WAAAH! My T41p starts up salmon pink!

[nichevo]

Then it seems to come back to showing everything proper, but I smell some kind of failure coming. What is failing, how do I fix it, how much, should I just move on?

Drat! And double drat! And I just restored it too, from some horrible malware I couldn't beat.

[Harryc]

Well, you need to stop using profanity here if you expect some help. Are we agreed on that point?

[nichevo]

If that's how you feel, sure, no problem. Granting that I believe the word is in the Bible, there nonetheless may be ladies and children present.

Now, if you have any information on my computer problem, I should be glad to hear it.

[richk]

the backlight bulb in the lcd is dying.

[Harryc]

A pink (Salmon) colored LCD on power up indicated a bad CCFL (backlight) in the LCD. There are three ways to repair it. First by replacing the entire LCD assembly, including the bezel, lid, LCD, cables etc as one unit. Second is to just replace the LCD. Third is to replace the CCFL tube itself. Option #1 is the easiest, followed by the LCD, and then the CCFL. Entire assemblies or just the LCD can be found on EBay, or possibly by posting in the Marketplace forum here. CCFL replacement is best not attempted by a novice, but we do have a member here (Jamiphar) who provides this service. Search for his ad in the Marketplace forum. Good luck.

[beeblebrox]

A pink (Salmon) colored LCD on power up indicated a bad CCFL (backlight) in the LCD. There are three ways to repair it. First by replacing the entire LCD assembly, including the bezel, lid, LCD, cables etc as one unit. Second is to just replace the LCD. Third is to replace the CCFL tube itself. Option #1 is the easiest, followed by the LCD, and then the CCFL. Entire assemblies or just the LCD can be found on EBay, or possibly by posting in the Marketplace forum here. CCFL replacement is best not attempted by a novice, but we do have a member here (Jamiphar) who provides this service. Search for his ad in the Marketplace forum. Good luck.

Pink means Argon gas depletion. Your CCFL is leaking and dying quickly. It's like a flat tire. Need to repair.

I have done CCFL replacements several times. And to be honest, if you have a proper, high paying job it is better and cheaper to just replace the whole LCD screen. It is just too time consuming to fiddle around with the screen, because:

a.) you have to completely disassemble the thing, which takes about 15 minutes

b.) after replacing the CCFL it will take you at least 1 hour, endless swears and a lot of grey hair to assemble the whole thing without the tiny invisible dust particles in the plastic foils, which of course are highly static and incredibly attractive to those dust particles. And those dust particles are the invention of a certain Mr. Murphy, because they become visible only after you have thoroughly checked the LCD and assembled it. Then when you are ready and got a nice cup of coffee and want start working a huge dust particle or smear dot appears out from nowhere and will become visible right in the middle of the screen.
Trust me, I know what I am saying...!

c.) it is nearly impossible to find a good CCFL supplier, which is the worst and most severe problem. Those on eBay are generaly speaking crap. Cheap but overpriced Chinese junk! They burn out after a few months through mercury spattering, will gradually develop a slow ionisation of gas which leads up to 3 minutes for them to brighten up. You better try to buy a new, but broken Thinkpad screen (Samsung or Philips) and take that expensive CCFL out from there.

Just my 3 cts (inflation adjusted)

[sktn77a]

I think we're all agreed it's the backlight. Jamiphar, on this forum, will replace this for $150 (including sending you a box and paying for shipping both ways) and give you a 1 year guarantee! Can't beat that. And James is a wonderful person to deal with - he'll take good care of you.

[Johan]

And James is a wonderful person to deal with - he'll take good care of you.

Couldn't possibly agree more to this. Absolutely my big luck having "met" James here, and him always being willing to help me - I am ever and constantly so pleased with his help.

Johan