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I've just bought a ThinkPad R61i and a very nice machine it is too - except ...

If the screen is moved on its hinges then, sometimes, the screen image will break up and it needs a tap to get it back again.

I've just stripped it down far enough to get at the motherboard end of the cable to check it and the connector. The cable is individual wires rather than a ribbon and looks OK, the connector felt slightly loose so I reseated it and rebuilt the machine to try it and no difference.

So the question is, does the panel think it is most likely to be a faulty cable, the connector at the back of the screen or ???

I'll strip it down again when I've more time but would appreciate opinions as to the likely cause and expectation of a successful operation.

It's hard to imagine how the cable could have been stressed. On the other hand if it had a broken or exposed wire inside then it would account for what you see. Finding an as-new replacement would take some ingenuity.

Re-seating at the screen end might just do what you need and you can check for crimps while you're do it.

Sounds like you need to put your problem up at IBM forum and see what other have done. Here is a link I found about actually replacing the screen.

forum.thinkpads.com • View topic - Weird X61s screen replacement?

CARLA;1357712 wrote: Sounds like you need to put your problem up at IBM forum and see what other have done. Here is a link I found about actually replacing the screen.

forum.thinkpads.com • View topic - Weird X61s screen replacement?


Thanks for the link, it's good information.

I've posted a query on the Lenovo forum :-

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/R-and-L-Ser ... ad-Laptops

as they're the manufacturer for this model of ThinkPad.

I find I can buy the cable from IBM for £12.06 so I suspect that I'll start with that and see where we go from there.

Definitely. Good find, that.

spot;1357737 wrote: Definitely. Good find, that.


Apart from the £18 opstage they want to slap on top of it.

I'll strip it down first and see what state it's in before I order it.

Go on, what happened?

spot;1358161 wrote: Go on, what happened?


The story is a bit more complex than I posted here.

I bought the laptop on EBay, knowing about the screen fault but happy that I'd be able to do something about it.

It was described as fully functional (apart from the screen) and complete with Windows7.

When it arrived it would not boot - reported a faulty disk or cable. I ran the BIOS disk checker which reported the disk as good. Looking at the plethora of stickers on the underside of the machine saying that it had been data-wiped I checked the disk on another computer and, sure enough, it was a blank disk - no operating system.

I'm still going through EBay's Resolution Centre to try to sort out a working machine as the seller swears that it was a working computer when he posted it so, until I know how the case is going to be resolved, I'm doing no further work on it.

That stinks I hope the guy is honest and gives you another laptop or your money back.

CARLA;1358173 wrote: That stinks I hope the guy is honest and gives you another laptop or your money back.


So far he's ignoring me and hoping I'll go away. If that lasts until Thursday when I go home I'll hit the escalate button and see what EBay are prepared to do about it.

What's it actually licensed to install?

There's a cleft stick over wiping when the manufacturer provides the factory-default reset on the same drive as the data. I'd be happy with it if they provided a lifetime DVD-on-request for anyone quoting a serial number, but nobody does that. Microsoft are appalling when it comes to re-installing from other media even when there's a valid license sticker for the same product, I've two machines here that need activating. Now that Easter's over I might try again, nobody was available when I tried first.

spot;1358183 wrote: What's it actually licensed to install?

There's a cleft stick over wiping when the manufacturer provides the factory-default reset on the same drive as the data. I'd be happy with it if they provided a lifetime DVD-on-request for anyone quoting a serial number, but nobody does that. Microsoft are appalling when it comes to re-installing from other media even when there's a valid license sticker for the same product, I've two machines here that need activating. Now that Easter's over I might try again, nobody was available when I tried first.


The sticker on the front says Vista (which is what Lenovo say it was supplied with - Vista Business 32), the CoA is unreadable, the seller claims Windows7

The seller is one of those things women stick up their jacksies when they get bored with waiting then, innit.

spot;1358187 wrote: The seller is one of those things women stick up their jacksies when they get bored with waiting then, innit.


You're far more polite than I would be

Esculate it the jerk lied he knew it didn't have Window 7 on it. What versioin of windows 7 did he claim it had?? That will tell you right there as there are certain system requirements that have to be meet on a any machine to run Window 7, ram, clock speed, graphics, drivers etc.

CARLA;1358199 wrote: Esculate it the jerk lied he knew it didn't have Window 7 on it. What versioin of windows 7 did he claim it had?? That will tell you right there as there are certain system requirements that have to be meet on a any machine to run Window 7, ram, clock speed, graphics, drivers etc.


I suspect that he loaded Windows7, found it killed the machine and didn't fix the screen so tried to wipe his data and sent it off without rebooting and having wiped the whole drive.

(I don't know how much further I could possibly go towards finding a way for it to be unknowing on his part).