Only External Monitor Works, Primary (Laptop T60 Screen) doesn't

saibala999

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Apr 3, 2011
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Hello,

I connected to my Laptop (Thinkpad T60) to External monitor (TV) through VGA port. When I wish to switch to my primary, Laptop screen, I pressed Fn+F7, Laptop Screen would come ON, but after few seconds it would go black. I tried again by pressing Fn+F7 but this time, had to press thrice for it to come up, but again after few seconds it goes off. Now only if I press thrice primary screen works, invariable of connected to External Monitor or not.

Additional Info: Whenever it screen comes ON, I hear some sound in the laptop and while it fades off, screen goes off in parallel.

Now I am only able to use my Laptop with my external monitor (TV) and not with my primary, ie Laptop screen.

Please help me resolve this issue. Thanks in advance.
 

saibala999

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Apr 3, 2011
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No my Laptop screen is not active when it's not connected to External. It shows black screen.

My OS is Windows XP. I haven't done anything to configure, just connected my Laptop to TV with VGA port and pressed Fn+F7.
 

Crashman

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I'm going to take an educated guess here, because it sounds like the monitor's interface controller is bad. I forgot the name of the thing, but it's a small circuit board that's normally located at the bottom of the panel frame, between the flat ribbon cables and the round hinge cables.
 

Crashman

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Yes, the thingy that makes the backlight work :p I think his is overheating and powering off due to a failed component.
 

Snipergod87

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May 26, 2009
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I think inverter boards are rather cheap but I have never purchased one myself. It is likely that the OP's got damaged, either burnt out or what not.

Still if the back light is dead if you shine some light into the LCD screen you should be able to see whats on the desktop (just very dim) If he cant see anything than it could be the connection is loose on the motherboard. (they can come unplugged if dropped)
 

randomstar

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May 2, 2007
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A quick google should find the inverter - I just bought one for a Lenovo / IBM Tpad 6-60 for a friend for 16 bucks.
solved the problem. if there is a "noise" - specifically a whining noise, it is a bad inverter. really easy change out on the T-60.
 

belovs

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Hi, I have Exactly the same problem with my T60P. After connecting it to a TV through VGA port the screen went black and since then, even if it is not connected to the TV, the screen would go black sooner or later. Thought it was Inverter Board issue. Replaced it and the screen still goes black.
Temporary solution that worked for me: Lowered Display Brightness (Fn + End) to the lowest setting and the screen manages to stay on. I would still like to see everything in full brightness.
If you find a permanent solution could you please post it here?
 

francisexpress

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Dec 23, 2009
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Hi, I have the same problem. I started to get a black screen after I removed and puted again the memories on my acer laptop. The probem is that I later found that the computer was probaby Hibernated, not shutdown.

I've tried the screen on another laptop and it works. I've tried a new lcd cable but It still does not work.

I've tried with an external Display and it works.

Could it be that the motherboard got an electric discharge and the damadge is just afecting the internal lcd part...

Many thanks for your help.

Francis
 

noniboy

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Apr 25, 2012
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I had almost the same problem on a HP Pavilion DV6000. I had a black screen on LCD but VGA port worked fine.

The problem came from nowhere; I was just reading on my laptop when the screen went black for about 20secs, then turned on for some minutes and finally black out forever.

At the beginning I blamed the LCD screen. But it came out that both LCD inverter and LCD light bulb were working fine. I thought that LCD screen circuit board itself was dead, but before deciding to buy a new LCD screen I gave it another chance. Fortunately I had another identical motherboard and I replaced it. Incredibly the screen went on and has been working fine since then.

Does anyone has any idea what piece on the motherboard is to blame for that problem?
Thanks!
 

Crashman

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The ribbon cable connector. You might have been able to fix it just by removing and reinstalling the ribbon cable.
 

noniboy

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The ribbon cable connector. You might have been able to fix it just by removing and reinstalling the ribbon cable.
Thanks Crashman!
I'm almost sure that I did a removing/reinstalling of the LCD ribbon cable before swapping the boards.
Anyway, sooner or later I'll give the discarded board another try :)

 

TyCat7

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Jul 24, 2014
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I have been reading the descriptions y'all give on your screens. Mine has an issue too. I've been using an external monitor, and I've been swapping my broken screen with my replacement screen multiple times. No matter what I do, my screen stays black. The first replacement I received wasn't even recognized by my laptop. This new replacement I just got today is recognized but is not working. The company assures me that they test their screen, but I'm starting to think they use faulty equipment.