Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Hey all,
(tl;dr version at bottom)
Recently, my laptop has been suffering from two issues:
1) Excessive overheating during gaming sessions, to the point where the computer would shut off to protect itself
2) The laptop screen had some trouble with the backlight. In certain positions, it would work just fine, completely normal. However, if moved even slightly, the backlight would turn off. The screen was still on, I could even navigate the menus and stuff if I had the right lighting, but the backlight would go out. The only way to fix this issue was to close the computer, open it again, and, if I was lucky, the backlight would come on again. If I wasn't, I'd have to open and close the laptop again for another try. It seemed that the laptop was less prone to this issue when plugged in.
Anyway, the combination of these two problems finally convinced me I should open the thing up. My initial plan was just to give it a thorough cleaning, since I figured dust buildup might be the cause of the overheating issue.
Opening the thing was a major pain, but I got it apart and gave everything inside a good blasting with air duster, which removed astonishing amounts of dust. I'm pretty sure this solved the overheating issue.
As I was putting it back together I decided I might take a look at the screen as well. I was thinking that whatever cable powers the backlight might be loose, as this was mentioned in the service manual for the laptop I found online. I removed the screen assembly from the laptop but was unable to access the cables inside, as I couldn't figure out how to open it and didn't want to use any kind of force to try to crack it given the delicacy of the (possibly) already injured screen. I gave up and reassembled everything, deciding that at least the overheating would be fixed and I could worry about the screen later.
Sadly, I can't enjoy my new cooling, because when I turn on the computer, the screen doesn't show anything at all. The fans run, and from the lights on the front of the laptop I can tell the problem is not the power supply, but that's about all I can figure out. I attempted to connect it to a TV to see if it was starting up correctly - that would prove it was just the screen finally crapping out from whatever stress I put on it when taking it off, but nothing was displayed on the TV either.
So, all in all, here's my situation:
My computer turns on (or at least the fans spin), but the screen doesn't work.
OR
I messed something else up and it's just spinning the fans, but not starting up.
What course of action would you recommend? I think I am going to open it back up and make sure I haven't forgotten to connect something, etc. I really doubt this is the case but I don't think it would hurt to open it back up before I take it somewhere else or order a new screen.
Qosmio X505-Q887, possibly display malfunction?
Discussion in 'Toshiba' started by agentwiggles, Apr 10, 2012.
