Distorted screen

[r2d2]

I have been getting distorted screen (lots of colored squares, sometimes gray areas, sometimes horizontal white lines) from boot up on an X21. I was surprised because this is the first time this happened although it has been more than a month now that this has not been used.

I thought a loose connection so I opened and closed LCD lid but still no improvement. I checked the latches around the LCD bezel and when I pressed the middle of the left hand side of the bezel, the screen straightened up... no more colorful patterns nor white horizontal lines. I now can see my XP Desktop. But each time I remove the pressure, it will go back to being an abstract work of art again.

Any advise what caused this and what I need to do to correct it?

[r2d2]

just an update:

I opened up LCD bezel to see the loose connection. On that part where I press to get a good screen, there is a flat cable there connecting to the LCD. I tried to check if it is loose and even reseated it. The cable looked OK and has a snug fit on the LCD. Tested but results are the same...

Any advise that might work is very much welcome..

Thanks.

[phool@round]

Hopefully a bad video cable or worse case the LCD's signal wires are delaminated at the left edge of the screen. The area you are pressing is a no touch area, very fine wires crossing the screen to fire the pixels. The fact that the issue is horizontal lines and blocks is not a good sign....

How many fleabay X2X's have bad screens where there are lines going vertical. It's from opening the lids heavy handed.

[r2d2]

yup looks like it... i got it to work though temporarily... i stuck a folded paper wrapped in tape around an eighth of an inch thick underneath the part where the flat connector cable is...

the screen is pretty much damaged so to speak... there are many pressure points that are visible when it is OFF. although they can be barely noticed when ON.

thanks for the reply... i will have this replaced as soon as i find one.. here or ebay.

[phool@round]

Nice fix to keep it going for awhile. They are really hard to find but you probably already know that.......

You could try just using tape along that edge too but I like the idea of keeping pressure on it. As long as you know about it I'm sure you won't be touching the left edge......... someone must have been pretty rough with it before you took possesion of it. The X2's are great machines but need a little more attention as to how they are treated versus the full sized machines.....


Good luck, let me know if you find an inexpensive source.

[r2d2]

my mom used this since i think around july last year and just shelved it when she got a new one around november. the last time i saw this (i checked to see if this is still OK) running well was december. no problems at that time. i just had her send it to me last week (thinking i may have use for it).

i was surprised when i got it that instead of a computer, i got a digital photo frame showing the art work of ibm and microsoft

after reading what you wrote as the causes, i cannot help but think if my mom does have heavy hands (hmmm, no wonder... ); joking aside i think it got damaged in transit.