I have Toshiba satellite A15-S129. I replaced the notebook screen I could only get WHITE BACKLIGHT no image at all.
I have Toshiba satellite A15-S129 notebook. I have cracked the screen but could still see around and under cracks. I take the screen out by using your Toshiba Satellite 2435 instruction (thanks for the help it was easy), when I reinstalled the screen I could only get WHITE BACKLIGHT no image at all. I hooked up the external monitor and got an image but goes back to laptop and just white light. I remember when I first dissembled the notebook display assembly and reinstalled the old cracked screen that it look to me like the data connector cable (male) on the back of the display laid on top of the LCD connector(female) and I taped it down. Later when I looked again at the connector I realized it plugged in and not laying on top. I also notice the data cable has open pins on it which I made contact with the metal surface of the LCD connector. Did I short something? The External monitor does display starting Windows XP.
From my experience, very often you get a white screen when the video cable is not properly seated on the back of the LCD screen. I assume that the video cable is good itself, because you were able to see some image on the old cracked screen.
Disconnect the video cable from the connector on the LCD screen and check the connector with a magnifying glass. If you see any bent pins, very carefully straighten them with a small flathead screwdriver. I hope that you didn’t break any pins.
I’m not sure if you can short a circuit, but I’m pretty sure that you can damage pins if you plug the video cable incorrectly. I’ve done it myself before and I was able to make it work after I straightened bent pins on the LCD connector.
September 9th, 2006 at 8:29 am
I have the same problem too with my toshiba satellite m55-s335. Everytime i turn on the laptop (usually the first time in the day), i only get the back light- white screen- with no image. I sent the laptop to the authroized service center twice, the first time he replaced the LCD connector, the second time he replaced the entire screen. I wasnt happy with teh quality of the screen so i sent the laptop to the toshiba depot, they changed the screen back to a true bright screen, but guess what? i still have the backlight problem !!!! and now my warranty is over.
To solve this issue and get the computer to work properly, i have to disconnect the battery and the mains and press the on/off switch for a few seconds then turn the laptop again? is there any solution to this problem????
September 9th, 2006 at 9:09 am
Hisham Seif-Eldin,
It sounds to me like a system board problem. The screen has been replaced twice, so it’s not the screen. During the screen replacement, the video cable has been reseated, so it’s not a loose connection. Only 2 parts, that can affect the backlight, left – the system board and the video cable. You mentioned that the service center replaced the LCD connector, but I think that they replaced the video cable. So, most likely that’s a faulty system board OR you have a bad luck with new LCD screens.
If I would be you, I would definitely call to Toshiba and explain the situation. Look, you have a relatively new model, the laptop has been in repair for 3 times and the same problem still exists! Yes, I understand that the laptop is out of warranty but it still have the SAME PROBLEM as during warranty and Toshiba failed to fix it 3 times. I think that if you fight for your rights you can get a warranty extension to fix this particular backlight problem. Good luck! Please let us know how it goes.
October 26th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
I was interested to read about someone with the same issue as me, at last! I have an A75-S231, which I bought as a Factory Refurbished laptop from eBay. It worked for the initial 30 days of course, after which the warranty was up! My screen goes completely white from time to time while I am using it. I was lucky enough to come accross a Dell laptop engineer at work who asked me if the picture came back if I tapped or gently twisted the back of the LCD casing. It did!! He said the cause was most likely to be the ribbon cable at the back coming unseated. I watched him take the cover off the front of the LCD Screen (after removing some screws) and then removing some more screws to give access to the ribbon cable at the rear of the LCD screen. After he reseated it, it worked perfectly for a while, but still has the problem occasionally, so I am looking out for a replacement cable, to hopefully fix it permanently. If anyone has other ideas what the problem could be I’d be grateful though…
October 26th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
ScubaDoo,
It’s possible that the video cable got loose again. Did you notice if the guy who repaired your laptop put some sticky tape over the video cable connector after he reseated it? I usually secure the connector with sticky tape. I would reseat and secure the video cable again and if it doesn’t help I would probably replace the video cable.
It’s hard to say which part is causing the problem, it could be the motherboard, the screen itself or the video cable. The problem is intermittent and all three above mentioned parts can cause the same failure.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:16 am
Hi,
I’ve got a similar problem… Since I always use an external lcd it hasnt bothered me but now I want to pass the laptop on but keep the external screen it’s time to fix it…
When you start the compaq presario 722 it’s fine. After 10 minutes it’ll flash a white screen but then display normal. Within a minute it does it again. The white screens appear in ever-decreasing intervals until about another 10 minutes it’s solid white. If left on it goes grey with vertical lines and then gradually fades to black (even though the backlight is still on and the external lcd shows it’s not deliberately showing a black screen).
I’ve reseated the video cable on the motherboard and generally twiddled the cables to see if anything was loose. I’m sure I read somewhere that this is likely to be heat related rather than a loose cable, but short of blowing on the heatsink I don’t know a way of taking this any further…
Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:41 am
The LCD screen on my Toshiba Satellite M35-S359 has gone to white except for faint thin colored verticla lines. External CRT works fine, I have dismantled the display, checked inverter and backlight, obviously OK. I disconnected the video cable and checked the pins. I did not check the connection to the motherboard. I am assuming it is a bad LCD screen. Can I get input to confirm this before I order a new screen? I love my notebook, I found a screen for around $200. Thanks,
Monty
December 4th, 2006 at 12:55 am
Monty Winters,
The external video works fine, so most likely it’s not a problem with the video card. The backlight bulb lights up, so there is nothing wrong with the inverter and backlight.
So it could be either a faulty video cable or bad LCD screen. I cannot tell you witch one is bad without testing the laptop with a test LCD screen, you’ll have to guess. If you give me the laptop model number, something like PCM30U-0QQ01V located on the bottom, I can help you to find a part number for the video cable.
December 5th, 2006 at 6:26 am
The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite M35-S359, I have found a LCD screen on Ebay for $189. Thanks for help on the video cable.
Monty
January 15th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Hey there. I also had the no picture but backlight was functioning problem. Thanks to your advice i fixed my monitor and saved $913. I almost bought a new replacement LCD for my HP pavillion zd7000. I had to send it in due to a broken power jack. They replaced the system board and returned my computer. Apon booting the computer, everything seemed fine untill after about 30 mins the picture looked as if it was melting down the screen into blackness. Now it has been about 7 months and thanks to your website I found an answer. Thanks for your advice and saving a struggling college student money.
-Anthony
January 16th, 2007 at 1:23 am
Well i rebooted the machine and its broken again. after reseating the video cable (both ends) and reseating the connections on the FL inverter nothing seems to work. i can use an external monitor but the LCD wont light up not even the backlight. Any ideas why this might happen? I also know its not the switch to turn off the LCD when you close the lid.
January 16th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Anthony Ulrich,
The external monitor works fine, so I can assume there is nothing wrong with the motherboard. You reseated the video cable on both ends and it didn’t help, so it’s not a loose connection problem.
You cannot see any faint image on the screen and have no backlight, even a quick flash on start up, right? So, there is no data coming to the LCD screen (would see a faint image) and no power coming to the inverter board (backlight would turn on). May be you have a bad video cable? I would replace it next. There is no guaranty it will help but you have a chance.
By the way, connect everything back together and turn on the laptop. Check if a slight tapping on the video connector located on the motherboard will bring the image and backlight back to life, may be you have a bad connector on the motherboard?
January 21st, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Hi,
I have the following problem with my Compaq Presario 722US notebook: upon cold start I get only black image which gradually becomes pure white, then after 10 or so minutes there are a lot of flickering white horizontal lines all over the screen, and it slowly clears out (display becomes OK). Windows loads at the boot time as it should.
It is clearing out this way: first the upper third gets flickering lines and starts to clear, then middle one, and then the bottom one. If I shut down and power up the laptop at that point, the picture is OK. Only after it has been powered off for some time the problem reemerges. Please see the picture of the problem:
http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/4548/picture0118bc.jpg
The backlight is ok, changing brightness works fine.
There are no artifacts on the external monitor, it works perfectly.
I have disassembled the whole notebook, checked every connection but still the same.
Also, tapping or squeezing the screen or the video cable does not have any influence on the problem.
I have even tried to heat parts of the notebook with the hairdryer to check if the problem is related to the heat, but still no change.
So, everything points at the screen, right? Before I start do disassemble it, is there anything else that I can do (besides waiting for 15 minutes every morning for the picture to clear up)?
Thanks
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Vlada,
Yep, sounds like a bad LCD screen. I don’t know what else could be wrong.
The backlight lights up and you can control it, so there is nothing wrong with the backlight bulb or FL inverter board.
The laptop works fine with an external monitor, so there is nothing wrong with the motherboard or video card.
The video cable doesn’t fail like that. It either works or not.
So, the only part left – the LCD screen. I think that’s your problem and you’ll have to replace the screen.
February 5th, 2007 at 2:45 am
I have a Toshiba L25-S1192 and all I need are the disassembly instructions. The main thing I need to replace is the LCD screen due to dropping it and it cracking. There might be additional damage due to my co-worker dumping 2-3 gallons of diesel fuel on top of my bag and it soaking into the screen cracks. The unit works fine with an external monitor and has been for the last 3 months. I just got my hands on another screen so it’s time to replace it. The more thorough the instructions the better.
February 6th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Travis,
Steps for removing the LCD screen from a Toshiba Satellite L25 notebook will not be much different then for other Toshiba models. Read through a few guides here and you’ll get an idea. Here’s another example for removing notebook LCD.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Hi, i have a toshiba 2435, 2 years ago i left it in a hot closet upon which the screen cracked but worked, with my bad luck i was carrying the laptop and happened to drop it which made the already cracked screen even worse, still worked, except it was pretty much white. Now i have purchased 2 used screens, and 3 inverters and 2 video cables, but the screen is always dim no matter what. I’ve disconnected, reconnected, but every time it is dim. If it’s not the screens, or inverters or video cable, what could it be? I opened the back of the laptop up, there is a black and white thin cable that’s attached to the back of the LCD casing that runs underneath of the keyboard are those wires suppose to attached or saultered to anything near the motherboard?
February 17th, 2007 at 11:00 am
mel,
Check the lid close switch, a small button located above the keyboard close to the screen. This button cuts off power from the inverter board when you close the display. Make sure the button moves freely and is not stuck inside. Try tapping on the lid close switch when the laptop is turned on, does it make any difference?
By the way, the old cracked LCD still lights up?
Black and white thin cables attached to the LCD are wireless card antennas and they connect to the wireless card. If there is no wi-fi card installed, tape both cables to the motherboard in the wi-fi card bay. Make sure connectors not touching the motherboard.
February 17th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
I’ve moved the switch back and forth while the laptop is on, and it didn’t change anything. what happens if the wires are touching the motherboard? I guess I’ll have to let a repair place perform a diagnosis. I have a feeling it’s something simple that I’m failing to realize..
February 20th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
mel,
The wireless antennas have small connectors on the end and if these connectors touching the motherboard they can create a short. I usually isolate these connectors just as a precaution when wires are not attached to the wireless card.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:42 am
Hi,
i have a toshiba tecra a3 laptop. My brother was using it and then said it froze and 5 seconds later the screen when all white. I rebooted the laptop and everytime you turn it on it comes up white. the whole machine freezes. help need asap
February 21st, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Kristian,
Can you test the laptop with an external screen? The external video is fine?
From my experience, the screen might go completely white if there is a loose connection between the video cable and the motherboard. In this case reconnecting the video cable on the back of the LCD screen (step 5) might help.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:20 pm
I need help. This is the first time that something like this has ever happened to me. I own a Toshiba Satellite M30-UU9 and I have had this laptop for almost four years. I left my laptop off for the past few days and it was only recently that I got to leaving it on for a whole day or two… I was in the midst of downloading something from the net so I decided to leave my laptop running while I went off to work. Some hours later (ten hours or so), I came to check up on my laptop to see if any of them has finished downloading and all I was left with was a white screen. The screen has lines of colour running through it – thin ones, subtle and not too prominent. I panicked, and I shut it off, hoping that when it restarts, the windows screen would appear again. It wasn’t succesful, needless to say, and I tried turning it on and off a couple more times before I finally freaked out. What I am now wondering is whether or not my hard drive fried and took away all my files, or whether or not this is just a mere screen problem. I have been reading about external monitors while browsing this segment, but I have no knowledge of such. Bottomline is, I want to be able to know whether or not my files are still recoverable… and can my screen problem be fixed?
A speedy response, or any response at all will be greatly appreciated. Help, please! All my art projects are in there and I need my laptop to work…
February 22nd, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Issha Marie,
I think your data is still on the hard drive but I cannot guess what is wrong with the laptop itself until you test it with an external monitor. I’ve published your question alone with some troubleshooting and data recovery tips here.
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:15 pm
I had what I thought was a bad inverter. My compaq Presario 2100 laptop would not always boot up or would occaaisonally go black if bumped or for no reason at all. I could always see a faint image in the background so I was convinced it was the FL inverter. I had someone replace the inverter and now I have plenty of white backlight but no image. The person who witched out the inverter is now saying the problem was a bad LCD screen the whole time but it is a cheaper attempt to try to change out the inverter first. Can a bad LCD screen still give a faint image in the background. I read some things about maybe poorly seated or bad video cable. How do I check this? Thanks for any help. on the external moniter everything works fine
March 5th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Tom,
It’s possible the video cable is making a bad connection with the LCD screen, maybe the person who replaced the inverter accidentally pulled the video cable. In order to check this connection it’s necessary to open up the laptop display panel. The video cable connector is shown on the fifth picture.
March 6th, 2007 at 11:14 am
The video cable was definetly unplugged because the screen was completly detached from the keyboard. He was also working on reconnectin the indicator lights on the from edge of the laptop.(long story)
Based on my original symptoms, could it have been a bad LCD sreen the whole time. Can you have a bad LCD screen that will randomly go black with a faint image in the background?( march 3) post.
Thanks again
Tom
March 11th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Tom,
If the screen randomly goes black and new inverter board doesn’t fix the problem then it’s possible you have a faulty backlight lamp (CCFL tube) inside the screen.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I have a Toshiba A75 S211. I have been having the overheating problem for a while. I’ve been planning on doing a complete cleaning soon, until then I’ve been using canned air to blow out the heatsink. Now for my problem. My screen turns completely white. I’m using an external monitor, everything still functions, I’m even using it to send this. When I start the computer the screen works. I can use it until the whiteout occurs. Some times it does it on start up, sometimes it takes 20-30 minutes to happen. It starts as a horizontal line in the center, then it only takes 1-3 seconds for the whole screen to become white. I need help to figure out the cause so I can fix it when I take the computer apart for the cleaning. Thak you for your tiime and help!
June 7th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
My girlfriend recently got a new laptop and gave me her old one that someone happend to step on the laptop and there for the screen was cracked. So i decided to replace the screen and have a perfectly good working laptop. So i purchased a screen that said it was guaranteed to work off ebay and i hooked it up and i don’t get any picture when i turn on the laptop. The screen lights up a little but there is no picture at all. I was wondering if maybe i had a bad lcd cable or what the problem could possibly be.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:21 am
Compaq V2000 on the blink. One day turned it on – nothing but faint image. External ok. Lid close switch brings up the full brightness momentarily. Is it a) backlight b) inverter c) somthing else?
I have two of these. Is it worth swapping panels and checking?
August 19th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I have a Toshiba Laptop Satellite A-65 1064 that has started to become show to display the screen. When the computer is warm from a previous use I do not see this Problem. The proble is that when the laptop has cooled down at initial startup I get a black screen with white horizontal lines that appear randomly … disappear and randomly reappear. This continues until the unit warms up and then all of a sudden I get a full bright screen after about 2-6 minutes. I have hooked up a separate display monitor on it and it show the up without all the random white lines.
Loose connections, Bad Inverter or Bad Backlight?
Your Thoughts!
October 4th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
hi… i’m praying that you can give me a little insight… i have a Toshiba m35-s3592 with a white screen with 2 vertical bands(VERY slightly grey). i’ve read over the previous post, and have done the folling things: reseated LCD vid cable (both ends) checked for bent pins, swisted, tapped, stared at, and used swear words. i can hook the laptop to a CRT monitor and it works fine that way. i recently had to “rewire” the cooling fan. for some reason, the mainboard? wasn’t powering the fan, so i pulled it out and tested it with a 5 volt power supply, and it was working fine. well.. since USB is 5 volt, i sacrificed my rearmost USB port, and used the 5 volt supply to it to power the fan. that worked great. i was just tooling along on the net and i closed the lid. when i opened it back up i got my normal screen for about 5 seconds, then it quickly fades to white. i can’t think of anything else to check. since the screen is lit, the inverter should be good, but i dunno. thanks in advance for any help
Chip
October 11th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba M30. Yesterday, right after I started the computer up into windows XP, the screen went completely white. I immediately plugged it into an external display and the computer was working as it should except for the LCD display. After doing some researching, I removed the keyboard and reseated the video connector. I also did the same for for the LCD side (remove bezel, unbolt the lcd, peel back copper tape and reseat connector). The LCD screen is still a steady WHITE (expect at Windows XP startup where i believe it changes screen resolution. This is where it flickers black to white). I know the FL inverter is working because I am still able to adjust the screen brightness using the “FN” key. Do you know if it is a bad LCD or just a bad video flex cable? Is there any other type of diagnosis that I can use to narrow down the problem? Thanks in advance!
Garmz
October 18th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Hi i have a question, i have an toshiba satellite 1800 and got the display just broken, then i got another (the same machine) but with the mainboard just fried up, but the LCD display working just fine, i have try to put the LCD on the other toshiba ang got this working fine but now is in a solid white color, if i connect an external monitor its works good but not the internal LCD, i have tried everiting just sayed here, to reseat the cables and so is the same result, i have not idea what its happening, and now i need help about this, some guy toldme something about a capacitor that needs some soldering but i didnt know about it, please help me
October 19th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Sounds like a wire came loose during the reinstall we ran into this before on compaq and dell notebooks.
Check your connections first, then trace back,also are their any lines on the screen either horizontal or vertical if their are it reveals another situation too.
We are still checking on this for you and may use your question live on air next time we are on.
If you find the fix before then asw e will share with others.
October 19th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Now i have just trade back the wires and found that everitingh is rihgt, all the wires are good, its not a cable problem, is someting with the mainboard, i have used the RCA outlet and works fine, i am using the CRT and is OK, but the internal connector wit any display (now i have 3) isnt working yet, i just keep triying now..
December 26th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Do you know what connections do I need to make to detach the LCD screen from my Laptop Toshiba Satellite 1905-s303 so it can be added as a secondary monitor in another computer? I would need to connect the monitor cables to a VGA connector, but don-t know exactly how.
January 13th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Hi. I have a Compaq Presario 2100. The LCD monitor has gone berzerk, lots of flickering (looks like vertical hold is messed up) and some distortion of the image. The external monitor works fine. Interestingly, on startup and on the log in screen, the LCD shows the image a lot better (virtually no flickering and distortion for the most part) than when logged in and looking at the desktop.
Is the LCD bad or possibly inverter? Thanks for your help.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Update: Fresh install of XP on formatted HD worked. I guess the moral of the story here is you might as well try the software before you start assuming a HW problem.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Hi all,
Does any one know where i can source for a 14.1″ true bright wide screen?. i have a HP Pavillion dv2200 and the screen is giving out lines sometimes it goes blank so i guess its the screen. Has any one ever had a simillar problem and what was the solution?
January 27th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Mike,
I found it here.
Could be connection related issue. Before you buy a new screen, try reseating the video cable connections on both ends – on the motherboard and on the back of the LCD screen.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Hello, I have a Toshiba Satellite M35X , when I press the power button it lights up and some lights on the front of the laptop come on and the fan spins for about 5 seconds but it takes 10 to 20 minutes for the laptop to show anything on the screen. I did a low level format and a clean install of xp pro but it still does this. Once the laptop comes on everything works great. If I click restart it shuts off and comes right back on with no problems. I’ve never seen one do this before, any suggestions?
March 4th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Mike Parker,
Test the laptop with an external monitor. What about the external video, it works the same way?
March 5th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I tested it with an external monitor and it shows nothing either. It’s almost like it has to warm up before it boots up. I replaced the memory with two gigs of new ram and still the same thing. The cd tray won’t open either while it’s doing this. When it finally comes on, everything works great. This is really weird.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:14 am
Hi I have a problem with white screen two, but there are two big differences.
My Dell Inspiron 6000 with 1920×1200 on 15.4 inch TFT worked fine all the time. Suddenly it got White (not quite white, but glowing) but there are two differences.
When it starts, I can see the BIOS POST (in deed I see the Dell-LOGO while the BIOS POST), but when it should change to Start-Menu or if I want to enter the BIOS —> glowing but no picture.
So I started to connect a external TFT (it worked), booted Windows and then something interesting happens. If the Notebook-TFT turns off the backlight (power saving) and I rewake the Notebook-TFT (with the mouse or keyboard) then I have a picture (backlight AND Picture) for about 1 to 2 seconds. After this it gets glowing white again.
I tried to connect the bad TFT to another Laptop with sure intact motherboard, and wonder it was the same problem. When I connected the good TFT from the other laptop to the motherboard of the bad TFT the good TFT worked without problems. So the Motherboard is OK and there must be something wrong with the display.
Any Idea what there is going on ?
BR from Austria
HP
May 5th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Hans-Peter,
This sounds like a problem with the LCD screen. I cannot tell you what exactly is wrong with the screen but you’ll have to replace the whole screen.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:16 am
I have an HP dv8000. I also have a lcd problem. It has been working fine but then the screen started to go black and then when I moved the screen to a certain position it worked. Now a few months later it is mainly white. But when I slightly twist the upper left corner towards middle it works fine. But I have to hold it for it to work. PLEASE tell me it is not the screen. I can’t afford 200 bucks right now (who can). I am in the Air Force and am going to be deployed soon and I need my laptop to work so I can communicate with my wife and kids easier. Please help.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I have a gateway mx6920 with an LCD problem. One of the hinges broke and damaged the ribbon cable (some of the wires melted through their insulation). I bought a new ribbon cable and an unable to get a picture from my LCD screen. When I connect up an external moniter i get picture and when I jiggle the ribbon cable my backlight comes on white. Please help. Thanks in advance.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I have Toshiba Satellite M35-S3592 and i can’t increase the brightness of screen ,and already i installed the hotkey function driver and no change ,so plz help me.
November 21st, 2010 at 12:00 am
I HAVE A TOSHIBA SATELLITE M115-S3094 WHICH HAS BROKEN PINS ON THE MOTHER BOARD 40 PIN MALE RIGHT ANGLE CONNECTOR SOCKET WHERE THE LCD PLUGS INTO. WHERE CAN I GET A REPLACEMENT CONNECTOR? I HAVE BEEN GOING NUTS TRYING TO FIND A REPLACEMENT.
DONNIE B.