Tech Support

So perhaps you guys can help me with this, as Toshiba support doesn't know dick about Laptops and hasn't been able to help me here.

My Toshiba Satellite A 665 D was in a strange configuration when I woke up this morning.(Odder still, I leave my computer on so it didn't even restart to change these settings) Anyhow, my resolution is changed... It seems to have somehow forced a way smaller resolution, but it still says I'm running in 1366x768 and still says I'm using my Mobility Radeon HD 5650... I've googled around, and it seems there are tons of people on Ubuntu having this problem, many of them with my laptop, but no solution has been made thus far. And I don't have Ubuntu.

But then I go to the screen for changing my resolution and hit "Detect" and I have "Mobile PC Display" selected. If I hit detect I can select my actual 5650, but there's no way to apply it in place of the generic mobile PC display. At this point I'm rather lost, and Toshiba was even more lost when I called them. I'm just confused as hell, I bought this laptop with windows 7 on it, and to be honest I miss all the ways I could fuck with the settings in previous incarnations of Windows. Now it just wants to make it hard as dick to make any changes that are anywhere near advanced and can't be accomplished by an idiot-friendly wizard.

And as for why I posted this here, well, I didn't see a good place for Tech Support, and I figure we all have those woes from time to time.. So fire away on any and all tech support issues and we can help eachother out I suppose?

edited 15th Apr '11 12:50:21 PM by Barkey

Try a driver cleaner software? Or see if Toshiba has a download for their graphics chipset in that laptop, or if ATI has a generic one that works.

Also, you may want to try setting it to a generic VGA device in Safe mode.

I've tried both of those so far, the Toshiba software didn't do anything significant, and I can't install the official drivers from ATI, some stupid proprietary bullshit on Toshiba's behalf.

It's value-added content! But there may be some people who have edited those drivers to work, I know it has been done before.

But I would really go with a driver cleaner, like Guru3d's Driver Sweeper, just to purge any residual files.

Uninstall drivers. Boot in Safe Mode. Run Driver Cleaner, and wipe out the remains of Da Drivers.

Reboot, install driver, reboot. Should work.

I've been having some issues with graphics lately. Namely, some particle effects and some shadows do not display at all. Also, some (few) random white dots on the edges of models and flickering shadows accompany the festival. There is a bit of color distortion. Happens on both Windows and Linux, so it ain't a software issue.

Also, even the BIOS setup and GRUB tear a little when changing tabs.

I don't know if it's a problem of GPU, mobo, CPU or monitor. My bets are on the GPU: However, that's the only issue it's got. Runs benchmarks at a decent FPS and all, but the issues are there.

It might be the CPU (I changed a heatsink). It might be the mobo, failing to transmit from CPU to GPU smoothly for some reason. Or it might be the GPU itself, I'm not sure.

edited 15th Apr '11 4:24:15 PM by SavageHeathen

Uggh, proprietary bullshit from the manufacturer?

Sounds like step one is to uninstall that useless shit. Not only is it dead weight on your computer, it's usually buggy low quality dead weight with security holes up the ass.

If you can't uninstall it, call back Toshiba and ask how. If they don't tell you, I'm pretty sure that's illegal. Or something.

That does sound like either a heat issue, or a connection one, I would try re-seating your card and/or RAM.

it's probably a flag in the graphics card BIOS, set to block the OEM driver because uh, Toshiba has done something wonderful to the system to make it perform in accordance with expectations!

Thanks! I will try it.

Can't be a heat issue: The problems are there straight away from boot, and don't get worse from load. It must be a connection thingy.

Card out, clean card, reseat, right?

edited 15th Apr '11 4:22:40 PM by SavageHeathen

I've had something similar. If polygons start shooting off into space, you'll probably need a new videocard, as that's what happened with mine.

It renders adequately except for one shader that is missing. Something has gone FUBAR, though.

I'm not very worried, the PC is still on warranty. The only thing that bugs me is that I'll have to bring the PC to the guy at the store. Can't afford to void the warranty right now!

edited 15th Apr '11 4:36:10 PM by SavageHeathen

Mine was covered as well. If it's covered, just bring it in, or call him.

So I think I fixed it. I disabled both devices, uninstalled one, and modded the ATI sponsored drivers for the mobility version and they slipped past the Toshiba proprietary shit in the BIOS as a result.

Seems to be running normally now, played a game of Shogun II ok.

Huzzah! Glad you got it fixed. We hope!

Ok, now does anybody want to give me a good site for a build list? I've been thinking of building another computer, but the Sandy Bridge issues combined with the Japanese Earthquake have me a bit wary. Or if anybody has a good case suggestion. My current case has the front USB angled in an inconvenient way to access while on the Floor, so I'd like to avoid that, but I'm not sure what else is good.

Idk about a build list, but I can tell you what is almost assuredly the best place to buy computer parts on the web, provided you don't mind assembly (trust me, if you can build legos, you can put together a computer).

Newegg.com

Uggh, I feel like a shill. But they honestly have the best stuff for the best prices.

Anyways, what do you want the computer for? That's the most important factor when you go looking for a new one. If you don't know what you want, you're not gonna get it.

edited 15th Apr '11 8:30:32 PM by deathjavu

Yeah, except I'd have to pay sales taxes, and so that ups their prices versus others to the point where I can sometimes get better deals elsewhere.

But in terms of what I want, general gaming would be my immediate preference, everything else is likely to be less determinative on my build.

edited 15th Apr '11 8:40:20 PM by blueharp

Hmm, alright.

I wouldn't go for the truly top-of-the-line stuff, as they tend to put an absolutely preposterous markup on those (mainly because they know people going for the latest and greatest will pay it). I'd typically say the best value is just a few steps below that point.

How much are you willing to spend, is the next question. Get a rough estimate and see what you can get with that.

Yeah, see this is why I was hoping to see some build lists so I have a range of options to look through myself. Unfortunately I really don't have an idea of where to look for good information.

Store sites is not what I'm worried about, I'm looking for something more high-level.

edited 15th Apr '11 11:02:36 PM by blueharp

Ah.

Let's see, usually I start with a rough estimate of what I want, then google whatever items I want to research, but here's some of the sites I hit pretty frequently.

http://www.tomshardware.com/

http://www.anandtech.com/

Those are probably my two favorites.

Anyways, seriously, having a price range narrows it down a lot. Until then I can only say that, last time I checked, nothing AMD was offering could compete with Intel, and that was before the Sandy Bridge hexacores. There is more to a dual/quad core processor than speed and number of cores-the architecture of their connections and coding for task-splitting is also very important, and last I heard the i7 line absolutely, flat out STOMPED AMD's Phantom II's (I believe that's what their second gen quad core line was called).

I wouldn't go less than second gen quad core, i.e. either a higher end i5 or an i7 (I still don't understand why they didn't make all the i3's single core, all the i5's dual core, and all the i7's quad core. Why mix them? Very confusing sometimes.)

Graphics is a bit more of a toss up.

My problem with picking a budget is I just don't know what's what in terms of dollars enough to give a real figure. It's been ~10 years since I bought anything other than a laptop. And the Laptops I bought more by convenience than performance.

But really, my budget is flexible enough and my ignorance gap wide enough that I'd rather see what there is first, then decide on the option. Wasn't planning to buy cutting edge, but I don't need to stick to pure bottom basement.

edited 15th Apr '11 11:35:32 PM by blueharp

For anything that can play games for a significant amount of time, I'd guess upwards of $1000

I got my computer a year ago and it came out to about $1500. Not top of the road, but it plays most games at max settings...for now.

That does seem to be the level where most things float around, but thanks for the sites, I'm learning a bit.

I've been having a big problem with my computer. Here's what it does:

• Either it freezes the screen forcing a restart
• Reboots on its own
• Shuts down the monitor
• Shuts down monitor saying it is 'out of range'

Any tips?

Sounds like a hardware fault, you could check for dust to see if that's built and caused some heat problems, or it may be a lose connection, in which case you should test everything.

After that, you may want to run a memory test.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1530 laptop, around 2-4 years old. Occasionally, when I'm doing something like watching a video or playing games, the computer will power off. Not in the sense of a regular shutdown, I mean the power will shut off completely, as in a forced shutdown. I've been told this is a power supply issue.

Is there any way to fix this?

On battery power, or AC? You could try replacing the battery or the AC adapter instead of having the PSU inside the system replaced.

It could also be heat, in which case you clean out dust and/or try external cooling.