Wow ! And I thought my laptop screen had busted ! But it ain't ! Why ?

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:31 am

A few weeks ago, the little on/off button for my laptop screen, came adrift. At the same time (more or less) my laptop screen went blank! I took it to my local repair shop, the fella looked at it and concluded that the screen had 'gone' - if I wanted it replaced it would be anything around £170 at PC World! He recommended that I purchase a cheap flat screen monitor and ran it in tandem with my laptop, thus by-passing the built-in screen. I thought this was a reasonable compromise, bought a 17" monitor (Dell) for under £40 from him, and off I went rejoicing

Set up and running fine. However I did notice that there was a very faint picture showing on my laptop screen, which was the same as the one on the remote monitor! I thought this indicated that the screen was perhaps not 'fubar' after all, but I did nothing about it and pressed on, using the remote screen.

Today, I have just gone into my husbands account to check his emails (process was quite slow), then I checked my son's emails (also process quite slow!), then I came out of my son's account. The laptop seemed to act a little oddly - notice of 'not responding' to when I wanted to come out of that account! It eventually, after a little coaxing, came out of the account and I was able to 'log off' from my son's account. Suddenly I had a working screen on my laptop !!!!!! I had to re-adjust the screen measurements, but everything seems to be working fine !! Also the laptop is running at normal speed and not slow, as it had been when I was checking the emails in the other accounts !

The screen is still working fine. Can anybody throw some light on why all this happened ? What could have actually happened to the screen to have made it go blank in the first place, and what could have caused it to return as good as new now ?

The on/off button is no longer there, as it was removed, but I am assuming that the screen will actually switch off when I turn the power off to the laptop!

:-3

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:41 am

Stuff happens this may be a 1 time deal the screen may not work again the next time. It may be a short in the screen. Where did your on/off button go??? why would it be removed?

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:58 am

CARLA;1264595 wrote: Stuff happens this may be a 1 time deal the screen may not work again the next time. It may be a short in the screen. Where did your on/off button go??? why would it be removed?

It was fairly loose and didn't make a proper contact, so it was removed totally so it didn't fall across any components inside the laptop and cause a problem.

The button is near the hinge edge of the keyboard of the laptop, so that when the lid is closed, it switches off the screen, even though the power may still be to the laptop (similar principle to that of a refridgerator door for the inside light). The button has a tiny spring type mechanism, so that when the laptop lid is lifted, the button lifts up automatically, causing a connection to switch the screen on.

As it is at the moment, it is in the permanently 'on' position, as the button has been removed.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 1:47 pm

Is there nobody out there who can give me any idea of how this can happen !!!!????

Post by **spot** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 2:41 pm

G#Gill;1264670 wrote: Is there nobody out there who can give me any idea of how this can happen !!!!????

Either behind your screen fascia or near the top of the keyboard there's a component called an inverter. Yours failed for a while and for some reason it's jogged back into life. It could stay working for years or it could fail again any time, all you know is that it's not reliable any longer. It costs perhaps £10 for the replacement part and it swaps in by moving the push-connector sockets to the new component, but you'll be skinned alive if you ask a shop to put a new one in. Shops are like that. Your screen's completely unaffected and as good as the day you bought it.

The black-on-black latent image you could see is the reason for the diagnosis.

I'm not sure you're any better off, knowing that, from a practical standpoint.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 5:08 pm

spot;1264917 wrote: Either behind your screen fascia or near the top of the keyboard there's a component called an inverter. Yours failed for a while and for some reason it's jogged back into life. It could stay working for years or it could fail again any time, all you know is that it's not reliable any longer. It costs perhaps £10 for the replacement part and it swaps in by moving the push-connector sockets to the new component, but you'll be skinned alive if you ask a shop to put a new one in. Shops are like that. Your screen's completely unaffected and as good as the day you bought it.

The black-on-black latent image you could see is the reason for the diagnosis.

I'm not sure you're any better off, knowing that, from a practical standpoint.

Oh thank you Mr. Spotikins ! I've made a note of that ! Don't you think they would do it for me then? I do understand that you have to be careful when delving into a computer, to earth yourself, or is this not necessary when replacing an inverter?

Ere, can you imagine me, armed with bus pass, with long white hair (in a ponytail), walking purposefully up to the 'customer services' counter in PC World (or where ever), placing my laptop on the counter and saying "Please would you replace the inverter in this laptop, as the present one has become unreliable, and my fingers are not quite nimble enough to manage to do it myself !"

I just love going into garages and talking technical with gobsmacked mechanics !

Most men seem to think that all women are air-heads, that they can have no possible knowledge about things technical or mechanical. Also, I have found that, as my speaking voice is fairly low, when I have occasion to phone a garage etc. the person the other end (usually a man) assumes I am a man, and doesn't give me a load of waffle. I very rarely put them right on the issue of my gender, as I find it is more beneficial to keep up the pretence - I am not treated like an air-head, and they always say 'thank you, sir, for your call' when the conversation is finished ! It cracks me up ! But it mostly guarrantees that I don't get any bullsh1t ! :wah: :rolleyes:

Post by **spot** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:27 pm

G#Gill;1264981 wrote: Oh thank you Mr. Spotikins ! I've made a note of that ! Don't you think they would do it for me then? I do understand that you have to be careful when delving into a computer, to earth yourself, or is this not necessary when replacing an inverter?The laptop needs to be unplugged from the mains and the battery removed before it's opened. Usually I'd then touch the metal backplate to put the machine and my body at the same potential before removing whatever screws need to come out. I've never used an earthing strap, I don't feel safe with them but that's just me. I've had too many mains shocks to put up with any more. I've never yet fried any components.

If you tell us the model code of the laptop from the sticker on the bottom we might be able to show you the right replacement part, if you then need to buy it and take it into a repair shop at least you'll not get ripped off for the purchase and you ought to be able to insist on no more than an hour's labour. You only need to buy it if the screen goes dead again.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:34 pm

:yh_rotfl Been there done that Spot I now use a grounding strap on my bench at work. I forget to take my rings off and have given myself many jolt once to often.

Use it till the screen dies Gill you already have a monitor to hook up to it when that happens which is probably easier to look at you just can't move it unless you put the monitor in your lap.

[QUOTE]I've never used an earthing strap, I don't feel safe with them but that's just me. I've had too many mains shocks to put up with any more. I've never yet fried any components.[/QUOTE]

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:36 pm

spot;1265013 wrote: The laptop needs to be unplugged from the mains and the battery removed before it's opened. Usually I'd then touch the metal backplate to put the machine and my body at the same potential before removing whatever screws need to come out. I've never used an earthing strap, I don't feel safe with them but that's just me. I've had too many mains shocks to put up with any more. I've never yet fried any components.

If you tell us the model code of the laptop from the sticker on the bottom we might be able to show you the right replacement part, if you then need to buy it and take it into a repair shop at least you'll not get ripped off for the purchase and you ought to be able to insist on no more than an hour's labour. You only need to buy it if the screen goes dead again.

Spot, the laptop screen went off again. So I took the opportunity to switch off, turn it upside down and write down the model code from underneath. I remembered you said to remove the battery as well as turning the power off - should the laptop case need to be taken off, so I tried to move the little locking switch for the slider that releases the battery, but it just wouldn't budge ! So I left it alone, righted the laptop, switched it on and bingo! The screen came back !

It may be coincidence, but could it be possible that turning the laptop upside down might have moved something inside which caused a contact again?

Anyway, here's the info you asked about........................

Toshiba Europe GMBH (windows XP)

Model name:- EQUIUM M40X - 189

Model number :- PSM4ZE - 006003AB

I hope that is enough info. and thanks very much for your help Mr. Spotikins ! XXX

Post by **spot** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:27 am

I just noticed this, I've no idea how much weight to attach to it.

Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating a problem described as the "black screen of death", which affects its latest operating system.

The error means that users of Windows 7 see a totally black screen after logging on to the system. The firm said it was looking into reports that suggest its latest security update was the cause the problem. Reports suggest the flaw also affects Vista, XP and other systems.

BBC News - Microsoft investigates Windows 7 'screen of death'

Do you log on when you power the laptop up?

If you do, did the screen stay lit until after the logon?

If you don't, did the screen light up for a few seconds before blanking, each time you powered up?

The coincidence is the reason I thought I ought to ask.

Okay, I've thought a bit longer - you had the external monitor showing the desktop while the laptop screen was blank. So, skip this note, it's not what gave you your problem. I'll post it anyway because the BBC article is such an odd error notice.

Post by **LarsMac** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:18 am

I have a friend who has troubles similar to this.

I found out that he, his wife and daughter all log in and never log out.

Some times they, particularly the daughter get things fired up and when they get distracted, or have to leave, just walk away, and leave whatever it was running. (games, photo editor, etc.)

This ties up memory and affects performance a bit, as you can imagine, as it will fill up the paging file space and use up processor time.

Windows engineers have never been known for efficient memory management.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:42 pm

LarsMac;1268074 wrote: I have a friend who has troubles similar to this.

I found out that he, his wife and daughter all log in and never log out.

Some times they, particularly the daughter get things fired up and when they get distracted, or have to leave, just walk away, and leave whatever it was running. (games, photo editor, etc.)

This ties up memory and affects performance a bit, as you can imagine, as it will fill up the paging file space and use up processor time.

Windows engineers have never been known for efficient memory management.

I can assure you LM, that I never leave my laptop unattended, mainly because my son always reminds me that it would be 'sod's law' for a virus to attack, or a hacker try to get into my account etc. the minute my back is turned !

When I leave the room, I log out properly and switch off my laptop. I find it is the safest thing to do !