dv9500t Video Card Dead?

I've enjoyed using my dv9500t and its 8600m a lot for gaming, video editing, photoshopping, etc. But the other day, i installed vista sp1 and all was well (not bothering to check if hp had updates out) so i used it for awhile and everything worked great until my screen just died and was stuck flashing fun colors so i had to cut the power (no HD activity). Upon restart, everytime i login the same thing happens. Going into safe mode, i was able to update my drivers to the new ones, but to no avail. Everything works great without graphics acceleration. So i reinstalled vista cleanly to clear out sp1 and any driver conflicts and things were cool until i installed the video driver.

Fast forward:

I've tried numerous drivers and combinations and updates to see if they have any effect. It's been narrowed down to be not the driver, not windows, or possibly the card itself. Currently running the laptop2go drivers with no everyday issues except the following: It seems anything that requests 3d acceleration immediately shuts down everything into a ball of seizure-inducing colors... this includes turning on Aero, opening chess titans, world of warcraft, and even internet explorer (using firefox right now).

My plan: if the video card is shot and since i have a few weeks of school, i'll tough it out in the reduced functionaly state it is in, until i go home to my desktop PC and ship the laptop off to hp for service for half the summer (removing my second hard drive with all my data).

thanks for any help

dv9500t CTO
T7300
Vista Home Premium 32-bit
2GB PNY ddr2-667
120gb 7200rpm (system) 160gb 5400rpm (data)
Intel/Pro wireless N w/bluetooth

 

My frieind had a similar issue with his laptop, his specs are pretty much the same as yours.

Try installing XP onto the laptop, before sending it in.

I also suggest buying a cooling pad for this laptop model since it gets very hot:

http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=AWE12US

 

yeah, i was thinking about installing XP, got enough discs i my toolkit (aka cd wallet). Noticed the heat issue and so far have raised the back of the notebook off my desk so the fan can do its job (yes i have the new bios and all updates). Friend of mine bought a small fan from wal-mart to blow on his, but i am getting a cooling pad when i get this resolved.

Also, you didn't mention if your friend fixed it or was the card shot?
thanks

 

My friend was unable to fix his card, he sent the Laptop to HP. He called me on my cell and warned me not to install Service Pack One, he said right after he installed it he had purple, and pink lines going across his screen. So after this scare I searched how to install XP on a DV9500T and came across this forum.

 

well good and bad news
bad news first: hardware problem
good news: had great experience with the us-based hp live chat support, who is going to fix it under warrenty completely free (round trip overnight fedex and all)
luckily all my data is on my secondary hard drive, but i think i'll replace the pny memory i installed with the "hp original" so they don't blame me on bad memory.

 

did u guys force the installation of SP1 from the download from microsoft.com or an update from the windows updater?

 

Windows Update.

 

i've been using SP1 since it went RTM and i have no probs with my dv9500t. Must be a hit or miss.

 

its off topic, but i read a comment about the dv9500t being hot... I have the dv9700t which is basically the same thing with different customization options. And mine doesnt get hot at all. When gaming it heats up, but still on a cooler level than most laptops ive used in the past while gaming. But maybe an extra fan was one of the updates in the change "behind the scenes".