TouchSmart IQ775 Video Card Failure - Anyone Else??? [ Edited ]

[Hiddenvision]

Ahh well you know what they say,  Some of the best things in life are FREE..

The Card is easy to remove with the heatsink still attached.

There is two small philips screws holding the card to the main board.

You need to remove the four screws from the Main processor and

then the three LARGE screws from the main cooling block (not the little screws holding the fan to the block)

You may need to use a bit of force but gently at the same time to crack the seal

between the Main processor and the heatsink as the THERMAL PASTE sets like glue.

You do not want to pull the Main CPU from the socket !

REMEMBER TO PURCHASE SOME NEW THERMAL PASTE to apply when refitting.

CLEAN THE CPU and The HEATSINK of old paste,

it should come off very easy almost with your fingernail.

do not use a hammer or solvents..!

You only need a little paste so do not go crazy about a 3 or 4mm ball or there abouts.

But you do need it as the processor will fry without good heat sinking.

DO NOT POWER THE MACHINE TILL YOU HAVE REPLACED THE HEATSINK WITH NEW PASTE

NOT EVEN JUST A LITTLE BIT UNLESS YOU WANT TO TAKE THE RISK.

Once it is all loose and floppy you will find that the graphics card will tilt up

enough to remove it with the heatsink still attached

You need to tilt it to about 15-30 degrees, that's a guess !!,

but you will know what I mean once there.

Watchout for the LED/IR wires that run around the side of the card

they can get in the way a little but easy to move to remove the card.

Once out you can pop the spring clips by squeezing the small tags under the board.

Keep the thermal pads handy and do not loose the two little screws to hold down the card.

Best to pop them back in the holes till you find a replacement board.

The screen cable is the one sort of in the middle (left to right) at the front of the machine.

Be careful not to pull any wires out of the plug.

The plug should be easy to remove so no real force is required.

The main socket is white and called LVDS1 . Used when the board is in.

The secondary socket is a little to the left and called LVDS2.

This will get you going I hope.

If you are in the UK I have 5 x 7600 boards 3 of them work but

now I do not know what ones do and what ones don't and do not

have a machine to test them on thus they sit in a bag on the shelf waiting. 

I hope this helps.

Hv.

[Hiddenvision]

Ohh.

To put the card back in you do it bare, screw it down then replace the heatsink and push down the spring clips.

Do not try and replace it with the heatsink attached, there is no point and it is harder !

But removing it is easier with it attached !!!

Hv.

[Ricky_Ross]

Hi HiddenVision. Here is the update on what I did so far. I am putting it here because my questions, and your extremely helpful responses might help other IQ 775 users as well.

Good news is that finally I was able to pullout the video card (Nividia GF-GO7600) . Also, following your guidelines I can now identify  LVDS1 (where screen connector is) , and LVDS2 ( which is empty) as well.

Sorry being non tech, I got little bit confused when you mentioned 'Clean the CPU and the HEATSINK of old paste? I am assuming you were refering to video card processor which has Nividia name engraved? When I was taking it out , there was a strong sort of white padding and removable glue holding it, but then it all came out and the card is clean.

The current status of the machine is that I have the video card in my hand and that copper thing which was holding the card with 4 clip screws is hanging free. I didnt have to unscrew the  'cooling block' at the back, so it is in tact as it was originally.

I know, in your latest post you warnedme about NOT to turn on the machine till I replace the heatsink with new paste. If I understood correctly, that is when I install the new card?

Based on the current condition of the machine,  (with no video card+the losely hanging 'card holder' (that copper stuff.. whatever it is called), can I now switch the LVDS cable and then try to turn ON the machine to see if it starts?  Kindly let me know. Thank you again.

[cscs]

I tried that before. It seem never work by putting the VGA connector to another slot.

Waiting for your testing.

[Hiddenvision]

Hi Rick,

The processor I was referring to was the MAIN processor at the rear of the machine not the Graphics card.

You are the second person to say they managed to get the card out without having to totally remove the heatsink. I guess I never tried, or you guys use bigger hammers than me.

The Floating heatsink arm (to the graphics card) is fine to leave as is and floating.

If you did not have to break the seal on the Main CPU then

no PASTE is required and you are ready to go for a test power on,

keep a bucket of water handy !!.

Although if you have some NEW PASTE and want to do the best thing for the machine then it would be worth removing the heatsink totally, clean and re-paste as described as you can then rest assured that you have a nice new and thermally sound connection from the Main CPU to the Heatsink.

The small silicon pads on the Graphics card/Copper connection

are going to be required if you manage to find a replacement card

so do not loose those (or forget where they go).

NO PASTE on the Graphics card, just the pads.

Good luck, and I guess you may post your next reply from the Touchsmart itself...

Hv.

[Hiddenvision]

Hi CsCs.

Moving the cable will only work if the card is totally removed.

If you have done that and you are still having graphics issues

then the fault maybe in the ONBOARD GPU.

That is a larger repair that requires the chip to be reflowed or replaced.

LVDS1 (in the middle) is with card

LVDS2 (to the left) is with NO card

I hope I remember the numbers right or I will be shot in the head,

 but the position is right.

If you use the VGA output at the rear of the machine, to an external monitor, 

then I believe that there is a second connector there also but

I have never had the 'special cable' so have never tested the rear VGA connector.

 Hv.

[chanseng]

Yes, I have the video card removed. All I hear is 1 beep at power on. I tried both connector anyway.

[Hiddenvision]

Well I guess if you are hearing 1 beep then this is nothing to do with the Graphics.

I do not have the POST 'beep' descriptions but I am sure some will have,

Best to start a new message thread or have a search to discover what the one beep is indicating.

Hv.

[Ricky_Ross]

@Hidden Vision. MISSION ACHIEVED BOSS!

Following your instructions closely, I removed the card, switched the screen connector, and turned on my machine. It is working absolutely fine.

The very first time, it took nearly 3-4 mins to boot the system, as it kept rebooting by itself. But when programs were loaded, it worked just fine. I restarted, shutdown and played around a bit and everything seems to be normal.  So now my next mission is to find the compatible graphics card. Being an absolute novice to technology world, I wonder how come all the graphics and sound appears to be normal when I am holding graphics card in my hand?  Dont smile..I wont chew your head for that. hahhaa..

Anyway, I dont have enough words to thank you for being so patient and such a 'blessing in disguise'.

I wont bother you, but for sure you will again hear from me once I am done replacing the card and all my possible upgrades for this machine. Thank you again and god bless you always!

[Hiddenvision]

Whey hey,,  Great news.

 Smile ?? I can't stop giggling.. but in a nice way.

You know as a pc doctor  it is great to see a life saved.

It does not always happen but I must say

this type of fault is so common on the 700 series that

the chance of resuscitation is fairly strong.

If you have the right screw driver and a medium size hammer

it can take less than 15 mins to get the machine to a power on stage for testing.

Then, if it works, 15 mins to clean, re-paste, de-dust and re assemble.

and I am just a bloke that bought a broken one on ebay one day.

Yet still so many , so so many shops/repair centers even HP specialists

do not even give it a go.

Sure your machine is now 'not to spec' but it is totally working !

Spec ...??  what ?...

Basically the onboard Graphics chip uses about 128 or 256 meg of the Regular memory

It did not when the card was in....

Replacing the card could be either a costly exercise or a frustrating one.

You have a few options,

search ebay for a machine with a smashed screen and buy it just for the card and hope that the machine has one and is working (some sellers !)

Search for a 2nd hand card, I just had a quick look ...

£58, 6 bids with 14 hours to go,  UK sale

But how long will it last and does it work.!

Find a NICE person, or technical university/school, in your area/country with a reflow machine and

take the risk of it being the chipset costing £13 or less on ebay.

Could be a cheep fix. and then you know it should last if working.

If you are in the UK I have 5 sitting here somewhere.

3 tested working  2 that have died,  but you know what it's like they all look the same !!!

But I don't have a working platform to test them again so we would have to have a private chat about that..

If you could find a PC repair center close to you that may have a selection of OTHER cards perhaps you could drop in, show them the repair process for the 700 series and for your effort and demonstration you get to try a card or two that they have, You get the card, they get the education and the future repair business.

Even if you have to purchase the card (for a discount!) still an option.

Now that's sideways thinking.!   or crazy talk at 1:40am.

Back to reality: 

While you have it apart make sure that you

check the Fan and cooling block / veins for a little dust blanket.

This is the biggest killer, dust build up + poor air flow = overheating.

Without getting off my chair and looking on the other side of the workshop

I would guess that that is easier with

the complete heatsink unscrewed from the main processor and "in hand"

If that is the case then THERMAL PASTE ! Have I mentioned that stuff ??

Why the cooling systems on ALL machines that may suffer from dust build up

do not have some sort of flow meter beats me should be as important as a temperature sensor. 

The rebooting is normal as the 6100(guess) drivers are being loaded.

HP is good enough to supply those with the regular build for the cardless machines. 

One thing you may get is a yellow 1/2 inch vertical band on the screen during some bootups.

I think this is a problem with the graphics now using some of the normal RAM.

A driver issue and not clearing memory perhaps but who knows?

But that ONLY happens 'sometimes' during boot and NEVER during normal use.

Crap did I just type all that rubbish,

Can't be bother to read it again so I hope it makes sense..

Thanks for the Thanks,  

In turn there will be many people that thank you back I am sure,

as you have demonstrated, that anyone can repair computers

given the desire to do so. Hey you set yourself up for that one..

Hv.