S96J backlight or inverter problem?

Hi everyone,

I've had an Asus S96J for about a year and a half now. I've 2gig of ram and a 7200 RPM drive on this thing and absolutely love it. Just today the LCD started going out. The symptoms are as follows:

* When I boot it up, I can see the BIOS screen briefly and then it goes dark (maybe 5 seconds).
* When resolutions change it seems to come back on for a second or two before going black again.
* When I say black, I mean BLACK. Turned out all the lights and can't make out anything on the screen.
* If I have the brightness set lower it seems to last longer, but eventually goes out.
* At one point today it stayed on for about an hour at normal brightness before going out. Haven't been able to get it back since. It seems to last shorter and shorter amounts of time on full brightness.
* I've noticed a pink/red haze in the past few months, which seems to have slowly been getting progressively worse.
* When it's in super low brightness mode (turn it all the way down with fn-F4 and up one notch with fn-F5) there is a noticeable pink/red haze over everything.
* I plugged in a second monitor (which I am using now) and was able to get it to be the primary monitor.. it's much, much brighter than the brightest setting on the laptop (for the 2 seconds it lasts). It functions absolutely perfectly.
* I took apart the LCD screen and was fiddling with it today to make sure there were no loose connections/etc. When I unplug the 8-pin white connector from the inverter and plug it back in, it comes back to life for a second or two and then goes black again. There is nothing noticeably wrong with the inverter. My roommate put a voltmeter to it and most of the pins seemed to be getting power, except a few, which might be ground anyways, so I'm not sure if it's the problem or not.

So I'm pretty convinced that it's either the inverter or the backlight, and I'm kind of leaning towards the backlight being the problem, based on what I've read online. I wanted to post a message here and see if anyone else has dealt with this type of issue before I started buying parts. Also, I'm not sure exactly what type of backlight I should purchase (not afraid to do a little soldering, just want the right part), or if it's so fragile that I really ought to just get a whole new LCD screen. I was able to find exactly what type of inverter this laptop takes, but it's about $65 for a new one. If it was cheaper I might just go ahead and get it and hope it works, but given that backlights are only about $10 or so, and the very apparent pink/red haze, that might be the best thing to try first.

I would really appreciate input on this from anybody that has dealt with similar issues.

Thanks!

 

try the invertor board first for $10:

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3215&catid=457

F3 series and Z96J/S96J/S96S all uses the same invertor board.
You don't need to disassemble the entire LCD module, you just need to remove the LCD bezel and the invertor board is at center bottom behind the Asus badge.

 

That's great! The only one I found for sale was about $65 (and now I'm starting to wonder if it was the right part). I'll post a follow-up when I get it.

Thanks!

 

it does sounds like you have a bad invertor board, i've seen a invertor board with burned mark on it does exact the same thing.

 

Thanks a lot for the link Ken, I never would've found that. I went ahead and ordered it and hopefully it'll take care of the issue. The funny thing is I think you're the one that sold me the system! Gotta say it's been the best system I've ever owned, I haven't given it a task that it can't excel in yet. I think I'm hooked on these Asus laptops, even with this minor setback I'm still using it right now on an external monitor, doing everything I would normally do. And if the repair is only $10... can't beat that.

I appreciate the free support a year and a half after I bought it.. can't say that about Dell.

 

I know this is a really old thread, but I found it via google and registered to make this post. I have the exact same problem with my S96J for the past 2-3 months without any luck finding an inverter/etc. and finally have thanks to you guys.

I'm curious if there's an update -- maybe from Ken since it seems dinchak is long gone... I haven't opened up my screen yet and don't really know how either. I was hoping that someone could direct me to a guide for installing the inverter -- is it pretty self explanatory? will Asus send a guide/some information along with the part?

Thanks.

 

Hi, and welcome to NBR!
Installing/replacing the inverter is pretty straight forward like you mentioned. The hardest part is really taking the screen bezel apart which requires a bit of force. There should be screws behind the rubber screw covers which you'll have to take out first (See my disassembly guide for the M50Sv in sig...the process for removing the screen bezel should be very similar).

 

Thanks for the help! I just got the inverter from the asus online store a couple days ago and had a chance to try to replace it today.

I had the biggest problem with removing the bevel, but eventually got everything out and switched out the two inverters. Unfortunately, I didn't see any results.

I just wanted to check to make sure..
a) are the red/pink "haze" symptoms still a possibility if the problem is the need for a replacement CCFL (Cold Cathode Flourescent Lamp)?
b) is there a specific way to have the inverter connectors? I'm hoping maybe I accidentally have them upside down or something in which case I don't have to deal with ordering the CCFL and installing it...

If it is the case that I will need to be ordering a CCFL, then is this available at the asus online store? The site seems to be down right now so I haven't been able to check.

Any other tips/information is extremely appreciated. I can't wait to get this fixed. Thanks for your help.

 

I also have just gotten my new inverter from the asus estore and replaced it and it did NOT solve my problem. Over the past couple months my screen got worse, would shut off sooner and sooner, more and more reddish/pinkish, now the last week it is just dead (I can see stuff if I shine a flashlight at it).

I now figure I need a new backlight, but I have no idea how to find it. I can't find one in the Asus estore, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place? (I have an S96J)

I'm feeling desparate, can't afford to buy a new laptop right now!!!

 

I ordered a backlight "CCFL" from ccfldirect.com. They didn't have the Asus S96J specifically listed, but I decided to take a chance on ordering their generic "Backlight for laptop" item. Next week I'll report back

EDIT:
By the way, if anyone wants to try replacing their inverter, I'll sell you my perfectly good one for $10 shipped, Paypal. Let me know, thanks (I bought my replacement one, which I found out I didn't need, for $17 shipped).

 

I don't know how one would replace the backlight since the entire LCD is a one-piece, not-user-disassemble-able unit?

 

Well I just went through four hours of purgatory, but it works! (not quite perfectly, but I'll take it!)

Yes, taking apart the LCD unit was a nasty endeavor which I most certainly don't plan on ever doing again and don't recommend.

I had no instructions so the disassembly was tedius and nerve wracking. Soldering the new CCFL to the little wires was a horrible pain in the neck (and sent me into a panic every time I almost broke the fragile thing), remembering how all the plastic bits and tiny screws and metallic tape fit back together was a nightmare, and to top it off I have now found a hair embedded under the LCD (I'm NOT going to rip it all open again to take it out - at least it's very small and on the edge of the screen!) along with a new dead pixel or tiny fleck of dirt, not sure which.

But it's working. It's basically back to normal, my screen works and I can adjust the brightness with Fn-F4/F5, no red/pink hue when "warming up", etc. But the main "not perfectly" problem introduced is a slight brighter glow all along the bottom of the screen, with a tiny (1 cm) dim spot in the very lower right corner. While running Windows XP it's like my Taskbar is a bit highlighted. Oh well, no biggie, everything is MOSTLY all good and nice again.

Hurray!

But like I said, it was an awful process and I was actually surprised that it worked when I turned it on after getting everything back together. If I get this same problem in a year or in a future laptop, I'll just be buying a new LCD altogether, not worth the nightmare or the chance of messing it up and breaking something anyway. Plus, that way the new screen will be perfect and free of anomalies.

Maybe I'll hurry and sell this laptop while it's still working and buy a NEW one with a nice long full warranty. I've only ever bought used laptops before, but maybe it's time to change my ways.

 

Wow. Congratulations on a valiant effort.