dell vostro 1510 video stop and start

This started a couple weeks ago: All the time, the lights on the stop, reverse and pause/go buttons blink... mostly it is the stop button.

If I try to play a you tube, it stops and starts the you tube many times a second, making it impossible to watch the you tube.

If I open I tunes, it gets weirder: it is impossible to play a song. the cursor seems to jump from song to song and highlights different columns

I have run PC Tools registry Mechanic and have a current version of PC Tools Spyware Dr. I have also done a "disk clean up". I tried uninstalling Itunes and reinstalling.

I hope someone can help.

 

My guess is the buttons have gone bad and it is not a software problem.

It looks like Ubuntu recognizes the media buttons. You could try downloading Ubuntu as a Live CD or use a program to create a Live USB from the Ubuntu iso file. Then you could run Ubuntu off the CD or USB and see if you can reproduce the problem with the media buttons flashing. If they still flash then you know the button hardware has gone bad. [You don't want to Install Ubuntu you are just running the Operating System off the CD or USB for testing purposes]

If you determine the buttons have gone bad it looks like the part is not that expensive. It is a matter of whether or not you feel competent to try to replace it.

Maybe someone else has another idea that could be helpful for troubleshooting.

 

Thanks. I will have to wait until the end of the day to download Ubuntu (which looks very cool also... never heard of it!)

 

Live Linux CDs are great. They give you access to your PC and all your files as well as internet etc.
I don't usually use Ubuntu as I prefer Linux Mint but I saw specifically that Ubuntu recognizes your media keys so it is the best choice in this situation. It is also the most popular Linux distribution so it is fine.

The instructions for burning the CD on the download page seem pretty good but if you have any questions or problems feel free to ask. Remember, the Ubuntu Live runs directly off the CD. You do not need or want to install. You just want to try some Youtube videos. Or play a video/song and see if you can replicate the problem of the flashing media buttons.

 

sach2,
Thanks for your help. I was able to download Ubantu to a USB drive. I booted with Ubantu... it didn't load up completely as it said I was missing drivers... I think for the mouse pad. (I downloaded the netbook version... maybe I should have done the desktop version.)

Anyway, when computer was in that partially booted Ubantu state, the lights on the media buttons were still blinking. Which I interpret as indicating a problem with the button hardware.

Unless you suggest something else, I will order button kit, which I do feel comfortable installing.

Thanks again for you time on this.

 

Yes, I have had problems with Ubuntu fully loading sometimes but I had read a thread that specifically said it had support for the media buttons for your model. So I thought it might be a good choice.

I like Linux Mint because it hides all the starting up stuff behind a splash screen and just pops you up to the desktop. If you don't mind the download you might give their ISO a try. I use http://old.linuxliveusb.com/index.php to put the ISO on USB. For Persistence put about 500mb if your USB has the space so it can save your changes like Firefox addons and bookmarks between boots. You can uncheck the box for Enable launching in Windows.

Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu and since the thread I had been reading was at least a year old I'm fairly sure that Linux Mint which is based on Ubuntu would have support for the media buttons.

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Other than that I think it does appear that it is a hardware problem and those soft-touch buttons often do go bad. Since the part is relatively inexpensive I think I would just replace it. From what I saw in that service manual it looks like the power button connector slides into the media buttons and they share a common cable to the motherboard. So I don't think you can just disconnect the media buttons as a work-around.

By the way, that link to the buttons was just the first place I saw that looked like the correct part. You can double check me or search the part number for another supplier. The site looks ok to me. I would not purchase a used one so if you choose another supplier make sure you are buying new.

 

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