When I boot my laptop to the OS nothing displays on the LCD screen
I have a Tecra S1 and the problem is when I boot it up to the OS nothing displays on the LCD screen. But if I hook up an external monitor I can see the logon screen. The laptop is fairly new (1yr) and has Windows XP. Any ideas will help.
The first idea – check if the laptop is still under warranty and take it to a repair shop if it is.
Are you sure that there is nothing on the LCD screen? Sometimes it’s very hard to see, but there is a very faint image on the screen. You have to look very closely at different angles. Does the LCD screen changes the color just a little bit when you turn on the laptop or it stays solid black and blank? If you can see a faint image, then most likely the FL inverter board is bad. Try to press Fn+F5 keys to switch the video output between the internal and external screens, may be it somehow stuck in the external mode.
If the screen has a backlight but no image, try next. It is possible that the video cable got disconnected from the LCD screen. I’ve seen that before. In this case you can open the display assembly and check the connection on the back of the screen. Here’s a display disassembly guide for Tecra A3. The disassembly guide should be pretty close to Tecra S1 (and any other laptop).
If the screen is completely blank and black, there is no image and no backlight and all cables are seated properly, then you might have a bad video cable or a dead LCD screen.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:31 am
I was working on a project and I stopped for a 30- minute break. When I got back, my monitor was already black. I though it was sleeping or on stand by mode, so I tried to hit some keys– the esc, enter and the spacebar, and the mouse. Nothing happened.
The light that indicates that the laptop is turned on IS on.
Then I thought that the battery had run out because it was not connected to an outlet, but when I plugged it in, it started to charge, as indicated by the blinking battery- shaped light. After letting it sit still while charging for an hour, I tried to control- alt- delete again, and press the power button again. Still nothing happened!
Until now, I’ve left it charging and connected to a power source. The light indicating that the power is turned on; and the light indicating that the battery is charging; are both turned on.
What do I do? Please help me, since my dad will kill me if I have to go buy a new laptop!
It’s a Twinhead Notebook EFIO E12b. I only bought it around six months ago.
November 20th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Joanne,
Have you tried to restart the laptop at all? You can shut it down if you press on the power button and hold it down for 4-5 seconds. It’s not a proper way to shut down the laptop but sometimes it’s necessary. Try to restart the laptop and see if it boots fine.
Do you get any error messages when you restart the laptop?
Don’t worry, your dad loves you.
January 14th, 2007 at 6:44 am
I have a simalar problem. I have a HP ZE4200 notebook that displays nothing on the lcd screen but displays perfectly when switched to an external monitor. I have tried the entire lcd assembly including the cables on another laptop and it all worked correctly.I have checked the ZE4200 motherboard for broken or bent pins in the male video cable seat and found none. I believe this either has to be a issue of a cold solder joint on the male video seat on the motherboard or a burnt capacitor or diode before the male video seat since the external video connection comes after the lcd connection and again the external video works perfectly. I greatly would appreciate any suggestions or hints as to why this motherboard would show correctly on a external monitor but show no video at all on a tested good lcd and cable assembly?
January 15th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Dawn,
Check if the lid close switch moves freely. The switch cuts off power from the inverter board when you close the laptop display (press the switch) and it turns off the backlight. Sometimes the lid close switch might get stuck in the closed position and the backlight will be always off, even when you open the display.
January 31st, 2007 at 6:27 am
I have a similar problem with my T20. The screen lights up but stays white. If I switch to an external monitor it works fine. The problem started when I tried to replace the backlight because my screen was dull. When I replaced the backlight the screen would come on, including the graphics but then go off almost immediately. I’ve now replaced the lcd panel, the inverter and the ribbon cable and still get just a white screen. Could I have a problem with the motherboard even though the graphics display fine on an external monitor?
February 1st, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Mark,
There must be something wrong with the motherboard. I don’t know what else could be wrong, you’ve replaced everything.
February 6th, 2007 at 5:12 am
Came upon this fantastic site while surfing for help. I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 which has been acting strange recently. since last couple of weeks I found that at times when I turned it on the screen refuses to come up at all and all I has is 4 beeps. On such occasions after repeated attempts the screen finally came on and then things proceeded without a hitch! However since yesterday repeated attempts to turn the Laptop on has been fruitless with the screen staying blank accompanied by the initial 4 beeps I mention. I can tell you that when the screen came on the display looked absolutely okay . I would be grateful for any insights.
Santanu
February 7th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Santanu,
Maybe it’s a memory related problem? Try reseating the RAM module, move it from one slot to another. Make sure contacts on the module are clean. Check out this chart, it has some information on beep codes.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:44 am
Hi!
I just replace my broken hp nx6110 lcd N150X3-L07 ChiMei with Samsung LTN150XB-l03… Now I have a next problem…
When hp boot up I can see HP welsome screen for about 1/2 second, and than only background light. On external monitor everything is ok… If I tryied to switch when windows is running again I can get picture on hp only for 1/2 second and then only light again…
I use my old inverter…
Thanks!
February 26th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Hey!
I have a Dell Latitude notebook that is fairly new (1.5 – 2 years) but its been giving me a few problems lately….
It started when I was working in Pro/Engineer, a 3-D modeling program, when I had to board my flight. I shut the laptop screen (Its been set to turn off the screen, but keep the computer on) and went on the plane. After getting to my seat, I opened the notebook and for somereason the backlight came back on, but the image didn’t….
I tried your advice by looking at all sorts of angles for a dim image, but it’s only a black screen with a backlight. I also tried “reseating” the RAM as per Dell Support’s advice, rebooting, taking the battery out and putting it back in, pressing the LCD/CRT button….etc
Since then I’ve been able to get the screen back on, I have no idea how, but now every time I shut the lid of my computer, theres a 50/50 chance I get that same black backlit screen when I open it again…
Any ideas whats happening / a quick way to get the image back, since my current way of getting it to work is just waiting overnight to see if the screen comes back (The only way that works so far).
Sorry for such a long comment,
Matt
February 27th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Matt,
It happens only if you close and then open the lid without shutting down Windows, correct? What if you turn off the laptop completely, close the lid and then turn the laptop back on, is it still 50/50?
I have a Dell Latitude C840 notebook and sometimes experiencing exactly the same problem. I wasn’t able to figure it out yet. Now I turn off the laptop before closing the lid and the problem is gone. Weird.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Yes! You’re abolutely right… it does only happen when I don’t shut it down, or when I run a shutdown sequence and close the lid prematurely…
If I happen to encounter the problem, however, any suggestions on a quick fix? Its actually in that state right now, and I did a hard shutdown and reboot with no luck…
April 5th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Dearest Laptop Freak,
Been searching through responses on the site but haven’t found any that specifically fit my problem. I’m almost positive that it is a software issue as opposed to a hardware/cable/power/etc issue. I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 with a nvidia GeForce FX Go5200 video card. The other day I could not get the laptop to output to the S-video out so I could watch a show from my PC on my TV. When I tried to access the GeForce tab under my display “advanced” settings it would give me a dll error. I went to Dell’s support site….downloaded everything they had and installed it all. Ran a driver install, a video BIOS flash(which I think may be the problem), and some other utility that was just labeled “html” on Dell’s site. Well it stopped giving me the dll error and I was able to actually get the screen to flip to my TV!! Now it won’t go back to my laptop screen….I’ve tried reinstalling the driver, disabling the video adapter, every different combo of fn F8 with pulling the S-video cable out and restarting, and everything else I could possibly think of (I’m not terribly savy on the topic, but I learn quickly)….the only thing I can’t do is reflash the VBIOS because it just says that the same VBIOS I’m trying to flash is already on the chip and closes itself, and I’m afraid to flash it with a VBIOS for a chip that’s not exactly mine.
Is there any help you can give me?? I imagine there has to be a way to access my laptop screen, or toggle to it from inside the computer, or even just test it…..I’m lost and in trouble because I take notes on my laptop for school every day. I’ll need a whole other bag and some new legs to lug around my CRT with me to school!
Dave
March 17th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
i recently got a dell latitude notebook from work they were giving them away for free when went to turn the computer on it boots but when it boots up a screen pops up saying welcome to windows 2000 profession built on NT technology and for me to press control alt delete to begin but when i press those buttons nothing happens i tried talking to someone at corporate but they told me they couldn’t do anything about it it was free what did i expect but i wont to keep it because i am in school . can anyone help please help i don’t have money for a new one. thank you
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I accidentally disabled my laptop default monitor to off..I can’t see anything now..help??
Properties>>Settings>>Advanced>>>Monitor>>Usage: disabled.. That’s what happened..Then when my laptop restarted and reached to the windows XP start up I can’t see a thing and the monitor is plain black. How can I put it back to the default setting?
I also plugged my laptop to an external monitor and the monitor also shows the same thing. help??
April 27th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Geron,
Try starting the laptop in Safe Mode. Maybe this way you’ll be able to boot the laptop to the desktop and change settings.
June 13th, 2008 at 7:14 am
I have a 2 year old Dell Inspiron 1405 laptop. Last night everything was working fine but then when I turned it on today the screen flickers for a second with a perfect image and then goes blank. The computer boots up normally and if i close the lid and open it again, I get a perfect picture of my login screen for about one second then black again. I am out of warranty and don’t even know where to begin!! please, please help!
July 4th, 2008 at 5:01 am
I have a 4 year old laptop, yeah… i know
Acer Aspire 3002NLC. And it has a similar problem, well almost.
I used to run Win XP and Fedora Core 4 at different times on this fellow, and with both of them, the LCD screen would always be blank. Not dim or dull, but utterly blank. It would work only with an external monitor. The ACER splash screen wouldn’t appear on the ext monitor either.
The current OS is Win2000 NT. When I boot up the laptop, the LCD screen is blank. That is until it reaches the login screen, after that it works just fine. If I connect the ext monitor, I can see the windows start screen as well, but not the BIOS Splash screen. Any clues on this one?