A22M with weird LCD problem

[bdc]

I have an A22m with a 15" screen that started having problems. Basically, it will refuse to refresh and post multiple partial images (like putting half the picture top and bottom). However, a little pressure on the lid (left hand side towards the top) would make it behave properly.

I took it apart last night to look for loose connections. I didn't see any. But if I run my finger along the upper left had side (either down the side or across the top) it causes the screen to change (basically goes nuts putting unidentifiable information on the screen).

Any ideas?

[rkawakami]

Since it seems like you've localized the sensitive area to the upper left of the panel, then I'd say that there's a loose connection somewhere in the panel itself. Might be a bad flex cable connection or a case of a badly soldered joint. In order to get to those connections you might have to partially disassemble the panel. The danger is that you'll do more harm than good and end up with a display that doesn't work no matter what kind of pressure you put on it.

It probably won't help to re-seat both ends of the LCD ribbon cable (where it plugs into the motherboard or other sub-card and at the back of the panel) but it shouldn't hurt either. If it's a question of applying just the right amount of pressure in one particular spot then maybe you can install a shim inside the lid. Something like a folded up piece of paper/cardboard, mounted between the panel and the edge/inside of the lid. Otherwise, it looks like a panel or entire lid assembly swap may be needed.

[bdc]

That's a great idea. I'll give that a go when I go home. If that doesn't work, how hard is it to replace the little boards on the screen itself? I'm looking for something short of replacing the screen if I can.

[rkawakami]

Assuming that you find the same type of panel that's in your machine and assuming that you know that the replacement board(s) are working correctly, then it again is the matter of being able to disassemble the panel to the point of swapping out the board(s) and getting everything back together without causing a different problem. If it were me, I'd forgo that operation and instead plug in a known working panel. Generally, the easiest swap is to replace the entire lid assembly. There's 6 to maybe 10 screws which will attach the lid to the base and at least the LCD ribbon cable. I haven't taken apart an A22m but the Hardware Maintenance Manual is here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4PER6S

Certainly the panel can be obtained on its own and replaced but in my experience it's been easier ('tho not cheaper) to change out a complete lid.

[bdc]

Ray:

Your idea was gold. I removed the panel and by trial and error finally found the specific spot where if I applied pressure it allowed the screen to refresh properly and corrected the issue. It was a small spot on a ribbon connector, as you suspected, towards the upper left side on the back of the lcd. I couldn't get to it very well (just lifted up the clear plastic cover and put the tip of my finger on one specific part of the connector). It took me a while to get my greeting card repair patch wedged in there just right and sealed duct tape over the clear plastic to hold it in place. For some strange reason screwing in the lower left put pressure on the connector that wierded it out in a similar way but not screwing in that corner worked just fine. The three other screws seem to hold it tight enough that my daughter can't tell (it's her laptop). Duct tape and greeting card!

So my A22m Ubuntu workhorse is up and running. I was so stoked I took the time to figure out the problem I was having getting flash to run in Linux in Firefox3. Now she can watch her friends videos in Facebook (not sure that's completely a good thing). Amazing how such an old piece of hardware is as responsive as my wife's Gateway Turion 64 laptop (that I hate with a passion but she picked it out without me) except the disk speed is slightly slower.

Thanks again!