I am running arch linux with KDE on a desktop machine I buitl myself.

Sometimes, about once a day, the screen becomes nothing but static. There is a rectangle of static that is slightly different from the rest, and that moves around when I move the mouse. If I press ctrl+alt+F1 the screen goes black for a few seconds then returns to the static.

I have no idea if this is software or hardware problem or how to investigate what is causing it. I haven't noticed any patterns in when it happens either. Any ideas?

System specs:

AMD FX-6300 6-core processor
8 GB RAM
1:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750 / R7 250E]

I don't know what other information would be useful.

I'm not sure what you mean by this statement. I understand "Static" to be the build up of an electrical charge on some object, rub a balloon with a woolen scarf and the charge will allow it to stick to a wall. Static electricity can give you a shock and destroy semiconductor devices; CPUs. Memory and other chips.

Or... Do you mean "Static" as in "not moving". Are parts of the image on your display stuck, don't display or change as you expect, don't refresh properly which may be video hardware or software?

Can you clarify what your problem is so we can help?

Play Bonny!

I believe the OP is referring to a screen filled with pixels of random colour and intensity. Like a really old tv that's not tuned to a station.
I don't know enough about modern display tech to offer any advice on resolving this myself though.

@ qlue

I get you. You mean like the HBO logo? Sheesh! I'm old enough to know the static you're talking about but it's quite a while since I played with CRT screens.

@ flamelord

You need to eliminate the various parts of your video set up to work out where the problem is. It sounds like some sort of intermittent connection or temperature related.


Can you try using a different monitor to eliminate the one displaying the static?

Can you replace the video cabling between the monitor and graphic card? (were the connections secure? a loose cable could cause this.)

Have you tried re-seating the graphics card?

You could also prove the monitor and video cable are OK by checking them on a friends system.

Which leaves the video card...

I notice that the AMD Cape Verde PRO graphics adapter has a fan. Does it work or has it failed? You could get these symptoms if the GPU overheats. You could try installing GKrellm and activating the temperature sensor monitors which would show you if it was getting too hot. You don't say if it recovers if the system is left on, I get the impression you have to power it off to clear it??? (cools down) If it's overheating you may be able to strip the heatsink/fan assembly down and renew the heatsink paste.

Anyway, my

Play Bonny!

So, as far as I can tell all my fans are still working. Also, my keyboard shortcut to shut down doesn't work which makes me think it isn't the graphics card. Maybe the CPU is overheating?

So have you tried eliminating the monitor and cable from the possible causes as mentioned above?
Otherwise you're still guessing.

Play Bonny!

Check the cables, clean dust out of all the fans and see if it continues. I currently suspect the graphics card/driver. However, for any suspected hardware problem, you may want to run memtest86+ first to eliminate RAM being the issue (less likely here).

I don't have another monitor to test with, and the last time it happened I wasn't able to find my DVI/VGA adapter, so I couldn't test it with a different cable.

OK. To find out where the problem lies you have to eliminate something to narrow down the possible causes.

1.)Can you check your monitor and cable on a friends system?

2.)Is there integrated graphics on the motherboard? Remove your graphics card and use that.

Then let us know what you've found.

Play Bonny!