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    Laptop Backlight is gone

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Wraith13, Mar 13, 2011.

  1. Wraith13

    Wraith13 Notebook Enthusiast

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    ^ Topic. I restarted my system and I now have no backlight. I am not in power saver mode nor have I been screwing around with internal settings. Just restarted the system and its gone.

    Help please?

    EDIT: Okay this is weird, when I run a game such as DoW2, the backlight switches on but the moment I minimize it, it switches off.
     
    Wraith13, Mar 13, 2011
    #1
  2. darkloki

    darkloki Notebook Deity

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    I don't think this is repairable other then a replacement I belive someone listed their whole R2 for sale with a problem that's similar to what you have at a discounted rate as he was exhausted of the options. I'm sorry to hear this, and to tell you this, however I can say that I've seen the RGB led's go for about 188 dollars.
     
    darkloki, Mar 13, 2011
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  3. m00t

    m00t Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sounds more like a problem with the screen's hinge sensor, the one used to determine if the laptop's lid is closed. Depending on how the system is configured, the hinge sensor can do anything from simply turning off the screen's backlight to completely disconnecting the screen from the system.

    My old Inspiron 8600 has a little nub directly above the keyboard that gets depressed when the screen closes. Being a mechanical switch, it's not hard to imagine it getting stuck in that position.

    You also mentioned that the light turns on when you launch a 3D application, right? If your screen's backlight were broken, I don't think this would be possible, so it actually sounds more like the system is ignoring or overriding the "closed screen" due to the 3D application launch.

    Can you locate your laptop's hinge sensor mechanism? It's possible that it's built right into the hinge assembly, so it may not be visible, but if you can find it, try pressing it manually. I'd also check and see if the laptop does anything different when the screen really IS closed. If, for example, the screen blanks out entirely when the laptop's lid is closed, this would help to rule out what I'm suggesting. You could also confirm the possibility of the system overriding the hinge sensor by launching DoW2, then closing the screen to see if the backlight stays on.

    As a final note, there's a bunch of registry settings that determine the behavior of the screen with relation to the hinge sensor's on/off position. If you have no backlight even when you're in the BIOS, this would rule out any potential driver or registry problems.

    Good luck.
     
    m00t, Mar 14, 2011
    #3