black screen on laptop

Gareth2011

Hi all,

I have a Toshiba satellite p100-160 Laptop with 17 inch screen. Got second hand hard drive and when I put in new drive the screen wouldn't come on at all it just stays black. I plugged the monitor from the pc into it and it worked although it did go off few times same "no hd input" but im guessing that happened cause laptop wasn't doing anything. I can get diff screen no bother but just wondering could it be the screen (not cracked or anything) or cables or inverter? Everything works fine its just the screen doesnt show any image at all. Any idea's?

spinzes

l think those drives cause probs if there not fitted exactly , maybe check its fitted right and do you get the same screen with the original drive in if so maybe your video card is caput

Gareth2011

I did I put in original and its the same thing but in saying that the original woyuldn't even booth up so back in 2nd hand drive again and it booted up. Was able to load vista onto that drive but still no screen. I have a new screen arriving this week so im hoping its just that. I don't want to go opening up the laptop cause I always worry bout blowing stuff etc.

Gareth2011

spinzes wrote: »

l think those drives cause probs if there not fitted exactly , maybe check its fitted right and do you get the same screen with the original drive in if so maybe your video card is caput

I got new screen today and still nothing. Im begining to think it is the video card cause if I connect up the laptop to my PC monitor I can use the laptop. What do you think?

holcus

It could be your gpu, but it could also be BIOS or closed lid detector or screen cable or inverter or something else

check if your screen is not very dim by directing strong light and looking at it from an angle when turned on. you need to look closelly.

what happens if you are in windows and try to change display? is internal screen detected?

Gareth2011

I can switch it on and hook it up with pc monitor and everything works fine. I don't see the BIOS screen cause I can only get a picture once I have pc switched on and then hook up monitor to laptop. I (think) I checked all the revelant drivers in device manager and the only thing it updated was the audio driver. I was thinking could it be the inverter or the graphics card. Never thought of closed lid detector. Should I just bin it?

holcus

closed lid detector can couse problems with internal screen, its cheap and easy to get but you need to open your laptop to change/check it.

How many screens have you got detected when you go to change resolution window? have you tried "win" + "p" to change the display adapter or Fn + one of the function keys with laptop/monitor screen printed on it?

doesn't look like a driver problem here as you have no display on internal screen from bios.

BIOS is responsible for POST procedure which detects all hardware connected to motherboard. If BIOS has problem it is possible for any device not to be properly detected and therefore not usable

things you could do: (try it without and with internal monitor, note any changes even those not significant)
0. because it happened when you replaced HDD i would turn on your laptop without HDD at all and see if there is any difference on internal display.
1. check your closed lid detector. it should be small electronic board located on left or right top side of palmrest. try turning laptop on without it and reconnect it, check same. If you are there, check you LCD cable if it is not loose/damaged/wet/burned
2. download BIOS from manufacturer site and flash new bios. Note here that if BIOS is phisically damaged new BIOS may not be flashed properly cousing your laptop more problems or even not turning on at all.

What GPU have you got? Have you chacked if screen is not very dim?

Gareth2011

holcus wrote: »

closed lid detector can couse problems with internal screen, its cheap and easy to get but you need to open your laptop to change/check it.

How many screens have you got detected when you go to change resolution window? have you tried "win" + "p" to change the display adapter or Fn + one of the function keys with laptop/monitor screen printed on it?

doesn't look like a driver problem here as you have no display on internal screen from bios.

BIOS is responsible for POST procedure which detects all hardware connected to motherboard. If BIOS has problem it is possible for any device not to be properly detected and therefore not usable

things you could do: (try it without and with internal monitor, note any changes even those not significant)
0. because it happened when you replaced HDD i would turn on your laptop without HDD at all and see if there is any difference on internal display.
1. check your closed lid detector. it should be small electronic board located on left or right top side of palmrest. try turning laptop on without it and reconnect it, check same. If you are there, check you LCD cable if it is not loose/damaged/wet/burned
2. download BIOS from manufacturer site and flash new bios. Note here that if BIOS is phisically damaged new BIOS may not be flashed properly cousing your laptop more problems or even not turning on at all.

What GPU have you got? Have you chacked if screen is not very dim?

Yes checked screen and there is nothing on it. It just black and thats it. I tried to open the laptop before and I got all the screws out that I could see but It still wouldnt come apart.

The wife said that when she brought it to gy to get checked out he said the screen wasnt working and that was when he said the original hard drive was bust. So I got diff hard drive and tried it but nothing thats when i hooked it up to PC monitor and laptop works grands except no screen. No idea what GPU I have its a toshiba satellite p100-160 laptop

the roo

I have a Dell Inspirion 6400 the screen had also gone black on me (not the light dimmer key, tried that) at certain angles to the light i can just about make it out works perfectly that i can see just the screen is black. any suggestions on that ? You seem to know your stuff . Thanks

holcus

Two possibilities here; your inverter or CCFL bulb inside a screen is gone. If you have a multimeter with frequency measurment, there is a way of checking this without replacing or even opening a screen. otherwise you need to get right inverter or screen to eliminate one (inverter is cheaper)

Gareth2011

We have a developement. I took off the keyboard bevel and pushed the lcd connector down. Put bevel back on and the screen came on sort off. It is sitting about 5 ft from me now and I can see dim light on the bottom of the screen and rest of it is a lighter shade of black (never thought id say that). Could it just be the inverter now?

holcus

Gareth2011 wrote: »

We have a developement. I took off the keyboard bevel and pushed the lcd connector down. Put bevel back on and the screen came on sort off. It is sitting about 5 ft from me now and I can see dim light on the bottom of the screen and rest of it is a lighter shade of black (never thought id say that). Could it just be the inverter now?

Look closer, can you see content on the screen (windows loading, manufacturer logo etc) ? If your inverter or bulb is gone, although very dim it should be visible under strong light
In case there is no content at all I would look closer at LCD cable - try shaking, pulling, pushing (GENTLY while laptop is on. See if there is any difference on screen.

I'm not native english speaker, do you mean :top part of the screen is darker yes?

Allyall

A lot of Toshiba's have that problem..

Have a look at the inverter cable, before anything else..

Gareth2011

holcus wrote: »

Look closer, can you see content on the screen (windows loading, manufacturer logo etc) ? If your inverter or bulb is gone, although very dim it should be visible under strong light
In case there is no content at all I would look closer at LCD cable - try shaking, pulling, pushing (GENTLY while laptop is on. See if there is any difference on screen.

I'm not native english speaker, do you mean :top part of the screen is darker yes?

I had the laptop on and I switched it off to put back on the bevel. When I switched laptop back on no screen so off again with the bevel and pressed down the right hand side of it and it came back on again. Is there a chance something could be in the pins causing it to (see-saw) on the pins cause if I press the left side of it the screen goes off if I press the right its come brighter at the bottom.

And yes the from the bottom of the screen about half an inch towards to top is dark. Not black like it was but not as bright as the bottom.

Gareth2011

These are pics of the screen as it stands. The 1st two are when it was only lit up at the bottom/back. The 3rd is today when I fiddled with the connector on the motherboard and I got the 1st sign of life in the screen. Wonder is it just the LCD cable?

holcus

3rd picture shows that there is definitely something wrong with lcd cable, screen itself or motherboard connector. As I said before, gently move the cable around, while laptop is on.if there is any difference (any!) it is LCD cable you need to change.

If something is changing only when you push the lcd connector to the motherboard, check if all the pins on board are straight/ intact and present

These straight white lines show that your inverter and CCFL bulb are still good

Gareth2011

I put on second screen. I still have the backlight and this screen seems to be a little brighter but still cant see anything. I moved the cable around only this time I didn't get the lines so maybe the other screen was bad but I still can't see anything on 2nd one. Nothing happened when I moved the cable wriggled the cable either. All the pins seems to be straight and present on the moterbaord connector and cable itself. Running out of options here