Lid swtich question

Just Curious - does anyone know how the lid-switch senses that its
closed? Is there a mercury switch in the lid?

I noticed that if you power-on then close the lid (Im using an external monitor) that the system goes into sleep.
You have to lift the lid and press the power-switch to start the boot.

 

The reason why it goes into sleep mode is to protect the lcd screen from melting from the heat of the computer because where the speaker's are, are where the cooling vents are located.
If you go into to display properties, power you have the option of saying when lid closes put computer into sleep mode or you can decide not to put it into sleep mode. On the other hand if you have 350 dollars to waste then close the lid and not have the notebook go to sleep. I assume there's a sensor that disconnects power to the lcd screen when you close the lid.
-andrew

 

If there were a mercury switch in the lid, the computer would suspend every time you turned it sideways (or really touched it at all, given the nature of mercury switches). More likely it's just a little switch in the hinge somewhere. And to my knowlege, it just defaults to being turned off as a convenience thing, not for any melting reasons.

[ our words to still their voice | our hands to break their worthles necks ]

 

just to answer my own question, the lid switch is a magnetic type located on the left hand side near the power-led. The magnet itself is located in the lid. When the lid gets about 1/2in from the base the magnet pulls in the switch and the screen blanks/standby.

 

That would explain the magnet I found when I took the housing off my monitor to fix the microphone the other day. I couldn't figure out what that was for. It was just a little higher than halfway up on the left side.