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Display blacks out after prolonged use

E

eli2k

Member
Hi all. I have a stock Vostro 200 ordered from mid-2007 for mom and no major hardware changes except for expansion of memory and hard drive years ago. Recently, after prolonged use watching Youtube or other streaming media, the display will black out. The audio can still be heard in the background, and it looks like the keyboard is still responsive. Not entirely sure if I can turn the computer off with the keyboard or not. The monitor signal is still there, since the monitor doesn't flash that it does not detect the display. Sometimes it [the video display] will magically reappear. Or a hard reboot usually does the trick.

What do you think is going on? Is the video adapter dying? Or could it be anything? It's an integrated video GPU, and I don't have a spare video card to test. Given the age of this computer, I might just get mom a new system if this video problem keeps happening. Thanks.
 
When the display goes black, does the power light on the monitor go orange/yellow or does it stay green?

If you wiggle the vga cable (on either end), does that effect the picture coming back?

This should tell us if the problem is with the monitor, cable, or video card.
 
I've had one GPU and one IGP die in such a way. On the 8600GTS gpu I switched the cable type from VGA to DVI and that bought me almost an entire year.
 
Just as another thought...when was the last time you had the computer blown out for dust? Dust is a major source of overheating problems, and can cause and onboard IGP to fail. I'm not saying that's for sure the problem, but eliminating every variable can help in narrowing the field of problems.
 
Drummerdude said:
... and can cause and onboard IGP to fail. I'm not saying that's for sure the problem, but eliminating every variable can help in narrowing the field of problems.
Click to expand...

This model has a dedicated video card, but occasional dusting is always a good idea.
 
ketchup79 said:
This model has a dedicated video card, but occasional dusting is always a good idea.
Click to expand...
You are correct. I didn't fully lookup the model, only took the OP for his word ( mentioned it was an integrated ). Anyway, if that's the case, then there are several possible sources of the problem. Could be dust built up in the cooler, could be blown caps, could be a BGA reballing is in need.

OP, if you open up the case and have a look at the video card, is it covered in dust, or even just the cooler covered in dust? Also, check the capacitors. Do any of them seem bulged on top?
 
ketchup79 said:
When the display goes black, does the power light on the monitor go orange/yellow or does it stay green?

If you wiggle the vga cable (on either end), does that effect the picture coming back?

This should tell us if the problem is with the monitor, cable, or video card.
Click to expand...

The power light remains green, and when the problem occurred, I checked the connections and none were loose or fixed the display again.

Drummerdude said:
Just as another thought...when was the last time you had the computer blown out for dust? Dust is a major source of overheating problems, and can cause and onboard IGP to fail. I'm not saying that's for sure the problem, but eliminating every variable can help in narrowing the field of problems.
Click to expand...

Drummerdude said:
You are correct. I didn't fully lookup the model, only took the OP for his word ( mentioned it was an integrated ). Anyway, if that's the case, then there are several possible sources of the problem. Could be dust built up in the cooler, could be blown caps, could be a BGA reballing is in need.

OP, if you open up the case and have a look at the video card, is it covered in dust, or even just the cooler covered in dust? Also, check the capacitors. Do any of them seem bulged on top?
Click to expand...

I think the IGP is integrated and not on a separate board. I checked the old order sheet, it's a Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3100. And, I've actually never dusted the machine. 😀 There is quite a bit of dust around. But not to the point where it's preventing the CPU itself from cooling (the fans aren't ramped up to maximum). Would this particular IGP have its own fan on top? I'll have to take a closer look to see if the capacitors are okay. And check back to let you guys know.
 
OK, I have seen it both ways, but figured it had the nvidia card, and most of the ones I have seen had the dedicated card.

The GMA 3100 was built into the northbridge, so there will be a heatsink, if not a fan on that. Those do get somewhat hot, and considering Dell's tendency to do passive cooling whenever possible, I would highly recommend a good cleaning out, as Drummerdude mentioned, before going further with the investigation.
 
ketchup79 said:
OK, I have seen it both ways, but figured it had the nvidia card, and most of the ones I have seen had the dedicated card.

The GMA 3100 was built into the northbridge, so there will be a heatsink, if not a fan on that. Those do get somewhat hot, and considering Dell's tendency to do passive cooling whenever possible, I would highly recommend a good cleaning out, as Drummerdude mentioned, before going further with the investigation.
Click to expand...

Will give that a go the next time I visit and check out the computer again.

You sure know your Dell computers! 😛
 
Is the monitor working ok ?
It might conk out when it has been on for a long time, as they are more likely to fail, when many years old.
You could try switching the monitor off for several minutes, and see if it works again (cooling may allow marginally working components to work, until too hot) and/or see if the on screen menu works while the computer is showing the blank fault you described.
 
Last edited:
SOFTengCOMPelec said:
Is the monitor working ok ?
It might conk out when it has been on for a long time, as they are more likely to fail, when many years old.
You could try switching the monitor off for several minutes, and see if it works again (cooling may allow marginally working components to work, until too hot) and/or see if the on screen menu works while the computer is showing the blank fault you described.
Click to expand...

+1

Though I would still do a thorough de-dusting (makes sense in a 6+ year old system - especially if you've never done it before) with compressed air, were it my system I'd start with swapping out the monitor.

If you don't have a spare monitor, do you have a flat screen TV available that has a VGA or RGB input? If so, try running the computer using the TV as a monitor to see if the video still shuts off.
 
SOFTengCOMPelec said:
Is the monitor working ok ?
It might conk out when it has been on for a long time, as they are more likely to fail, when many years old.
You could try switching the monitor off for several minutes, and see if it works again (cooling may allow marginally working components to work, until too hot) and/or see if the on screen menu works while the computer is showing the blank fault you described.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought. I'll add it to the to-check list! Thanks.
 
ketchup79 said:
When the display goes black, does the power light on the monitor go orange/yellow or does it stay green?

...

This should tell us if the problem is with the monitor, cable, or video card.
Click to expand...

Well, looks like the monitor was the culprit. Light stays green, but if I turn it off then on again, the display will appear, flicker a bit, and blank out again. I connected a different monitor, and working, but resolution is messed up. The broken monitor is an old Emprex from 2008. Is it even worth doing anything with it? Don't like the image quality on that one either.
 
eli2k said:
.... Is it even worth doing anything with it? Don't like the image quality on that one either.
Click to expand...

I should say not! Go and get yourself something new. An Acer would be something decent an inexpensive. I have an Asus now and it's ok, but I wish I had gotten another Samsung. Best screen I ever had.

What size (or model) was your Emprex?
 
Haha. It was the LM2201 manufactured in Jan 2008. Someone else was being cheap and had purchased this monitor; I would have paid a bit more for well-known brand. I personally use an Asus also, on a different desktop, but I agree, Samsung screens look beautiful.

And, I had an older 20" Samsung that I connected to this computer. It has a 16:10 aspect ratio, I wanted to get the resolution of 1280x800 but it wouldn't let me. The system has the G31/G33 video chip, GMA 3100, I believe. I want the 16:10 ratio at a lower resolution. Is this just a limitation of the GPU? I don't think it even had 1400x875.
 
I would love to get my hands on another 16:10. I have an Acer model that has fading color, so it is currently at work server as a third display on my laptop. I somewhere understand 16:9 on a laptop, but desktop should have stayed at :10 IMO.

Anyway, you may want to look at Samsung's site for drivers for the display. Is Windows detecting your monitor model? Might want to try Windows update as well. If Windows knows what your monitor is, it should offer you the correct resolutions.
 
Oh, okay, thanks. I didn't know monitors needed their own drivers, too. This system is running on XP, maybe that's why it needs drivers.
 
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