Re: problem with display breaking up

[Lisi Reisz <lisi.reisz@gmail.com>]

On Thursday 02 July 2015 01:16:02 David Christensen wrote:
> On 07/01/2015 01:54 AM, Lisi Reisz wrote:
> > A client is reporting the following problem:
> > "The break up of the picture always occurs after I have just logged in
> > and then click the mouse cursor onto an icon such as icedove or
> > iceweasel"
> > "When clicking the mouse on an icon eg.for icedove or iceweasel, the
> > picture fragments sometimes."
> > We have more or less excluded the monitor.  File corruption is not
> > unlikely, given that he has been handling a mouse problem by turning the
> > computer off at the wall.  The computer eventually failed to boot, but
> > that has been fixed with an fsck.  I have fsck'ed every partition on the
> > hard drive. Do I try installing another video card?  But it feels like a
> > software problem. So where next?
> > The mouse problem has been fixed by using a different usb port.
> > I have googled and got nowhere.
> > Any ideas where next, please.  Try a "new" video card to eliminate it as
> > a possible cause?  And have video card driver problems. :-(
>
> I would:
>
> 1.  Backup data and system configuration settings.
>
> 2.  Take an image of the system drive.
>
> 3.  Test the power supply with a hardware power supply tester.
>
> 4.  Test the RAM with BIOS, memtest86+, etc..
>
> 5.  Test the hard disk and/or solid state drive(s) with bootable
> manufacturer's diagnostic utilities disc(s).
>
> 6.  Remove the system drive and install another.
>
> 7.  Test and wipe the new system drive.
>
> 8.  Install Debian Wheezy and desired applications.
>
> 9.  Restore data and/or system configuration settings.

Thanks, David, for all these ideas.  Hopefully, for now the owner is about to 
test using a different DE, since we have established that it always happens 
when launching applications after log-in, so could be DE related.

Thank goodness he is now using ctrl-alt-delete rather than the switch on the 
wall.

This started as:
"My computer's died.  I need a new computer."  So we are progressing.

Lisi