Replaced LCD. Now laptop powers off after 3 seconds.

[Mugsy]

I just replaced the cracked screen of my Thinkpad T23 Laptop because the bottom 1/4 of the screen suffered a crack.

Once I connected the replacement screen, I did a test boot before screwing everything back in place. Logo appeared (flickered briefly but I ignored it), I entered BIOS, shut the computer off, and proceeded to replace the bezel.

Replacing the bezel did not go smoothly requiring a half-dozen attempts to seat the screen so all the screw-holes lined up. Once I was finally done, I tried booting the computer again. The IBM logo appeared, but seconds later the computer shut off.

Thinking the battery might be dead, I tried it with the a/c adapter. Same thing. Logo with mild flickering, and the computer shutting off before I could enter BIOS.

Note, the replacement screen I purchased was "used" yet appeared to be in good condition. Screen flickers when displaying the logo and it appears a tad dark making me question the backlight. There is always the possibility I got a bad replacement screen that the laptop isn't detecting properly and is promptly shutting off. Dunno.

Any ideas?

 

[Razec69]

What I believe your problem could be is that while reseating the bezel, you may have moved things around, since you, yourself said you tried about half a dozen times to do it.

I've run into similar problems myself, having big beefy hands, sometimes its hard to grip these connectors and, and reseat them in these tight nit spots.

My best suggestion is to carefully open it up again and make sure everything is connected properly. I firmly believe that while moving things around a connector may have gotten loose.

Or simply the monitor is faulty, or there could be a defect, but I assume its the first part.

 

[Mugsy]

My best suggestion is to carefully open it up again and make sure everything is connected properly.

Thanks for the quick reply. I fear you are right. After having so much trouble putting it back together, I was dreading the idea of taking it back apart, but it looks like I have no choice.

 

[Razec69]

Yea something similar happened to me with a keyboard connector. The actual keyboard went under a bezel but it also had to be pushed up on the sides of said bezel.

It was a huge hassle and 2-3 times where I thought I had it right and was about to replace the full keyboard bezel, either the connector came off, or the pieces were seated correctly, I even had once instance were about 99% of the connector was plugged, and screwed back in together, and I had to open the whole thing back up and doing again.

This is one of the main reasons I hate laptops, and do not like to do it for people. I have big hands and it is such a huge hassle to deal with such small components, another reason I don't like to fix phones either.

But yes, back on to your situation, I do firmly believe this could be the only problem. Now that you have a better idea where the monitor and bezel need to be, you can just try it again with some care, and I hope it works for you this time!

 

[Mugsy]

What I believe your problem could be is that while reseating the bezel, you may have moved things around

The problem just got a bit more complicated. Turns out the computer wasn't shutting off, the backlight is going out after 3 seconds. I only thought it was powering off because the laptop goes completely black & silent while booting.

I removed the bezel and looked at the wiring, which appeared okay. So I tried booting with the bezel removed, got the same dark flickering "IBM logo" startup image, then the screen goes black and the computer goes silent.

While looking at it, I noticed I could barely see the "Windows XP" name in the center of the almost black screen. Waiting a few seconds more, I get the Windows XP starting tune. Apparently, the backlight is simply not on.

Now my question is: Can the LCD be working but the backlight NOT be connected properly (a simple connection issue?), or did I get a bad LCD? If the backlight is out, does that mean the entire LCD is bad?

I still have my old cracked LCD which (I presume) still has a functioning backlight. Any way to salvage the good backlight for use with the good LCD?

UPDATE: Plugged the old/cracked LCD back in and there was no backlight, confirming I damaged the inverter plugging the new screen in. Ordered a replacement on eBay for under $5 rather than try & fix the one I damaged.