Maxy_UK

Hello

Having some trouble with my Packard Bell laptop at the moment, whats basically happened is the screen is always blank, even though it seems to boot fine and i can shut it down using the keyboard. So it seems the laptop itself is working...just something is wrong with the display. Also the external monitor output isnt working either, so its not just a knackered screen.

Its been to a local computer repair place and they said they couldnt do anything with it and would need to send it away for a fixed fee of £280 The technician said something about mainboard drivers??

Anyone able to shed anymore light on the problem? Anybody in the Edinburgh area able to repair this?

Thanks

Dougster

Try Derek Carswell for help. caz1562

He is a LOCAL SIDC RO and knows about this kinda stuff.

ScottyScoob

I had a dell Inspiron with similar problems, one day i re tightned the screws holding the screen in place and that seemed to do the job, also the ribbon used to get dislodged from the Motherboard so I just took off the keyboard and pushed it back in.

petesmith

Check if there is a little suspend switch that is pushed down when the lcd lid is shut, as this can cause a dim display. If not check if the cable is plugged into the motherboard/vga card and that it is connected to the lcd in the top half. Check that the vga card is also seated as that can cause problems of working loose as can lcd cables. You may also be able to smell a burnt smell which means one of the componets will have blown. Be warned though this will void any warrenty on the unit, unless you do it neatly and without damaging anything as they will not be able to prove you have been in it then.

Subaru_Impreza

i know someone who has this problem and they think it could be the back light has broken

jasey

It could just be the laptop screen that is knackered. Most laptops have a "Toggle" button that switches from Laptop display to External monitor. If your PC "Thinks" that the laptop display is OK it will try to display only to it (Usually).


Try using the "toggle" (usually a combination of FN+F5) to see if the External monitor wants to play !

Apologies if you know/have tried this already

bladerider

You can test yourself if it's the backlight. Boot up in a darkened room and if you can see a very faint screen then it's the backlight. From what you describe though, I doubt this is the case. If the lid switch is working ok, then the laptop would automatically switch to the external monitor when activated. As it doesn't appear that you have either screen working then I would suspect it to be something simple like a loose connector or more seriously, the video controller. It's unlikely to be the video drivers as you would still get a picture on the screen but in a default low resolution.
AS you're in Edinburgh you're not to far from Knockhill. I go there quite a lot. If you want, I could meet up and take a look at it for you. (I'm a debug engineer for HP/Compaq and Toshiba laptops so I should have some idea about how a Packard bell works).

Maxy_UK

Thanks for the replies

Bladerider, you will have a pm soon.

pmacFTO

have you tried to boot from a CD/Floppy to rule out the OS/Drivers? The fact you can't get the external output to display anything would suggest a hardware fault unfortunately...but it's not definite...I used to run a PC repair co and I am in Livi but would be happy to take a look at it at some point.