Thinkpads Forum

Hello. This is my second post on this forum. I have an X60 Tablet which has been very reliable since I bought it. It is a 6363-46U. About 2 days ago it was sitting on a stand about 3-4 foot up when one of the animals jumped up on the stand and it slid off.It didn't drop straight off but slid onto a shelf, then to a box and then the floor. Not the hardest fall I've seen laptops take and survive but still pretty rough. When i picked up the mess that was made i tried powering on the laptop but only got a mostly black screen with a few faint lines like a grid pattern on one corner.I have searched but my lack of google-fu hasn't come up with many results. At least not ones with definitive answers.

The good news (I hope) is that When I hooked it up to an external monitor it worked and booted straight to windows so it doesn't appear dead or otherwise damaged. And no apparent damage to the outer casing. No apparent damage to the LCD that I could see by shining a light on it. I have had some experience with damaged laptops before but they usually had obvious damage telling me where to begin.

None of the ones I have worked on were touch screen with the additional parts and pieces that come with it. So my question.. where should I begin to repair or what can I try to revive this laptop? Would it be cheaper to just get another x60/x61 to use as a parts mule?

Or would it be simpler to take the opportunity to upgrade/update to another Thinkpad ?

It looks like the problem could be in the screen or the cable that connects it to the laptop's main board.

In other words, it could be:
1. broken LCD panel
2. loose LCD cable
3. damaged LCD cable

So you need to open up your X60T and check the connections of the LCD cable.
Consult the X60T Hardware Maintenance Manual available here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-66749

View it under external light - Do you see anything displayed in the dark screen ?

I seen a case where a laptop was dropped, LCD survived but CCFL in it broke. The CCFL alone is not a FRU but usually you can open up the panel and replace it anyway with minimal soldering/heatshrink work

Thank both of you for the replies. I have disassembled the upper portion of the laptop ( the most I could do with the amount of free time I have had the past few days) and checked around the LCD cables and couldn't see any damage or loose cables although I did reseat them just to be sure it wasn't a loose cable as I have seen that happen before. After reassembling the laptop I tried booting it up but this time I hit the blue thinkpad button that way it wouldn't boot into windows. This time it lit up ( sort of) blue with the lines through it. So whatever it is is affecting the LCD itself as well as the backlight.I also noticed a little more play then normal in the hinge.. ; sigh;

As for the replacement I am pretty sure it would be easier to replace the whole LCD panel. But what about the LCD extender board? I think that's what it's called. Do they have much chances of going bad? Might be a cheap fix if it is possible but I have also seen people selling the display panel with that board with it. I wish there was someone selling none here on the marketplace instead of having to resort to fleabay. I have seen other places selling them but they want more money for the display than I have pages for this whole laptop...

Ash wrote:View it under external light - Do you see anything displayed in the dark screen ?

I seen a case where a laptop was dropped, LCD survived but CCFL in it broke. The CCFL alone is not a FRU but usually you can open up the panel and replace it anyway with minimal soldering/heatshrink work

Yes I have tried that.. That is actually one of the first thing I tried as I had 2 other laptops I have worked on that had that happen. Unfortunately this one lights up ( although nowhere near as bright as it should be) as well as being distorted ( off center and one color with lines). One other thing I just thought of... Could it be the motherboard/ video card doing it? It did work when hooked up to an external monitor so I think it would be highly unlikely but.. Not completely out of the question.

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Just noticed.. (Upon trying the laptop again hoping I'd get lucky and it'd work).. That the LCD inverter is making a low buzzing sound and that the backlight takes a a few seconds before the backlight lights . Is it possible even though very far fetched that it alone could be causing the issues mentioned above? I also in the process noticed that the inverter board wasn't installed properly, is it only had one screw inserted and the other skinnier end was wedged in as well as being installed in a bind.

Update. Managed to fix my problem. Well, not fix exactly but I managed to score a X61 tablet with working display (multi-touch at that) as a parts machine which turned out to be fully functional so I now have a parts machine/spare with spare battery to boot.

Good thing you got your problem fixed. As hardy as Thinkpads are, it is disappointing when they fail. But the one thing better than the solid quality of a Thinkpad, is the abundance of cheap parts and units.

I assume you're just using the X61 now. That's good-if you're not too adamant for the SXGA+ display, the X61 Tablet is always a wiser choice.