Problem with laptop

So I have this Sony Vaio AR150 that a friend dropped off with some weird display issues.

I've tried unplugging and replugging all the cables, both at the back of the lcd panel and on the logicboard end.I don't think it's the LCD itself.

I've tried restoring the computer using recovery disks fresh from Sony. but I was only able to boot the computer into safe mode (which still shows the odd display issues).

I've also tried reseating the CPU and RAM and updating the BIOS with no improvements either.

So I'm thinking there's either a) something wrong w/ the hard drives (this particular laptop has two in raid mode), b) something wrong w/ the vid chip on the logic board or c) both a and b.

Just looking for some opinions what what people think the issue might be based on the images.

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/tongwr/DSC00943.jpg

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/tongwr/DSC00944.jpg

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss358/tongwr/DSC00945.jpg

 

ok well your not going to beleve this but i have sitting next to me a aser aspire laptop that dose that/did that,exact same thing and when i took it apart the screen its self was the problem with it and u can move the long chip at the top of the moniter and it would go hay wire but if you held it in an cirtin spot it would work fine,in all in all it was a product of abuse they told me they would hit it or smack it around a lil and i was like omg,then they told me it has been droped as well but i can hook up an external moniter to it and it would work just fine out side the hard drive seeking immediate failor issue.but i would hook up an external moniter and see if it still looks like that.and then we can deal with the hard drive problem u have later.

 

This problem is usually one of several things: a failing video chip, failing video memory, failing system memory, or a failing screen (which is highly unlikely). Hooking it up to a monitor is good test. If it's still bad, then you'd swap your RAM. If it's still bad then it's most likely the video chip...

 

well i would listen to the major on this dlb has been here a lot longer. but they paid 245.00 and bought a new screen to replace the one in the acer im working on and now it works just fine.:confused

 

Well I did try applying pressure to pretty much all the spots on the long board on the back of the LCD panel as you suggested earl, but didn't see any improvement.

I've tried various sticks of RAM like DLB suggested, that didn't help either.

I got some new HDs, so I put them in, set them up in RAID using the Intel Utility during start up and used the sony recovery discs again. During the final step of the process, where it boots into windows, I would see the Windows XP loading with the blue bar. Then the screen would go blank. I tried leaving it, but eventually it would just restart. When I tried safe mode, I would get an error message saying the installation isn't complete.

So I removed one of the hard drive and just tried restoring it without the RAID. Same issue, but at some point during the blank screen I heard windows startup music. So I hit a few keys, the hard drive light blinked rapidly for a while and then nothing. when I restarted I was able to get into safe mode, although it still shows all the lines like in the first two pictures. Would a bad video chip prevent windows from starting up normally, but allow safe mode to work?

In safe mode, I hooked up an external monitor, but other than the monitor blinking a couple times during start up, I got no where. I'm wondering though if this has to do with the fact that the sony restore didn't take properly.

I'm leaning towards motherboard replacement myself, but before I drop close to $300 to buy a replacement, I think I'll try using a retail version of Windows XP pro to see what happens.

Anything else I could be missing?

 

ok well if you tried every thing i said and dlb said and nothing worked than yes i would agree that your video card is shot...but unless your useing an alienware...u cant just change the card their on the mother board and unless u replace the mother board then you may fix it. now as far a s the windows goes ive had video cards crap out on me a lot in my 15 years messing with computers and not once have they had any thing to do with the windows not running propperly.. that i beleve is yous windows its self. but you have reinstalled windows all reddy and can you get in to the windows now?????
if not i knoticed u said you were going to do it agen...you may have a bad disk.or currupt files on the disk...just a thought keep me posted. good luck

 

So just an update. I put back both hard drives in RAID configuration and proceeded to install windows xp pro retail. the installation went fine and I was even able to load windows normally. The display was still screwed up though. Other than that, it was fine till I tried to load the sony drivers from their website. Once I did that, the screen flickered a few times and then went blank.

So assuming the drivers are fine, I'm guessing that once the generic windows xp video card drivers are overwritten, the geforce drivers try to activate some damage part of the video chip causing the display to crash.

In any case, once I can find another AR190 motherboard, I'll have to make the swap and hope the money is worthwhile.

thanks again guys for confirming my suspicions

 

well it sounds to me like your on the right track now so good luck and hope every thing goes well:wave:major

 

1st let me say, that I don't know much about this Vaio notebooks. I take it, that this has onboard video.
From past experience, when I have seen this problem, it has turned out to have been a chipset failure. Although twice I was able to reheat the solder joints and it worked fine for awhile, but not permently
Which ends up being cheaper to replace the mobo