T42 display blanking ...

[bobox]

folks, we have a problem ...

The display on my T42 2373 is blanking, as of about 1 hour ago. This occurs in the first few (up to ~5) minutes after boot up, whether on battery or mains, and on both XP and Linux (10.02; it's a dual boot) So far I haven't had the patience to wait to see if it comes back on again.

Whats the likely prognosis on this?

M

[Harryc]

Most likely a defective or worn CCFL backlight or possibly an inverter. Can you still see a faint image after the backlight goes out? Use a flashlight to see ...

[bobox]

Turned out to be a motherboard chip soldering failure ... PoshGeordie at ReflowRepairs did a great job of repairing it. No problems since. Highly recommended.

[T43pSSD]

I'm also having a problem w/my T43 display, it's intermittent....sometimes fine, other times extremely faint. This am it was fine, then on reboot, without touching a thing, nada. But, a second monitor connected to the serial port works fine always. So, a similar m/b issue, you think? If the inverter, it would affect any display, yes?

[ajkula66]

If it's faint sometimes, that sounds like a dying CCFL (backlight) and not inverter.

That being said, inverters are cheap and easy to replace, just make sure to pick the right one for your screen size/resolution.

Good luck.

[T43pSSD]

yes, I'm afraid you're likely on the money....will replace inverter & most likely backlight as well; thanks

[ajkula66]

Generally, I advise people against replacing CCFLs by themselves...I've seen one too many screens ruined by "in-house" backlight swaps...

Is your machine 14" or 15"?

[T43pSSD]

it's a 14" and have backlight out already, waiting on new one.
But, a curious thing is- there is only the white wire connected to right side of lamp, LS has nothing. The pink wire goes up the left side of the display, doe this have a 2nd backlight? If so, I sure do not see one along the top.

I've looked at some other replacement vids but none have just 1 wire attached.
interesting.

[ajkula66]

One CCFL only.

Good luck with the swap.

[RealBlackStuff]

Either the CCFL is broken (you would have seen that when removing it), or -more likely- the other wire has just come off, if there is metal at the (unconnected) end.
Put the CCFL back in, remove the rubber sleeve at the other end, and resolder the (pink) wire back on. Reinsert sleeve, then test.
You might find it's working fine...