[mythtv-users] Screen blank Video all messed up

[Derek & Cindi Cass]

>
>I"m having a few weird video issues that I'm hoping someone can shed some
>light on.
>
>First I've been having a problem that pops up every once in a while and the
>only way to fix it seems to be reboot the box.  The problem, and I'm not
>sure how to really describe it, is that something will happen to the video
>(blank screen) and I'll restart gdm (stop gdm then start gdm).  When it
>comes back the desktop has some pixel discoloration spots.  When the
>frontend loads, the menu screen is completely distorted (imaging taking a
>weaving and pull every third row to the right, and then every first row to
>the left).  That is how the screen looks.  Nothing can be seen from it.
>Exiting the frontend and the desktop is visible (more clear) but still has
>issues..
>
>The second issue is that tonight, my wife was watching a show and about 30
>minutes in the screen just went blank.  The sound continued fine.  I
>restarted GDM.   She then began watching her show.  It then happened again
>about 10 minutes later.  I then restarted GDM again and that is when the
>pixelation issue occurred.
>
>So any thoughts?  I'm not sure where to being looking for the problem.
>
>Thanks,
>steve
>

I have seen the same thing with a video card that I believe was going bad.
I purchased 2 identical Nvidia 9500GT based cards, one for my Windows
machine and one for Myth.  A few months into using them, the Windows machine
starting spewing out artifacts on the screen during POST and boot up, and
then the Windows login screen was a wash of color that was completely
unreadable.  Swapping out the video cards between Myth and my desktop solved
the problem on my desktop and duplicated the issue on my Myth box.  A few
months later, I started seeing *exactly* what you describe using the
surviving card on my Myth box.  I replaced that card with a new Nvidia 240
GT and haven't seen an issue since.