Hi,

When I started my laptop today, my screen display was yellowish and streaky - sort of like a crayon drawing. I rebooted several times and nothing changed.

I decided at the login screen to reboot the x-server, and this seemed to fix the problem, but now, a few minutes later, everything turned yellow and streaky again, and then a minute later reverted to normal.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be causing this to happen and what I can do to troubleshoot it?

I am running Kubuntu 8.04 on a dell c610. My video card is an ATI radeon, according to the system specs.

Could the video card be going bad?

Thanks,
Theresa

When you rebooted your computer, was the display normal (before the system was boot up)?

Is it changes when you move the screen?

You may try to boot from a live CD to see if the hardware fails. If so, you sould check the heating of it or maybe the contacts.

I saw a laptop that had a heating sink on the graphic chip without a removed plastic on it. It worked for almost two years then beginned to do stupid things. Now it still works again.

Ps.: If you have a hardware problem and you didn't try to disassemble a notebook before, you should take it to a service, especially if you still have warranty for it.

Ps2: Is your system works well on external monitor?
Doesn't it halt?
I think the display cable between the computer and display can cause similar problems.

Hi VaZso,

The problems are evident at bootup - sometimes the initial text dialog is yellow instead of white, and the login screen is sometimes ok, sometimes not.

This is an old laptop (7 years or so), so there is no warranty. I will have it looked at if it keeps acting up, to be sure.

Despite its age, it has worked great with Linux up to this point.

T.

Ok, you should check it with external monitor.

If it looks ok, you can check the connection between the computer and the display.
First, you should unplug the connectors and plug it again, maybe it helps.

Also, there is a connector on the back of the LCD.

Be aware not to use the computer while it is disassembled.
At least near the screen there is high voltage from the inverter to the screen's lamp.