Is there any simple way to fix a corrupted graphics chip on an IBM T41
Thinkpad?

The only thing I can think of is to solder a new one on, which sounds
like a really bad idea.

Is there some troubleshooting steps? Like, can you flash the chip?
Or reload the firmware or something? Anything?

My symptoms are lots of vertical coloured lines at startup and in
Windows. The LCD is unviewable and the same image appears when
connecting a monitor.

Any advice welcome.
Thanks.

Hi!

Before suspecting the video chip, check the VRAMs that go with it. Colored
lines (or lines of any sort) are usually what you see when the video RAM
goes bad. Video chips themselves usually fail in more interesting ways.

While I doubt you can solder a new video chip in place, you can certainly
try replacing the VRAMs if you have enough soldering skill (or you get lucky
and they're soldered!).

William

On 15 Dec 2004 05:54:54 GMT, (FoulDragon) put
finger to keyboard and composed:

Just a cheaper-easier thought:

the ribbon cable from computer half to LCD half's a consistent weak link across
laptops. Check it. Is it frayed or loose or inconsistent?

Maybe you can replace it.

It's unlikely to be the graphics chip itself

The OP stated that the symptom also appears on an external monitor, so
it doesn't look like an internal cable fault. I'd suspect a VRAM
failure, as was already mentioned.


- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 's' from my address when replying by email.

In message , FoulDragon
writes
Just a cheaper-easier thought:

the ribbon cable from computer half to LCD half's a consistent weak link across
laptops. Check it. Is it frayed or loose or inconsistent?

Maybe you can replace it.

It's unlikely to be the graphics chip itself
The OP said that the fault was present with an external monitor as well.
--
Clint Sharp

On 14 Dec 2004 15:02:00 -0800, (Sharona)
wrote:

Is there any simple way to fix a corrupted graphics chip on an IBM T41
Thinkpad?

The only thing I can think of is to solder a new one on, which sounds
like a really bad idea.

Is there some troubleshooting steps? Like, can you flash the chip?
Or reload the firmware or something? Anything?

My symptoms are lots of vertical coloured lines at startup and in
Windows. The LCD is unviewable and the same image appears when
connecting a monitor.

Any advice welcome.
Thanks.


Your best bet would be to look for a junk laptop on ebay and swap the
motherboard. There's no possible way for you to replace the video
chip at home.
Andy Cuffe