eDP connector pin burned out - is it still safe to use?

Hi all,

this is my first post on the forum, but definitely an urgent one.

So, I have a Clevo W550SU1 laptop and have recently been in the process of changing my screen. I normally always disconnect the battery when performing internal hardware changes, but this time I was plugging it in and out many times because I had to test different things and it just so happens, when I was connecting my cable to the panel, I left the battery plugged in and - the second pin from the right (if you look at the connector with the cable up) showed a spark and apparently burned out because it looked like the pin was gone.

I unplugged the battery, plug the connector in, turned the computer on and everything was working fine.

Now, I've been looking at different eDP pinouts and tried to figure out what it is that this burned out pin was for but can't really "pin it down" (no pun intended).

My question is, since my computer and my screen seem to be working fine:
1. Is there any danger in leaving the connector connected - if there is a pin missing that is the "ground" for something - am I risking some kind of short circuit by leaving it plugged in?
2. I assume that the pin is not doing anything "very important" because then the screen wouldn't work, right?

The important specs of my laptop are:
1. The cable is a 30 pin (on motherboard) to 30 pin (on LCD) eDP connector.
2. The screen is an LG LP156WF4-SPL1

 

The right-side of the connector's probably the the last pin (pin #30), can be checked when looking at the labels on the pcb; there'll be a "1" and "30". If indeed it's #30; last few pins are usually voltage to backlight. There are several of these, so one less wouldn't matter a great deal, perhaps a dimmer screen. Loosing a ground would result in the rest taking a heavier load, but there are 10 grounds in total, so ...

Still would be nice to know; no luck finding SPL1 sheet, but SPH1 is a similar panel+connector; LP156WF4-SPH1. Definitive answer would be to trace back the colour of the wire going from the burned-out pin and look at the motherboard connector's side. Cross-checking with the Service Manual (page 69) will tell you exactly what that pin was for.

 

Thank you very much for your prompt and thorough reply, it helped a lot.

In fact, I have been looking at the service manual for the laptop and the screen data sheet (the SPL1 data sheet actually can be found, but it's on some remote, very difficult to find website), but just wanted confirmation from someone who knows a bit more about this than me.

Back in the old days (some 20 years ago), most things had a separate power cable and a separate data slot, such was the case with most things. Then there were the old AGP, PCI and the even older ISA slots (talking about desktop computers now). It was quite common for, say, a graphics card to get dislodged from the PCI slot (usually due to yanking of the VGA cable outside the case) and stop working without any damage.

These days I have a feeling that power and data is all mixed up, and things are a lot less robust than they used to be. Sure, I fried my share of computers in my day, riding the "what does this button do?" wave, but that's how I learned.

Don't want to sound like a dinosaur, but that's how it is. Also, the build quality back in the older days was far superior.

 

I literally killed my laptop in this exact way two weeks ago. Forgot to unplug the battery when changing display panels. Saw a spark and the smell of burning when connecting the new display.

Unfortunately I did not have your luck. After I saw the spark, the computer never booted again. The screen flashed on and off once. From then on it was completely bricked and had no sign of life whatsoever.

I had to replace the whole thing (soldered CPU & GPU + the cost of repair services and the time it would take meant that buying a completely new system made more sense).

 

I am very sorry to hear that. There is nothing more terrifying than the smell of burnt electronics . I think I was lucky because, normally when you connect cables like that, you start from one end and then align it - so you're going in at an angle which means that some pins are going to get connected before all the others. From the angle I was going - it was the ground/backlight power pins and maybe you were going from the other side which, from what I have seen - some of the main connections - the very important ones - are on that side.

But, do you know what burned out? From my experience, it's usually capacitors which are normally large and soldering them shouldn't be as difficult as soldering some really tiny stuff. At least you could try buying a bare-bone version of your laptop and just transfer the really expensive components (CPU, RAM, GPU etc.).

Just 10 minutes ago, I exchanged my eDP cable for a new one, with all pins working. I got it from a Clevo UK representative. I also am enjoying my new panel. You know, when I saw your message yesterday evening (I live in Denmark) - I thought - is this some way of the Universe trying to tell me - "don't do it" - so I got a little freaked out about replacing the cable which involved basically disassembling half of the laptop - and I had that planned for this morning (now).

But, I did it, so it's fine again. Thank you all for your advice and help