Question:
7422GX: love and frustration
Last year, based on the info and reviews I read here, I purchased the Gateway 7422GX, and I've been completely satisfied with it. Only problem I had was with the DVD burner, which I think killed by MUCH overuse. No problem, bought an external USB Lite-On and I was fine. Now after eighteen months, I have my first serious problem. My display it totally screwed up. Vertical lines run through it, and make it similar to reading text through a screen door. That's on good days. Other times it almost un-readable. I've updated my ATI drivers, did multiple system restore points, unseated and reseated the RAM stick. Problem remains. Now, I'm wondering if my RAM has "gone bad". I'm willing to buy a new 1G stick, but here's my dumb question that I can't find answered anywhere: Is that stick in the bottom of the notebook 1G itself, or is there maybe 512M on-board, and the stick is 512? I can't find any notation on the stick itself. I know the notebook is upgradeable to 1.5G RAM. Since there's only one slot, this leads me to think that the stick is 512 and there's 512 on-board? In which case I would try a new 1G stick. Does my reasoning make sense to anyone?
TIA,
John
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
Check the "screen flickering" posts here
or the emachines resource portal
http://emachines.fizi.ca/guides.php
Maybe its just a matter of checking the cables and connectors.
Good Luck !!
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
Thanks for the links. Good info there. I will check the wires through the hinge tomorrow. But, I'm not hopeful. This isn"t really a "flicker" problem. These vertical lines are stationary and don't flicker. Worth at try tho. Thanks.
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
Hmm, no luck with finding the problem there. Does anyone know if there is 512MB RAM under the keyboard, making the stick in back 512 also? Or am I just dealing with one RAM slot here. Thought I'd ask before I start taking things apart!
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
OK, sorry for wasting bandwidth. The slot in back on the 7422GX DOES contain a 512MB stick, and it's clearly stated. Don't know how I missed that before.Another 512 must be under the keyboard. So I guess I will try a 1G stick, bring the total up to 1.5, and see if that helps any. Has anyone experienced RAM going "bad" and causing this sort of problem, or am I just grasping at straws here??
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
Yes, the 1GB is 2x512MB on your laptop...the stick in back is 512MB for sure. I would not blame the RAM though...maybe is just the graphics card that got "kaputt". Did you notice excesive temperature at the bottom lately?
Maybe you should test your RAM in some friends laptop and check...before you buy a stick.
Sorry that was more complicated than the flickering.. :o(
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
I would not blame the RAM though...maybe is just the graphics card that got "kaputt". (
And that's the one thing I dislike about laptops.I would gladly buy a new graphics card tomorrow, which would probably solve my problem. But with laptops you can't just switch a new card as you would in a desktop. Or am I missing something here? Have they finally evolved to the point where you can swap out a card???
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
As the laptop is the same model (case) that holds up to X600 in newer models (MX75XX) you should be able to put such a card into it....probably you should check the internal layout first...just to know if it fits and if the heatsink is well located. Dont't know where to find such a card for sale...but it should be feasable.
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
It's probably not the ram. As far as I know the video processor is mounted on the mb, so it's not user-serviceable. This sounds like either a loose connection from the LCD to the mainboard (easy fix) or a problem board. I had horrible video issues with my eMachines after the ubiquitous "cracked screen hinge defect" and only just got a return/refund on the machine last month. By the time they had repaired it 7 times, they had replaced everything on the unit and it had become a Gateway, and there was a new bios and my eMachines restore dvd wouldn't allow windows to authenticate any more.
Sounds like you might be on your way out with that machine. You can try hooking it up to an external monitor to check to see if it's the display or the system.
Good luck!
Answer:
Re: 7422GX: love and frustration
oh, plus the system ram which you're referring to and video ram are different things. The system ram going bad wouldn't cause display issues, it would cause system instability and performance issues (programs not running properly, system hanging, etc.).