Question Display issues with Dell Latitude E6520

[somnomania]

This is my mom's laptop. She just woke it up after it had been asleep several hours, and the display was sort of pixelly, colors weren't displaying right. Some basic internet searching led me to it probably being that it was defaulting to 8-bit color for some reason; some settings verified this, but others didn't. I just disconnected the wifi, uninstalled the Intel display driver (letting it delete), and let it restart. Now all I'm getting from it is the backlit black screen (no cursor), and plugging an external monitor in does nothing, that screen just stays dark. I've tried triggering the automatic repair, I've taken the battery out and held the power button for a minute, still nothing. Running on battery, the screen dims as it's supposed to after a few minutes, so Windows is there, there's just no display.

I need to know either how to reconnect the wifi without being able to see it, or how to get this driver reinstalled without being able to see it. I can't even get into the BIOS right now, or if I am that isn't showing on the screen either.

 

[mrmike16]

Hardware-wise, I suggest resetting the CMOS, the RAM, the video ribbon, and the graphics card if it has one.
Software-wise, it would be difficult to use the PC with no display, but it is a good sign that Windows is working. I can't think of anything. If the Dell logo doesn't even show up, it sounds like it is more than just the driver. I think the hardware fixes is the only way to go.

You should remove the hard drive to back up the PC on another computer.

 

[somnomania]

Hardware-wise, I suggest resetting the CMOS, the RAM, the video ribbon, and the graphics card if it has one.
Software-wise, it would be difficult to use the PC with no display, but it is a good sign that Windows is working. I can't think of anything. If the Dell logo doesn't even show up, it sounds like it is more than just the driver. I think the hardware fixes is the only way to go.

You should remove the hard drive to back up the PC on another computer.

It actually resolved itself after a few days; I tried booting it on a whim and the display was completely fine. I've provided diagnostic reports at the thread I made on this topic over at Bleeping Computer, so I've got some people suggesting some things I can do to determine if the display panel is actually dying or not. It's still pretty weird.

 

[mrmike16]

It actually resolved itself after a few days; I tried booting it on a whim and the display was completely fine. I've provided diagnostic reports at the thread I made on this topic over at Bleeping Computer, so I've got some people suggesting some things I can do to determine if the display panel is actually dying or not. It's still pretty weird.

That is very strange. Maybe it has some sort of bad soldering on the motherboard or a short. Either way, I am glad it is working! Just make sure to back it up.