P950 - How do you disconnect the EDP display cable from the motherboard site

I have tried to simply pull it sideways out of the connector, but there's all kinds of tape and covering plastic ontop and I am scared I will break something. Is there a specific technique for this particular model?

 

The flat, silver connector with the black, plastic tab on it, right? You pull straight up/away from the board using said tab, or use something to get underneath the connector and lift it up (sometimes that black tab gets yanked out).

 

If using a pry tool try and keep to plastic and not metal. It should pull up without too much trouble though.

 

Ahh thanks... I didn't realise you had to pull it upwards away from the mobo, I will give it a shot next time I disassemble!

 

Usually there is not much reason to disconnect it.

 

Still suffering from random screen flickering and I can't quite pinpoint the reason. The cable does not appear damaged in the hinges, every time I open the laptop, shuffle the cable around and tape it down to the mobo, the problem goes away for some days and over time it comes back. Whenever I tilt the screen up or down, the screen fill flicker violently. Every day it gets worse until it gets to the point where it will be randomly flicking without even touching the screen. Reopen laptop, move cable around again, and problem goes away again... rinse and repeat basically.

I want to remove the cable from the mobo to actually try and clean the contacts and reseat it properly as I can't think of what else might be causing this.

 

Have you secured the ends down with kapton/electrical tape?

 

Yup still f*ks up after a couple of days, and gets progressively worse day by day. I don't even open/close the hinge that much... one or two times a day that's it. It has literally become a weekly ritual to disassemble and rejig the edp cable.

 

Have you reseated the connection on the back of the panel too, aka the other end of the cable?

 

Yeah, I've changed the panel even, had the issue before and after so confident the issue is on the motherboard side. Anyway I finally managed to disconnect the cable, cleaned both the cable and mobo contacts with IPA, rejigged the cable yet again, and so far it's ok. Maybe this time it will go 3 days instead of 2 before the flickering comes back

 

If it's the cable at fault, at least those are fairly inexpensive to replace. Issues at the board can get complicated and pricey.

 

Pretty sure it was the cable. The first time I unplugged it from the board, cleaned, and reseated, it was fine...... for about 3 hours. I had another go at it, and wrapped the actual plug with electrical tape. It's now been working great for 2 days and not a single flicker... so fingers crossed the issue was basically loose contacts that were easily triggered because of the way the cable bends at a 90 degree angle right at the plug.

 

Hi, I am facing the same problem and I would like to know how did you open the back and what exact cable did you reseat to fix the problem. Thank you in advance!

 

You have to remove all screws at the bottom, then pop out the keyboard by sticking a screwdriver through the middle screw hole (marked with a keyboard icon). Then unclip the keyboard and move it out of the way (no need to unplug it). Underneath are 5 more screws you need to remove. After this you can take off the back cover. The display cable is plugged in between the GPU heatsink and CPU fan with a shiny plastic black flap/tab ontop of it. The cable itself is fairly thick and black and runs back under the CPU fan. You can't miss it.

Reseating the cable, as I have discovered, will not actually fix the issue, it is literally cable damage. My previous post describes how I sort of reinforced the cable with electrical tape and this got me an entire 8 days of flicker free usage (a huge improvement from my average of 3 hours to 1 day). Unfortunately and inevitably the issue has come back for me. I also ordered a replacement cable which I received today, and I think this is the only real solution.

It just looks like the design is somewhat flawed and forces extra stress right at the base of the cable at the mobo side. I guess this is what leads to so many of the cables getting damaged, as this seems like a common occurrence. I'm going to replace the cable (which I ordered from my reseller and actually appears to be a used one ... ) tonight and see how that goes.

 

Good luck. I will try to reseat the cable first before buying a new one. Thank you!

 

Can I ask where you've heard/read others having this issue? It's not a common occurrence as far as I'm aware, but if it is actually a common occurrence... well, I'd like to be aware.

 

I seen at least 4 or 5 people on this forum... I guess I'd consider that common for an issue of this nature.

 

Well, my P950 is from a Chinese brand (Terrans Force). If I remember correctly, within months of launch they recalled all the units back to solve the issue that caused the flickering (by changing the cable I suppose)

 

Must have been a batch that headed over there, it's not something we have had as an issue.

 

I've replaced the cable, wasn't actually as complicated as I thought. About 5 minutes to push the cable through the hinge and get it plugged up. No flickers for now. I guess it's a bad batch of cables and I got unlucky.

 

Yeah these thinner laptops can be a pain in the buttocks sometimes with these sort of things.

 

I am having trouble opening the back. It is mandatory to pop the keyboard out in order to open the back?

 

Yeah, the 5 screws under the keyboard also secure the bottom cover so you will need to remove them.

 

Opened the back and noticed this broken thin cable at the hinge that doesn't look like the replacement cable sold on aliexpress
There are two of them that go through each hinge, and one is broken. Does anyone know what cable is that?

 

Display and wifi cables go through there usually.

 

Yea one of mine is broken too, it's for the WiFi. Signal dropped a bit at longer ranges but otherwise not an issue.

 

It will push it to run single channel, I'd speak to your reseller.

 

It's possible it was prevalent at one point, maybe a bad batch, as Meaker said. Thanks! I'll be on the lookout.

I agree about talking with your seller, it might be worth it to let them handle replacing it. Things could get worse with normal wear and tear, and re-routing a replacement cable is a bit of a pain.

 

If the cable is cut short at the hinge, how does it affect the operation of the WiFi card as there is still a antenna cable connected to it, just a bit shorter...?

 

That's a bit like saying a ladder is fine if it's missing the top rungs. The antennae is at the top of the screen and sized to pick up the right frequencies.

 

you could solder a patch cable between the 2 ends and go ghetto fix

 

Gotcha. Was just curious as I haven't really noticed more than a very slight degradation of the signal, I can still get 5 GHz at the other end of the house for instance, maybe just one bar lower. So not too bothered by the broken wire.

 

So, my screen stopped flickering, but when I pop out the keyboard it might broke it... Now I have keys that dontd work (has happened to me before but pushing them harder or restarting solved it)... FML

 

If it's just the retaining mechanism for the key caps, talk to your seller. They may be able to supply spares. If it's an electronic failure, you're looking at replacing the keyboard (or motherboard, worst case scenario).

 

There are more than one keys and they are not located closely, could that be an electronic failure?

 

Yes, and in most cases it's a failure of the keyboard circuitry. In more extreme cases, the issue is at the controller on the motherboard.

 

Changed EDP cable and keyboard....... no more flickering and no more broken keys woop woop

 

Nicely done