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We are using an Advantech PCM-3363 PC104 board to drive a NLT Technologies NL10276BC13-01C LVDS Display in an embedded device. While everything works fine usually, the display sometimes is corrupt.

This screen is the usual "Windows did not shut down correctly" screen, normally colored light grey on black. The horizontal lines are an artifact caused by my cheap smartphone camera.

Corrupted Display

This is what we observed:

  • The problem is rare, but if it happens, it tends to happen a few times in a row. After each time, we power down the device completely.
  • Most of the time, it happens when switching to, or in, a resolution that is not native to the display (The windows start logo displays att 800x600 always). The bios boot-up screen was never affected.
  • We used different display drivers and operating systems, and got the problem in every case after a while.
  • We can observe this problem with two identical devices.
  • A monitor plugged into the boards VGA port does not show this problem.

What steps can we take to troubleshoot this problem and what may be causing it?

I hope that this is the right place for this question; it seemed a better fit than the other stackexchange sites.

Please ask if you need additional information.

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    \$\begingroup\$ This seems more a software problem, better fitted for SuperUser. And now because of the bounty, it's hard to migrate \$\endgroup\$
    – clabacchio
    May 2, 2012 at 11:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for your comment. I took the (lone) upvote as a sign that this question fits this sites topic, therefore the bounty. We tested two different operating systems, so if its a software problem, it'd be the boards BIOS... We'll look into that. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jens
    May 2, 2012 at 12:00
  • \$\begingroup\$ @clabacchio - I just asked a SuperUser moderator, and they said that they don't think that this would get a good answer over there. I can remove the bounty and migrate, but I don't think that would help anyone. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kevin Vermeer
    May 2, 2012 at 15:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @KevinVermeer maybe someone has the knowledge to deal with this, but I still think it relates more with pure software, for what I suggested SuperUser. But it's just my opinion, I don't want to kick out anyone \$\endgroup\$
    – clabacchio
    May 2, 2012 at 15:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ @clabacchio - Meh, I'd be inclined to blame the BIOS or display firmware since it works with different display drivers and operating systems - That's more low-level than Superuser typically goes, and no one at Superuser has an LVDS display. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kevin Vermeer
    May 2, 2012 at 15:30

1 Answer 1

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Check the cable and connectors. LVDS is subject to signal integrity issues. Assuming the boards are well designed, a high-quality, impedance-controlled cable can help you to rule this out.

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