Gateway Laptop Screen Problem (Horizontal and Vertical lines then White Screen)

[Tom_05]

I have this Gateway Solo 9550 laptop that controls an expensive photocopy machine. I was formatting and re installing Win2k but the screen turned to a mesh of white colors after the copying system files part of text interface setup. Upon reboot the upper 1/3 of the screen was white and the rest of the screen had white lines vertical and horizontal that slowly faded to white. I tried connecting to an external screen using the VGA port but no luck. It also has a composite TV port but I haven't tried it on my TV yet.\

When opening the laptop after removing like 20 screws I checked the screen plug and pulled it out and put it back in and it started for like 2 seconds with a white line on the lower half then faded white again. Right now theres just a black screen and when you press keys after a while it beeps on every key. Need help fast as the photocopy machine wont work without it.

Also, the CD player still works on the front panel, I can turn it on and listen to CDs change the volume etc etc.

EDIT: The screen is just black now but the backlight sometimes turns on. Rarely ill get a white line or two then the entire screen will slow slow fade to white.

 

[plaintuts]

If the vga external output produce the same result then, check if the display will accurately show the post bios before going to the OS.

 

[Tom_05]

The VGA external output never showed anything, just a standby black screen. (No lines)

 

[plaintuts]

Can you enter bios during bootup?

 

[Tom_05]

Even if i did i wouldnt see it. The monitor doesn't work! and no external feed using VGA! Stop asking this kind of questions

 

[plaintuts]

oh sorry.. just making sure that the problem is not due to the mainboard being fried.

the CCFL bulb, basically the backlight of the laptop is probably broken
or the inverter may be the cause of the issue with not providing power to the lcd
or the solder on the mainboard for the display has corroded.

but since the external vga does not produce any output "which is soldered to the mainboard" and should display the bios regardless of an HDD is installed, then,...

you will need a voltmeter to check if the laptop components are being powered.

 

[Tom_05]

The backlight always worked and mysteriously the screen worked perfectly this morning untill it started spazzing out for a couple seconds and then showed the contents "shattering" and turned slowly to white again. I tried refitting the connector to the board and nudging it to see if it would change but no luck. I opened up the screen and tried the same on the other side of the connector. All the colored wires are attached properly to the connector. Im running out of explanations for this.

Should i pull out my ohm meter and start testing each pin of the connector cable or would that be a waste?

 

[C12Friedman]

How old is this beast of a laptop. My research puts it ~10 years old. The issues you're describing are generally video related, if your board has a video chip, it's likely bad and would need replacement but, if that old, sourcing parts won't be easy. You could come up lucky and find a few blown caps on the motherboard (I assume you've already looked for that though)