CQ61 410us display not detected

So the full story:

A few months ago, my display started getting weird lines on the right side of it in weirdo disco colors. I ignored it for awhile because it would go away (or get better) if I tapped at or fiddled with the lid/the screen. Eventually, that stopped working and it just went completely dead, no light or anything. I chalked it up to a screen gone bad and connected it to my television to use as an external monitor.

A week ago I replaced the screen (which by this point was completely physically broken so the old one was tossed, unfortunately). The old screen was a CCFL, but the new one was LED with a CCFL converter cable, listed as compatible with my laptop. It also did not turn on. I figured it could be two things: Either I was sent a dead screen or it was the LCD cable itself that was broken.

I know someone who has a slightly older CQ60 laptop (also with a CCFL), so I took apart their laptop and swapped in my screen. It turned on and worked just fine with the converter cable, so I know the screen is good. Unfortunately their laptop used a different cable connector so I could not swap in my cable to see if that was the issue, but I went ahead and bought a new cable just to be safe.

New cable, screen still does not turn on.

Is there something I'm missing? External video still works just fine, I tried the "hard reset" of holding the power button down with AC/battery unplugged, I updated the BIOS, video drivers are the most recent available (4 years lolol). Going into the 'Display' control, it doesn't even list the internal LCD screen, just the external. Is there some hidden button somewhere, a setting, anything that could explain it?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Hey there,

You did a logical job of troubleshooting this. I'd say the evidence points to the actual connection point on the motherboard, which probably isn't fixable unless you replace the whole motherboard. The connection could have gone wrong for a number of reasons - cracked or bad solder is a possibility.
I haven't heard of a BIOS setting that would allow you to disable the internal display. A driver wouldn't be an issue if the screen isn't turning on at boot.

If you're intent on using this notebook, something you could do is look for a parts laptop on ebay (e.g. broken screen) and swap the motherboard from that laptop into yours. That has its own set of risks though.

You could get an equivalent notebook (HP g6) for around $400-450, should you decide to buy a new notebook. Lenovo also offers some notebooks in that price range.

 

I quite agree with Charles on this one. There's not a lot to be had in troubleshooting something like this, and considering the monitor works fine in another laptop - and given the history of the last screen before you attempted the swap - then there is likely a problem with the board or the respective connection.

Just make sure your connections are absolutely seated properly before you default to purchasing a new board or system.