Having some serious problems

TheGreatPhilHansen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 27 Sep 2002 Posts: 89

Ok, well basically im having some serious video problems. This problem applies to windows as well as linux. Ok, whenever my display is in 16 bit color or less, im getting all these pixel distortions . Now I have my console displaying a bootsplash with the framebuffer in 16 bit color. If i dont go straight into X the distortions will not occur, however, once I switch to X the console will be messed up if i switch to it. The same happens with Windows, but it happens whenever anything is displayed in 16 bit color or less.

Here is my current system:

Duron 1GHZ processor
640 MB 133MHZ SDRAM
Aopen Geforce 4 TI4200 128MB DDR
Soundblaster Live! 5.1 Digital
Chaintech 7AJA2E mobo

This problem started happening after I shipped it up to college. Now right when i got there i installed the Soundblaster and an additional 256MB of ram. But the problem wasnt there before i shipped it with all other hardware the same.

I would really appreciate some insight as this problem is really worrying me.

Thanks

ectospasm · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 12:37 am Post subject:

First thing I would try is to see if the video card is seated properly. It may have come loose. Also, check to make sure your monitor cable pins aren't bent or broken, I've seen similar effects because of that.

Another thing to do is check the monitor with another known working computer. If you get the same problem on a computer that you know works, it could be your monitor flaking out. Also try your computer on a known working monitor. These will let you know whether the it's the video card or the monitor.
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TheGreatPhilHansen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 27 Sep 2002 Posts: 89

Ok, well i checked it with different monitors, but i still get the same problems. I'm kinda worried that my video card might be at fault, but i dont know how it could get like this all of a sudden.

Thanks for your help though.

dirtboy · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 5:35 am Post subject:

Sometimes it just happens. I had an nVidia 4200 just die all of a sudden about 2 months ago. Luckily, it was under warranty, and Circuit City was able to reprint the receipt for the RMA.

TheGreatPhilHansen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 27 Sep 2002 Posts: 89

I was just wondering if anyone knew if a bad or weak power supply could cause this kind of a problem. Right now I have a 350 Watt supply with the hardware I stated above.

ectospasm · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 12:18 am Post subject:

TheGreatPhilHansen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 27 Sep 2002 Posts: 89

I just had another quick question. Does anyone think this problem could be related to bad memory? I noticed that the severity of the problem lessened when i took the memory out and put it back in. Then, I used a memory tester and it had gotten about 22 errors by the time it was 17% through. Any thoughts on this issue?

ectospasm · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:12 pm Post subject:

It could be due to bad anything. I once installed a network card or a modem (can't remember which) and the computer acted like it had no power whatsoever. Took out the card everything was fine. But if you're getting that many errors on only 17% of the DIMM, I'd replace it.

A quick test would be to see if some known, good memory exhibits the same problem, it's pretty safe to say that it isn't caused by the memory.
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