death of graphics

[helpwouldbegood]

hej hej . i downloaded zsnes on my old lenovo T61 it was all working great for some time and i was enjoying the classic mariokart . the last time i used it though it crashed out but left the graphics as 8 bit and even the split screen mariokart style. i tryed to reset screen resolution etc and even reinstalled the grafic card drivers but nothing has helped . i was playing in a kinda dusty space at the time also , i know dusty spaces can kill computer quite quick . could that have killed my graphic card ?? i am just looking for a few options that i can try to get my computer back to life again . any suggestions would be gratefully received . thanks .

[someone]

im a little confused. Does the display (never) come on? Or are you just having problems with zsnes?

If you turn the laptop on, and the screen never posts anything the GPU needs to be re-floated. You might be able to DIY ( I have before on my wife's laptop ) BUT :

1.) Re-floating is very temporary
2.) its a pain in the ASS! You WILL eventually PURPOSELY break the laptop after doing it 6 times
3.) Requires a lot of skill.

If you want it fixed better, you will have to get it done professionally via a process called re-balling.

You know what, our good ol' friend Google, or what I like to refer to as the devil can help you with that a lot more. Google re-floating , and re-balling GPU's



If its just a problem with zsnes then the best advice I can give is post the question in the right forum.

[paulguy]

it sounds like the screen comes on, but displays "split", and I suppose by "8 bit colors" could mean that the palette is messed up or something. If that's the case then yeah the GPU is probably toast.

If it only happens with zsnes, you can just delete your zsnesw.cfg file and reload zsnes. You'll have to reconfigure it, or if you want to do a bit of figuring out, you can open it up and set the display mode back to default. I don't remember what the option was for that...

[odditude]

If you turn the laptop on, and the screen never posts anything the GPU needs to be re-floated.

reflowed, not re-float.

it refers to melting the solder balls under a BGA package to allow the solder to fill in any physical defects that have occurred over time (such as cracks in a solder joint) due to stress (usually thermal expansion, but occasionally mechanical).

also, failed solder joints on the GPU is only one of many possible issues (and not a possible issue at all if his T61 uses integrated graphics instead of a discrete GPU).

If you want it fixed better, you will have to get it done professionally via a process called re-balling.

given the age, size, and weight of the laptop, it would likely be far more economical to replace it. even if OP would rather have the same laptop, he could buy a refurb online for less than the likely cost of repair.

[someone]

reflowed, not re-float.

Thanks for the correction. It doesn't work well though regardless. Lead-free solder just fails, and once it does, there is no simple fix.

given the age, size, and weight of the laptop, it would likely be far more economical to replace it. even if OP would rather have the same laptop, he could buy a refurb online for less than the likely cost of repair.

I agree 100% I just wanted to give the information is all. Oh, and never try to re-ball yourself. Once your balls are broke only a professional can fix them


Anyways, after reading the original post I agree with paulguy and an answer will most likely be found in the bug report forum anyways.

[helpwouldbegood]

hej thanks for the replies . when i turn on my laptop again it displays in 8 bit and split screen even if i am not using zsnes . i have tryed uninstalling and reinstalling graphics card it worked tempory but then reset itself to 8 bit and split screen . not sure what to try next .

[helpwouldbegood]

i downloaded zsnes a while ago . hmm actually a couple of years now and it was all working nice . one day it crashed out and when i restarted my computer it has remained in 8 bit resolution with a split screen like mariokart. i have deleted zsnes and even re installed windows. i managed to get the screen back for a short while re installing the graphics card but then it went back again to 8 bit and split screen. has anyone got any ideas of what i could try . many thanks .

[grinvader]

Are the colours also off (i.e. largely green/blue) ? If so that's the old problem of using a 24bpp desktop colourdepth with something expecting 32bpp. Graphics drivers may be in cause.


Also, no need to repost.

[someone]

I'm confused (easily done BTW) He is talking about a laptop, but also talks about taking the graphics card out. Don't most laptops have the GPU soldered directly to the motherboard?

Do you mean you uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers?

[Gil_Hamilton]

I'm confused (easily done BTW) He is talking about a laptop, but also talks about taking the graphics card out. Don't most laptops have the GPU soldered directly to the motherboard?

Do you mean you uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers?

Most people call them graphics cards regardless if there's an actual card.
I've given up fighting it.

[Bent]

My old Alienware laptop had dual removable graphics cards. But I think he is referring to the drivers.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Death of a Graphics Salesman