Dell Dimension 8200- Random Artifacts & characters on Dell..

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Hello Folks,



I have a Dell Dimension 8200 desktop with bios revision A09. During boot-up,
about a forth of the way from the top of the "Dell Splash Screen", there is
a single line of random characters and artifacts present.



This line does not seem to hurt anything, but I am quite curious none the
less. The same line was present even with a previous bios version installed.
This showed up in the past 6 months, before any bios changes. I've owned
the machine since new and it didn't have this line when I bought it. (I
upgraded to bios A09 a while back to see if it would correct the problem--
it didn't)



I have tried removing both hard drives, optical drives, and all additional
pci cards and there is no change.



You can view a picture of my screen here:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/200 [...] /dell1.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/200 [...] /dell2.JPG





Anyone seen this before?? Ideas?



Thanks!

James

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

If the system works otherwise, I would guess that your video card may not be
properly seated in the computer or that it is going bad.

In the case of the card going bad, I'd replace it promptly. I've seen bad
(or overheated) video cards ruin motherboards before.

William

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks, William and Stew. I will swap out the video card tomorrow and see if
it goes away.
If it does, I'll have Dell send me another card since the machine is still
under warranty.

I'll report back with results.

Thanks.
James

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

the video card has been mentioned as a possible suspect. I'd first try:
reseating the CPU, the memory, and the video card.
then, if still present, and IF you can run on one stick of ram instead of
two, then try that with stick A then stick B to see if there's a ram issue
(doubtful, but still...)
I vaguely recall running into that gibberish situation before, but:
That wasn't what I was called in to fix, so I didn't mess with it.
However, take comfort in knowing you are "not alone."

Also, troubleshoot this puppy with NOTHING hooked up, not even electrically,
except CPU, RAM, and Video card. Not even keyboard nor mouse.
If problem is not present, add items back in one at a time and test boot.

Silk.


"James" <pctech@fdn.com> wrote in message
news:WtSdne548ZRSWy7cRVn-jA@comcast.com...
> Hello Folks,
>
>
>
> I have a Dell Dimension 8200 desktop with bios revision A09. During
> boot-up,
> about a forth of the way from the top of the "Dell Splash Screen", there
> is
> a single line of random characters and artifacts present.
>
>
>
> This line does not seem to hurt anything, but I am quite curious none the
> less. The same line was present even with a previous bios version
> installed.
> This showed up in the past 6 months, before any bios changes. I've owned
> the machine since new and it didn't have this line when I bought it. (I
> upgraded to bios A09 a while back to see if it would correct the problem--
> it didn't)
>
>
>
> I have tried removing both hard drives, optical drives, and all additional
> pci cards and there is no change.
>
>
>
> You can view a picture of my screen here:
>
> http://img.villagephotos.com/p/200 [...] /dell1.JPG
>
> http://img.villagephotos.com/p/200 [...] /dell2.JPG
>
>
>
>
>
> Anyone seen this before?? Ideas?
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> James
>
>