This laptop came for repair because of the LCD screen backlight failure. My customer complained that the laptop LCD screen is black but the laptop works with an external monitor.
Here are my steps for troubleshooting this laptop with the backlight failure.
Here are my steps for troubleshooting this laptop with the backlight failure.
First of all, I tested this laptop with an external monitor connected to the VGA port and the external monitor worked absolutely fine. I was able to get crystal clear image on the external screen even though the internal screen didn’t light up. If the external screen works fine, then most likely there is nothing wrong with the video card.
After that I took a closer look at the laptop LCD and noticed that the screen is not completely black. The laptop screen still works but the image is very very dull, you barely can see it. It means that the screen still gets data signal from the video card, but for some reason the backlight lamp doesn’t work.
From my experience I know that this problem can be related the lid close switch, faulty inverter board or bad backlight lamp. I checked them one by one.
From my experience I know that this problem can be related the lid close switch, faulty inverter board or bad backlight lamp. I checked them one by one.
If you have a similar problem, make sure the lid close witch moves freely. The lid switch is a small button located close to the LCD screen. This button triggers the hibernation or sleep mode when the screen is closed. If the lid close switch is dirty, it might get stuck inside the laptop case and cut off the power from the inverter board. The inverter board works as a power supply for the backlight lamp and if there is no power coming to the inverter board, the backlight lamp will not light up either.
These instructions will help you to remove and replace keyboards on various laptops. I will not be able to cover all models but you’ll get the idea. Steps for removing and replacing the keyboard are similar for most laptops.
If your keyboard is missing a key, it’s not necessary to replace the whole keyboard. You can fix it using this guide: how to fix keys on a laptop keyboard.
Warning!
- if your laptop is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, do not open the case or you can loose the warranty.
- always remove the battery and unplug the AC adapter before you open the laptop case.
- if you damage the keyboard connector on the motherboard you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
- proceed on your own risk.
- if your laptop is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, do not open the case or you can loose the warranty.
- always remove the battery and unplug the AC adapter before you open the laptop case.
- if you damage the keyboard connector on the motherboard you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
- proceed on your own risk.
Sony laptop
I took these pictures from a Sony Vaio PCG-K33 (model PCG-9S1L) notebook. Should be similar for some other Sony notebooks too.
Toshiba Satellite M35X model is known for it’s power connector problem. This issue has been covered on this blog a few times before in the following articles.
Failed power jack workaround (guide for a Satellite A75 notebook similar to Satellite M35X)
Here’s another well written and documented guide submitted by Stephen Macuch. Thank you Stephen for the great pictures and very detailed instructions.
This is a view of the laptop power connector before the repair:
Inside the yellow circle is the main power connection from the connector to the board – note that you can see a dark circle completely around it, indicating that there is no solid metal connection.
If your laptop does not start at all or it starts but will not boot properly, it’s possible that you can fix the laptop at home without taking it to a repair center. Here are some troubleshooting tips for you. I’m not sure if I can cover all situation at once, so I will update this post as more examples come into my mind.
Situation 1.
The laptop appears to be dead. You plug the AC adapter but the LEDs (power light, hard drive light, battery charge light, etc…) do not light up and the laptop will not react at all if you press on the power button.
First of all in this situation check the AC adapter. You can test the output voltage with a voltmeter. If you cannot do that, find a known good AC adapter and use it for testing the laptop. It is possible the laptop appears to be dead because the AC adapter is bad (and the battery is discharged). If you know that the AC adapter is working properly and it outputs correct voltage but the laptop is still dead, most likely you have a power issue on the motherboard (or power board on some laptops) and it has to be replaced.
If you have to replace the AC adapter, make sure you use a correct one. The output voltage must be exactly the same as on the original adapter. The output amperage has to be the same as on the original adapter or higher, but not lower.
If you have to replace the AC adapter, make sure you use a correct one. The output voltage must be exactly the same as on the original adapter. The output amperage has to be the same as on the original adapter or higher, but not lower.
Here’s a good way to find inexpensive spare parts for your laptop or notebook computer. In most cases laptop parts are not interchangeable (except memory and hard drives) and it’s very important to use a correct part for repair or your computer will not work properly. You should search for spare parts by the part number.
1. Finding part number.
SparePartsWarehouse can help you to find the part number. On this website you can search for notebook parts by vendor. You’ll find part numbers for Compaq, HP, IBM, Sony and Toshiba notebooks.
Read the rest of this entry »
SparePartsWarehouse can help you to find the part number. On this website you can search for notebook parts by vendor. You’ll find part numbers for Compaq, HP, IBM, Sony and Toshiba notebooks.
Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s talk about problems typical for Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 notebooks. Do you own one of these laptops? Is it working fine for you?
Here are some typical issues I’ve notices with this model.
Here are some typical issues I’ve notices with this model.
1. First of all – overheating
Does your laptop shuts down without any reason when you ran CPU intensive programs? If yes, then most likely it happens because the laptop overheats. It happens because overtime the heatsink gets clogged with dust. A layer of dust collects between the cooling fan and the heat sink (dashed line on the picture) and heat produces by the processor gets trapped inside the laptop. As a result of that, the processor overheats and the laptop shuts down.
Does your laptop shuts down without any reason when you ran CPU intensive programs? If yes, then most likely it happens because the laptop overheats. It happens because overtime the heatsink gets clogged with dust. A layer of dust collects between the cooling fan and the heat sink (dashed line on the picture) and heat produces by the processor gets trapped inside the laptop. As a result of that, the processor overheats and the laptop shuts down.
If for some reason your notebook fails to boot and you need to access data on the hard drive (I assume there is nothing wrong with the hard drive itself), you can use an external USB enclosure. This method is very simple and could be very useful when you need an emergency access to your data on the hard drive.
First of all you’ll have to buy an external USB enclosure for notebook hard drives. These enclosures are inexpensive and usually you can buy them in any local computer store. You also can find a wide variety of external enclosures on the Internet. Make sure to buy a correct one, enclosures for ATA and SATA hard drives are different (the connector inside the case will be different). Usually the enclosure includes the case and the USB cables.
First of all you’ll have to buy an external USB enclosure for notebook hard drives. These enclosures are inexpensive and usually you can buy them in any local computer store. You also can find a wide variety of external enclosures on the Internet. Make sure to buy a correct one, enclosures for ATA and SATA hard drives are different (the connector inside the case will be different). Usually the enclosure includes the case and the USB cables.
One or more keys fell off the laptop keyboard and you are not sure how to put them back? Don’t worry, most likely you can fix the keyboard and it’s not necessary to buy a new one. There is no universal repair guide because all keyboards are different. Here’s what I usually do in this case.
Situation 1. The key cap and key retainer fell off the keyboard and you cannot figure out how to assemble them back.
Situation 1. The key cap and key retainer fell off the keyboard and you cannot figure out how to assemble them back.
Fixing a HP/Compaq laptop yourself? Need some help with taking the laptop apart? Here are links to manuals with step-by-step disassembly instructions. All these manuals are available from the HP website.
Here’s how to get the manual:
1. Follow the link
2. Select your model
3. Go to manuals
4. Find the maintenance and service guide and open it up (pdf file, some of them are huge)
5. Go to Removal and Replacement procedures chapter, you’ll find disassembly instructions in there
Yesterday took apart and repaired my notebook LCD screen with water damage. The screen itself was working just fine but it had two different problems.
- previous owner spilled water on the laptop. Somehow the water got inside the LCD screen and left stains inside the screen. The water marks were very noticeable on a white background and it was very irritating.
- the screen also had dust and lint inside also very noticeable on a white background. I have no idea how it got in there but I decided to clean it up too.
To fix both problems I had to open up the LCD screen. This was my first experience on opening a notebook screen. I was pretty confident because I didn’t really care if I break the screen, I just wanted to know if it’s possible to fix it.
Warning: the LCD screen can be easily damaged if you open it up. If you do something wrong the screen might become completely unusable and you’ll have to buy a new screen. It’s very expensive. Think twice before you decide opening the screen. Continue at your own risk.
Here’s my Dell Latitude D610 notebook with water damaged screen I’m going to take apart.
First of all remove the battery from the notebook.
First of all remove the battery from the notebook.
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