Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

I have an X60 Tablet, 6363 seems to be the model number, that apparently has a broken display. During POST, it will not show anything on the LVDS LCD (remains black but backlit), and upon boot and once the Intel graphics is activated, coloured vertical stripes appear at the rightmost side of the display, covering about 40%. The output on an external, VGA-attached monitor is fine, and, in fact, this machine is in use as a desktop computer at the moment, with all other components being functional (okay, the bezel-mounted USB disconnects most of the time, but that's not important I guess, despite disabling tablet functionality for now as the Wacom is USB).

This is probably best explained with a picture of the whole display, which clearly shows the lines:


The stripes are sometimes replaced by a grid pattern (kind of what you can see on Scots' kilts, but more colourful), and it always seems to occupy the same area of the display. The rest stays black.

Have you seen anything like this before? Is this a sign of a fried base board, or only the panel? I wish to restore the laptop to its former glory, but if it's the mobo, then it may be not worth it...
One thing to note is that the L-shaped part inside with visible circuit paths, which apparently leads from some mobo connector to the LCD bezel wires, may have been plugged in reversely at one point. I imagine it's some kind of simple power bridge. According to Google, it looks nothing like the LCD inverter.

Based on the above, is it possible to make an educated guess as to what part is malfunctioning? I tried taking it to several repair shops, but nobody was willing to take responsibility for possible damage - X60 Tablet seems rare somehow.

This is also my first post, I'm glad to become part of this community.

Welcome to the forum.
You might be so lucky that it is only a damaged LCD cable, but it looks more like a damaged LCD itself.
Get the HMM here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-66749
On page 132 (Parts list/LCD FRUs), what L-shaped part?

I haven't opened the case for quite a while, but from what I remember, the part looks most similar to: "Extension cable card" (FRU number: 41W1477). It's not ideally L-shaped, but I can recognize the screw holes very well. I'm not sure if messing with this part could have damaged the display panel, but I might have plugged it in incorrectly in the past while trying to troubleshoot the USB issue (it's one of the few things I did try unplugging), and the display has been in the described state since I took it apart and reassembled last time. It was possibly half a year ago. The reason I did that was that X11 would refuse to start and I thought there was a graphics/display problem, while in fact this was related to missing USB input devices. Well, now there certainly is a display problem, too!

I'll be glad if I manage to bring this desktop PC back to "laptopness" at cheap, I just want to know if running around and asking to try on LCD panels is worthwhile.

I assume then that you did not open the LCD-lid, meaning the LCD is most likely OK.
It's physically not possible to insert that extender-board the wrong way around.
If, however, you removed/inserted it while the laptop was on, or you forced it in somehow, you may have damaged some of the contacts inside the connector, either on the mobo, or on that extender.
Remove power, open it up, and try to properly reinsert that extender.
Or risk ca. $7-15 and buy another one via eBay or borrow it from a friend.

The connectors at both ends of the board are the same IIRC, so while it's impossible to insert it wrongly, temporarily connecting it reversely without closing the laptop's case could be done if my past self had been determined enough, right? (or I may be wrong about the connectors - looks like I do need to open the case again!)
Anyway, importing an extender board could be hard - shipping would far exceed the value and having it available locally amounts to a miracle, as the local market has only a handful of used X60T's, parts being seldom found. Can the extender even get damaged? I'll open the case and reattach the board. A repair shop did mention a damaged ribbon cable (I assume that's the one that goes to the bezel) as a reason for the first failure (USB, that is), yet was unwilling to attempt the repair. Could be unrelated to the LCD failure, as the screen used to work for a few weeks after the USB failed and before my attempt at a fix...

I'll report back when I get around to reseating the board tomorrow (10th) - at midnight, it's not the nicest thing to do. Thanks for the assistance so far.