The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Faulty screen on Toshiba L20 - screen or ribbon cable?

    Discussion in 'Toshiba' started by jarthurs, Nov 20, 2009.

  1. jarthurs

    jarthurs Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    My wife managed to kill her Toshiba Equium L20 about a year ago. I've been using it on an external monitor occasionally when I need a spare machine so it all works fine. The screen is fully lit and has horizontal and vertical lines on it, as you use the machine the display changes depending on the content of the screen but is completely illegible.

    I'm not entirely clear as to which particular 'accident' caused the final failure, but in all likelihood it was knocked off of an armchair onto the floor. But our youngest also had a particular penchant for walking over this one when open (and the screen connector is on top underneath the power and media buttons).

    It did fail once before but I unplugged the LCD from the mainboard and reseated the connector and it was fine again.

    I've popped the lid open and reseated the ribbon cable on the rear of the screen but this made no difference. I've also manipulated the ribbon cable along its length to see if a poor connection might be the culprit but the screen didn't even flicker. I can see no physical damage to the screen and other than loose screws on the retaining arms it seems to be physically unscathed.

    Is there any surefire way of diagnosing if this is a cable fault or a fault with the LCD itself before I actually start buying cables and screens?

    Regards,
    Jason.
     
    jarthurs, Nov 20, 2009
    #1
  2. Padmé

    Padmé NBR Super Pink Princess

    Reputations:
    4,674
    Messages:
    3,803
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    The inverter is the cheapest device you can try to replace before writing the LCD off as bad.
     
    Padmé, Nov 21, 2009
    #2
  3. jarthurs

    jarthurs Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    The inverter is fine and the backlight is working perfectly. Either the data isn't getting to the screen correctly, or the electronics on the rear of the panel itself are fritzed. I'm wondering if there is any way of determining which is bad before I start throwing cash at the problem.

    Best case scenario, I buy a replacement ribbon cable and it works (£15-£20). Worst case scenario, I buy a ribbon cable, it doesn't solve the problem. I buy a replacement LCD and that doesn't solve the problem and it turns out to be a faulty mainboard socket.

    Regards,
    Jason.
     
    jarthurs, Nov 23, 2009
    #3