View Full Version : Advice Diagnosing/Fixing My Laptop
I bought a Samsung Q70 (http://www.samsung.com/uk/business/b2b/products/notebooks/business_class/q70.htm) about 3.5 years ago. It used to get very hot but I never thought much about it then last year it stopped posting. I couldn't get it to post after lots of attempts so I figured I'd take it to get fixed. The place I took it looked at it for a while then gave it back saving they couldn't fix it.
It sat in a cupboard until about a month ago when I found it again and figured I'd have another shot at fixing it. After playing around resetting the CMOS (just taking the battery out), I managed to get it to post and boot into Windows. I left it on for a while and then the screen went really weird (artifacts everywhere) and BSOD'ed. I decided to put it back into the cupboard. :P
Took it out again today as I'm clearing out my old stuff. Figured I'd have 1 last attempt at fixing it and hopefully with advice from this forum it'll work. :P I turned it on and it posted fine so I stuck in Ubuntu and started installing it. Midway through the installation process, this occurs:
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4381/28032011005r.jpg
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6756/28032011004.jpg
As you can sort-of-see, it only artifacted in the middle of the screen, not where the static background is.
However, it carried on installing and I'm now sat here with a working version of Ubuntu. I'm expecting it will artifact and BSOD (or the Ubuntu equivalent) any time soon.
I've spent ages with google but never been able to find any help with what the problem is and how to fix it. I'm guessing the graphics card (8400M) is overheating and that is the source of all the problems (it did used to run very hot and I'd just leave it on my bed turned on...). I did read about some guy who put his 8800 GTX in the oven to fix it (http://tech.icrontic.com/article/dead-8800-gtx-scienced-to-undeath-by-oven-mad-owner/) and am considering taking apart my laptop and doing the same (although I'm not sure if I can remove the graphics card from the mobo so I may have to stick the whole mobo in the oven).
Anyone have any advice? :)
You could disassemble it and remove, re-TIM and replace the HSFs for GPU/CPU. Anticipate a nightmare.
The 8400M is the problem right there. Basically when it heats up too much it the gfx goes pop and displays the following.
Try the towel method first. Just turn it on, close the lid, then making sure its plugged in, wrap in loads of towels to cause it to heat up. Do this for an 30 min - 60 min. The bottom of the case should be really hot. Then remove the towels, open it up quickly, push down hard on the JKL keys (normally located above the gfx chip) and turn it on.
I would suggest as Snakedoc says re apply the tim on the gpu and whilst your at it give it a good clean out of dust, I know a man who did an 8800m gtx in the oven and it worked again no problem and still is.
Cheers for the advice. I think I'll try Flash's method first (as it means I don't have to take the whole thing apart :P). If that doesn't work I'll do the re-TIM and clean out method. Baking it in the oven will be my final resort. :)
TBH, Snakeydoc's idea would take more time and effort. Give mine ago first, if not try SDs
EDIT: Should refresh more often
http://apcmag.com/nvidia_disaster_thousands_of_gpus_faulty.htm
Says alot when you read it, seems to be a problem for a lot of people.
Damn, I guess I got one of the faulty ones. :-/
It's currently wrapped in a towel atm, we'll see what happens.
Well it booted into Ubuntu no problem after being wrapped in a towel. Decided to reinstall Ubuntu as that made it artifact earlier today and it worked fine! :D Obviously installing Ubuntu isn't the most challenging task for it but it's a good sign. Will use it for a while and see what happens. Thanks for all the advice. :)
It's most likely it'll be a temp fix. The TIM will need replacing especially if they run ultra hot. Maybe get a cooling pad to aid the cooling further.
Yeah. I think I can smell dust burning so I'll give it a thorough clean out and re-TIM when I can be bothered.
Yeah, I'd also go with Snakeys idea of reapplying the TIM. At the same time, while you've got it apart, I'd also get a nice big can of compressed air and give the thing a good clean out using that! (before reapplying the TIM!)
Worked fine for a few hours until I tried to run CSS. At which point it artifacted and locked up. =/
Guess I'll take it apart, clean it and re-TIM then see what happens.
Sniperdude
29-03-11, 03:03
hmm worrying gf has an 8600M GT in her dell
Worked fine for a few hours until I tried to run CSS. At which point it artifacted and locked up. =/
Guess I'll take it apart, clean it and re-TIM then see what happens.
Good idea but be aware as it could be damaged due to the heat.
Worth a try though
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Added after 8 minutes:
hmm worrying gf has an 8600M GT in her dell
Clean it out, put good tim on and get a cooling pad. only way you can try to extend the life of it lol
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captainpsteel
29-03-11, 07:50
I work at staples and we had to write off loads of HP laptops with the same issue and had another 2 this week all the issues stem from the Nvidia chip overheating (not sure on the GPU model's affected.) There are fixes but these are usally only tempory and fail again after a few months. As regards the GF's laptop you gould get a cooling panel to go under the laptop that forces a lot more air under the base of the laptop creating better air flow, unfortunatly last time I looked for one Aria was out of stock and not expecting any more. I will try and find out which GPU's are affected at work today and let you know later if I find out
If the graphics card is removable or a separate sub assembly, you can try the oven trick as well as the towel one.
I know of someone who did it with a desktop graphics card just yesterday - and it seems to have worked.
I've done it with a whole laptop Mobo when the chip was directly soldered.
There is a guy in KB (he is a pedo mind), that does solder reflows if you are looking at a more permanent solution. Only charges if he fixes it only.
There is a guy in KB (he is a pedo mind), that does solder reflows if you are looking at a more permanent solution. Only charges if he fixes it only.
How much?
Finally got around to taking it apart and re-TIMing it. The TIM on the MCH and GPU were really weird - they just peeled off completely as rubbery blue squares. o.0 The CPU TIM seemed "normal". Anyway, put some Arctic Cooling MX4 on all 3 and it's working *so far*. Fingers crossed. It does seem to be running noticeably cooler.
I would have tried the oven method but there were too many plasticy things on the motherboard and I couldn't be bothered to take them all off.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can easily stress test it to see if it's stable?
furmark should stress the GPU
For anyone with a laptop affected by the defect, I have some awesome news! :D
There is a law which means if you're sold something that was defect when you bought it (and most laptops with 8400M/8600M chips are), you are entitled to a, at least partial, refund.
The website http://www.nvidiadefect.com/ covers this in a lot of details and shows that a lot of people got some of their money back. There is a step by step guide to what you should do if you're affected here http://www.nvidiadefect.com/what-steps-should-i-take-now-t11.html
I have started speaking to the place where I bought my laptop and am hoping to get at least £200 back! :)
Could be something wrong with the GPU card
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