M1330 Display Issue (Vertical Lines on Reboot & Crash & Vertical Lines)

Kind of accidently skipped your updated input and posted first before reading previous posts, so hopefully that'll explain my rather ignorant, albeit just happy to get my computer back without any other issues, post.

I'll do some testing over the weekend. Thanks for that advice. Here's hoping the tech that repaired my computer wasn't too busy thinking about the weekend!

 

Temps for my m1330 with a [email protected] and 8400gs(156.55 drivers) taken from i8kfangui (rivatuner gives me 0C for the GPU for some reason) :

Ambient: 20C
CPU: load peak 71C, idle high 30Cs/low 40Cs
GPU: load peak 86C, idle 53-54C

Used simulated load running rthdribl and Intel TAT @ 100% load on both cores for 20 min.

For some weird reason my T7300 clocks down to 1600Mhz almost immediately when I stress it in TAT, why is this? Am I getting what I've paid for?

 

I've also been having this vertical line problem - it only started yesterday, but it it went from crashing once in the morning (while watching an AVI file) to being completely inoperable by yesterday evening (the vertical lines appearing immediately on pressing the power button). I called Dell XPS tech support and it took them about 15 minutes to decide to replace the motherboard (I don't have the integrated graphics card) - it was surpisingly painless (bar the 30 minutes on hold).

 

Wassup Folks,

I am apparently the latest poor sod to be condemned to a host of sleepless nights due to what I have decided to call, quite originally -

"The Curse of the Never Ending Lines".

The symptoms I have seem consistent with what is described within this thread, multicoloured crash screen, vertical lines on start up which occasionally lead to a normal boot.

I have taken the following action -

Flashed to BIOS A09.
Installed the Xtreme-G Mobile 163.67 NVIDIA Driver.

It is still happening on occasion, although I did notice that if I started in safe mode and rolled back the NVIDIA Driver to the Standard VGA Adapter it worked without fault.

Since I'm far from being an expert would somebody be kind enough to confirm that I have the same problem as described and my best course of action.

I am figuring that I'll need to call Dell, listen to elevator music for two days, and then tell the flunky on the phone that I need a new motherboard, stat! Upon convincing the jobs worth that I need a new one a man will promptly arrive at my house, lever open my system with a crowbar and replace the motherboard before sealing the unit up with tape.

Unfortunately, I'm in Iraq at the moment. I haven't seen any Dell Technicians in the Anbar Province so it'll be late next month before I can get this sorted. Fiddlesticks!!

Many Thanks.

Scotty.

 

Guys, if you can, pls post your ambient temperature as well

 

I just did a quick test using rivatuner and nvidia's ntune, but nothing indepth so take these numbers with a grain of salt.

Ambient - 72 degree F in room

80 degree Celsius GPU temperature

CPU 68-70 degree Celsius

that with Running the game Need for Speed Most Wanted for 15 minutes. Fan kicks on high

-------------------------------------

Idle computer

58 - 62 degree Celsius CPU
59 - 60 degree Celsius GPU

Like I said, take them with a grain of salt, but seems hot to me and that's with the A04 revision board. Never had a chance to test the A01 board as that one just died on me without much notice. Bios A07

Will do more indepth testing when I can, but don't know whether these numbers are good or bad!

Forgot to add, using 167.45 Nvidia Driver. Don't know if this is the reason the temps are so high?

--------------------------------
edit......

Need to revise my numbers due to owner stupidity. Seems I've been reading the wrong numbers for various temp software. The revised numbers are my GPU has hit as high as 89 C. on some of the games I've been playing, but the CPU peaks in the high 50's C which I don't think is too bad. On Idle, I'm achieving high 40's C on the CPU and 54 C on the GPU after it settles down from an intense game.

89 C., can that be good? I mean I'm about to just go out and buy an Xbox and save the GPU from going into another meltdown.

 

Good news, the GPU numbers are fine! Plz install 3DMark06 just to be sure (it's a great benchmarking tool, you won't regret it )

The CPU's idle temp is a bit high (mine idle in the mid-40s), not sure if it's high enough to call it a problem, though. Maybe someone else can give us their 2 cents on the subject...

Btw, 72F's approx. 22C which is the avg temp. in my place (during the Winter months).

 

I can't believe my eyes... after adding several posts to this thread - but not having the problem myself, my M1330's GPU* went belly-up last night...

:cry:

Same deal as many of the posters here: vertical lines appeared out of nowhere while I was simply surfing a website, reboot, ok for 5mins, then checkerboard-like patterns, reboot, then nothing.

Wait, it's not nothing, 'cause the screen's getting brighter... oh noo, the dreaded vertical colored lines...

Even worse, the Notebook was pretty much dead-slient, no HDD access sounds, no fan, nothing. When I powerd it off, I heard the HDD spin down, but that was it.

I opened up the panel covering the HSF just to see if it would help cool the chips, but it didn't help. What it did do is make me realize that the HSF was heating up quite a bit during those short attempts to reboot and that's when I started to panic, thinking of the CPU which could possibly get damged in the process!

I took a few pics of the psychadelic screen as well as a few of the HSF. As I noted in a post above, there are (at least) two different versions of the M1330 HSF available! JC's HSF is different from mine and I even managed to find official pics of both HSF types from two different Dell M1330 guides.

The key difference is that one HSF uses independant Heastsink "plates" connected together only by the copper heatpipe while the other (mine) has a single "rail" which spans the entire length of the heatpipe.

I wish I knew which was the 1st Gen and which was the 2nd gen (assuming they've improved the HSF) so that I make a note to Dell & Rep to bring along a "newer" HSF in case mine's of the old type. It makes no sense to put in a new mobo if the problem is going to happen again because of a bad HSF...!

*I'm still convinced that the problem is directly connected the the graphics system and I say "system" because the graphics system's dedicated memory also plays a role and can also be the culprit. I was unable to "locate" the 128MB of memory that is dedictated to the GPU: anyone know where the memory chip(s) is/are...?

 

Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear that. That's exactly the screen I had on mine. I'm actually treating this new motherboard with kid gloves right now. I think we're all in the dark about how long and if this replacement motherboards will actually last. I'm also curious to see how many A04 revision boards will fail in the future and how busy this forum will become full of angry M1330 owners with heat issues.

Thanks for the link, I'll install the 3dmark software for a more accurate picture of my temperatures. Like I said, the other temp numbers were way too pre-mature. The idle temperature, after looking at it more, is closer to the lower 50's celsius and probably even lower now that I've switched from the 6 cell battery to the 9 cell to give it a bit of height.

Sorry that you've joined the replacement motherboard club. I had an 8 year old Dell inspiron 3800 that never missed a beat in that entire time and is still running. They sure don't make em like they used to!

 

Thx for the words of solace

Yes, well, as I noted to my gf, that's the risk you face when going with a new design (...this after she pointed out to me that her seven-year old Thinkpad's still workin'... )

 

Well now that I've ah, joined the club, I can tell you that it's not a problem strictly related to a specific BIOS version because I still had A05* when mine died.

*I never bothered to try A06 because it's known to use more juice (battery). Some of us assumed it's due to the attempt to "counter-act" the CPU whine problem by changing the use of CPU low states, etc.

 

@Traveller,

Sorry to hear about the fate of your M1330.

As for the Video ram, its located north of the 8400GS, hidden under DIMM1 (under a protective plastic sticker. Mine is a single Hynix 128mb chip. It doesn't have any cooling.

BTW, my HSF/Heatpipe is A01.

 

ThX, JC and thx for the info on the memory too! 18KfanGUI reports a Memory Temperature value although I cannot validate where or what that sensor's really reading. I find it very hard to believe that is is related to the removable dimms and if I had to guess, it's either the motherboard temp or a sensor close to the dedicated GPU ram.

Anyone know where/what the Memory & chipset temps really correlate to on the M1330?

During a run of 3DMark06 a while back, 18kfanGUI recorded max temps of 54 & 56C for the "memory" and "chipset", respectively. Both had a reading of 46C at idle. Again, I'm only looking at it at this angle 'cause a GPU w/o memory is just as dead... .

As for your HSF... the fact that yours is also an A01 makes things really difficult as there's no telling which one is the newest or better of the two. I's like to think that Dell's XPS team can answer that one... we'll see.

 

Wasn't there someone who posted a picture in this forum of a modded heatsink which achieved a drastically lower temperature for the GPU?

 

mine gone totally dead last friday, n today, dell changed my motherboard. evethough i bought it in malaysia, they still cover it here in ireland. good service but i'm not really confident bout the product. let see how long will it last.

for now i'll stay with A06 bios. that's what most people here did right?

 

I got the ball rolling with a call to the XPS Tech hotline & after being asked by the Support member to attach an external monitor - and seeing nothing - Support agreed to send out a mobo.

I also "recommended" that the rep.tech also bring an HSF along, so that we can determine if mine should be swapped. So now I just have to hope that the rep.tech can manage the job w/o unpleasent side-effects (like scratches, disconnected components, etc...)


EDIT: The saga continues, but I don't want to generate countless posts, so I'm going with annexes, lol

Annex I: Parts on order:
PU073 ASSEMBLY..., PRINTED WIRING ASSY..., PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD)..., DISCRETE..., 128M, M1330

MM911 ASSEMBLY..., HEATSINK..., NOTEBOOK..., MEROM, DISCRETE VIDEO..., M1330

Annex II: Preparation:
See attached pic. Oh, and there's a Lappymat hidden under that saran wrap, rofl... ! What... you think I've gone a little overboard with this, huh? Well then, just read this post and then let's see what you think...

Annex III: Post-Op
Turnaround time: I placed the call on a Mon evening and The RepTech was available Wed A.M. which I find more than satisfactory! Score 1 for Dell!

RepTech: turned out the be a nice guy and very understanding of my, ah, 'phobia' of scuff and scratch marks... (I also assured him ahead of time that the tip would be more than generous if he succeeded in swapping out the mobo w/o "leaving a trace..."). I also asked him if he'd mind if I asked silly questions and took a "few" pics... Bottom line, great guy, objective achieved (no scuffs, no scratches, and tons of pics ) Score 1 for Dell!

Replacement Mobo (& HSF): Well of course, it couldn't all be good news, that would be asking too much... So what's the bad news, you ask? Well a refurbished mobo, for one. Ok, I accept that Dell can't just toss every returned Mobo just because the Notebook was returned for, say, a defective Panel-bezel, but they damned well better inspect every facet of it before reusing it! And so, after testing all* the obvious "components", I came across a faulty Firewire port

After wasting valuable time trying to figure out if it was HW- or SW-related, I finally concluded it was a problem with the physical port. Based on the pic, I guess the problem's external and not on the PCB-end. The 4-4 pin, gold-plated cable I use works with my PC, the old M1330 Mobo and even alternating between both ends I still couldn't get a good contact with the M330's port.

Bottom line is that I have to oh-so-carefully mate the cable & port and then not touch the cable while in use. This is Hardly an optimal situation... but right now I can't imagine calling up support, setting up a RepTech appointment, swapping out the mobo again (and it will most certainly again be a refurbished job), hoping that nothing goes wrong (and there's no guarantee that you'll get same Reptech), redoing all the damned tests and hoping that this time I get lucky...

arrrrgh, that's at least a -3 for Dell!

*Minimum items to test are Power, keyboard, boot-up, OS/HDD, 2D-3D Graphics / Panel, Command-center keys, Optical Drive, WLAN, BlueTooth, IR (Remote), Multimedia Card Reader, Express Slot, USB1, USB2, Firewire, VGA-Out, HDMI, and finally, overall performance.

 

u don't have to, they actually bring extra lid cover in case they scratch it. now i got extra cover which i don't know what to do with it.. maybe in the future if i scrach my lid, but will i know how to replace it..

 

ok.. is this topic about vista freezing up, blue-colorish lines appearing on the taskbar, toolbar and then entirely freezes? If it is, its been happening to me just then. I reformatted following flamenko's guide today... and while i was updating windows update, i was using IE.. all of a sudden it HAPPENED ALL OVER AGAIN!!! aarghhh.... what can i do about this?...

 

Well, not exactly. As Jaycee and my images (above) clearly depict, this has to do with the GPU (or associated memory) experiencing a catastrophic failure (aka, R.I.P). This is noted by the fact that you can no longer even make it to the BIOS screen or Dell's Media Director. Instead, the screen displays vertical lines and you cannot proceed (not even with a post).

In your case, you could run Dell's Diagnostics Utilities (supplied on one of the CDs) and see if there's a problem. Your case is definately worse because it's difficult to nail down the GPU as the culprit as it could be driver-related (although quite unlikely).

If it's the GPU, you'll know it in the next few boots because it will eventually die. Until then you're SOL because trying to convince Dell Support that your GPU's "dying" will be very difficult, to say the least

Sidebar: Hmm, I think I saw those sneakers when I was in downtown Melbourne last August. All I remember was the close-to 300 AUD price tag...

 

Wow, cool

But obviously Repdude forgot to bring it on the day he visited howardpm ... either way, my wrap-job took up all of 3 mins so no loss there...

 

Dell installed A07 bios on my repaired system. I guess the consensus according to Dell support is don't touch A09 with a 10 foot barge pole, but any Bios version can still cause the GPU to go South if stressed imho and that's backed by plenty of people here.

 

So do you reckon its the A09 Bios causing the problem?
I reformatted mine and A09 was still installed?
How do i remove that bios and install the A07 ? And where can i get the A07 from?

 

Oh, looks like I wasn't the first to make this find (lol).

Still, I'd really like to know why there are two different versions and if one's better than the other the Dell RepGuy's swinging buy my place tomorrow with a HSF (along with the mobo) and I'm curious to see which one it will be (if not yet a third version...)

 

Hey, sounds like your GPU's dying. As in, not dead yet, but dying a slow and agonizing death. The fact that it may be stable longer in VGA mode could indicate that the GPU can still manage to putt along under less stress (i.e., VGA drivers certainly don't interact with the GPU's shader units...).
Unfortunately for you, a dead GPU's a lot better than a dying one (ahem...). The reason is that it's much easier to deal with Dell's Tech support over the phone when you can't even run diagnostics. With your luck, the tests will all pass with flying colors...

Tell you what: take it out deep-deep into the desert and fire up a game of Counterstrike. Shouldn't take long before the GPU's R.I.P.

Just kidding.
Then again, maybe not.
Your call...

p.s. I didn't catch your post 'till now & it's got me ROFL big-time

 

Thanks for the tips Traveller; I think you may well be right about the GPU clinging onto life by the tips of its fingers. Even with the graphics card disabled the computer will only boot normally approximately once in every thirty attempts.

I am now in email contact will Tech Support, I am trying to coerce Dells answer to Gandalf into booking a tech visit for when I get home next month.

All the Apple owners that I share a room with are relishing my obvious trauma and grief! How much is a MacBook again?

Cheers,

Scotty.

 

I think that ah, "1in30" are odds in your favor for a mainboard xchg...

Keep in mind that even MacBooks die occasionally (same with VAIOs, Thinkpads, etc.) but, (and it's a big 'but') the MAcBook is in its xth generation while the M1330 is more or less in its first.*

*I'm not familiar with the M1210 but I think the dimensions and components (GPU, etc.) are different enough that their cooling solutions are probably not comparable.

 

Just a FYI: My M1330 from january 2008 has a heatsink rev A01.

 

Well, seeing as there's 2 different "A01" versions, do you have the one with a one-piece rail supporting the copper heatpipe, or do you have the one with a separate chunk (with fins) over the GPU? Waht about the Fan (sticker's over by the exaust port) - A02?

Btw, I searched for the modded HSF you mentioned above but I had no luck finding it (on this forum)... .

 

Hi Traveller,

Threads go quickly here, the HSF mod is located here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=219786&highlight=english

As for the A01 version, I dunno. I will unscrew the back (need to add a 2gig sodimm anyway) and take a pic.

 

That's just awesome - I'm definately going to look into that!!! Now if I can only figure out how to get a piece that's the right size & thickness...

Hell, I'll just have to ask around in some machine shop. I mean that's got to be no more than $20 worth of work...

Thanks for finding that post for me (us) - have a rep on me

 

My 1330 isnt loading up at all anymore. When i switch on.. black screen>coloured vertical lines from right>more vrtical lines appear> then screen turns white and freezes.
Called up DELL told em my problem, they said they are going to send a technician onsite to replace my motherboard and LCD screen.....

 

Sorry, I was a little late in replying to your post due to the fact that you now have become a member of the failed motherboard club. To answer your original question; I don't think the A09 is the cause of the problem, but it probably didn't help. I went from A06 to A09, but I never had the A07 bios upgrade, so I couldn't have helped you find it, unless someone else had it on backup. I did downgrade my bios back to the A06, but it didn't make any difference in the system eventually failing.

Hopefully the tech that visits will do a good job and you'll be back with the rest of us scratching our heads wondering if and when this A04 revision motherboard will go South on us as well. Don't want to sound pessimistic, just a little disillusioned with this whole experience and not very happy that I can't use my computer to the fullest without thinking some activity ( games, intense heat related ) will shorten the life of the system rendering it eventually useless when the warranty runs out.

 

You can find Bios version A02, A06, A07 & A09 here:

http://ftp1.us.dell.com/bios/

Just scroll down to the M1330 section.

 

Praneeth? which bios verion do you have?

 

I use A09.

 

Speaking of revisions, is there any evidence of Dell using later revisions of the 8400m GPU?

 

...and A05 here, thx to RachUK & Planet Vikram

 

I can't say that they haven't, but from my own experience (A01 -> A04 mobo), I can't say that they have, either...

 

@cooling mod

Looks like someone had the same idea as I did, trying to sandwish a metal/copper plate between the HSF and the GPU.

a 30% drop in temperature is f*ing significant. Stupid thermal pad.


But whatever the case, the same issue afflicts both HSF designs. Mine is an A01 but has the split Heat sinks. Looks like the one with Split heat sinks can be both A00 and A01.

 

I recently updated to BIOS A09 without having any problems. I notice that it was to address some thermal issues, so I went ahead and updated it.

Is there a problem with A09 that people are avoiding it? I have the 8400 GS.

Should I go back to A07 (came with this version when I bought it)?

 

I use A09 with no problems as well.

 

Since mine is workign ok after the m/b replacement, i will be checking up here less often. Hope you guys have good luck with your XPS.

As an aside, I just bought an Asus EEE 4G on a whim...my first non-dell laptop in about a decade.....and I'm liking what I'm seeing. Damn nice little thing....

 

3 scenarios......are you confident enough and have done enough testing on your own system to believe that the problem with the A04 revision won't reoccur or do you have a really good warranty that'll take care of it and if anything further happens with the motherboard / gpu, you don't mind sending it back to Dell again or the third choice would be, have you cut back on GPU related activity where you aren't really stressing the Graphics card anymore thus minimizing a potential overheating GPU? Not being sarcastic.....just wondering why you are so confident with the revision motherboard?

 

Who are you referring to, JC? Please incl. (partial) quotes when you post so that your commentary's easier to follow

Not that you were asking me, but imo, there's no change to the A04 revision mobo which could possibly help to keep the chips cooler. As a matter of fact, my own testing shows no change in max temps, period. The HSF design must be changed before cooling will improve.

As for BIOS revisions, what they (Dell) can do is alter the thermal characteristics of the environment by doing one (or both) of two things:

• Increasing the fan speed in relation to one or more of the several on-board probes (18kfanGUI claiming to have found chipset and memory probes along with the GPU and CPU cores probes.
  -
• Throttling the CPU cores when the temp or the load has reached a certain limit.

It is my opinion that Dell is throttling the CPU cores and even went as far as lowering the limits in their A06 and above BIOS revisions. But even if one manages to decrease the CPU's max temp(s) by a few degrees, this will have little to no real effect on the GPU.

Last but certainly not least, the fact that the dedicated 128MB memory chip is burried under plastic can certainly not help the situation, sigh...

 

I received my notebook back with a replacement motherboard. Bios was A06.

Everything is working again...

 

yeah, it was meant for Jaycee; just forgot to put the quote in. With regards to your comments about the Rev04 not changing anything; i'm leaning towards that way of thinking as well. Sad really that I can't use the system the way I want to use it without concern for thermal issues.

Someone sent a private message to me from Dell asking if my problem was solved. Still thinking about how to respond to him constructively!!

 

Well I didn't get a private msg but an offer to fill out a customer satisfaction survey. the survey had the typical Qs but also gave me an option to enter a comment.

So I wrote up a rave "review" for the XPS hotline and repair techs because they took good care of me but I also took the time to complain about the refurbished mobo (due its the 1394 port issue) they gave me as well as the poor [GPU] cooling design.

Not that I think it will help much, but it can't hurt, either...

 

As I mentioned above, the A04 mobo has made no difference in terms of cooling. Attached, an image of Half Life's Lost Coast tech demo and the associated GPU & CPU temps (22C Ambient). That's pretty much the same temps I recorded with my original A01 mobo...


Edit: Added a few more screenshots & in doing so, managed to nail 100C... :-(

 

What is this about? I wouldn't be surprised if it was the graphics memory that was failing.
(Today I saw some scattered red squares on a black screen at one moment as the machine was booted... that was a symptom that preceded my first graphics failure... I really hope it isn't going to happen again]

 

Does anyone have a temp-probe that they could stick in there and get some readings?

I would have done it myself, but unfortunately I'm in sunny California, a long way from home and my gadgets..