No picture after bios

[Kando]

Ok, this is new to me. I have a Dell Inspiron 1501, I think it is running XP. When I turn it on I get the splash screen for Dell and can get into the bios by pressing F2. I can go through the bios, but once I exit, whether changes were made or not, the screen goes blank. The screen is still active, when I shut it down using the power button I can tell when it is fully off by the difference in the screen. I connected it to an external monitor and got the same results. Bios is fine, F8 menu is fine (safe mode, etc...), but once anything is accepted I get the active black screen. I tried safe mode but also ended up with that active black screen.

This is a 6yr old laptop, could it just be age? What would prevent video, internal and external, but allow bios and boot menus?

I am losing enough hair naturally, any help is appreciated.

[Linux711]

You metioned trying safe mode. Do the same thing, but try VGA mode instead. If it works, then there is a problem with your graphics driver.

[Computer_Commando]

Run Dell Diagnotics, F12 at BIOS.

[Kando]

Thanks, I will try both and let you know. I left it in school, my bag was full of other stuff.

[Kando]

Ok, I ran the diagnostics with F12 and the initial pass came up with no problems in the system. It is now running the rest of the tests and should be done in about 30 minutes. I will try the VGA mode after the tests have run.

[Kando]

Still no love from the laptop.

The tests ended and all passed, a box came up to boot into the diagnostic partition and I clicked it. That gave be a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top left corner. Sat there for a while and then restarted the machine with the power button. Went into VGA mode and have the same "live black" screen as when booting normally or into safe mode.

If it is the driver how can I update or roll it back if there is no screen to work with?

Any other ideas?

[Computer_Commando]

...The tests ended and all passed, a box came up to boot into the diagnostic partition and I clicked it. That gave be a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top left corner. Sat there for a while and then restarted the machine with the power button. Went into VGA mode and have the same "live black" screen as when booting normally or into safe mode.
If it is the driver how can I update or roll it back if there is no screen to work with?...

Since the diagnostics passed, it's probably not a hardware problem.  No, it's not a driver, since BIOS screen is VGA mode.  Could be a corrupted Windows install.  It's getting past the boot.ini to the F8 menu (which is still VGA), so at least it knows where the Windows install is located.  When the screen goes blank, is the hard drive running?  There's a small green indicator light.

Might have to perform a Repair Install:  http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Can you try any bootable CD?  It doesn't matter what, you only want to see if it boots & you have a display.  Don't forget to set boot order in BIOS to CD 1st.

[Kando]

Ok, tried Ubuntu 10.10, fresh download and burn. I get an initial screen with what looks like a keyboard icon, a dash and a man in a circle. Then the screen that says UBUNTU 10.10 comes up. And finally the whole screen turns a shade of white with random colored vertical lines. The cd cycles but nothing happens. Left it to sit for 30 minutes and the screen did not change. I was able to open the cd so Ubuntu never loaded. What now? I want to leave the repair install for the very last option.

[Computer_Commando]

Next step:  connect an external monitor.

[Kando]

I connected it to an external monitor and got the same results.

tried it.

[patio]

And ? ?

[Kando]

And what? I connected it to an external monitor and got the same results. I could go on about the monitor and cable, but the end result is the same.

What other information are you looking for?

[BC_Programmer]

the whole screen turns a shade of white with random colored vertical lines

Sounds like the integrated video is failing- or possibly bad RAM.

-Integrated graphics aren't tested by any BIOS "system test" tests I know of, except for basic Text-mode functionality. higher-resolutions/color settings use more VRAM, in this case an integrated card uses system RAM so if it grabs some bad memory you'll see something like this as well.

Often with video card/chip failures you'll still get 80x25 text mode without issues, it's the higher resolutions that cause it to glitch. The best case scenario -aside from some missed connector issue- is probably bad memory at this point, since that can be replaced, whereas a failed video chip cannot (not cost effectively anyway). Undoubtedly the system test may have tested RAM so it's hard to say. (although you can double-check that with something like Memtest)

Also: a Repair install won't wipe your data if you do it properly, so there shouldn't be any reason to hold that until a last resort. But, if my suspicions are correct a repair install won't fix it because it is a hardware issue.

[Geek-9pm]

Also: a Repair install won't wipe your data if you do it properly, so there shouldn't be any reason to hold that until a last resort. But, if my suspicions are correct a repair install won't fix it because it is a hardware issue.

Right.

EDIT: One eBay new warranty motherboard about $150 for the 1501. But IMO that is too much to pay to repair and older laptop.

[Kando]

Thank you one and all, I will break the news to the owner.