Notebook Display problems .

[Irwell]

My wife's Toshiba NB505 notebook has a display problem
in that after a few minutes from Startup the display
freezes with a sort of overlaying pattern.

The computer then will not respond to any of the
keyboard or mouse inputs, so it impossible to do
the Normal Shutdown. A forced shutdown by holding
the Power On/Off switch for several seconds works.

On the next Startup attempt it is possible to get into Safe
Mode, the display works all the time in this mode, normal
Shutdown is achievable in Safe Mode, but on the next
normal Startup the display problems happens.

The OS is Windows 7 basic version.

Where would one start to look for the solution,
I have ordered extra RAM and will see if that helps.

 

[Bob I]

Perhaps roll back the video driver. It sound like you may have
"upgraded" to in incompatible version.

 

[Ken1943]

My wife's Toshiba NB505 notebook has a display problem
in that after a few minutes from Startup the display
freezes with a sort of overlaying pattern.

The computer then will not respond to any of the
keyboard or mouse inputs, so it impossible to do
the Normal Shutdown. A forced shutdown by holding
the Power On/Off switch for several seconds works.

On the next Startup attempt it is possible to get into Safe
Mode, the display works all the time in this mode, normal
Shutdown is achievable in Safe Mode, but on the next
normal Startup the display problems happens.

The OS is Windows 7 basic version.

Where would one start to look for the solution,
I have ordered extra RAM and will see if that helps.

Safe mode only uses basic display driver and not the video cards native
resolution. If you have a desktop monitor, plug that in and see if that
works ok. You could have a bad video card or corrupted display driver for
the card.


KenW

 

[Ken1943]

Search 'device driver' there should be a 'change how device drivers
update' or something like that and make sure that download and install is
NOT checked. You DONOT want any Microsoft driver updates installed.

My wife's Toshiba NB505 notebook has a display problem
in that after a few minutes from Startup the display
freezes with a sort of overlaying pattern.

The computer then will not respond to any of the
keyboard or mouse inputs, so it impossible to do
the Normal Shutdown. A forced shutdown by holding
the Power On/Off switch for several seconds works.

On the next Startup attempt it is possible to get into Safe
Mode, the display works all the time in this mode, normal
Shutdown is achievable in Safe Mode, but on the next
normal Startup the display problems happens.

The OS is Windows 7 basic version.

Where would one start to look for the solution,
I have ordered extra RAM and will see if that helps.

KenW

 

[Paul]

My wife's Toshiba NB505 notebook has a display problem
in that after a few minutes from Startup the display
freezes with a sort of overlaying pattern.

The computer then will not respond to any of the
keyboard or mouse inputs, so it impossible to do
the Normal Shutdown. A forced shutdown by holding
the Power On/Off switch for several seconds works.

On the next Startup attempt it is possible to get into Safe
Mode, the display works all the time in this mode, normal
Shutdown is achievable in Safe Mode, but on the next
normal Startup the display problems happens.

The OS is Windows 7 basic version.

Where would one start to look for the solution,
I have ordered extra RAM and will see if that helps.

The graphics are done inside the 1.66GHz Atom processor itself.
The graphics would be UMA (shared memory, and borrowing some RAM from
the system memory of 1GB). So in terms of using resources, the
graphics uses some of your system memory. It should be a fixed
amount, to run the frame buffer portion.

http://www.intel.com/Assets/image/diagram/NM10_Block-Diagram.gif

Your test strategy is limited, by the machine not having a
built-in optical drive. So if you have test CDs or DVDs, you'd
need an optical drive to access them. Booting a Linux LiveCD,
is one way to test the electronics. It avoids the hard drive,
and allows testing with code which is entirely different from
Windows code.

You can start with a copy of memtest86+. The download button
is half-way down the page. There is a version you can load onto
a USB flash key. Note that, the frame buffer area used by the
Intel graphics, may not be accessible by memtest, as it may
be marked as "reserved". So the program will not be able to test
all the memory. About all you can do in such a case, is turn down
the frame buffer size in the BIOS settings. And in a machine like
that, you're unlikely to even have that setting. (My laptop had
a grand total of one setting in it, so it's not like these
machines have complicated settings any more. You can't adjust
much in them any more.)

http://www.memtest.org/

If you do decide to buy more memory or change memory modules,
you can use that program.

In any case, that will give a chance to run the display for a while,
in a less demanding mode, and see if the display continues to run
properly or not. So we're testing two things at once, that the
display subsystem continues to run, and that the memory (system memory part)
is good.

When you got your Toshiba, there may have been instructions on
how to prepare recovery media. The recovery media handles
the case where the OS needs to be reinstalled. In addition,
you should also have a backup strategy, so things like the
email database don't get lost, if the hard drive dies. Worst case,
you can try re-installing the OS or returning to "factory" using
the recovery media.

It's especially important on those small machines, to have all
your repair tools and strategies ready, for the day the machine
screws up. Since, without lots of hardware options for rescue,
you want to have tools on hand when it "needs help".

It could be, that a recent graphics update did this. But the
chances of you getting to Device Manager, and rolling back the
last graphics driver update, before it freezes, probably aren't
very good. Since Safe Mode is working, it could be a graphics
driver issue. Maybe you can do something to the driver
from Safe Mode ? The question in that case would be, whether
a "hardware driver" update from Windows Update, would have an
entry in "Programs and Features" control panel.

(Perhaps uninstall a driver from here...)

http://www.dkszone.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/control_panel_programs_features.jpg

(Or roll back a driver change from Device Manager...)

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/roll-back-driver-windows-7.htm
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Restore-a-driver-to-its-previous-version

Paul

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

My wife's Toshiba NB505 notebook has a display problem
in that after a few minutes from Startup the display
freezes with a sort of overlaying pattern.

The computer then will not respond to any of the
keyboard or mouse inputs, so it impossible to do
the Normal Shutdown. A forced shutdown by holding
the Power On/Off switch for several seconds works.

On the next Startup attempt it is possible to get into Safe
Mode, the display works all the time in this mode, normal
Shutdown is achievable in Safe Mode, but on the next
normal Startup the display problems happens.

The OS is Windows 7 basic version.

Where would one start to look for the solution,
I have ordered extra RAM and will see if that helps.

Is it overheating due to dust in the innards?
Safe mode is less power intensive than normal mode,
therefore less heat.

 

[Irwell]

Perhaps roll back the video driver. It sound like you may have
"upgraded" to in incompatible version.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Irwell]

Safe mode only uses basic display driver and not the video cards native
resolution. If you have a desktop monitor, plug that in and see if that
works ok. You could have a bad video card or corrupted display driver for
the card.


KenW

Thanks Ken, apparently there is no video card, it is part
of the CPU.

 

[Irwell]

The graphics are done inside the 1.66GHz Atom processor itself.
The graphics would be UMA (shared memory, and borrowing some RAM from
the system memory of 1GB). So in terms of using resources, the
graphics uses some of your system memory. It should be a fixed
amount, to run the frame buffer portion.

http://www.intel.com/Assets/image/diagram/NM10_Block-Diagram.gif

Your test strategy is limited, by the machine not having a
built-in optical drive. So if you have test CDs or DVDs, you'd
need an optical drive to access them. Booting a Linux LiveCD,
is one way to test the electronics. It avoids the hard drive,
and allows testing with code which is entirely different from
Windows code.

You can start with a copy of memtest86+. The download button
is half-way down the page. There is a version you can load onto
a USB flash key. Note that, the frame buffer area used by the
Intel graphics, may not be accessible by memtest, as it may
be marked as "reserved". So the program will not be able to test
all the memory. About all you can do in such a case, is turn down
the frame buffer size in the BIOS settings. And in a machine like
that, you're unlikely to even have that setting. (My laptop had
a grand total of one setting in it, so it's not like these
machines have complicated settings any more. You can't adjust
much in them any more.)

http://www.memtest.org/

If you do decide to buy more memory or change memory modules,
you can use that program.

In any case, that will give a chance to run the display for a while,
in a less demanding mode, and see if the display continues to run
properly or not. So we're testing two things at once, that the
display subsystem continues to run, and that the memory (system memory part)
is good.

When you got your Toshiba, there may have been instructions on
how to prepare recovery media. The recovery media handles
the case where the OS needs to be reinstalled. In addition,
you should also have a backup strategy, so things like the
email database don't get lost, if the hard drive dies. Worst case,
you can try re-installing the OS or returning to "factory" using
the recovery media.

It's especially important on those small machines, to have all
your repair tools and strategies ready, for the day the machine
screws up. Since, without lots of hardware options for rescue,
you want to have tools on hand when it "needs help".

It could be, that a recent graphics update did this. But the
chances of you getting to Device Manager, and rolling back the
last graphics driver update, before it freezes, probably aren't
very good. Since Safe Mode is working, it could be a graphics
driver issue. Maybe you can do something to the driver
from Safe Mode ? The question in that case would be, whether
a "hardware driver" update from Windows Update, would have an
entry in "Programs and Features" control panel.

(Perhaps uninstall a driver from here...)

http://www.dkszone.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/control_panel_programs_features.jpg

(Or roll back a driver change from Device Manager...)

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/roll-back-driver-windows-7.htm
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Restore-a-driver-to-its-previous-version

Paul

Thanks Paul for the detailed answer, lots to look at,
will see what happens after the Memory upgrade.

Unfortunately we did not make a Recovery Disk, seems like
it is too late now. Will try to get to a Restore Point
and see if that does anything.

My Desktop is running XP so anything there maybe not
compatible with her Windows 7 Starter version.

 

[Irwell]

Is it overheating due to dust in the innards?
Safe mode is less power intensive than normal mode,
therefore less heat.

I took a look inside, seems very clean.

 

[Irwell]

The graphics are done inside the 1.66GHz Atom processor itself.
The graphics would be UMA (shared memory, and borrowing some RAM from
the system memory of 1GB). So in terms of using resources, the
graphics uses some of your system memory. It should be a fixed
amount, to run the frame buffer portion.

http://www.intel.com/Assets/image/diagram/NM10_Block-Diagram.gif

Your test strategy is limited, by the machine not having a
built-in optical drive. So if you have test CDs or DVDs, you'd
need an optical drive to access them. Booting a Linux LiveCD,
is one way to test the electronics. It avoids the hard drive,
and allows testing with code which is entirely different from
Windows code.

You can start with a copy of memtest86+. The download button
is half-way down the page. There is a version you can load onto
a USB flash key. Note that, the frame buffer area used by the
Intel graphics, may not be accessible by memtest, as it may
be marked as "reserved". So the program will not be able to test
all the memory. About all you can do in such a case, is turn down
the frame buffer size in the BIOS settings. And in a machine like
that, you're unlikely to even have that setting. (My laptop had
a grand total of one setting in it, so it's not like these
machines have complicated settings any more. You can't adjust
much in them any more.)

http://www.memtest.org/

If you do decide to buy more memory or change memory modules,
you can use that program.

In any case, that will give a chance to run the display for a while,
in a less demanding mode, and see if the display continues to run
properly or not. So we're testing two things at once, that the
display subsystem continues to run, and that the memory (system memory part)
is good.

When you got your Toshiba, there may have been instructions on
how to prepare recovery media. The recovery media handles
the case where the OS needs to be reinstalled. In addition,
you should also have a backup strategy, so things like the
email database don't get lost, if the hard drive dies. Worst case,
you can try re-installing the OS or returning to "factory" using
the recovery media.

It's especially important on those small machines, to have all
your repair tools and strategies ready, for the day the machine
screws up. Since, without lots of hardware options for rescue,
you want to have tools on hand when it "needs help".

It could be, that a recent graphics update did this. But the
chances of you getting to Device Manager, and rolling back the
last graphics driver update, before it freezes, probably aren't
very good. Since Safe Mode is working, it could be a graphics
driver issue. Maybe you can do something to the driver
from Safe Mode ? The question in that case would be, whether
a "hardware driver" update from Windows Update, would have an
entry in "Programs and Features" control panel.

(Perhaps uninstall a driver from here...)

http://www.dkszone.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/control_panel_programs_features.jpg

(Or roll back a driver change from Device Manager...)

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/roll-back-driver-windows-7.htm
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Restore-a-driver-to-its-previous-version

Paul

Hi Paul
The roll back driver info seems to have done the trick,
managed to do it in safe mode, the notebook seems stable now
in Normal mode, thanks a million for the tips.