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Problem description: I was doing regular internet stuff (SA forums, etc) when all of a sudden my screen just went black. I figured my computer had overheated and began to shut down, which has happened a lot before. I tried to power it up later, and though it would start up the screen was still black. I hooked up my computer to my TV and was able to see the start-up screen. The next problem occurred when I tried to start up regularly. After the "Welcome" screen I'll get the blue screen of death with the following error: Attempt to reset display driver and recover from timeout failed. I'm able to start up in safe mode with networking, but if I try to start up regularly I keep getting that error. Attempted fixes: After looking into it more I found out that it is probably a video card problem. Looking at the little Solve PC Issues flag on the toolbar, the following message shows up: Solve Problem With AMD - Display Adapter - ATI Radeon Graphics Card. When I click on it I'm told that my computer was unable to download a solution, even though I have internet access. I'm told my the video card driver is up-to-date and I tried uninstalling and reinstalling it, but the problem remains. I also tried: -running Malwarebytes (nothing found) -running check disk -running memory diagnostics -two system restores, first to the morning the problem happened and then to August 21st I also downloaded AMD Catalyst, which is supposedly for making sure your video card drivers are up-to-date. When it run it it tells me: No ATI graphics driver is installed, or the ATI driver is not functioning properly. Please install the ATI driver appropriate for your ATI hardware. What's weird is that though usually the screen is black on start-up and I have to use my TV as the monitor, occasionally, like right now, the screen will work fine on its own. Recent changes: There was a Windows auto-update the morning of the problem, but other than that I don't think I made any recent changes. -- Operating system: Windows 7 Home, 64-bit System specs: HP G62 Notebook PC. Intel Core i3 CPU, M 370 @ 2.40 GHz, 4.00 GB RAM Location: USA I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes Ultimately I'm worried that it's a hardware problem, possibly caused by overheating. If anyone has any insight I'd be most grateful.
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Aug 25, 2014 17:32
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 02:30 |
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Forgot to mention, sound doesn't work either :/
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Aug 25, 2014 17:39
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What temps were you having earlier? Most importantly, do your fan(s) still run? They should be spinning on if over 50C at least. Uninstall any graphic card drivers then restart. Run http://www.wagnardmobile.com/DDU/ then restart. Install latest BETA AMD drivers.
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Aug 25, 2014 18:11
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You may need to download the graphics drivers from HP's website. They'll be years old, but they may be the only ones that work with your system.
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Aug 25, 2014 19:45
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Not sure what temps I had, but the fan is still working. Every time it would overheat it would shut down and say that it did so to prevent damage. I installed and ran DDU and it allowed me to run Windows in regular mode after I rebooted. The screen didn't work but the sound did. I was able to install the beta AMD drivers (it was another Catalyst program that did it), but when I restarted after it installed I got the blue screen again, with the same error as before. Going to the HP site had me install the same Catalyst software again. Am I missing a step?
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Aug 26, 2014 01:10
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One thing I should note is that both in safe mode and in regular mode, the video card driver will begin reinstalling automatically on start-up even though I ran the DDU software. Isn't the software supposed to prevent that so I can install it on my own?
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Aug 26, 2014 01:16
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The overheating problem could have caused hardware damage. You may want to get your laptop opened and clean out any dust if you are still getting the shutdowns due to overheating. I haven't seen driver software being installed automatically, unless you mean by windows update. What is running when the software install prompt appears?
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Aug 26, 2014 07:27
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I did open it up and clean out what dust I could, and it does seem to have helped things a bit. I don't think it was a Windows update thing, but I don't know for sure. As soon as my desktop appears the toolbar will show that Radeon driver software is being installed. Like I mentioned, this is after I boot up after using the DDU software. Is there a setting where I can turn off auto-installations? Or do you think this whole issue might be resolved by starting fresh with a Windows re-install? I'd like to cover all my bases before I worry about getting the hardware fixed.
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Aug 26, 2014 12:13
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I just found out how to turn off auto-installation for drivers, I'll do everything over again and let you know what happens. Thanks for all the help, by the way!
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Aug 26, 2014 12:15
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Turns out I already had auto-installation turned off. Apparently that only prevents Windows from downloading new drivers and doesn't prevent the installation of already existing drivers. I'm pretty much at the end of my rope here so I think I'm going to just take it in to a repair shop unless anybody has any other suggestions.
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Aug 27, 2014 01:03
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If you installed the HP drivers (which, yes, include Catalyst, but a different version that HP has guaranteed to work) and the problem didn't clear up, then I don't think a repair shop will be of much help. It is not a normal thing for working graphics drivers to turn into not-working drivers unless the hardware itself has gone bad. A laptop GPU is soldered to the motherboard, and if it fails, the only repair is a new motherboard. A new board for a system that old, if you can find the right one... Well, expect to get a bill from the shop for more than it would cost to buy another complete HP G62 off of eBay. That board is from an era when consumer-grade HP laptops were rife with motherboard problems. The DV series was especially lovely in this regard (there was a huge class-action settlement for some models with Nvidia GPUs), but it's not unknown in other models with discrete GPUs. Comedy option: At the point where you are about to throw away the laptop, reflow the motherboard as a last-ditch repair attempt.
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Aug 27, 2014 02:34
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Dang, so this isn't just a matter of buying a new video card? I was hoping you could just switch one out like you can on desktops (from what I understand.) Any explanation for why the screen sometimes works? More often than not it doesn't, but maybe every 10th reboot it will work. The computer will still crash on regular start-up though.
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Sep 2, 2014 15:46
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The majority of video cards on laptops are not cards - they are components soldered to the system board. That's what your laptop has. Actual cards, Mobile PCI-Express Modules (MXM), are reserved for high-end video in high-end laptops. And they cost a metric assload - what is a $300 GeForce 770 on a PCIe card is a $900-$1000 GeForce 880M on an MXM. As for why you get the screen to work intermittently, I am not an electrical engineer and cannot tell you with certainty. But in problems solved by solder reflow, the issue is a lack of reliable electrical contact between the GPU and the rest of the system board. It's conceivable that sometimes you can get enough contact to sync and initialize the display, the way a dangling wire might brush a battery terminal and conduct current briefly before it's knocked away. And after that, the connection is lost and the GPU returns to "broken," but the basic functions are intact enough to keep driving the screen. Alternatively, if it's not a connection problem that solder reflowing would fix, it could be a capacitor going bad that is adding noise to electrical signals. Sometimes the noise is randomly low enough for things to work a bit, most times it is not.
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Sep 3, 2014 19:41
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 02:30 |
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Alright, looks like definitely going to get a new laptop. Thanks everybody (especially Factory Factory) for all your help!
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Sep 4, 2014 20:09
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