T42 Screen Going Dark

[Callahan]

Hi ... haven't had to post here for awhile ... my T42 14 inch started about 1 1/2 months ago going dark every so often. Not a lot at first, it could stay on for hours or maybe never go dark. Every so often the screen would just go dark.

Maybe 5 or 6 years ago I had a T41 that started doing that and after getting some help here and reading some older posts from around 2013 ... I bought a used inverter on eBay and tried that fix. It didn't fix anything and some of you thought the motherboard was going bad. I did see strange things on the screen at times and as I remember there was pink and green hues or colors at various times.

Now with the T42 that I am using now ... there are no pinks and greens or strange stuff at times on the screen. It just goes dark, computer still runs just fine just nothing on the screen. I can use the lid button to bring the screen back on but it only lasts a few seconds usually. I have lowered the screen brightness to very low and that does seem to help at times. However, today the screen is only staying on for a few seconds or slightly longer.

I see other people from 2013 were able to hook their T42 to an external monitor and everything worked OK ... since the computer is working just fine ... just no screen for viewing anything.

After buying a used inverter ... the T41 fix didn't go well for me ... didn't get everything back together correctly and the lid was hard to open and close and I broke one of the hinges shortly thereafter. The T41 just completely quit working in time but I had two T42s left ... a 14 and 15 inch size. The T42 - 15 inch was like new so I started using the 14 inch for everyday use. Now it's on it way out so to speak. I bought all three ThinkPads in 2010 as refurbished from Buy .com. They had a good many for sale at the time just out of nowhere on sale. T41s and T42s on sale which I found out later from reading posts at this site ... the refurbished was probably with the solder problem being fixed.

So I am thinking of getting a cheap small monitor that would allow me to still use this computer. Just asking about if any older small cheap monitors might be for sale anywhere where some of you buy supplies or computer parts. Maybe with a small 6 or 10 inch screen just to use with this computer. These monitors below are newer 1080 size and I really don't need 'state of the art' new for this old computer.

These are some monitors at Amazon ... around $50 to $60 US currency.

Portable Monitor, Ultra Slim 15.6 Inch FHD IPS Laptop Screen Extender with Adjustable Stand, USB C Compatible, Ideal for Travel and Office

https://www.amazon.com/Ingnok-15-6-FHD- ... 845&sr=1-4

or this model ...

Eyoyo Mini Monitor 7 Inch Small HDMI Monitor 1024x600 LCD Screen Display HMDI AV VGA BNC USB Input for PC CCTV Security Camera Computer Laptop RasPi

https://www.amazon.com/Eyoyo-Monitor-10 ... 845&sr=1-6

or this ...

WGK Portable Monitor 15.6-inch 1080P USB-C HDMI Ultra Slim Travel Monitor with Kickstand for Laptop, PC, Mac Phone, PS, Xbox, Swich Gaming Monitor IPS Slim Zero Bezel

https://www.amazon.com/WGK-Portable-Mon ... 845&sr=1-9

I'm not sure about newer electronics in today's world ... would these hook up or work with a 20 year oldT42 ThinkPad?

Are there any old really small screen monitors (6 or 8 inch screen) from 5 to 10 years back that were for sale or that existed years ago?

thanks,

mike

[dr_st]

Could be a dying inverter or a dying backlight.

[Callahan]

Well I'm going to put this T42 into a box for now and start using my last T42 15 inch ThinkPad and hope it will last for a few years. I guess my main question was if it would be possible to use one of those newer small 7 inch computer monitors with an older ThinkPad.

Since my last post I have found that Amazon has many 7 inch monitors for sale. I was wondering if anyone here has bought one to use with an older ThinkPad and if it can be hooked up easy to work with. They seem like they might be only for a hand held device or really newer PC laptops with newer connections.

Amazon 7 inch monitor:

https://www.amazon.com/7-inch-monitor/s ... ch+monitor

...

[axur-delmeria]

If that 7" monitor has VGA input, it will work just fine. But if it only has HDMI input, you'd need an active converter from VGA to HDMI.

[Glaurung-quena]

Any monitor with a VGA port will work with the T42, at least well enough to find out if the issue is in the laptop's screen or the motherboard. If you know someone with a working monitor that has old style ports on it, test the laptop with them before you spend money on a screen. Or take it to a local computer repair shop and ask them to let you test it on one of their monitors. It's well worth the time to find out for sure if it's the screen or the motherboard before buying any external monitor.

Nonworking T42 laptops can be had cheaply enough on Ebay. Buy one, swap the screen, and hopefully you'll have fixed your problem. Every so often, a working T42 will show up at a cheap price as well (and anything sold as "not working" could well turn out to work fine if the seller hasn't actually done any testing, which is extremely common). Once you get something with a working screen, you'll be able to recoup some of your cost by selling off excess parts from the donor system.

Searching for Thinkpad T42 there just now popped up someone selling a collection of parts, including a lid assembly, for $12 plus shipping (auction style, currently one watcher and no bids, ends tomorrow morning, the 19th). Then there's a complete laptop for $45 buy it now, which says it powers on but doesn't POST. And many more listings going up in price from there. I just looked at complete systems, sometimes lid assemblies turn up for sale as well, but not often.

[Callahan]

I appreciate the extra information axur-delmeria / Glaurung-quena. These small monitors all seem to be HDMI but a few also have a VGA connector or port. The price of around $35 with free shipping seems OK and I may have a future use for the monitor also.

I did check eBay for another working T42 or parts but the small monitor and price might work for me with the VGA connection. I didn't check the monitors all that well before ... I saw that they were all HDMI but now I see some can work also with a VGA port connection.

Some reviews say they are a little flimsy or cheap plastic but the picture is good but not so much the audio.

I think I will go this route and see how this works ... besides I like using this last T42 with the 15 inch screen. It was like new when I got it years ago ... working great so far. Hope the inverter keeps working and some capacitors aren't dried out from being old.
...

[RealBlackStuff]

From my experience I'd say the CCFL-tube is broken.
It works when you boot, but as soon as the tube reaches a certain temperature, it stops displaying.
After it cools down, it will work again for a short to very short time.
If that is indeed the case, this may help.

PS: the XGA and SXGA+ screens from any same-size-as-your T40/T41/T42 will work.
UXGA only if the 'receiver' has ATI graphics.

[Callahan]

RBS ... thanks for this additional information and the guide. I will keep using my last T42 for now. Just not sure about taking on a project like that or any project at this time.

As I mentioned earlier, just have to hope this last T42 keeps working. I did buy a Windows 7 T520 from a seller here 1 1/2 years ago. So I do have a back-up but I still like using the T42 with Win XP.

I also found out that the 7 inch monitor at Amazon that everyone seems to like is only that price to Amazon Prime members ... otherwise the price is $60.00 not $40.00. I don't buy enough at Amazon to justify a Prime subscription. You can clearly see the VGA connection in the 4th picture down on the left side. Years ago I did have two 14 in tube monitors. The old heavy ones but at the time I had no storage space to spare but I should have kept one of them.

https://www.amazon.com/Eyoyo-Monitor-10 ... 804&sr=8-4

I put the non-working T42 in a box to store for now..

Thanks ...