Dead Screen - repair/replace options???

Hi guys,
I have a Medion Erazer X6819 (MS-16F2)

I recently upgraded my GTX570m for a GTX970M 6gb - everything ran fine for a couple of days, did some gaming then i booted up my laptop and the screen was black - completely dead!

Main and vBios have been updated and restored but to no avail

i have checked in the bios and device manager and it does not detect the screen - as if it isnt there......


I'm running on an external monitor with the HDMI connection and that works ok


Is this a common issue and are there any known compatible laptop LED backlit screens that i can replace it with

I have opened the screen housing and there is a number LTN156HT01-101 on the sceen edge and also another 2 numbers LJ97-03243A and LJ96-05574A - the last number is related to the screen number of an ASUS 53S.


I was wondering - are laptop screens quite interchangeable if it is the same type of backlight and display port (40 pin) connection

I have seen some that say make sure it has same backlight - LED, same connection - 40 pin, same size and resolution, and also which side the connection is on


Any help with this would be appreciated


Thanks

 

Screen brick probably.. Did you ever install EVGA Precision X?

 

yes, they are generally easily interchangeable. although there are a lot of new EDP and/or slim LCDs gaining popularity. might be time for an upgrade. there are a lot of 1080p models with higher contrast and color gamut that would work plug and play. just make sure its LVDS and has a normal metal frame for mounting, not any weird tabs sticking out.

 

It does sound very much like bricking ... this system has all the vulnerabilities; no Optimus, a 970M and a Samsung LVDS (one of the most commonly affected). And if it is then the new screen will be bricked as well after a few days or weeks, at most. First see if reflashing the old panel works and make sure to uninstall EVGA, if that is indeed present. Don't have this specific panel's edid in the archive folder, but do have one for its successor (the 201);

Spoiler: SEC314C - LTN156HT01-201 edid

Code:

00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 4C A3 4C 31 00 00 00 00
00 15 01 03 80 22 13 78 EA 2D E5 9D 5C 4E 9A 27
1A 50 54 00 00 00 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
01 01 01 01 01 01 29 36 80 A0 70 38 1F 40 18 10
25 00 58 C2 10 00 00 19 00 00 00 0F 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 28 5A 0A 3C 00 00 00 00 FE 00 53
41 4D 53 55 4E 47 0A 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 FE
00 31 35 36 48 54 30 31 2D 32 30 31 0A 20 00 4E

And in binary, which can be used to flash: SEC314C - LTN156HT01-201 edid.7z. Since you still have access to the system, you may also run MonInfo and copy/paste the 'Raw' section. That way you'll have the original firmware again, even if it's been corrupted by now. Might be able to fix the values that are wrong and then you can flash that 101 version, rather than the 201.

Precision X and/or Windows 10 notwithstanding, there have also been bricks that had neither, merely having the affected Nvidia gpus + no-Optimus, so you may also consider a permanent, hardware-level fix.

Whether unbricking worked or it truly is a genuine hardware failure, a replacement is possible in either case. The B156HW01 V4 or V7 would make a nice improvement and should be a better overclocker to boot.

 

I didnt have precision x but had msi afterburner and kombustor and I had actually ran kombustor for about 1 min or so to see what kind of frames I got.
Also, it was the MS-16F2 bios and the GTX970 vbios that were updated..... didnt realise firmware for the monitor could be changed.
Not sure what optimus is either...... starting to feel like a total noob again, sorry but this is my first attempt at upgrading laptops - totally different beast from desktop modding.
So I should try flashing the monitor firmware and see if that makes any differenc, and if not I'll have a look at one of the newer models like the B156HW01 stated above so I'm open to recommendations for replacements as long as they are suitable for gaming and dont really need any 3D or any of that, just a good 1080p.

Thanks for the replies

 

Hi again,
I've ran Moninfo and the monitor shows in registry but there are 3 entries, not sure which one to Paste the RAW data into.
I've added images of the info
might have a go with writing the image to a usb and try that when i get some time to read and understand the intruction as i have downloaded the software already but cant view the images for some reason

 

3rd one didnt come up

 

It's the SEC314C, the 'SAM's and 'BNQ's are external monitors. Its edid (raw section) is the same as the 201 I've listed earlier, so you're good to use that. This registry version you see in MonInfo is not corrupt, but it is not 'live', being a static copy made by Windows, so it's not a guarantee that it is fine (most examples did not show corruption in Windows). At one point during running through the instructions you'll read the edid directly from the eeprom, only then will you know for certain whether unbricking will help or whether you'll need a new screen after all (or a new lcd cable ...).

Image hosting site is dead, hence no images. Do plan to fix that, but that means loosing the likes ... bit of a nonsensical vanity of course, but you don't really need the screenshots anyway; write the extracted .img to the stick and it should be good to go.

Spoiler: edid tools - start screen 1

Spoiler: edid tools - start screen 2

 

Right - i have made a USB and booted into Lubuntu but dont seem to have a cursor, its invisible - it highlights icons at the bottom but nothing else, so i tried tabbing around but didnt get very far with the instructions. anyway of highlighting the cursor? I've never use Lubuntu before and this is just making it a bit of a pain - could it be because i used without installing?


Got a course on tomorrow so i'll be back on about 6pm GMT and give it another try

 

Been at this 4 hrs with no cursor, tabbing about and trying to guess where my cursor is, extra tabs opening and cant close them cos the cursor is invisible, tried changing cursor colour- no difference.......

Managed to find which bus and size but cant copy/paste to web reader to verify and the cursor thing is gonna give me a breakdown


Is there anything to make the cursor visible?

Ok managed to get by the copy/paste and now at sudo ./edid-rw 1 | edid-decode but cant bring up '|' in the terminal, doent seem to be on the key I think due to us language possibly...... so close to the end and seem to be getting caught up with trivial things...... losing patience with it, seriously thinking about just buying new screen.

Does the B156HW01 V7 require the low level hardware upgrade or would it be ok as is?

 

Haven't heard about the cursor issue before, but when you're at ' sudo i2cdump' just keep the output open and check only the highlighted value:

Spoiler: edid, address 0x14

If that says anything other than '80' then the edid is corrupted due to the Nvidia debacle and writing the correct edid will fix it. If it's still '80' then you need a new display. The V7 is plug and play for your system.

 

I've got right to the last part (with all the tabbing and cursor guess work)- had to wait till i got back from my course today to use my US keyboard to get the '|' symbol, but i'm leaving for 3 weeks work in the morning and i have a new issue - when i try to write the edid it doesnt recognise the name of the file and says it doesnt exist in the write-edid folder but it matches exactly, not sure if its all the dashes in the name (SEC314C-LTN156HT01-201.bin) - so i tried going back to windows renaming it and tried to put that in the write-edid folder and now it says error not enough space or something along that lines, tried removing the other one to trash to make space but it wont even move that to trash cos there's not enough space

Can i either increase the space or permanently delete files to make room - i'm mean the file is 128bytes????

 

It has some 200MB to spare when newly written to a usb stick. However, you cannot copy/paste to that storage space using Windows (it is a virtual partition), but you should be able to copy the renamed .bin from the local hdd to the write-edid folder from within Linux.

 

OK - i remade the usb from scratch and added my renamed .bin file......... IT WORKED!!!!! DAMMIT IT ACTUALLY WORKED!!!!!

Thank you so much for your help!

I didnt think it was gonna work and had already convinced my wife i needed a screen when i got back in 3 weeks - suppose this one will have to do for now!!!!

3 weeks on a North Sea rig would be a loooong time with a dud screen!

 

.

 

You're welcome, and nicely done, too. It is anything but a simple process, so kudos to you for having the tenacity to see things through .

Yours is the first reported MSI system, btw (the others were Alienware or Clevo rebrands). Only commonality is an Nvidia dGPU on a non-Optimus system, with Precision X magnifying the chance to brick by several magnitudes.

Mind that this is a cure, but not an inoculation. Either Nvidia has to clean up their act first (which doesn't seem likely ...) or you may consider the $0.99 hardware mod. The alternative is being prepared having to re-flash it several times more, each time it decides to brick again.

 

Seems as if my nvidia driver has optimus alreadyin the notes section, but I think I will go for the hardware mod, does it come ready to fit with firmware and will how easy is it to fit?

 

Well ... if your bios has to option to set 'Optimus', rather than dGPU, then easiest is to use that. It might be called something else, like 'hybrid graphics' or so. Main thing is that the Intel HD will have veto-power over the lcd, whether or not the dGPU is doing the graphics work. Downside of Optimus is that display overclocking (over 60 Hz) will not work and that not all applications trigger dGPU activation properly (AutoCAD can be tricky, for one).

The eeprom-on-a-pcb is blank, so that'd need a (cheap) programmer. And it's not very difficult, but it does require a bit of patience and you'll have to appreciate the art of tinkering with tiny wires ... Some of these edid eeproms can also be write-protected with a little soldering, but the hard part is finding out the specific eeprom; the markings are spartan, lacking even the manufacturer, due to being so tiny:

Spoiler: edid eeprom

 

tried a solder job before and made an utter mess of it - i definitely wouldn't be able to be a brain surgeon thats for sure!
I've got the iGPU disabled in my bios and i'm not planning overclocking my screen - just worried i know that Windows 10 updates the drivers itself and expecting another blip when it does - i'll wait and see, but if i have to keep repeating that process i'll just get a new screen at some point - the wife has a short leash on me right now - i've spent my slush fund!

 

Never know until you try ....

That is the worst possible setting, considering it's the only one that can even cause a bricked display. With this option only the dGPU (Nvidia) is in control and at this point in time that is not a very good idea, as you've experienced first-hand. Set it to hybrid or at least activate the iGPU, only when Nvida has fixed this nasty bug will it be safe again to disable it. Sadly, even the act of switching that setting in the bios is known to cause bricks, so ... rock and a hard place, really.

Myes, but that new screen will brick as well, so ... not much of an alternative, really.

Doh!