AMD black screen on startup problem!

Hello guys and merry christmas! I just came home yesterday back from a flight and my screen would not display when starting windows 7. Yes it was really weird since everything was working perfectly fine before my flight. Let me skip you the whole troubleshoot and see what i found out. It's not a software problem! At least from the looks of what i found out.

This is a g73jh-a1 with a Hannstar HSD173PUW1 display. What happens is that after the windows loading screen, just before the cursor and the login screen the drivers fail to initialize the hannstar panel, essentially freezing the computer (as it stays black and doesn't seem to respond to any input). Otherwise the display works perfectly in VGA mode (both in safe mode and when you have unistalled the amd drivers). But here's the WEIRD THING! Since i'm running a Clevo 7970m i thought maybe something (hardware) f**ked up. So i opened it, and basically when i have the gpu connected to an external monitor (VGA, haven't tried hdmi yet) and the LVDS cable of the hannstar display disconnected the laptop boots normally with the AMD drivers working perfectly fine (even tested it with furmark).

So essentially what happens the AMD drivers can't properly communicate with the hannstar display freezing the system. I've also tried to connect the LVDS cable while the system is running normally with the external display but it won't detect the display connected; i need to reboot but then i get back to square one. So..what the heck..christmas eve and got my laptop broken..cosmic rays while on the plane? x-ray scan at the airport? or just simple electronic failure? What do you think guys is the problem? I can't certainly say sure if it's software or hardware only as it kinda seems both? Thanks!

 

Was the machine in hand luggage or in the hold?

 

Hold bag, that was inside another bag too, and it was always with me so no hit damage. I have also tested hdmi and works perfectly fine. I suspect the LVDS cable or the panel controller because it seems while the panel works in vga mode, it cannot communicate any digital data (thus no info about brand, model, etc) in device manager.

 

I think i found out. I went on and checked the LVDS cable as much as i can (since the contacts are really small) and pin 6 which is CLK EEDID line has a broken connection. This line along pin 7 - DATA EEDID (which is fine) are required for communication of data from the LCD microcontroller to the system. This data configuration is very similar to I2C (and probably is) and it seems to be required in order for the AMD drivers to work with the display. This lines don't carry any video data which makes sense since the panel works in VGA mode. Plus i remember once not a very long time ago that the display info was blank, and more recently it was working fine..so it looks like the problem is indeed the cable..and i am not suprice since i've dissasembled this laptop so many time i lost count! Still it's 25eu for a new cable from Germany and i don't think i'll be able to receive it in time now since i'm flying back to UK on the 14th.

 

You could send it to meet you in the UK, there is no import tax/duty on european imports.

 

Emm..Cyprus in the EU..we don't double pay taxes for items from EU I've ordered mine from France now, 15eu for the cable + 15eu for EMS shipping. I hope it gets in time!

 

I was talking about the UK from Germany since it seemed like you might think it was a problem shipping from Germany to the UK. I guess you just meant having to wait that long.

 

UPDATE! I received the NEW LVDS cable today..Now the screen info is detected normally. But still the same problem when drivers are activated. Black screen on startup..Again, external screen through HDMI or VGA works with drivers when the LVDS cable in disconnected..So with the cable out of the equation it leaves the screen, gpu, or mobo. Plus i went on and re-sit the graphics card..Lastly weirdly enough my friend's G75VW developped the same problem but it sometimes work, and sometimes not

 

It's probably the GPU or the screen itself.. If your keeping the notebook, next step would be to replace the screen lol..

 

My M17x R4 did this same exact thing, turned out to be a dead 7970M. When windows trys the 7970m to use hardware accelerated graphics, it causes blackscreen (VGA is not hardware accelerated). Your 7970M is dead.

 

That's really weird though since the gpu was bought new (has 2 years warranty), it was working perfectly fine before, and it works with accelerated graphics normally to an external screen though hdmi or vga. But i have to disconnect the lvds in order to boot up the external screen as primary else it freezes. So i guess it's the screen..i'll order one as an upgrade, and if it doesn't work i'll be selling my old one then. Wished i had another screen on hand to test though:/

 

JUST A LAST UPDATE! IT WAS THE MOTHERBOARD! or it seems, or something magical happened. Listen to my story: By the time i disassembled and assembled everything, i was just using the laptop with vga drivers to do my work. Then just a week after, the laptop is dead. It would power up as soon as i inserted the power plug, even though the switch still worked properly. I did check everything, i know this g73jh from inside and out, and it was definitely a mobo failure. No POST, because bios wouldn't even load, black screeen, no life at all. So i ordered a replacement motherboard from US (ebay), and a reputable seller, and it was the last one. Long story short the motherboard he sent me was working alright but the usb ports would not communicate in any way, only supply 5V (even drivers showed ok). Hopefully the internal ports for keyboard and trackpad were still working. However the problem with the gpu persisted! By that time i had already installed an AUO panel in the g73 chassis, but for some reason i don't really remember, i decided i wanted to test something on my old hannstar panel and used the old lvds cable just to connect it without removing the new panel from it's chassis. Plus i decided to install the gpu drivers before i even connected the old panel. And by i don't know, "MAGIC" or whatever it worked! But i wasn't happy yet, i decided to connect the hdmi too and reboot..it didn't work ..with that disappointment i connected the new screen back, AND IT ACTUALLY CONTINUED TO WORK. EVEN WITH HDMI, LIKE BEFORE. (for those who got lost by this point, by work i mean the gpu drivers were loading properly on startup and the problem was solved). Some time after i got a new replacement motherboard which works perfect. This gpu has warranty and while i've been testing it hasn't showed any problem. If can someone explain to me how and why this was fixed i'll really appreciate it. And while i was doing all these replacements i did more upgrades which i'll show on my ultimate g73jh upgrading thread.