What did I Fry?

[phoephus]

I recently screwed up and accidentally plugged a power supply for an
external hard drive into my svideo out of the laptop. The resulting
damage was that I now only get black and white out of my svideo (there
is a pinkish hue).The built in monitor still works fine. Would a new
video card fix this or did I fry part of the MB?
Thanks
Joe
BTW: this is a dell 5150 with an Nvidia Geforce Go5200 64MB video card.

 

[Randella]

I think you know the answer to this one... Bye bye MB... A new video
card might have an S-vid out though... you could try that...

-Randy

 

[Jordan]

Check to see if you just bent a pin inside the connector. I find it strange
that the board or the entire video did not just blow when you hit it with
current.

 

[JohnO]

Check to see if you just bent a pin inside the connector. I find it
strange that the board or the entire video did not just blow when you hit
it with current.

The impedance of the video circuits might be high enough not to draw any
current.

-John O

 

[paulmd]

I recently screwed up and accidentally plugged a power supply for an
external hard drive into my svideo out of the laptop. The resulting
damage was that I now only get black and white out of my svideo (there
is a pinkish hue).The built in monitor still works fine. Would a new
video card fix this or did I fry part of the MB?
Thanks
Joe
BTW: this is a dell 5150 with an Nvidia Geforce Go5200 64MB video card.

Count your blessings that you still have a mostly working Laptop.

Do you have external VGA, Does it still work?

 

[Ron Martell]

I recently screwed up and accidentally plugged a power supply for an
external hard drive into my svideo out of the laptop. The resulting
damage was that I now only get black and white out of my svideo (there
is a pinkish hue).The built in monitor still works fine. Would a new
video card fix this or did I fry part of the MB?
Thanks
Joe
BTW: this is a dell 5150 with an Nvidia Geforce Go5200 64MB video card.

Your laptop almost certainly does not have a separate video card. What
it probably has is the nVidia components built into the laptop's
motherboard.

You are fortunate that your laptop still works. If you need the
S-Video then your best bet is to contact your nearest authorized Dell
repair centre. And be prepared to pay a fairly large percentage of
the price of a new laptop. Repairs of this type are expensive.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[phoephus]

Do you have external VGA, Does it still work?

The external VGA works fine. But I still don't know if changing the
video card will solve the problem. I'm going to buy another one and
give it a try. I'll post a follow up.

Joe

Here are some responses to some of the postings :

-Actually I don't know the answer that's why I'm asking.

-The svideo out is female so there are no pins to bend. The plug
doesn't have any bent pins.

-I know audio outputs usually have a high impedance in order to not put
a load on whatever signal chain they are connected to, is this the same
with video?

-My laptop certainly does have seperate video card that plugs into the
motherboard. (NOTE TO SELF: Don't get Microsoft online help from
Canada)

-Yes I was lucky but you didn't see what I did to my head and the wall
right after I realized what I did.

 

[Ron Martell]

-My laptop certainly does have seperate video card that plugs into the
motherboard. (NOTE TO SELF: Don't get Microsoft online help from
Canada)

Okay, the Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop does have a separate video
sub-assembly that plugs into the motherboard. Have you checked with
Dell for the price of a replacement?

And most repair shops would probably charge about $100 for the
installation, if not more as you have to remove the keyboard and EMI
shield in order to get at the video.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/sm/palmrest.htm#1105456



Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[JohnO]

-I know audio outputs usually have a high impedance in order to not put

a load on whatever signal chain they are connected to, is this the same
with video?

Line-level audio is usually 600 or 1000 ohms. S-video is usually 100 ohms.
Relatively speaking, these are fairly low. My guess is that the power in
that connector only went to one or two of the video connections, leaving the
others in good shape.

-Yes I was lucky but you didn't see what I did to my head and the wall
right after I realized what I did.

LOL, I did something very similar with a video camera many years ago (cable
connections, not the wall). And I still remember that feeling. <g>

-John O

 

[paulmd]

The external VGA works fine. But I still don't know if changing the
video card will solve the problem. I'm going to buy another one and
give it a try. I'll post a follow up.

Joe

Here are some responses to some of the postings :

-Actually I don't know the answer that's why I'm asking.

-The svideo out is female so there are no pins to bend. The plug
doesn't have any bent pins.

-I know audio outputs usually have a high impedance in order to not put
a load on whatever signal chain they are connected to, is this the same
with video?

-My laptop certainly does have seperate video card that plugs into the
motherboard. (NOTE TO SELF: Don't get Microsoft online help from
Canada)

Then there's no reason changing the video card won't solve the problem.

-Yes I was lucky but you didn't see what I did to my head and the wall
right after I realized what I did.

Been there, done that. I've smoked my share of components. I used to
test Circuit Boards for an RV manufacturor, they did their own in house
manufacturing (but they weren't very good at it). The smell you get
when you power on a board, but a Diode is installed backwards lingers
for half an hour. I got good at cheking visually first. Still got
stuck with the name "Sparky". Some one suggested that they ought to
make different scented components so you could tell which one fried by
the smell.

 

[JohnO]

Some one suggested that they ought to

make different scented components so you could tell which one fried by
the smell.

I used to work in the service dept at Heathkit, where you'd send your kit if
you messed up and it didn't work. The components *do* smell different.
Resistors and diodes not so much different, but transformers were the worst,
and unmistakable. Certain types of resistors had different smells, older
carbons have a musty smell. Blown caps smell like electrolyte.

The key smell is burning hair or flesh. That's when you know you have a real
problem. BTDT. ;-)

-John O

 

[phoephus]

The external VGA works fine. But I still don't know if changing the
video card will solve the problem. I'm going to buy another one and
give it a try. I'll post a follow up.

It was the video card! I just replaced it with one I bought on ebay
from a guy who lives near me and it was here the next day. Everything
is ok. Ended up being a $69 boo boo. Now all I need is some advil for
my head and some plaster for the wall....