dell inspiron 2200 has backlight on but there is nothing showing ?

m3hm3t

hi, i got this dell inspiron 2200 laptop from a friend to repair, it has windows xp installed,
everymorning when i turned on i see dell sing perfect on the screen, then it goes off very fast(if i reboot it again i dont see dell sing again), a black backlights remains on, and there is no picture, computer is booting, i use it with an external screen. no problem with it,

i wonder what has gone from lcd, inverter or backlight, or do i need change lcd element, trying one by one will cost alot more money then repairing
so i am looking for help to find out what is need to be replaced.

CHW

Sounds like inverter broken.

If you bring very bright light to the LCD (eg table lamp, torch), can you see Windows when it's on? If you can see the OS on the LCD, then it's backlight(s) at the least.

m3hm3t

CHW, I dont see anything on the screen, even with the tourch, no picture at all, screen is like kind of white , i can dim the back light or light it up high,
just , this morning again, i turned on it showed dell logo for 3 second and it vanished, and turned blank screen again with backlight on. again when i turned on i did not see dell logo , just blank screen with backlight on,

if you think it is the inverter i will order it from ebay,

CHW

You probably wouldn't be seeing the Dell splash if there was a problem with the backlight (although if there is more than 1 backlight behind the screen, it might be possible that there is a problem with one of them, and some feedback loop with a faulty CCFL not lighting could cause the screen to be turning itself off). If there isn't any obvious loss of illumination on one half of the splash for example, then the CCFLs are probably ok. CCFL damage is often seen after a bump/drop. Inverter more time/usage dependant.

I have a Dell LCD screen (2000FP) with problems myself, and starting up, I see the splash, then it goes black. Opening up the case and looking at the inverter board has shown that there is a component on it that's obviously faulty (heat damaged transistor, crumbling away). A new inverter for this will cost $100 (+ shipping) from the US, or I could send the board to be fixed for about $70. It's a good screen, but a few years old (2002), so difficult to say whether worth getting fixed; exchange rate is good though, so I might get a new inverter.

Any idea how much a new one will cost you?(a lot less than $100 I'd say) If you're going to open it up anyway to replace, you should have a look to see if there is any obvious damage or fried components, and also see if you can see if all the CCFLs light up momentarily when you switch it on.

m3hm3t

at the moment i have ordered the lcd inverter from usa, cost me 15 euros including shipping, if it doesnt help im gonna buy new screen, you can buy whole screen unit about 120 euros, i will update it here after trying the inverter,

m3hm3t

i actually take a video of it and upload it to youtube.

here is the problem, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWd2MZRG_2Q

CHW

Backlight is definitely ok. Could be an issue with the connection between motherboard and screen. You'd want to check all the connections from motherboard to the screen, which means having to do a bit of dismantling. Also check all cables for signs of distress or pinching.

m3hm3t

if there was a loose connections or bad pins, i think we would not see the dell splash or little bit of boot screen, or could it be bad inverter ? but im still gonna give a full check on connections.

m3hm3t

Hi CHV i eventually got a new inverter for the lcd and installed it, still problem is same, so inverter was not problem, back light is on it is not problem also, i have checked the cables they are fine also. do you have any other advise on this.

CHW

Sorry to hear that. I think you've checked all easily testable/replacable/cheap parts, so the problem is likely stemming back to the motherboard (though it could still be an LCD problem - is it worth $100+ to replace the LCD?), as from what I've seen from a brief search, the graphics is integrated into the motherboard, and it seems possible that this is where the problem is, if LCD is good.

What next? Either scrap it (sell off for parts) or bring it somewhere that can check it thoroughly, and replace components as necessary. There are places like this http://www.techno-mart.co.uk/dell_inspiron_2200.html but you'll be hard pressed to find somewhere similar in Ireland.

m3hm3t

i believe also mother board is faulty, but again at the same time i wonder why laptop works on external screen if embedded graphics is faulty,
Thanks for your help, i will fix this at all cost.

CHW

I know what you're saying, but the problem could be after the graphics chip; from my limited understanding, there would be a digital output to the LCD and an analogue output to the VGA port. Could be that the digital side is faulty. Where these electronics are, I wouldn't know, whether they are built into the motherboard, or part of the LCD? Not easy to troubleshoot, in comparsion to desktop PCs.

Jackovarian

try removing ram.
swapping around ram
try using one stick
swap slots.

remove your hdd and check if it gets farther than this point.

have you tried flashing the bios? it could be corrupt.

i'm not sure of the flashing method for dell. but it may be inpossible considering you cant get it that far.

if its a phoenix bios you could flash it from boot.


flashing the bios is the last thing you should try by the way.


also, i had a similar issue with an acer, i gave it to a repair crowd to fix it and they fecked around with it for weeks, only to tell me that it was the graphics memory. in disbelief i took it apart again and had another look around at it, and found a tiny component had burned out, right beside the screen ribbon connector on the mobo! not the graphics memory. it worked fine through an external display aswell, and still does!

have a look around that area for loose or blackened components. just incase.