Pretty sure I broke my laptop monitor

[alexr1090]

Last week my laptop monitor began acting weird. The picture started to turn white from time to time, and the only way that seemed to get it back to normal was to move the monitor back and forth a bit (if I didn't do this the screen would eventually just turn completly white).

Well...I got sick of this. So I decided to take apart my laptop to clean out any dust in there, and of course, there was a lot. After taking it apart and dusting it I decided to take a break and check google to see if anyone else had ever had this problem and I ended up coming across a page that said my issue wasn't dust ... It was ... Windows. Windows Vista to be more specific. A problem with Windows, and Vista at that!?!

Anyway, I still have my laptop all taken apart when I discovered this, so I immediatly scramble to get my laptop back together, and after getting it all put back together of course the monitor doesn't turn on... and this is where I make a stupid mistake. Instead of first making sure it was in fact my monitor that was causing the screen not to display and doing no testing, I automatically assumed it was my monitor. So at this point I think I have a bad monitor and figure what the hell, why not take the monitor apart, maybe I'll see something in there that doesn't look right and that I can fix...and I'm back to taking apart my laptop...AGAIN

So after taking all the aluminum foil off the wires (who needs em?) in the back, taking off that annoying warning tape that says "danger: do not touch" (again, no big deal ), I start to wonder...

MY MONITOR MIGHT NOT BE THE ISSUE!

Holy cussword!

With the monitor all disassembled and the wires in the back out of their casing I decided to plug the monitor in and run a couple tests ... and then I figure out the problem. Ready for this? The RAM needed to be reseated! Lordy was that an exciting/disapointing/make-you-feel-dumb/grateful/happy/..fill in other emotions.. moment. So I go back to reassembling my monitor, complete with using scotch tape over their warning tape (tape is tape, what the hell lol) and quickly trying to put the alluminum foil back over the bare wires.

After getting the last screw in I'm thinking "Ah, monitor goodness at last ". I joyfully press the power button ... and ... sadface ... screen is blank

This time, unfortunately, it's not the RAM because I know the computer is booting into windows.

..lol..I'm currently in the process of trying to retape my tape, remake an aluminum foil thingy for the wires, and hoping that these efforts turn fruitful.

lol I don't even want to ask, haha, has anyone ever done this before? Does anyone have any suggestions? AND before you make any suggestions: No I don't have a spare monitor To plug into it (although a suggestion for a place to get a free monitor would be nice![no i don't feel like looking for ones laying on the side of the road]), I REALLY don't want to have to buy a new screen, and I'm pretty sure I found a new quote based on this story.

 

[avalanchesj]

well if your laptop uses an inverter to power the backlight (most laptops do, newer ones use LED backlight and dont need an inverter) check to see if you can see a very faint image on the screen (easy to do with a flashlight shining from above the screen or just looking carfully at the screen) then you might have a bad inverter and those are pretty easy to replace. if there is no image at all on the screen then the screen may be bad or possibly your lcd's video controller may have gone bad. does your laptop have an AMD processor and and nVidia GPU? (like on alot of the HP DV2xxx/6xxx/9xxx series laptops and the Compaq equivilant) if so there is a manufacturing defect with those chips that dont allow the heat to properly vent from the laptop and the GPU will basicly get so hot that it lifts slightly from the motherboard and all the lights will come on but nothing comes on the screen. there is a process called reballing that can fix that. there is also a process called reflowing that can fix that as well.

 

[alexr1090]

does your laptop have an AMD processor and and nVidia GPU? (like on alot of the HP DV2xxx/6xxx/9xxx series laptops and the Compaq equivilant)

yes i do have the amd/nvidia combo. I didn't know about that defect, I'll look into it.

Update:

if so there is a manufacturing defect with those chips that dont allow the heat to properly vent from the laptop and the GPU will basicly get so hot that it lifts slightly from the motherboard and all the lights will come on but nothing comes on the screen. there is a process called reballing that can fix that. there is also a process called reflowing that can fix that as well.

For anyone that doesn't know what these processes are, they're both basically used to resolder your gpu to your motherboard. Reflowing is heating up your motherboard, specifically over the gpu, with a solder gun to get the pins to stick back and or reconnect to your motherboard. This is considered a short term fix for the solution because it's not fixing the actual problem, which is that the gpu is getting too hot and lifting from the motherboard.

Reballing, from what I have seen after searching for videos of it on google, is for when your gpu is completely lifted from your motherboard and one or more connectors (balls) is missing from the bottom of the gpu, and when you reball your gpu you're resoldering those missing balls and then eventually resoldering the entire gpu to the board. While reballing seems like a more in-depth way of reconnecting your gpu to your motherboard, and may be more of a long term fix than reflowing, it doesn't seem like a permanent fix.

To permanently fix the problem you will need to figure out a better way to cool down your gpu. Right now I'm still unsure that this is my problem. I'll connect my an external monitor to my laptop and see if I get video. If I do, then the gpu getting too hot isn't my problem, if I don't, then the gpu getting too hot may very well be the problem. I'll update after I've tested it on a good montior.

 

[BigSteve702]

if you said you had to move your screen before to get it to display, then its your ribbon cable going to the screen, or the screen itself.

so here's what you do, take your assembly apart. you once you pop the front bezel off, you should have a few screws in the top corners holding the back bezel to the hinge, and maybe a couple more at the bottom of the hinge. take those out, and drop the back panel down carefully. if you have a webcam, you might have an extra cable to peel off the back of the lcd screen.

now, turn your laptop on, and pinch and twist your ribbon cable in all directions from where it turns round from flat, all the way down to where it connects to the motherboard. you might get some kind of flickering on the screen and might be able to pinpoint the spot where its messed up, if its the cable. cables get busted at the hinge usually, cause the wires inside rub against each other as you open and close the screen, and they lose their outer rubber and short each other

anywho, ribbon cables are about 15-30 bucks on ebay. the part number you need to order a new one is on the little white sticker usually by where the inverter bridges off the ribbon

 

[BigSteve702]

yes i do have the amd/nvidia combo. I didn't know about that defect, I'll look into it.

Update:

For anyone that doesn't know what these processes are, they're both basically used to resolder your gpu to your motherboard. Reflowing is heating up your motherboard, specifically over the gpu, with a solder gun to get the pins to stick back and or reconnect to your motherboard. This is considered a short term fix for the solution because it's not fixing the actual problem, which is that the gpu is getting too hot and lifting from the motherboard.

Reballing, from what I have seen after searching for videos of it on google, is for when your gpu is completely lifted from your motherboard and one or more connectors (balls) is missing from the bottom of the gpu, and when you reball your gpu you're resoldering those missing balls and then eventually resoldering the entire gpu to the board. While reballing seems like a more in-depth way of reconnecting your gpu to your motherboard, and may be more of a long term fix than reflowing, it doesn't seem like a permanent fix.

To permanently fix the problem you will need to figure out a better way to cool down your gpu. Right now I'm still unsure that this is my problem. I'll connect my an external monitor to my laptop and see if I get video. If I do, then the gpu getting too hot isn't my problem, if I don't, then the gpu getting too hot may very well be the problem. I'll update after I've tested it on a good montior.

close. reflowing involves using a heatgun, which is like an intense hairdryer, to apply heat over a chip. you heat it specifically to the melting point of the solder, so you dont burn anything else. i usually rock about 450 degrees and never had anyone bringing back their laptops. anywho, what happens, is the heat melts the solder, and it flows back to its traces. traces are the part on the motherboard that the electricity flows between chips on, like a highway. usually made of copper, they are alot denser than the solder, so they dont heat as quick. so the solder flows and sticks to it because its not as hot, and bam, after you are done, its like the chip just got repressed. i always stack quarters on top to apply pressure, sometimes you can just watch the chip sink right in.

the heat causes the chips to go bad cause the solder starts getting softer, losing support for the chip, and it gets the freedom to warp. thats why you gotta apply pressure when you reflow, you want the chip to be all the way against the board.

another great one, is to just bake it. depends on the scenario though. ive reflowed a million dv2000-9000 laptops and had 80 percent come back within a month (most laptops dont come back at all). and thats with fresh paste on the heatsinks and a nice alcohol bath to the whole board and heatsink. HOWEVER, the ones that i have baked, haven't come back as much. i only have had about 3 return so far, been doing it for about 8 months now, and probably baked about 40. thats a good turnout compared to reflowing. what i'd do is strip the board as bare as possible, take off all chip covers, all tape, all spillguards, and bake it in the oven, at 450 degrees for 4 minutes on each side, on a baking sheet, with a computer case screw stuck into every mounting hole as a standoff between the board and baking sheet. also, of course, with a few quarters on the video chips and dimes on nb/sb chips. i think people should give that a try instead of reflowin...