machine with just one GPU. The panel doesn't really sound like it has any issues to be honest, unless the card somewhat burned it out. While it has happened that a GPU can burn out the m17x r2 display (there were some cases with 7970m's with wrong vbios), it takes a while, usually.

 

Hi, thanks for the response.
I only have 1 card unfortunately so cannot do any switch out.

Why would the LCD panel not work at all if it is the GPU at fault? Shouldn't it display the same corrupt image as i get on the external monitor?

 

It could be a combination of both (or one leading into the other one). I would recommend you to try a different video card (it's easier to obtain). Then if the issue with the LCD remains try swapping it.

 

I have a spare 285M i'm selling in the marketplace if you'd be interesting on switching to the red team, but do try and test with a friend's card or something first though, to make sure your screen isn't shot too. I do suspect the GPU though.
I've also had a card (a 7970m) that would blackscreen on the LCD, would show display on external but only when drivers weren't installed (Standard VGA Graphics Adapter). Installing the drivers would perma-freeze the machine, and I had to replace it.

 

Pretty sure it's the GPU, the 5870M is known to do exactly that, run on external screen only. Here is my experience with it.
Since the 4870 is very similar to it and you asid it also artifacts, i'd go with replacing the GPU.

 

Thanks to the people who responded to my original post, the following is an update on progress.

With the old card in (HD4870) the laptop had go to a point where it would not boot up, it failed in stages, firstly I had multi coloured squares appearing on the screen, then a day or so later it would not boot into Windows and would hang or BSOD and reboot, then later that day the whole screen became a massive multi coloured mess. I tied to reinstall Windows with the recovery disc hoping it was a software issue but the same problem persisted, at this point I had to stop because I could not even see Windows menus in order to install.

The general consensus seemed to be that there was an issue with the GPU, so I took the opportunity to upgrade by getting a used HD5870 to replace the suspect HD4870. As soon as I booted up the laptop with the HD5870 in, all the graphical glitches were gone, windows installed fine all looking good, except………. Still no LED Screen.
All the above was carried out using an external monitor connected through VGA.

I tried to use the HDMI port to connect the external monitor with a HDMI to DVI lead, everytime I plugged the HDMI lead in the screen went into standby and I can find no mention of HDMI port in the Catalyst control center.
I did manage to log into the computer on my ipad using teamviewer and with all external monitors removed the desktop appeared to be fine but the display showed as ‘640 default LCD monitor’ or something similar.

Also, if I right click Catalyst Control Center in the tray icon I get 4 instances of HD5870, 1 has the normal set of display options to select, the other 3 have most options greyed out but show ‘extended desktop’.

I have the RGB LED screen which I’m told has no inverter, so do people think my screen is dead and if so why can I not use my HDMI port?
It’s getting really frustrating now, I have a usable Laptop which is a great improvement to where I was a week ago. I’d really like to get the screen sorted though so I can actually have a laptop rather than a desktop but at the very least I’d like to be able to get the HDMI port working. Using VGA means iTunes won’t play my HD movies.

Does anyone have any ideas what my problem may be?

 

The GPU was definitely faulty,
Does the LED backlight come on when you start it?
Did you make sure everything is connected well?
Try reseating LDC cable, and remove any dust that may be there.

 

How do i tell if the LED backlight is coming on? As far as i can tell there is absolutely nothing going on with the screen. The alienware logo lights up and works correctly but i can see no light or image on the screen.
I have disconnected and re-connected both the screen connector and the webcam connector next to it. I did this when i had the old card in there, do you think its worth reseating again?

 

Better than buying new screen
You can tell if the screen goes from black to kinda dark green colour when you turn it on.