Troubleshooting Video and Display Issues

 

Video and display issues can be difficult to troubleshoot, especially if you do not have a spare video card or display to use for swapping. Use Table 9-5 to look up typical symptoms, causes, and solutions for video and display issues.

 

Table 9-5 Video and Display Symptoms, Problems, and Solutions

Symptom	Possible Cause	Items to Check	Typical Solution
VGA mode	Incorrect driver	Verify that the correct	Install the latest driver for
	for video hard-	driver is installed.	the video hardware from
	ware		the GPU or hardware
			vendor.
	System booted	Check the startup mode	Restart the system in nor-
	to Safe mode or	in use.	mal mode.
	VGA mode		If the system will start
			only in VGA mode,
			replace the video drivers.
			If the system will start
			only in Safe mode, use
			MSConfig to disable
			startup options until sys-
			tem starts normally.

			Chapter 9: Troubleshooting 179
Symptom	Possible Cause	Items to Check	Typical Solution
No image on	Loose or discon-	Check the video cable	Turn off system and dis-
screen	nected video	connections on the	play before disconnecting
	cable	computer and display.	and reconnecting cables.
	Incorrect selec-	Check the video cable	Use the display control
	tion of input sig-	to determine the video	to select the correct input
	nal (LCD, LED	signal type.	type.
	panels with VGA
	and other input)

 

Vertical refresh Press Esc to return to

 

rate out of range previous resolution (if

 

(LCD, LED) just selected).

Shut down the system and restart it in VGA mode.

 

Reselect the correct verti-cal refresh rate and restart the system.

 

Overheat	Failure of fan	Check the video card or
shutdown	on video card’s	chipset for fan failure.
	active heatsink

If the fan on video card has failed, replace the fan if possible.

 

If the fan on video card has not failed, add more fans to case and reroute the cables to improve airflow.

 

Dead pixels	Defective LCD or	Gently tap the screen	Check with the vendor
	LED panel	over stuck or dead	to determine the number
		pixels.	of defective pixels that
			qualify for warranty
			replacement.
			Replace the panel if the
			pixels are distracting.
Artifacts	Small bitmap	Check the dimensions	A full-screen image
	image over mag-	of images with artifacts.	should have at least the
	nified		same dimensions as the
			display to avoid artifact-
			ing.
			Reduce large images to
			smaller size instead of
			enlarging small images to
			avoid artifacts.

180 CompTIA A+ Quick Reference

 

Table 9-5 Continued