Laptop Graphics Problem

[Sickboy]

I've been asked to look at an HP Pavilion 9398ea laptop which is BSoDing.
It's running Vista Home Premium and NVidia Go 7600 Graphics.

It boots to a blank screen, but will boot in safe mode. I've uninstalled the video driver and it booted ok, but Vista reinstalled the driver and after the required reboot the blank screen was back.
I've tried installing the latest driver from the NVidia site but it didn't help.
That resulted in a BSoD with the following error message

"attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed"

and the graphics driver as the named offending file

To be clear Windows is not loading - it goes though the POST ok and after the green Windows progress bar the screen goes blank.

[Midknyte]

For laptops, you normally need to get the drivers from the manufacturer, not Nvidia.

You could try this site instead:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

[Sickboy]

Yeah, I tried HP but the link to their FTP site is down. I'll try the one from your link.
Thanks

[Sickboy]

Managed to download the driver from HP after all.
Installed it and the blank screen was back.
Is the graphics chip buggered?

[Midknyte]

It could be the video, but you might also want to diag the memory.

You could try booting to a live Linux disc like Ubuntu to test the video also.

[Sickboy]

Good idea. I'll try that in the morning.

[Sickboy]

I've run memtest and it passes OK. Tested the graphics using Microscope and all tests passed.
If I uninstall the Go 7600 grahics driver (and delete the files), after rebooting Vista installs a "Standard VGA" driver which works fine although the resolution isn't up to 1400x900 it's supposed to be - best it can deliver is 1024x768.

I've tried drivers from NVidia, Windows Update and HP, all of them prevent Windows from starting.

I couldn't get the Ubuntu Live CD to load - it hung after selecting the first option. It also hung when I chose the Check disk option. That may be a problem with the disk as, for some reason, my burner wouldn't burn at a slower speed than 8x

Unfortunately there are no System Restore points prior to yesterday so that's no help.

Is it worth saving the data and doing a factory reset?

[Rocketmech]

IMO, the system board is suffering from chip creep, a common problem in a modern ROHS green world and ultra thin low quality manufacturing methods. Usually happens a short time after the warranty runs out in the 2nd year of use, longer for those who use cooling pads and light use.

Here is a discussion regarding the 7600 Go with similar issues (see page 3 for cause and fix), you could Google for more. All OEM's suffer from the same issues . The OEM's will quote a motherboard replacement. Other more technical DIY'ers will try re-flow or re-solder known problem chips or areas.

[Sickboy]

Symptoms sound similar to those discussed on the message board in your link Rocketmech.
I've heard of similar issues with HP laptops before - afraid it's beyond my abilities to repair if that's the case.
I'll pass on the bad news to the owner.

Thanks for your help