poofie’s laptop is on the fritz

poofiepoofie Baltimore, MD Icrontian
edited July 2009 in Hardware
(ed. note: i love the phrase “on the fritz” because my dad’s name is Fritz and it makes me giggle to think of whatever i’m referring to sitting on his head)
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ohai Icrontic! i thought i’d post my problem up here and take advantage of the lodes of knowledge available through all of you awesome kids. here’s what’s up:
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i have an HP dv9000 laptop (a dv9535nr specifically) that i have had for oh, over 2 years. last Thursday, i came home from work, flipped open the top, and the screen didn’t come on. i thought this was weird, so i hardoffed it and turned it back on. it made all the appropriate startup sounds, but with nothing on the screen. i hardoffed it again, unplugged it, popped out the battery and let it sit 5 minutes, popped the battery back in and plugged it in again with the same result. so, i dragged out my crappy old 15” lcd and plugged that in, which worked fine. now i have a ghettoass setup where i type on my lappy and look over at a separate screen.
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after some intarweb research, it seems like this issue isn’t uncommon with several types of HP laptops; there were even recalls for some models, but not mine. i read that it was a motherboard issue. mrgh.
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i plan on opening that sumbitch up tonight, can of air in hand, to see if maybe a cable or some much wiggled loose… but i am open to other suggestions as to what to do, especially because i am not entirely comfortable with poking around the guts of a laptop. alternately, if anyone has had a similar problem i’d really like to hear what you did to fix it, if it was repairable at all.
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<3 poofie

Comments

  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    I've seen this on 6 or 7 laptops in the past 7 years. I think all 7 ended up having the backlight go out. It's a wire thin florescent bulb on each side that allows the image on the LCD to show.

    The easiest test to determine if this is the problem...
    1. Shutdown the laptop
    2. Unplug the LCD monitor
    3. Grab a flashlight and hold it at the top of the Laptop screen and shine it down onto the screen
    4. Turn laptop on
    If the backlight is dead you should be able to see an faint image where the flashlight shines. Start there and let me know if you seen an image.
  • NemikanNemikan Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    Its also possible that the wires to the monitor are messed up. If thats the case your kind of screwed.... The wires are generally in the hinges that hold the monitor to the base. If one of those is a bit busted up or twisted, its fairly likely.

    On a bad note.... the monitor is what makes the laptop expensive... so if your monitor goes out its hopeless in replacing it, its better to just buy a new laptop.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    It's not hopeless... in fact, you can find most screen replacements on eBay for less than $300, many for much less.

    If your laptop isn't worth $300, then sure, but if the one you'd replace it with is more expensive than that, the screen is still not a bad option.
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    Ryder aprroves of this message :)
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    haha, so now we need the Ryder seal of approval smiley?
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    No, I hope not.. just that I was agreeing with Q and a method to diagnose :p
  • poofiepoofie Baltimore, MD Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    status report:

    i did the flashlight thing... i suppose i could have been doing it wrong, but i didn't see any images (not even Jesus or the Virgin Mary...) when i shined a light down on the screen when i restarted the laptop.

    i opened it up, and as far as i can tell all the doodads that connect the lcd to the board are secure. bummer.
  • GnomeQueenGnomeQueen The Lulz Queen Mountain Dew Mouth Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    Your dad's name is Fritz? Really? That's an actual name?
  • Nate_LapTNate_LapT Ferndale MI. Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    I'd say the backlight is dead. thats one of the common parts to fail on a laptop, and you said it still works via the vga port.
    Mine just went recently, few wires got pinched when I tore it apart recently soldered em back together, worked for 5 mins buzed then died again. either I missed a small ass wire or the inverter is fried and $100 for a new inverter on a 7 year old laptop isnt worth it.

    Most cheap laptops can cost as little as $300 now, and by cheap they are still much better than a 3 year old system.
  • poofiepoofie Baltimore, MD Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    Nate_LapT wrote:
    Most cheap laptops can cost as little as $300 now, and by cheap they are still much better than a 3 year old system.

    i guess... i mean, it's not like i do any hardcore gaming. i just play WoW.
  • Nate_LapTNate_LapT Ferndale MI. Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    yeah even the cheap $300 laptops as long as they have a nvidia or ati graphics card should play wow just fine, intel a bit iffy on that but even the newer intels should be able to handle wow, they want everyone to play that game.
  • Nate_LapTNate_LapT Ferndale MI. Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    when it comes to gaming, I prefer a pc where I can upgrade my graphics, laptop I feel is more for work/portability use.
  • Nate_LapTNate_LapT Ferndale MI. Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    or you could buy a parts one from ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-DV9535NR-17in-Laptop-C2D-1-5GHz-2GB-240GB-DVDRW-WiFi_W0QQitemZ130317089606QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_comp_laptop?hash=item1e5780fb46&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1234|293%3A1|294%3A50
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    If you didn't see any images with the flashlight, it's not the backlight that's the problem. It's either the screen itself or the cable.
  • Nate_LapTNate_LapT Ferndale MI. Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    also, when you shine the flashlight on it, aim it on an angle from the top, the image will be VERY faint also unplug that monitor, your laptop maybe turning off the lcd while its plug in.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited July 2009
    Sorry... Missed the reply, poofie. As CB stated. Usually when the backlight goes out you can still see the images if you use a flashlight to simulate the backlight. In your case you either didn't have the right angle or it isn't the backlight.

    At this point I'd assume it is NOT the backlight but some other problem like the cable or the screen itself. Both of those can be a pain to diagnose without looking at the system myself. I would offer my services but shipping the laptop to me to look at and the packaging might not be worth it if it ends up being the screen. But I will offer you that option. I fixed Ghoosdum's laptop that way... ;)
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