I think my M70Vm is dying on me!

Hey there

I've been having a problem over the last few days with my M70Vm.

When I leave the laptop on standby, hibernate or just off for a few hours and then turn it on the monitor remains black. I usually close the monitor so I've not tested if this happens with the monitor left open.

Eventually when the default OS in the boot menu, currenly Windows 7 RC, is loaded and gets to the logon screen the monitor does seem to work ok, all of a sudden it'll just start displaying what is on the logon screen and I can reboot and it works fine.

On first startup I don't get a POST screen, no boot menu or any sign that the laptop is working aside from the power, HDD indicator and the num lock LEDs being on, although I do get the sound played before the logon screen in W7 RC.

Is this a sign that the nVidia 9600M GS is GPU is failing? Or is it the monitor on/off switch inside that is failing? Or is it something else?

Could this be an OS issue?

Or could it be driver related? I'm using Dox's version of nVidia 181.22 drivers.

Both unlikely I know as I don't even get a POST screen but I don't know what is causing the problem.

I don't have an external monitor I can plug in at home when it does this and the monitor I can use (here in the office) doesn't support a resolution of 1920x1200 and I don't really want to set the res. lower on my laptop on the off chance it will do what it's doing and I can plug it into the external monitor (although it's done it each and every time I've turned it off/put it into hibernate/standby over the last couple of days).

So I'm asking if anyone in the UK knows what the Asus RMA procedure is like? Do I get a replacement to use whilst Asus are "repairing" my notebook?

I've had the laptop since last September and as I use my laptop for 12hrs on average each day I don't really want to have to RMA it because I don't have anything to replace it with but I get the feeling I might have to so any advice on what I should do and what I should expect from Asus will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this.

 

I would advise to delay the RMA until you are sure this is a hardware issue. The reason is that ASUS UK has a dismal reputation, among others with long turnaround times. And you do not get a replacement machine in the meantime (not in any country AFAIK)

I would think changing the resolution is not going to make anything worse, so you can definitely test it on the external monitor. Anyway, the POST screen is in text mode not graphical so the resolution doesn't matter until you get to Windows.

If the POST screen is not showing then indeed it looks like a firmware or hardware problem. It is a strange problem in that the display turns on later.

What are the temperatures of your GPU?

 

Speedfan shows the temps at idle as around 55-60 degrees celcius and no higher than 65 (as far as I can tell) when I've been playing a game, even when I've been playing a game for hours.

This happens after it's sat for a while and cooled off though.

Also the monitor does turn on after a while, when it's at the logon screen, but between it starting up and the time when the monitor does work I've moved it about i.e. closed and opened a couple of times, not to mention pressed the power button until it turns off, also for a couple of times.

I guess I could change the resolution just before I put it to sleep or shutdown so it boots up in a lower resolution, but how do I get it to use the external monitor on boot without being in an OS?

 

If the external is plugged into the VGA socket the POST will show on both screens (I am almost sure of this). Like I said, resolution doesn't matter because POST is in text mode.

Those temps seem OK, could you verify using another tool, e.g., GPU-Z?

 

Ok I've tried GPU-Z and that's telling me that the temp is between 56 and 58 degrees C, mind you I'm only watching a DVD via VLC Player, but that's exactly the same as what Speedfan is telling me.

 

This was on the very remote chance that the GPU might be overheating (wouldn't explain all your problems anyway).

How about the external monitor test?

 

Well I haven't had time to leave my laptop on standby or shutdown, I'll do that between 07:00 and 19:00 tonight and see what happens when I come to turn it on again.

External monitor certainly works as I just had it hooked up and running ok so I should hopefully be able to see the output, assuming there is any.

I've restarted a couple of times as well but the problem doesn't seem to occur on warm-boots just cold-boots where the laptops been off or in a standby state for an hour or more.

 

Ok I tried the external monitor test and an external monitor works fine, I see the POST screen and everything.

The laptop screen on the other hand doesn't show anything it just sits there blank but appears to be powered on.

I had a look in the nVidia control panel under the multiple displays options and it was only listing the external monitor.

So I closed/opened the lid a few times, nothing, so I turned it off and then on again a few times, closing and openening the lid each time, and after 2 or 3 turn off/ons the laptop screen worked again, displayed everything right from the post screen.

I'm thinking it's not detecting the monitor on POST all the time but I have no idea why not?

 

If your notebook works with an external monitor, but doesn't work on notebook screen, then it's most likely a faulty inverter board or the cables on the inverter board are loose. Check to see if the cables are loose, and if not, you'd need a replacement for your inverter board.

 

Um it works but as I've said I keep having to turn the laptop on and off numerous times to get it to work after the laptop has been off or in a standyby state for a couple of hours.

Once it is displaying I can reboot as many times as I like and it functions fine, it's just getting it to display after it's been sitting "cold" for a couple of hours or so that seems to be the problem.

If it didn't work at all then ok the inverter might be dead but could what is happening be caused by the inverter?

I think I'm going to have to RMA the laptop unless a solution that doesn't require taking the laptop apart presents itself.

 

It could be the LVDS cable coming loose from the socket, it's probably under the left hinge or somewhere near there if you want to check it.

 

Yeah I can't even get the case open, let along check the cable.

If I could find a service manual that tells me how to take it apart that'd help. I've taken out every single screw I can see and I still can't pull apart the casw without risking breaking it.

I came into work this evening after leaving the laptop in the office during the day and now the display doesn't even display anything. It's on, I can see it is on but it's totally black.

Forced shutdowns don't seem to be solving the issue now.

I have a monitor I can use here in the office but when I get home, where I use the laptop the most I'm stuffed as I have no monitor.

I think this will be an RMA job and I might see if I get anywhere with a replacement demand as this laptop had a problem with the soundcard being stuck on thinking it's got something stuck in the SPDIF port from day 1.

I didn't RMA it then as it's something that I can live with by separating the audio streams in the Realtek HD control panel and their "helpdesk" never even mentioned the possibility of the laptop being RMA'd.

But no monitor is not something I can live with.

 

screen won't turn back on from standby:
Windows (vgaport.sys) and VGA driver related, very common problem on both XP and Vista.


No post on first startup:
Could be the RAM and not OS related since OS not even loaded yet, what you can try is remove one stick of RAM at a time to test.

 

The reason I mention the LCD cable is because I've had this problem with my G50, it can get loose and it'll go blank when I turn it on or change resolution, and it's an intermittent problem. If the M70Vm is anything like the G50 chassis, you don't even need tools to get the hinge cover off, just close the lid and squeeze the hinge cover and pull up. It should come out relatively easily at an angle. There are tabs on it so be sure to keep that in mind so you don't apply too much force and break them. There's a pic of my G50 with the hinge cover off here (the LCD bezel is also off):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gallery/data/500/medium/nomorelights.jpg

The connector is what that big grey/black cable to the left plugs into.

 

Thanks Ken but I don't think it's a RAM issue, as the laptop boots fine and outputs via external monitor fine. It's not that I have no POST on first startup, just that 'm just not seeing anything on the laptops monitor at all.

If it's a problem with the vgaport.sys and VGA driver related, not that I'm thinking it is as there's nothing displayed right from POST and I did have it running ok yesterday after a few forced shutdows/lid closings and shutdown the laptop this morning rather than putting it into standby, but all avenues are worth exploring how would one go about solving that, bearing in mind I'm running a dual boot with XP?

Nope not budging. Attached are a couple of pics taken with my company issue BlackBerry 8310 smartphone, apologies for the quality but hopefully you can see the hinge assembly, although looking at them now they're not very helpful, sorry best I can do.

The case doesn't seem to want to budge, not around the hinges on the base or between the hinges in the monitor case. Could just be because I have weak hands though.

I emailed Asus support last night, a guy called Dennis Hoving who I have had contact with before, and he fired back at me a standard email with "press Fn+F6 repeatedly, if this fails connect an external monitor", etc...

Then the email said if nothing works RMA it....

I really don't want to RMA it as I can't be without the laptop for more than a day or two, my Acer 9302 won't run half the games I play and that's what I do the most with the laptop.

 

Oh -- well if you're still in warranty don't break it

I'd send it in and let ASUS deal with it. I'm out of warranty so I don't have that consideration. Good luck!

 

Sorry I miss read your previous post, then it's not the RAM issue for sure.


for vgaport.sys issue if your windows is up to date then it's the video card driver, like I said it's a very common issue:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=383670

 

Ok well I'm gonna try installing the Asus VGA drivers then, I'm assuming a 64bit Vista driver will work ok in Windows 7?

Think I'm grabbing at straws here though, as I said in the editied version of my post above I had the monitor working ok yesterday after a few forced shutdowns and I didn't leave it on standby I shutdown...

 

This can be a bad connection issue as hinted earlier; either the signal cable or perhaps the inverter; or a backlight problem. If you squint closely at the monitor, do you see the image but very darkly? If so then either the inverter or backlight is the problem. Since it needs to heat up to work, I would bet on the backlight and not the inverter. The backlight would most often require the screen to be replaced, so that would indeed be an RMA issue.

This does not seem like it could be addressed by new video drivers... since the problem occurs at POST, it is most likely hardware.

If you want to check for poor connections via disassembly, maybe the guides here give you some ideas: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=122632#disassembly , though there is no specific guide for your model.

 

Do you get anything at all on the screen, does it power up and the backlight come on? Or is it just dead?

 

Yeah the monitor is powered up, it's black but has that kind of slight glow to it as though it's powered on.

It's definitely not dead as I did almost have it back just a moment ago, I installed the Asus VGA driver set from their website, restarted after installing them, think I closed my lid again, and opened it and the monitor showed the post screen, went after that though.

Think it was just where I closed and then opened the lid though.

So yeah as E.B.E has said it's probably a bad connection. There is no image visiable on the screen though.

Guess I'll just have to RMA the laptop, and hope Asus pull their fingers out.

 

Yeah, sounds like that might be the case. At least your inverter isn't bad most likely, since you at least have a backlight. It sounds like the LCD isn't powering on, which is a lower level issue than a driver if you don't get a POST screen, if it was just from standby it might be a driver.

You might want to try resetting the BIOS defaults if you can get into the BIOS setup on an external monitor, it could just be a bad parameter that needs to be cleared.. it's worth a shot if you're contemplating sending it in for RMA.

 

Ok here is an odd thing, in Windows 7 RC1 I just went into the nVidia control panel with an external monitor connected and it was detecting my laptops monitor, which it hasn't always done.

So I changed the multiple display setup to dual view with the laptops monitor as primary and I now have the laptops monitor back and I can move the lid about and the monitor works.

Although I just tried a restart and I'm back to square one...

 

Weird problem... that suggestion of resetting the BIOS settings isn't too bad. You should try it.

You could also try disassembly and reseating the LCD signal cable.

 

Ok dumb question then, how do I reset the BIOS settings once I'm in the BIOS (which I know is achieved by pressing F2 at post)?

 

Some Asus models have a BIOS reset button located on the bottom of the notebook. It's a small pin-sized hole, so you'll need a paperclip to reach it.

 

Yep found that earlier and gave that a try.

 

The BIOS reset options are usually on the last tab of the BIOS, AFAI can remember.

 

Yeah found them there is a manufacturers default and user default (F8 and F9) neither have solved the issue.

Oh well RMA it is then. Thanks guys. Think this duck is dead for now. Your help has been appreciated though.

 

Ok so a sudden development has happened. I decided to try (again) to pry open the monitor casing where ALLurGroceries suggested and using a flat head screwdriver I managed to do just that without it being noticeable.

Don't know what I did as I didn't exactly touch anything, just prodded the cables that are inside the monitor casing, but I now have the monitor back, for the moment at least and it's survived a shutdown/lid close.

I reckon there is a loose connection in there somewhere as you guys suggested.

Thanks to ALLurGroceries, you may have saved me from a possible RMA, for the moment at least and if this happens again at least I know that I can try opening the monitor casing and prodding the wires and stuff in there, so long as I don't make any noticeable marks that Asus can contest the warranty with.

I'm still gonna see if Asus will replace it though, seeing as it's got a minor soundcard fault, but if they do I still think I'll be without a laptop for some time unless they agree to deliver a replacement and take this one away on the same day.

 

Hey guys just another minor update on this issue - opened the lid and turned on the laptop tonight and it's working fine. So yeah obviously there is something "loose" inside the monitor casing, not sure what but obviously the prodding I did last night solved the issue.

For the moment...

Thanks again for all your advice, it has been much appreciated.

 

Nice! Way to go, that's really cool it works, congrats! I hope it stays working now... sending it in for repairs is never fun. Good luck