Toshiba Satellite: Blue Vertical Lines And Other Messed Up

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ovvn.you

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Ok guys i recently bought a preowned toshiba satellite p25 s520. The display is f***ing with me, first it wouldnt let me boot windows normally(bsod after load screen, but not a normal bsod, it was flashing from bsod to blue screen and back and forth), so i went into safe mode and uninstalled the nvidia geforce fx go5200 video card. it works!! with the vgasave service running i get these blue vertical lines (that stay on the screen no matter what, changing color from time to time)and it will only allow me to change resolution other than from 640x480 and 800x600. after the bios loads up, before winodows loading screen starts, the screen becomes filled with zeros.

HERE IS THE MOST BIZZARR PART this is what the boot menu looks like

Windogs Advanced Options Menu
Please select an option :
Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Nedworking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Enable Boot Logging
Enable VGA Mode
Last Known Good Configuradion (yoer most becent settings dhat worked)
Direcdory Serficec Rectore Mode (Gindows domain controllebs only)
Debugging Mode

Sdart Windows Normalli
Rebood
Return to OS Choices Menu

Uce the u' and dogn abrow keyc to move the highlight do your choice.

no i didnt make any typos, thats exactly how it is

in my Phoenix BIOS all spelling and everything looks fine, but those blue vertical lines i was talking about now they are kind of brown looking like this from top to bottom of my screen(they appear jumpy in real)

|| || || || || || || || || ||

|| || || || || || || || || ||

|| || || || || || || || || ||

|| || || || || || || || || ||

anyone with any suggestions, any help, anything you want to say at all i appreciate it
 
definately you have a driver issue and potentially an LCD issue.
I would do a clean install of the OS.
If you still have issues, your screen is damaged. Lines running thrugh an LCD screen are a sign of dead pixels/columns. You can get screen replacements for laptops via a kit or servicing.
 
any idea on how much a fix would cost tedster? thanks for the quick reply.
btw, do you know what is up with my boot menu? thats the oddest thing i have ever seen
 
its no BIOS... its a hardware issue... call toshiba or go to support web site... find an agent in your area, take it to him.. they will replace the screen... if the laptop under warranty - its free, if not... xxxx, i dont know, but estimate it will cost you 500$.... i went thorugh it, for free.. :) regards
 
Windogs Advanced Options Menu
Please select an option :
Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Nedworking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Enable Boot Logging
Enable VGA Mode
Last Known Good Configuradion (yoer most becent settings dhat worked)
Direcdory Serficec Rectore Mode (Gindows domain controllebs only)
Debugging Mode

Sdart Windows Normalli
Rebood
Return to OS Choices Menu

Uce the u' and dogn abrow keyc to move the highlight do your choice.

anyone know why letters are all screwy?
 
maybe a corrupt boot? i would've said wipe and start clean again.... kills 99% of problems relating to windows, especialy with preowned machines..
 
most of the letters in my xp pro setup window are screwed up too

ex.
Gindows HP Pbofecsional Cetu'
------------------------------
------------------------------


@leace wait ghile Sedup formats dhe 'artition

C: Pabtition1 [NTFS] 763!7MB ( &266 MB free)

on '631' MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bes 0 on atapi [MBR]








Cetu' is formatting...
0%
 
ok.. it sounds more like the previous owner did something he's not sposed to or just plain screwed it up...

you have two options:

1. backup your important data, format, reinstall windowsxp. the most easiest and quickest way to fix all your woes.. (tho you'll need the original recovery disks or a retail winxp discs)

2. run a variety of virus/ad/spy/malware scanners (updated and all) and registry cleaners in safe mode untill you can get all the crap off.... but that is not garunteed to work...
 
hmm, seems to me that the problem isnt so much the screen as it is a problem with a short or an improper connection, because the lines have become an off and on problem.
 
well if you're game enough and you have the right tools, go pop it open and take a look... 8-|

but yeh.. i was talking about the actual software side of this problem...
 
Exact same problem.

I am having the same issues with a Toshiba Satellite M30.

Everything was fine, then it crashed today, and never restarted. At first I thought it was an issue with the video card. I can tell you it's not related to the actual LCD screen. These aren't dead lines, pixels or hot pixels, this is something else.

I started looking into possible viruses, as some viruses transpose similar characters like 'y' and 'i'.

But if I boot directly off a CD, I still get this, which makes me wonder about the BIOS?

Could the BIOS be damaged. Could the BIOS be infected with a virus?

Could the video card be fried, and causing this kind of transpositional error?

This machine is out of warranty now. A traditional hard-drive based virus won't explain why a bootable CD is messed up. The video card being fried would explain why even the BIOS screens are messed-up looking.

I just wanted to know if you ever solved this one, as my problems are identical. The zeros, the blue screen of death. The transposed characters, the lines on the screen. Odd.

I did manage to start-up in safe mode once, and ran a full anti-virus scan, which came up clean.

Safe mode also uses a generic VGA driver, which would lend some credibility to the video card being fried.

Unfortunately, I belive the nVidia GeForce FX Go 5200? is integrated on the motherboard.

Any help appreciated. I know it's not the LCD. It might be the video card, the BIOS or software related. Will try pulling the CMOS battery. Maybe I can re-flash the BIOS with a USB floppy drive...

If this is hardware, which makes the most sense... It really does have a look of a virus to me. I took digital shots of the screen. Can post if they'd help.

Thanks for any replies.
 
Hi... its not virus, not video card, its a screen malfuncture... if laptop is under warranty, bring it in to your local toshiba center. list can be found on your toshiba support page. thats what i did... they know about issue, they just replace it... once again, i have been through all that, i just brought it to toshiba for a screen replacement. took 2 days.... regards, vassili
 
Appreciate the quick response. I'm still a little confused how it could be the actual screen. I've seen screen failures, and while the lines in my display sound similar, the other symptoms are not. ZVM76 - did your machine exhibit all these symptoms when you had the screen replaced? Do you know they replaced the LCD only, and not the video card?

The computer is transposing letters on boot screens, but not even all of them. 'Windogs' for example, or .sys extensions are now .sis.

I think I've eliminated a virus as a possibility, as it does this if you boot from a CD. Even the BIOS screens if you dump to set-up are screwed-up with lines, but no transposed characters.

If it is related to the display screen, and the video card is okay, then I should be able to verify this by connecting an external monitor to the VGA port.

Also, is there a diagnostic I can run on a nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Go? I seriously think the video card is suspect. Unfortunately, I think it's integrated into the motherboard. That sounds expensive.

Appreciate any advice.
 
It's best to send it back to Toshiba or find a Toshiba Service Center that as on site Tech. The laptop would have to be tested to see what's causing the problem.

Just can't say it's the LCD panel, which is made of other parts that can be replace.

You could try to remove the keyboard and the panel next to the LCD which should give you access to the LCD connector. Remember always remove the battery and power supply cord from the Laptop when working on it. Good idea to shut it down.

Now make sure that the LCD Connector that connects to the MOBO is tightly in. Sometimes this gets loose and causes problems like you describe. Then again it might not be your problem. You see when the LCD is remove on the back there is ciruit board that goes bad, what can be replace if needed. Depending on your model.

The tech will check and test this, if the LCD is okay and the ciruit board is also okay, it might be resisters gone bad on the MOBO, in that case that would have to be replace.

I remember when I was repairing laptops and desktop the most of the problems were bad video resisters on the MOBO since both are integrated. You could see all gray on your screen or just get lines an etc.. Once you boot up and you don't get a clear fonts in a DOS boot screen or BIOS then there is a problem with integrated video onboard.

Just to let you know it takes time to remove the MOBO in the laptop, so that will be expensive to work on depending on what the labor charge is per hour. Don't forget the replacement parts too.
 
after i replaced the screen at toshiba canter, no... no unusual characters... all good... according to Toshiba explanation it was an LCD screen. i got a new screen...
 
Well, good news is the laptop HDD is fine. Bought a cheap $15 2.5" USB enclosure, and moved all my data to my external HDD.

Wiped the drive, and tried to run the recovery CD's - just to eliminate the possibility of a virus or software error. The space messages and lines started immediately - even booting off a CD with no HDD present.

Also managed to set external monitor in the BIOS, and found an old RGB CRT at work to connect to. Same image on the CRT as on the laptop's LCD.

I know a buddy that used the bottom half of a Toshiba Tecra as his computer. The computer was his fathers, and the LCD died. It was a couple of years old, and not worth fixing. So he removed the lid and screen at the hinges, connected an external monitor, and that was his PC.

So pretty sure I've narrowed this down to a video card issue. Unfortunately the video card is part of the motherboard, so that's not good.

A replacement motherboard is $600 to $700 new, or about $400 on eBay.

I've done all I can. It's out of warrantly, but I'm going to take it to a service centre anyway. It's worth the $25 or so to me, to have a professional definitively tell me what part failed.

My personal finances have changed. I now have a kid, a house and a car, so I can't afford another fancy laptop, as much as I'd like one.

Looking at used laptops, or maybe a desktop (cheaper) now that I have the space for one (see house, above).

I guess it's stupid to be attached to the hardware, the important part is I salvaged my data. If the laptop had lasted twice this long, it'd be obsolete enough to use as a door stop.

I'm just not used to the hardware failing before it's antiquated. I tend to keep this stuff awhile. I've only ever had 3 computers. A 486 DX/2 66 MHz, A PIII 500 MHz, and then this Centrino 1.5 GHz.

I wonder if it's worth anything to part-out it out on eBay. Battery, power adaptor, HDD, DVD/CD-RW, LCD, Speakers and plastic parts.
 
well, part definitelly would worth something, there are a lot of people with older laptops... know it from my experience. sold my old old toshiba and hp this way...
 
Anyone found out the definite problem

Hi Eldrino,
My Qosmio G10 has the same symptoms as you have described. I have managed to back up all my data as you did and tried the product recovery DVD to no avail. (Crashes out when trying to run instal and has lines when booting. I phoned Toshiba and they said a new system board is probably what is required.


Like you mine is out of warranty. Did you take it to a service center anyway and confirm what the problem was?

I'm looking at a new desk top if this can't be solved soon!!
 
Yeah, I got the failure confirmed. North bridge Ball Grid Array (BGA) failure.

The GeForce chip was on a little daughter card attached to the motherboard with a BGA.

The chip got hot enough to warp or expand the daughter card, breaking one of the BGA joints.

Found a place that did BGA repairs, tried twice to re-set the BGA. They heat it with the same kind of tool that attaches BGA's, and hope the connection will melt back together.

First one worked for a week. Second try they kept setting the heat higher and higher to try and get it to work, and cooked the GPU chip or at least cooked or melted something else in the BGA.

It looks like this model laptop lacks sufficient cooling for the video GPU chip if you run it hard or long.

If you have a Toshiba Satellite M30, I'd recommend not leaving it on overnight, don't use it for tough tasks like rendering video, and maybe even try some kind of external cooling mat or fan.

I'm disappointed because the laptop was expensive, I really liked it, and I was under the impression that Toshiba laptops were amongst the best.
 
Had a friend who's system got the cold solder joints on the power jack. Asked me to work on it, now It has this exact same problem...
Boots up and says
"Sdart Windows Normalli" with Characters... etc..

It's not the LCD, Virus ,... It's the Video card connection..
Anyone successfully fix this? How?
 
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