Inspiron 6400 screen shuts off

Whenever I play any type of game that needs a moving screen or any graphics at all, my screen will just shut off. No sound comes out of the computer, the backlight isn't on, the screen is just dead. I've been turning it off by taking out the battery and removing the power plug but haven't tried holding down the power button yet.

If anyone can help me that would be great!!

 

It sounds like you have a connector problem or a hardware problem.

The LCD on the E1505 is connected by a small connector to the motherboard.
If you have a small flathead screwdriver, use that to pry off the small plastic bezel which is located between your keyboard and the LCD. It has the power button on it. (You need to fold the LCD back 180 degrees to remove the plastic bezel properly)
Once removed, you will need to remove the two screws which hold the keyboard down. The LCD ribbon connector is located by the print screen button on the keyboard. Make sure that the connector is connected all of the way. Once that is checked, let us know if the problem still occurs.

If the problem continues, than the problem is coming from the LCD connection.

Remove the 6 rubber circular dots around the Lid. Once removed you will see small screws underneath them. Once those 6 screws are removed you will be able to separate the two halves of the screen. You need to remove another 10-12 screws to get to the back of the LCD. The ribbon cable you are looking for is about 1" wide and about 1mm thick. Simply unplug it from the back of the LCD. Than reconnect the cable. When the cable is connected properly, use some electrical tape to hold the cable in place, so it does not come disconnected again.

Than put the system back together and test everything out.
Hopefully it is a connectivity problem because it is free to fix.

If the problem continues, I suspect the problem is your graphics drivers or the actual graphics card itself.
I am using the stock Dell video drivers on my E1505, which are download-able on Dell's website and I never came across a problem with them.

If the problem isnt software or a connection than the problem is the actual graphics card itself.
The Dell E1505 is compatible with the nVidia Geforce 7300, the ATi X1300 and the ATi X1400. The X1400 being the most powerful graphics card for the system.
The part number for the X1400 is:
FBFM1017013

The red card in my E1505 is the X1400. The graphics connector mentioned at the start of this post is located at the top of the graphics card.


Good luck,

K-TRON

 

Wow, didn't expect a reply that good or that soon. Thanks a lot, I'll get back to you as soon as I try those. My friend said it might be my actual graphics card because it's about 6 years old and I'm playing a game that's only about 2 years old, but if I don't have to replace I'd be very happy.
Thanks again!

 

OK, I did both of the things you told me and the wires looked fine. I also ran a defrag on my computer and the problem seemed to be slightly better and happened less often.
Do you think my graphics card is croaking?

 

If everything looks fine than the problem is your graphics card. You can buy a new one through dell or ebay. I cant imagine them costing very much. You can probably get it for about $50 or less

K-TRON

 

Well, I cant afford to buy any new parts for a while, so I was just wondering if there's a button or button combination that will toggle the screen on/off?
If there is that would help ALOT because then whenever it turns off I could just wait a few minutes and then turn it back on without having to totally restart computer.

 

You should be able to toggle between displays by pressing FN and F8 at the same time

K-TRON