My laptop makes creaking sounds

Message Edited by Summars on 11-05-2003 02:19 AM

You haven't got a Cpia have you ?,

Nightmare on Dell street,,,, i like it

Message Edited by Summars on 11-05-2003 02:19 AM

Message Edited by Summars on 11-05-2003 02:19 AM

---

@Summars wrote:

Ha Ha.....
Perhaps you've  got spare parts or access to them ? Call Dell Spare Parts
I might replace the back-light myself if all else fails.  www.jkllamps.com - measure the tubes and buy the right size.

By the way, I have treated it well ( i.e. given it a good home ). 
But it's a piece of DELL.  Every part (except the modem and LCD)
has been replaced 2 or 3 times.  Both statements seem to conflict.

Thanks for the offer to take this piece of junk off my hands.  I was serious.

What I might do is wrap it up really nice and send it
to Michael DELL with a message that it's of no use to me.  What you should have done instead of raving at the employees on the phone for so long is written a concise, unimpassioned synopsis of your experience complete with service tag number and invoice numbers for repairs, and sent it by registered letter to MD himself at corporate headquarters.  When an issue reaches this complication, doing that is warranted.  Trying to cooperate with those you are trying to get restitution from goes a long way to a resolution.

Actually, I've got to wait until my small claims court case is settled.
If you're interested in the process and results, I'll let you know how it goes.
If you'd spent $4208 for a lemon with 15 part-failures, you might be DELLed OFF too ?  I could be spared.
You've seen my posts. Unfortunately after the first two they get really tedious.  You know I'm  DELLed  OFF . I got a lemon, with numerous parts replaced over-and-over-and-over and still malfunctions.  If I had the parts, I know I could fix this piece of junk.  See above.  eBay is another source.  Interesting it was both a 7500 and 8100 - two models with large sales numbers and also still widely used by owners.  Dell did replace the 7500 with a higher featured notebook model.  You have to give them that.

Bring on the flames - I'm wearing my asbestos undies! 

Message Edited by Summars on 11-05-2003 01:40 AM

johnallg,

My LCD/Back-light blinks ON momentarily (1 second) when I press [Fn][F8] four times.
It is dim and has a red-tint.    The external monitor appears OK.  When I switch the
LCD active (via [Fn][F8], and hold a bright light to the display, I can see the Windows desktop
(normal icons and stuff).

What would you guess is the highest probability that it is ?

(1)   failed/failing  LCD display panel  ?
(2)   and/or failed/failing back-light  ?
(3)   and/or failed/failing inverter-circuit ?

Since it switches ON momentarily, it makes me think it might not be the back-light,
but may be it is the inverter-circuit ?  I don't really think the LCD itself is bad.
The back-light is cheap I guess, if I can find the right part. 
The inverter circuit is probably not easy to find ?

________________________SIG-LINE______________________________________
DELL Inspiron 8100, 1GHz P3, L1 32K Cache, L2 512K Cache, Service TAG:93DH811,
BIOS:   DELL-27d30303 Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version1.10 (A15 , 03/03/2003)
SMBIOS: Version 2.3 , Memory: 512MB SDRAM (2 DIMMs) ,
REPLACED: nVIDIA GeForce 2 MX/Go Dell Mobile 16MB video card and
nVIDIA Video Driver Version: DELL/nVIDIA 6.13.10.2964
WITH:  ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 ASIC:M7-64MB , ATI Video Driver
6.13.10.6094(5/24/2002), ati2mtag.sys 448512 bytes, DELL Package:
v.7.72.8-020528m-4179C,A02 (R50300.EXE: 10/11/2002) , ATI Video BIOS,
v.6.4.2,A02(7/30/2002) (PM7A02.EXE: 10/11/2002)
GRAPHICS BUS: 32-bit AGP 4X cable bus 256-bit hardware-accelerated video ,
LCD:  HITACHI 15" SXGA+ 1400 x 1050 @ 60Hz, LVDS LCD interface V2, Part# 2H749
DISK: HITACHI_DK23DA-30GB fixed hard disk drive (Firmware: 00J1A0G0) ,
CD/DVD: SAMSUNG CD-R/W / DVD SN-308B combo, 3Com 10/100 Mini PCI Ethernet ,
SOUND:  ESS Maestro 3i PCI Audio(WDM) ESS Technology, Inc. ,
BATTERY:  SANYO Battery Model 0002M400 (Serial# 11326 SBDS) ,
USB:  USB Controller: Intel 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442 ,
IDE:  ATA/ATAPI Controller: Intel 82801BA Bus Master IDE Pri/Sec IDE Channel ,
removable(floppy) drive ,
OS:  Windows XP Professional 2002, Windows XP Professional SP1 ,
TEMPS:  Current CPU temp: 51°C=123.8°F , Current HD temp: 64°C=147.2°F
________________________SIG-LINE______________________________________

Message Edited by Summars on 11-05-2003 07:00 PM

---

@Summars wrote:

My LCD/Back-light blinks ON momentarily (1 second) when I press [Fn][F8] four times.
It is dim and has a red-tint.    The external monitor appears OK.  When I switch the
LCD active (via [Fn][F8], and hold a bright light to the display, I can see the Windows desktop
(normal icons and stuff).

What if you hit F2 at boot and get to the BIOS?  If it displays then on the lcd with backlight, it is a Windows driver problem.  If it is the same, then ....

Two things to try - reseating or replacing the video flex harness - pull the plastic bezel above the keyboard and the connection is right there under it.  The red tint suggests this, but the correct display when side lit doesn't.  It can also be a video driver problem.  You would need to completely remove any ATI software (Add/Remove Programs) and also Uninstall the driver and then the video adapter entry in the Device Manager.  Reboot with the latest driver in a place you know its at and point Windows to it.  I'd do the removing in Windows Safe Mode.

If it is still not lighting right, it is the inverter or tubes.  Open up the lcd and if the tubes look bad by the ends (like a bad ceiling flourescent tube would), it is the tubes.  Not sure how to isolate it to the inverter board - it would protect  itself if the tubes draw too much.

What would you guess is the highest probability that it is ?

(1)   failed/failing  LCD display panel?  0%
(2)   and/or failed/failing back-light?  80%
(3)   and/or failed/failing inverter-circuit?  10%
(4)   or the videl flex harness needing reseating?  10%

Since it switches ON momentarily, it makes me think it might not be the back-light,
but may be it is the inverter-circuit ?  Not if the tubes overload the inverter.  I don't really think the LCD itself is bad.  I don't either, but also consider investigate eBay for another lcd.
The back-light is cheap I guess, if I can find the right part.  Measure the length of the tubes and goto or call www.jkllamps.com
The inverter circuit is probably not easy to find ?  Also JKLamps.

---

johnallg,

Thanks for the probabilities (percentages):

         What would you guess is the highest probability (black LCD) that problem is ?

         (1)   failed/failing  LCD display panel?        0%
         (2)   and/or failed/failing back-light?          80%
         (3)   and/or failed/failing inverter-circuit?  10%
         (4)   or the videl flex harness needing reseating?  10%

I hope it's just the back-light as you suggest ( 80% probability ).
I'll try the easy things suggested first (i.e. check flex cable, and back-light).

Interestingly, the video/LCD symptoms became increasingly worse as time went on:
(1)   In the beginning, the LCD had a pink tint and seemed to be dimmer than usual. 
       This was noticeable after the LCD switched ON after coming back ON from power-saver mode.
       The pink tint and dimness would subside after a few minutes. 
        When the LCD initially went black, I would reboot, and it would be OK for a few hours.
(2)   Then, the LCD would go black again after a while, but sooner and sooner each time as time went on.
(3)   Then, finally, the LCD was black all the time and never switched ON except for 1 second when 
        rebooted or when [Fn][F8] is pressed four times ( and it is a bit dim and has a pink tint ).
(4)    I uninstalled and reinstalled the ATI video drivers, but that had no effect.
(5)    An external monitor has always appeared to work OK.
(6)    The display is black when [F2] is pressed at boot-up to enter into BIOS Setup (nothing is
         even visible on LCD then, not even with a bright flashlight shined on LCD).
(7)    After it boots to Windows, the icons and Windows desktop items faintly visible if a bright
         flash-light is shined on the LCD.

________________________SIG-LINE______________________________________
DELL Inspiron 8100, 1GHz P3, L1 32K Cache, L2 512K Cache, Service TAG:93DH811,
BIOS:   DELL-27d30303 Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version1.10 (A15 , 03/03/2003)
SMBIOS: Version 2.3 , Memory: 512MB SDRAM (2 DIMMs) ,
REPLACED: nVIDIA GeForce 2 MX/Go Dell Mobile 16MB video card and
nVIDIA Video Driver Version: DELL/nVIDIA 6.13.10.2964
WITH:  ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 ASIC:M7-64MB , ATI Video Driver
6.13.10.6094(5/24/2002), ati2mtag.sys 448512 bytes, DELL Package:
v.7.72.8-020528m-4179C,A02 (R50300.EXE: 10/11/2002) , ATI Video BIOS,
v.6.4.2,A02(7/30/2002) (PM7A02.EXE: 10/11/2002)
GRAPHICS BUS: 32-bit AGP 4X cable bus 256-bit hardware-accelerated video ,
LCD:  HITACHI 15" SXGA+ 1400 x 1050 @ 60Hz, LVDS LCD interface V2, Part# 2H749
DISK: HITACHI_DK23DA-30GB fixed hard disk drive (Firmware: 00J1A0G0) ,
CD/DVD: SAMSUNG CD-R/W / DVD SN-308B combo, 3Com 10/100 Mini PCI Ethernet ,
SOUND:  ESS Maestro 3i PCI Audio(WDM) ESS Technology, Inc. ,
BATTERY:  SANYO Battery Model 0002M400 (Serial# 11326 SBDS) ,
USB:  USB Controller: Intel 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442 ,
IDE:  ATA/ATAPI Controller: Intel 82801BA Bus Master IDE Pri/Sec IDE Channel ,
removable(floppy) drive ,
OS:  Windows XP Professional 2002, Windows XP Professional SP1 ,
TEMPS:  Current CPU temp: 51°C=123.8°F , Current HD temp: 64°C=147.2°F
________________________SIG-LINE______________________________________

Message Edited by Summars on 11-05-2003 07:04 PM

With that I move the backlight tubes to 99.9%! 

This may help also - didn't think of it until now (thanks go to stonent for the info/pics):
http://home.comcast.net/%7Estonent/screenfix.htm

I need a life!                           

I've been doing this almost daily since March 2001.  I'm lucky I have time I can steal to do it.  I'm just waiting for Dell to ship me a brand new fancy system as a loaner/evaluation unit.