Thinkpad R61 White Lines On Screen *PIC*

[HRJustin]

Hello I am new to these forums I have had my ThinkPad for about a year and 8 months. I just got it for personal use as I thought it would last a long time and be a very reliable and durable laptop. Well so far it’s been a great everyday computer. I have used it pretty hard every day and it’s held up fairly well except for the last few months it’s developed a few issues. Figures things start going wrong after a few months of the 1 year warranty expiring. Although even with the problems I’m having its still usable.

My ThinkPad is an R61 15.4” 8932-cto with windows vista, 120 GB HD, 3gigs of ram, Bluetooth, t7300 C2D just let me know if any more details are needed. Anyways for the first year it was great never had any problems with it at all. About 3-4 months ago the fan started making a lot of noise. Now I just use TPFanControl to keep the fan on level 7 all the time. The temps are normally 38-50 when I’m using it for my everyday activities. It does get fairly hot under really heavy CPU usage but most CPU intensive stuff I do on the desktop I built. I have kept a good eye on temps so I am pretty sure that the problem I am having now isn’t because of this. Eventually when I get around to it I will buy a new heatsink/fan assembly to install. In the mean time the fan is keeping it cool enough it’s just always buzzing and humming away. I have taken it all apart and cleaned out the dust several times since the warranty has expired.

Well now that I’ve explained everything else on to the main problem I am having now. In the past month maybe two I have been having problems with my monitor. It started out as one thin horizontal line running across the very top of the screen. It looked like a one pixel white line running across the entire screen from left to right. I could move the screen around and it would go away but it’s starting to get worse. Now sometime there will be a lot of line across the entire screen from left to right. I have taken apart the LCD bezel and looked at the cable and made sure it was still plugged in. I didn’t reseat the cable on the back of the LCD but I did reseat it where it plugs into the motherboard. The white lines seem to be worse when I first turn the computer on from standby or from off etc. I can move the screen around twist and flex a little and get them to disappear afterwards it functions normally. They seem to only happen right around the angle where the screen needs to be for normal viewing. I haven’t tried connecting an external because I’m fairly sure it’s an LCD or cable problem I’m just not sure which. I have taken screen shots and they do not appear on them.

I have posted this problem on the NotebookReviewForums under the ThinkPad section because I already had an account made there from when I first bought my ThinkPad. I haven’t really had much luck with a response on those forums. I have pictures attached to that thread I can link to the thread I have had going there if needed. Or I can post attach the same pictures to this thread if that would be more appropriate.

Anyways sorry for the long first post here I just wanted to be detailed. I have no problem working on the laptop myself. I just am unsure about what part I need to replace I’m fairly sure it’s either the LCD or the video cable running to the back of the panel. The cable is pretty expensive since I have Bluetooth and an integrated camera. I have found LCD panels fairly reasonable on eBay not sure about their quality. When I get the lines to disappear the display works great and still has good brightness and everything. I would just like some advice on how to rule out either of the two. I very much appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this and any advice on what I would need to purchase to repair it.

[Harryc]

The cable is cheap, I'd try that first. If that is not the issue then replace the LCD. My guess based on the flexing making the issue go away is that you have some failure in one of the column driver transistors in the LCD panel itself.

[HRJustin]

can you recommend a good place to buy cheap parts. Im also going to need to buy a new heatsink/fan assembly. I have checked out the parts on IBMs parts website prices arent to bad but still on the higher side. From the searching I have done the cheapest I can find the cable for is between $50-$80 and im not sure if they include the integrated camera and bluetooth. I have also looked at LCD replacements on eBay. They seem reasonably priced but im not sure about quality. I was also thinking it has to be something wrong with the LCD itself. It seems like if it was the cable going bad there would be other problems then just the white lines. The lines flicker around the screen mainly at the very top but sometimes over the entires display and are always white in color.

heres a link to an image of the lines while the screen is on a blank screensaver. I thought being on a black background they could be seen better. the image is showing it to the extreme I have to flex the screen around to make it that bad to take a pic. http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachm ... 1241865161

is there any harm in using it until it gets completely unusable? its still been fairly easy to flex around and get them to disappear.

[Harryc]

Do you have the 15.4 inch WXGA (1280x800) or 15.4 inch WXGA+ (1680x1050) LCD ? ...and yours has a Camera and bluetooth. correct?

[HRJustin]

Do you have the 15.4 inch WXGA (1280x800) or 15.4 inch WXGA+ (1680x1050) LCD ? ...and yours has a Camera and bluetooth. correct?

Its just the 15.4 inch WXGA. Yep. It has both camera and bluetooth integrated. When I took the screen bezel apart to try an check the cable connections I wrote down the display FRU 42T0331. Its the lg-Philips display its always worked great up until this issue. Ive never had any issues with brightness or bad colors. I find it just fine for watching movies. It still works great when I can get rid of the lines. I would really like to use it until I cant get rid of the lines at all.

I also wrote down the number of 93P4449 (foxconn 2707) off the LCD cable but I havent had much luck finding anything by that number. I have searched around for the cable but it seems like its rare. It seems like the 15.4" R61 with bluetooth and camera isnt as common as say the 14.1" model.

[Harryc]

LCD Cable -
https://www-304.ibm.com/shop/americas/w ... ItemDelete

LCD -
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-LENOVO-42T0331- ... .m20.l1116

Lenovo Replacement Parts -
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63637

[HRJustin]

I cant get the link for the cable to work but I think that i found it. I was going to post the link to the part I found but it wont work either. Anyways the FRU number I found for the cable is 93P4547 for $21.99 it probably what you were trying to post. Its a lot cheaper then the last time I found the cable googling. I was checking out LCDs on ebay and thats one of the ones I was looking at. I was just kinda leery of getting a cheapo possibly off brand LCD off ebay. Im glad that seller says that its direct replacement from manufacturer.

Thanks a lot for your help I really appreciate the help. It should be OK to keep using it till it gets worse right?
The screen still works great when I move it around and get rid of the lines. Im fairly confident its the LCD panel itself. It just seems like if the cable was going bad I would see more problems then just the white lines. I want to try to get as many hours out of the backlight on this screen before I have to put in a new one.

[HRJustin]

well I just thought I would follow up a little more about my screen problem. Now every time the screen first turns on it starts out black with the lines then the desktop comes up normal. It seems like since that has started to happen the lines don't appear as much once its up and working. Something else I noticed that has been getting worse is that the screen will randomly dim and the on screen brightness meter will pop up. I usually use the screen on about 12 but will randomly drop down to about 3. Sometimes it will stay dim for a while other times it will brighten back up to my normal setting. I just don't understand what would cause this and why the on screen brightness meter pops up on the screen. I have checked all the power manager settings to make sure its nothing to do with that. I have it set to stay on the same brightness all the time when on AC power.

I would like to fix it soon I just don't have the funds to buy all of the parts i need right now. I appreciate all the advice here on these forums. I just wasn't expecting to have these type of problems after this short of time. I haven't been overly rough with it but I have used it quite a bit. The main reason I got a think pad is durability and longevity. I guess its built more to break but will most likely protect the data.

[linksmask1]

i'm having a very similar issue with white horizontal lines fading to all white on my T60 screen. does anyone know if this is a screen problem or just the ribbon cable?

[sjthinkpader]

These are row driver failures. Not related to cable.

[linksmask1]

These are row driver failures. Not related to cable.

oh that is very sad.

for reference for people with similar issues, it's a T60 laptop with an WSXGA+ 13N7019 (13N7020) screen. i've attached a picture of the dead screen below:

[HRJustin]

I still have the same issue with my r61. now instead of happening random it only happens when the monitor first turns on. I am still able to twist the screen around and it keeps working. knock on wood that it keeps working I cant afford a new LCD panel for it anytime soon.

[wrawlind]

Hi, HRJustin,

My Thinkpad R61i just started doing this as well. It even locks up the computer when the lines appear. Everything goes back to normal when I jiggle the screen a bit. It's not a major problem right now, but I'm worried that it will get worse. Did you end up replacing any parts? Do you know what was causing it in the end?

Thanks in advance for your advice.
-R

[RealBlackStuff]

If you have nVidia graphics, it WILL die eventually.