a green screen - advice needed

I swapped laptop with my brother. I'm using his 2-3 years old laptop. There is a green side on the side of the icons and basically on anything that has a blue colour. The desktop background is blue.

So far I tried the above, I replaced the display cable (I had a spare one), RAM, and wifi. I also connected the laptop to an external screen. The green shades don't appear on the external screen. I also manged to get rid of the shades if I use WinXP default VGA drivers instead of Intel's, or if I boot in safe mode.

I was going to opt for a faulty screen but since the green shades disappear in the safe mode I'm not longer sure it's the screen.

The laptop is an Acer AS 4315, 2GB RAM, T7300, and intel i960/i965 graphics.

 

probably display is going bad, or the connector (not the cable)

 

guys, what are the chances that my IGP is dying?

I spent the last hours browsing the internet and I've notice that when I scroll a page up or down the green marks/shades move up and down. It is like they are part of the web pages. Also when I move the icons in the desktop, the shades move with the icons as if they are attached to them.

A few minutes ago, I've remove intel's driver and the shades are gone.

This might be far stretching, is it possible that the x3100 runs at a lower speed with WinXP default drivers, and thus cooler. I'm thinking that might be my IGP is not happy operating any more at 400MHz.

 

dunno, since you said that it works when you connect to an external monitor, the igp should be fine

 

Try getting the green externally. Try known good RAM/reseatting RAM. Have you tried reinstalling a fresh copy of the OS to rule out drivers?

 

I replaced the RAM with a different one. I also swapped the harddrive with a spare one and re-installed windows after a formatting. Everything is fine until I install intel's VGA drivers. The GL960's integrated IGP, the X3100, is supposed to run at 400MHz. I have a feeling that it is running at 500MHz with an 800MHz CPU like the T7300.

I'll try something and post back.

 

Guys can you confirm that the screen is fine!!!

Also can you confirm that something else in the motherboard is failing such as IGP/Chipset!!

Intel VGA drivers:
Shades on the internal screen but not the external.

Intel VGA drivers + RAM PC4300:
Shades on the internal screen but not the external.

WinXP VGA drivers:
No shades on the internal screen.

Google ChromeOS Live CD:
No shades on the internal screen.

Intel VGA drivers + different RAM:
Shades on the internal screen but not the external

 

try some other linux dsitro, but in the end wipe out the drive and install the OS again, its looking like more and more a bad driver

 

Drivers doesn't make sense unless Intel purposefully wrote...bad drivers. The generic driver doesn't actually count. The last thing I would do to download the manufacturer's video driver. The problem is unless you start replacing parts, it is going to be hard to rule out anything. I would look to replace inverter/LCD first, if it still has issues, I would say motherboard.

 

I've replaced the following parts so for: memory, wifi, inverter, display cable.

Drivers: I used the manufacturer (Acer) drivers, and the latest driver from intel.

OS: I used a spare harddrive, which I formated. I installed a fresh copy of Windows XP + drivers.

Parts that I can't test: screen as I don't have a spare one, the IGP as it is soldered.

Note: No green stains in the BIOS nor in Windows before installing Intel/manufacturer drivers.


I know that there is something wrong. I know that Intel and Acer drivers are bug free as I used them before. I would just like a confirmation of what components is failing. I don't won't to spend money on a new screen if the IGP/Chipset is failing

 

Okay question, have you EVER gotten green display or any artifacts externally? No? Then your LCD is fine and you have a bad motherboard OR you have a combination of a bad LCD and motherboard.

 

drivers for that model are terribad

 

This is more or less the answer I was after.

If I didn't make it clear, not all of the screen is green. It is like in the photo in post one, only a few spots on the screen are green

I don't have artifact or green spots in the external screen.
Uninstalling Intel's drivers has made the green spots on the internal LCD disappear.

Questions:
1- Does the IGP run at the same clock with both Intel drivers and Windows XP default drivers?

2- Assuming that the IGP is dying, how long would it last before a complete failure?

 

I doubt the IGP will function at it's rated clock without drivers, Windows doesn't know what to do with it so that's why the ultra low resolution without drivers.

How long your IGP will last? Only time can tell. It could last 2 weeks, 10 years, no way to tell. Given that it is dying, I would just use it until it completely dies.

 

One last question.

Right now the laptop has a T7300 (200FSB) CPU. What would happen if I install a T2370 (133FSB) on it? Would the IGP downclock?

The same question the other way around;
The IGP of the GL960 is clocked at 400MHz. Would a CPU upgrade from for instance a Celeron (FSB133) to a Core 2 Duo (FSB200) pushes the IGP clock to 500MHz (matching the speed of the IGP in the PM965)?

Thanks

 

Never knew you could run a T7300 on a 533 FSB GL960. Anyways Wiki shows GL960 core clock @ 400 MHz, while GM965/GME965 are clocked at 500 MHz, why would a CPU upgrade push the chipset IGP core clock higher than it is rated for? PM965 doesn't have IGP.

 

Dude,
Because the IGP clock is based off the FSB?

and BTW I'm pretty sure he meant gm965

 

In Acer and Toshiba the GL960 and the T7300 are compatible. I've upgraded my friend's Toshiba Equium L40 laptop this morning to a T7300. As I result I have now a T2370 that I can install in the my Acer instead of my own T7300. I'll install it tomorrow morning, reinstall Intel's driver and see.

I think you're right

 

I've installed the T2370 and Intel's driver and the green spots are back.

I'll carry on using this laptop for another 2 or 3 months and then get another laptop. To keep the cost down I would like to do the following: Buy a laptop from ebay with a damaged screen, and used the screen, RAM, and Harddrive from my Acer for the repair and the upgrade.

So I'm looking for a laptop with a 14.1" (1280x800) screen. Any recommendation?