41 replies to this topic

[jephree]

Hi Wayne, I've looked a bit to try and find a replacement ATI Mobility x600 card but have been unsuccessful. One last thing you might try is to run the System recovery option to reset to factory settings. Note that this will remove all data that was not on the original machine.

[The big ugly one]

Hi Jephree, I will give this a try just as soon as I have done some copying of my files. I am one of those guilty of not doing regular back-ups, so I might be a while! I will post back when completed and let you know the result. Thanks for your time Wayne

[The big ugly one]

Hi Jephree,

I wanted you to check out these photos to make sure that I am correct in what I think the hardware is- mainly to check that the black square under the "card" isn't the graphics chip???

There seems to be some insulation on the underside of the heat sink which sits on top of this square which led me to believe that this is just a seat to keep the heat away from the motherboard- hmmm,how wrong I could be!

I have got on to Elonex parts (elonexparts.com) which has some of the original technicians working there who still provide support where possible to customers of the old Elonex brand, I am hoping they might be able to provide a replacement card if indeed that is what I am looking at!

http://s279.photobuc.../kk124/wmd1974/

Thanks
Wayne

ps I will try the recovery option if I don't get any joy from Elonex parts.

[jephree]

Hi Wayne and thanks for the pics.

That black square certainly looks like a major chip however they are usually labeled.

I am only speculating but I doubt there would be two different motherboards for the basic model and the "EG" version. In other words I am speculating the ATI card is covering the Intel GPU.

It appears the fan is on top of the CPU and the heatsink next to it should be the Northbridge.

Earlier you had said: "I looked at all the connections on the card and it would appear that the 2" long connector is where all power and info goes into it, then the socket on the top of the card goes out to the laptop's screen and another lead off the bottom of the card (just below the socket) drops back onto the main board which is right next to the D-sub socket on the rear of the laptop, presumably continuing the graphics output to that connector."

Is this lead that connects next to the V-Sub removable? If so did you remove it when you tested booting with the card removed?

[The big ugly one]

Yes it is removable and yes I did remove it with the test.

[jephree]

Is this lead also removable from the card? If so is there a corresponding port for it near the motherboard GPU (card removed)?

[The big ugly one]

not removable but there are marks on the motherboard where it could possibly be sited in a different configuration.

[jephree]

Was just speculating that since there is no BIOS switch that perhaps this lead delegates the graphics device. If this were correct there would presumably be a lead from the motherboard GPU to the V-Sub.

[The big ugly one]

Hello Jephree, Just thought i'd give you an update. I bought a new laptop! The graphics died! I reformatted it which made the graphics slightly better for a short time but then the blue stripes went vertical and a much wider line. Then it started fading to a black screen shortly after booting into XP. I tried to start in safe mode but the same thing happened there. Next it wouldn't even display at initial start up, no logo, post, nothing. I did read on another website that a BIOS flash could remedy the problem when the VGA graphics are affected along with the graphics card, but I could not find anywhere to obtain the flash from. The BIOS is from Insyde and when I checked out their website it stated that no end user support was provided by them and I would need to contact my OEM. Is it possible for me to "drive" my old laptop using my new one as its eyes if I was to find the necessary BIOS update. I would still like to get it fixed as a backup or to try out any programs before I download them to my new one- help keep it clean of junk! Wayne

[Abydos]

Sounds like the backlight died on it. It is cheaper to fix than getting a new screen tho. About one tenth the price (at least here in Denmark) If the laptop boots ok, you should be able to hook a external monitor to it. After it is booted, plug in the external monitor, and hit the Fn key along with whatever key is used in combo for your laptop, should be stated in the manual. Or just hold down the Fn key and start with F1 through to F9. You will know when you hit the right one, when a box is being displayed on the external monitor. But hooking it up via your other laptop, that one I can't answer. If it is a matter of getting some data off it. Simply remove the drive, and put it in a USB drive enclosure. That way, you connect it like any normal external drive. Regards

Edited by Abydos, 08 July 2009 - 05:04 PM.

[The big ugly one]

Hi Abydos, I tried the external monitor before it totally crashed but it still had the issue with the lines across the screen, but I will give it another try just to prove it. Thanks Wayne.

[Abydos]

Just read through the whole thread. Quite the ordeal I can understand. I would also draw back the mentioning of the backlight, seems like some serious motherboard faults instead. I'll let jephree answer about if you can use your new laptop to get the BIOS update in place. Cheers and good luck with it