A30 display issue

[meqjjr]

Hello,

     I have an A30 (2652-1AU) that I've had for awhile.  Recently, the display has been showing issues, but only when in the DOS or pre-Windows mode.  There are vertical lines of various colors on the boot splash screen, and instead of text characters for the usual boot/memory test messages there are only flickering unreadable characters.  Once Windows is loaded, the display is just fine.  If I exit to DOS, I get the garbage characters again.  If I connect the A30 to an external monitor, I see the same garbage characters during boot-up.  This is an issue for me since I'd like to upgrade the small HDD and the OS, which is going to require some operations outside of Windows, but I can't read what's displayed on the screen once I get outside of Windows.

     I've replaced the inverter, but that did not see to help.  I've also replaced the whole lid/LCD from another similar A30, and even that did not seem to help.  So, I have concluded it's an issue with the graphics chip that is permanently embedded on the motherboard.  And it appears it's time to move on to another Thinkpad.

     This being a fountain of Thinkpad knowledge, I was just hoping that someone could confirm that my A30 is pretty much toast.  Or point out something else that I might try.

Thank you.

[ajkula66 Guru]

Welcome to the forum!

Your A30 has succumbed to VRAM corruption - a failure which is very common on these machines. The only cure is a replecement motherboard.

Good luck.

[meqjjr · Accepted solution]

Thanks.  That's sorta what I thought.  Time to start looking for a replacement.