HELP! X32 screen very dim, but the screen is actually good

[pianowizard]

I have had this X32 for a while. Its screen is so dark that I can't see anything unless I shine light onto the screen. I always thought that's because the backlight was broken or the inverter was bad. Its external VGA output is still good and I have been using this computer with a desktop monitor attached. The other day I came across a reasonably priced X31 parts machines, so I bought it and thought I could simply toss its display assembly into the X32. I did that and it was still dark, but when I put the X32's display assembly into the X31, it worked perfectly fine! In conclusion, something inside the X32's mobo is bad. Is it the graphics card itself? What else could be wrong? Can this be fixed easily? Thanks in advance for your help!

[ajkula66]

Blown fuse on the motherboard, most likely.

If you have a multimer, go over the fuses carefully and check which one gives you an "open"...

Then you can order it from Mouser, and solder it piggy-back over the existing one....

Good luck.

[rkawakami]

A blown fuse on the motherboard would cause the backlight to not light at all. If you are getting some illumination from the backlight then you don't have a problem with the fuse.

If you are getting NO light, then beside a blown fuse, a stuck lid switch can cut off the voltage / signal necessary to tell the inverter to fire up.

[pianowizard]

Thanks for the quick responses. I don't want to spend another penny on this piece of junk because I can't imagine falling in love with this laptop even if it were in perfect working condition -- I've never understood why some people like the X31/32, not even when I was a Thinkpad fanboy. Do you think I can fix the problem simply by short-circuiting the blown fuse, by putting a big chunk of solder over the fuse?

[rkawakami]

Do you think I can fix the problem simply by short-circuiting the blown fuse, by putting a big chunk of solder over the fuse?

Sure, for maybe 1/2 second . Then something else will probably blow up.

Of course this assumes that whatever situation or failed component is still present in the system. If it was a transitory short, then bridging the blown fuse will get it going again but you are taking a risk that whatever caused the fuse to blow in the first place, never happens again. If it does, then you have bypassed the protection provided by the fuse and who knows what will blow up next.