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L520 black screen

SL300/SL400/SL500, L400-L420 and L500-L520 Series
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mickrick
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Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:11 pm
Location: Belfast, UK

L520 black screen

#1 Post by mickrick » Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:59 pm

Hi everyone,
Can anyone help me with my problem?
My L520 screen is black when I turn it on. Everything powers up, the on/off button is on, I can hear the fan going and the cd Rom tray opens okay.
I've tried the usual stuff like removing the battery and holding the power button for a minute or so, removed and replaced the Ram boards but nothing works.
When I turn my machine on and shine a bright light at the screen I can see the (very faint) ThinkPad logo so I'm sure it's a problem with the screen.
Anyone any suggestions on how to fix this problem?
Thanks in advance.
M

ZaZ
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Re: L520 black screen

#2 Post by ZaZ » Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:59 pm

Re-seating the cable doesn't cost anything and wasn't in your list of everything you tried. I would hook it to an external screen to see if that flies before spending money on a new screen.
ThinkPad L14 - 2.1GHz Ryzen 4650U | 16GB | 256GB | 14" FHD | Win11P
ProBook 470 G5 - 1.6GHz Core i5 | 16GB | 2.2TB | 17" FHD | Mint

mickrick
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Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:11 pm
Location: Belfast, UK

Re: L520 black screen

#3 Post by mickrick » Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:42 am

Thanks for your reply ZaZ.
Sorry for sounding stupid bit could you tell me how to re-seat the cable?
Thanks again.

ZaZ
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Re: L520 black screen

#4 Post by ZaZ » Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:36 pm

I don't have the specifics on the L520, but it should be in the Hardware Maintenance Manual.
ThinkPad L14 - 2.1GHz Ryzen 4650U | 16GB | 256GB | 14" FHD | Win11P
ProBook 470 G5 - 1.6GHz Core i5 | 16GB | 2.2TB | 17" FHD | Mint

evening_hunger
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Re: L520 black screen

#5 Post by evening_hunger » Wed Jul 25, 2018 5:01 am

What ZaZ means is (probably) re-seating the LVDS connector which is on your motherboard. What you do is you take the machine apart - I don't know the specifics of the L520 either, but in X220 the LVDS connector sits under the keyboards, so it pretty much suffices to remove the keyboard to see that connector.

For my money, your problem might be backlight fault in the panel - if you see something faintly visible there. Try shining a light (can be the torchlight from your smartphone) into the screen at varying angles. If that helps you see any letters/graphics (whatever is displayed) then it's backlight for sure. If re-seating and reconnecting cables doesn't help, such symptoms mean you need to replace the panel.

Of course, you should also try with an external display - just connect some monitor you find to the VGA port and start the system like this. This will help you verify the system runs fine (which I guess is the case).
good luck!
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mickrick
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Location: Belfast, UK

Re: L520 black screen

#6 Post by mickrick » Wed Jul 25, 2018 1:58 pm

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that out. :D

TPFanatic
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Re: L520 black screen

#7 Post by TPFanatic » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:14 pm

MAKE SURE your battery and AC adapter are detached and static electricity discharged before doing anything with the LCD cable, or an unblown fuse may blow.

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