m1710 won't boot - Blue then Black Screen of Death

Hi everyone!
I was wondering if someone could help me with a problem.
I have an m1710 laptop running windows 7 RC build 7100 since may.
The thing is, I was working on it and put it to sleep by closing the cover. It went to sleep, and when I came back I did the usual lift the cover to wake it up. This time everything came on but the screen which remained black. So I forced it to so shut down, started it again and got the blue screen of death + windows trying to fix itself with reverting to last known good setup. Restarting didn't help and the BSOD came back. Also, everytime the Dell logo would come on, it would be littered with artefacts - white interrupted lines across the whole screen. I managed to run some diagnostics, which said something about drivers, but I don't know what that was about - graphics?
The next day I turned the machine on and absoultely nothing. Not even the BIOS would load. Only lights, fans and cd/dvd would spin. The screen was lit but black.
Then by chance after another attempt and removing the battery to do a hard reset, it worked. BIOS loaded, and windows loaded too. No atrefacts, nothing. I restarted a couple of times and it worked as always.
Then I put it to sleep - cover down. Lifted the cover a couple of minutes later to wake up and again the artefacts came back, and BSOD. Windows again tried to fix itself but couldn't. This time, after two fix attempts, it went to the state that BIOS doesn't load anymore.
I have a black screen, CAPS/NUM diodes on, fans and CD/DVD working but no reaction. Pressing the power button on once shuts the machine immediately.
Can anyone tell me what to do? What is wrong with the thing?
I'd be most grateful!!

 

Your video card is finally dying and or dead. If you still have warranty coverage call Dell now. You'll most likely be upgraded to a new system since they wont have any 7900GTX / 7950GTXs in stock anymore.

The artifacts and the blank screen are good indicators.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

 

Actually, not such bad news if it is really the video card... except it is no longer on warranty
Were it the motherboard, I would have been devastated, but video card... I can live with spending a bit of cash on a newer one

Is there any way to check this myself, or is it off to the shop with the machine for a diagnosis?

 

Hook up an external monitor - be it a CRT or LCD, doesn't matter. If you are able to output video signal to the monitor then it could be an issue with your LCD (however I doubt this).

If it turns out you will need a new card, you will have to find one of the following (nothing else will work in the M1710):

Dell Part# PR004 - 512MB Graphics card, FX3500M, M90,2(12/13 cut-in) GOOGLE SEARCH

Dell Part# GU067 - 512MB Graphics Card, Nvidia Geforce Go 7950 GTX, M1710, IUPGA4B, MLK GOOGLE SEARCH

Dell Part# YF227 - 512MB Graphics Card, Nvidia GeForce Go 7900, M1710 GOOGLE SEARCH

Dell Part# UF814 - 256MB Graphics Card, Nvidia GeForce Go 7900, M1710 GOOGLE SEARCH

 

WOW! Thanks BatBoy!
This is some info! I'll probably go for the one I already have - the 7950GTX, though the FX3500M looks interesting. Shame for the price.

BTW, I hooked up a n external LCD and it showed me picture! It showed the windows self repair dialog box - "windows was unable to start". The same one as before. Again, there were artifacts....

 

Could be the LCD - but my money is on the GPU. If you know anyone else with a compatible card maybe you could test swap to see if that corrects the issue. Other than that, I guess the only way would be to take it into a shop. If you are in the US, you might want to check with Dell to see if their diagnostic fee would be cheaper than the local shop (if Dell would even do it to begin with - I'm not sure).

 

Nobody around here with even remotely similar computers unfortunately....
I'll take it to a local authorised Dell shop - they are asking the equivalent of $19 for a diagnostic which they don't charge if the repair is with them.

I also managed to take the following pix during the ordeal. I wonder if they are any help...

 

Hmmm... try this:

Power off the unit

Open up the Memory Door

Remove 1 SODIMM and replace Memory Door - Reboot

If you dont get a blue screen, power down and then replace the SODIMM and start up again normally.

Also, since you are running win7, are you using the default Win7 driver for the video card? If so, try installing this one:

Win7 32-bit:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista_179.48_beta.html

Win7 64-bit:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista64_179.48_beta.html

See if that helps. Also take a look @ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&q=STOP+0x00000050+win7&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

 

OK, I did just that...
Opened door, removed one SODIMM, hooked up my external LCD and powered up.
I got a memory prompt to continue or setup so I pressed F1 to continue and start normally.
I then got a windows spash screen, and that was it. Nothing afterwards.
I hard powered down, replaced the SODIMM, and powered up again, again F1 to continue, again got the splash screen and nothing after that....

Oh, yes, I am using the proper Nvidia drivers for win7 as the default ones had no hi-res support.

 

Ok well that rules out a RAM issue - do you see any artifacting on the external LCD?

 

Yes, there is some on the windows splash screen, very much like on the first photo, and I think the second and third photos show the atrifacts during system repair, but not too sure as I was looking at the numbers rather than the quality...
I did also swap my modules from the new 4GB to the old/original 2GB, but no change.

 

Sorry, I doubled up the reply... I'm working on an ooold computer

 

No worries - since you are seeing a bit of the same on the external my money is on the GPU. I guess the local service shop is your next action item if you want a definitive diagnosis.

Hopefully, you get this resolved. The m1710 is still a decent lappie. I miss my old m1710 at times... The subwoofer made a world of difference. The sound quality on the m1710 blows the 1730 out of the water (IMO).

Hope it works out...

 

Thanks for your help BatBoy! I really appreciate it!
The shop is indeed the next step I will take. Thanks to you and this forum I also believe (and hope) its the GPU.
I would hate to lose this machine as I spent a lot of money on it - at 2.83GHZ and 3.25GB RAM + blu ray it still does very well for me.
I'll post the results of the diagnostics as soon as I get them.
JS