This has happened 3 times in the past 2 days, any advice? It goes away after reboots but always comes back.
I’m not unconvinced this is just a screenshot of Dwarf Fortress during some kind of weird rain storm in an evil biome.
No one: Laptop. Could this be hardware or software related?
Submitted 3 days ago by Gemini24601@lemmy.world to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/465e77b8-8a37-4149-b669-1d9cfee17179.jpeg
Comments
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 2 days ago
foggy@lemmy.world 3 days ago
GPU.
Update or rollback drivers and see if it stops.
potentiallynotfelix@lemmy.fish 3 days ago
Are you sure? The mouse cursor appears to render correctly.
Nollij@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
To me, it looks like defective vram. The cursor is rendered at a different physical memory location, which may still be intact.
bangsnooter@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Reseat your RAM before trying a more expensive fix
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
GPU is dying.
Obi@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
Yeah that gpu is deep fried.
shalafi@lemmy.world 2 days ago
It’s the GPU, almost certainly the solder joints. So how far are you willing to go?
You can pull the MB and bake it in an oven. Fixed a card or two that way, didn’t last very long. Damned fine line between too much and too little heat and time. Bon chance!
In related news, MBs can be pretty cheap on eBay.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Don’t put it in the oven. Chances are it will just die at that point.
lichtmetzger@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
Also it will release fumes that you don’t want near your food.
pixelscript@lemm.ee 2 days ago
I assume the reflowing solder in the oven trick doesn’t reliably work anymore in the era of the high temp solders that are common in laptop manufacturing these days. Bringing the whole board up to flow temp in something as crude as a home oven is almost certainly going to fuck something else on the board.
I recall trying to do a laptop repair with dinky little soldering iron I got at the hardware store and it could not melt a single thing on the board I touched it to. Definitely not a faulty iron because I used it to successfully solder other things. This was at least five years ago. If that little toy couldn’t do it, then the entire board would need to exceed that temp in an oven, which is probably a bad idea since the iron was still managing to visibly scorch things despite not melting any solder.
Invest in a proper heat gun and learn how to use it, or just give up and give it to someone else who has one, imo.
Lag@lemmy.world 2 days ago
In my experience I think the trick is to underheat it but leave it in the oven a bit longer.
Romkslrqusz@lemm.ee 2 days ago
This is, for the most part, a myth and not worth doing. Reflowing is not not repair.
Darken@reddthat.com 1 day ago
This looks like ram disconnection or a GPU bugging out and dying (usually a simple restart fixes everything unless you bump and shake it a little)
circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 2 days ago
The mouse cursor showing up correctly rules out a physical connection issue to the screen.
What is supposed to be on the screen right now? Is it just the deskop, an app, a game… ? That might provide more insight.
But I’d guess a hardware issue off the bat. Something with the GPU, or perhaps more specifically with VRAM.
Gemini24601@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The current picture is of a browser (Floorp).
kusivittula@sopuli.xyz 3 days ago
looks like you did a sudo ▓░▒
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Never do a sudo psi thundershock
Romkslrqusz@lemm.ee 2 days ago
The pattern looks like a GPU, more specifically a problem with VRAM.
This looks like a low to mid range HP laptop, so I question whether or not it even has dedicated graphics.
Systems with integrated graphics share RAM to use for graphics functions.
To test VRAM, one would use Nvidia MATS/MODS or AMD TServer/Memtune. They are not very accessible for the average user.
To test RAM, use Memtest86. This one is free and relatively straightforward.
random@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
is this issue also on in the bios?
yes = hardware error
no = software error
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 days ago
Artifacting like that is GPU, will probably onset easier when under stress
NastyNative@mander.xyz 2 days ago
Its an HP, never buy HP!
seliaste@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 hours ago
I had this specific model given for free by my high school a bunch of years ago and it is the worst chassis I ever saw. Many of my friends had cracks in it by the end of school
lichtmetzger@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
This. Especially since they still have the worst hinge designs on notebooks I’ve ever seen and they have continued to build them so shoddily for years. It must be deliberate at this point.
NastyNative@mander.xyz 2 days ago
It is cause it makes them money. I wanted to change the battery on a family members hp laptop. I opened it and everything is glued/solder together. Told her to get a dell!
abominablecosmonaut44@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Very fucking helpful
improvise3020@ani.social 2 days ago
Which brand do you recommend
Gemini24601@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m probably going to look at Dell or Lenovo for a next laptop, they tend to be of higher quality. Plus old thinkpads are fast and inexpensive, so I may start looking at eBay for a good deal.
NastyNative@mander.xyz 1 day ago
Dell laptops are much better!
Sprondar@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Does it happen faster the 2nd time around? Probably a heat issue. Make sure the fans are working and the heatsink fins are clear of dust and debris. Try that first, and run a gpu stress test mprep.info/gpu/ but it could also be drivers as others have mentioned, or even a faulty or incorrectly seated ram module.
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 days ago
Heat is probably a trigger, but the GPU shouldn’t artifact even under high heat, the system would throttle or shutdown.
Heat may have caused this long term, and dusting may alleviate the immediate symptoms, but the GPU is still dying
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 2 days ago
You could boot into a live system and see if the problem shows up there. If so, it’s very likely the hardware.
aeronmelon@lemmy.world 2 days ago
It could easily be the GPU drivers or the display cable.
There any many other possibilities, but hopefully it’s one of those two because the fix is is either cheap or free.
ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
My intuition is that it is a hardware failure. GPUs can develop issues that show up intermittently. However, did you recently update your graphics drivers? If you did, try rolling back to an older version.
Hubi@feddit.org 2 days ago
This looks to me like the RAM is not properly seated. I can’t speak for this particular model, but I’ve seen cases where putting light pressure on one side of a laptop was enough to cause this because the chips were loose in their sockets. Maybe try removing the bottom cover and slightly wigglig them to see if you can reproduce it. I’ve fixed it on some Thinkpad models by placing a thin piece of rubber between the RAM and the mainboard to hold it in place.
smee@sosial.link 3 days ago
Are you sure this is merely mildly infuriating?user1234@lemmynsfw.com 3 days ago
Laptop GPUs are often connected using a ball grid array, which means that there aren’t any pins and they just use a ball of solder to make the connection. If the laptop overheats enough, some of the solder may melt and move causing such issues.
Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
The heat to melt solder is well above the heat made by the cores in normal operation. It’s more likely that the balls crack under stress in the heat/cooling cycles. (Also if the ball is at such a high temp, the core is likely way way higher, and that would damage the core)
phanto@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
This happened to my laptop that I had a long time ago. I found a guide where I took out the motherboard, wrapped it in foil except where the GPU was, then used a blow dryer to heat the solder connecting the GPU to the mobo. Worked for another six months, then it happened again, so I replaced the system.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Run a hardware diagnostic
ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 3 days ago
HP… What a surprise.
hades@lemm.ee 3 days ago
any chance it’s overheating? did you clean the vents and checked the fans?
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Try booting into the bios
jordanlund@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Could be either hardware or software.
I’d try updating the bios and video drivers first, failing that it could be a failing video card. It could be the screen too.
To test if it’s the screen or the video card, connect it to an external display and see what happens.
tal@lemmy.today 3 days ago
It could be software or hardware-related.
I’ve had overheating hardware cause full-screen artifacts, as well as bugs.
Jean_le_Flambeur@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
My Debian dies this everytime i Start, but it goes away after a few secs, doesn’t do that on windows, so software bug is not impossible
whodatdair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 days ago
Usually a sign of a dying gpu. Used to work in a laptop repair shop.
whodatdair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Does it continue playing sound when it does this? That supports the gpu theory if so.
Also, next time it does this see if plugging an external monitor in displays anything. If it’s the same pattern it’s probably the gpu, if not possibly monitor or cable.
Gemini24601@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I haven’t ever been playing media when it happens, so I’m not sure. Also yes, I have tried plugging in external monitors, or trying to ssh in, but none work. It’s as if the computer freezes as well.