The LCD screen doesn’t work because the video cable got disconnected from the motherboard.

I have seen a problem like that on a few different Satellite L305D laptops. Not sure why it’s happening but check this out.

In order to access the video cable connector you’ll have to remove the keyboard first.

Using a sharp object lift up and remove the keyboard bezel.

Under the bezel you’ll find two screws securing the motherboard. Remove both screws.

Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest. Be careful, the keyboard is attached to the motherboard.

You’ll find the video cable connector under the keyboard.

If you look very closely, you’ll see that the video cable is half way out of the connector on the motherboard.

Plug the video cable back into the connector and test the laptop now. Does it help?

My previous post explains how to fix power port in Toshiba Satellite L305/L305D laptops.

Today I will be removing and replacing the LCD screen in an IBM ThinkPad T43p laptop. You can use same set of instructions for ThinkPad T43 and some other IBM (now Lenovo) laptops.

Failure description: the laptop starts with a reddish screen (white color appear to be pink). After a minute or two the backlight goes completely off but you still can see a very faint image on the screen if you look very closely. When you restart the laptop, the screen lights up again but a minute later the light goes off.

Solution: the laptop has a failing backlight lamp which is a part of the LCD screen. The whole screen has to be replaced.

You can try replacing just the backlight lamp without replacing the screen, but it’s not easy and should be done only by an experienced technician.

Let’s disassemble the display panel and remove the LCD screen.

STEP 1.

Carefully remove four screw seals from the bottom part of the display bezel.

You can remove them with a sharp object.

Remove all four screws found under the seals.

STEP 2.

Remove three screws (found under seals) from the left side of the display panel.

STEP 3.

Remove four screws (found under seals) from the right side of the display panel.

STEP 4.

The display bezel is glued to the LCD screen with sticky tape. You can separate the bezel using a guitar pick (as I do) or another piece of plastic.
Insert the guitar pick between the display bezel and screen and carefully move it along the side until the bezel is separated.

STEP 5.

Continue removing the display bezel with your fingers.

STEP 6.

The screen inverter is mounted under the bezel and can be replaced without removing the bezel completely. I’ll remove the display bezel because I have to replace the LCD screen.

STEP 7.

The display bezel has been removed.

STEP 8.

In order to confirm the backlight lamp failure I did the following experiment.
I unpluged the LCD screen from the right side of the inveter board and pluged in an known good backlight lamp. After that I turned on the laptop and tested it with my backlight lamp for about 10 minutes. My backlight lamp didn’t turn off and worked fine all time. That means the backlight lamp inside the screen is bad.

If your laptop doesn’t work with a known good backlight lamp, most likely you have a problem with the inverter board.

STEP 9.

Unplug the inverter board from the video cable.
Remove the inverter board.

Do you need a new inverter board? Find a new inverter here.

STEP 10.

Carefully separate the LCD screen from the display cover. Do not forget to release the cable with night lamp. Simply pull the cable from the display cover.

STEP 11.

Now you can access the back side of the LCD screen and unplug the screen cable.

Remove sticky tape securing the connection and pull the cable connector from the LCD screen.

STEP 12.

Remove the LCD screen from the laptop.

The LCD screen has been removed.

Be careful with this piece of plastic. Try not to remove it from the display because it will take some time to figure out how to connect it back together.
I believe this piece of plastic is designed to prevent the screen cable from breaking when you close the display.

STEP 13.

Remove two screws securing the display mounting brackets.
Remove the bracket and move it to a new LCD screen.
Do the same with the bracket on the other side of the screen.

You can find a new LCD screen using two different part numbers from the back side of the defective screen:
1. The model number of the LCD screen. In my laptop it is N150U3-L01
2. FRU part number. In my laptop it is 92P6753.

Looking for a new screen for your IBM ThinkPad T43/T43p laptop? You can find a brand new screen here.

Before you start do not forget to turn off the laptop, unplug the AC power adapter and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

On the screen bezel you’ll find six screw seals. Four rubber seals and two plastic seals.

You can remove these seals with a sharp object.
Remove all six screws found under the seals.

STEP 2.

Start separating the screen bezel from the display cover with your fingers. You can use a piece of soft plastic to separate the bezel.

Continue separating the screen bezel on the top of the display and after that move to the lower part.

Finally, remove the screen bezel.

STEP 3.

Remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the left mounting bracket.

STEP 4.

Remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the right mounting bracket.

STEP 5.

Remove two screws securing the web camera.

STEP 6.

Separate the LCD screen assembly from the display cover. As you see, the web camera is still attached to the screen assembly.

STEP 7.

Plase the LCD screen assembly upside down on the palm rest.
The green ribbon cable is the video cable and it has two connectors. One of the is connected to the LCD screen and another one to the inverter board.

Carefully push on two latches on both sides of the LCD connector, release the cable and disconnect it from the LCD screen.

Pull the second connector up and disconnect it from the inverter board.

STEP 8.

Remove the screen assembly (LCD screen and inverter board).

The inverter board is attached to the bottom part of the LCD screen. The inverter board can be replaced separately.

The best way to find a new replacement screen is searching by the LCD screen model number or Dell part number. Both numbers can be found on one sticker with a barcode.

You can find a cheap replacment LCD screen for Dell Vostor 1500 and other Dell laptops here.

In this guide I explain how to remove and replace a damaged LCD screen in a HP Pavilion dv2000 notebook. This guide should work for all models in Pavilion dv2000 line.

By the way, this HP Pavilion dv2000 is like a small copy of HP Pavilion dv6000 notebook and all disassembly steps will be very similar.

Before you start, please turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

The LCD screen is mounted between the display cover and bezel. The screen bezel is secured to the display cover by six screws hidden under six screw seals. I circled these screw seals.

Remove all seals with a sharp object and after that remove all screws found under the seals.

STEP 2.

Start separating the screen bezel from the display cover on one of the top corners.

Continue separating the screen bezel.

Remove the screen bezel.

STEP 3.

The inverter board works as a power supply for the backlight lamp hidden inside the LCD screen. In most notebooks the inverter board is mounted below the LCD screen. In my guide I will not be removing the inverter board and because of that I will unplug only one cable from the right side.

STEP 4.

Remove four screws securing the display hinges to the cover.

STEP 5.

Carefully separate the display assembly from the cover and place the LCD face down on the keyboard.

Now you can access the LCD cable (video cable) connector. The LCD cable connects the screen to the the motherboard.

STEP 6.

Unplug the LCD cable from the screen.

STEP 7.

Remove the LCD screen assembly from the notebook. As you can see, the screen still has two mounting brackets attached to the left and right sides.

STEP 8.

In order to remove the mounting bracket, simply remove three screws. Transfer the bracket to the new screen.

Are you looking for a new screen for your HP Pavilion dv2000 notebook? You can find it here for less than $70.

Did you know that your HP Pavilion dv2000 notebook might qualify from a free repair from HP?

I have seen a few Toshiba Satellite M305 and M305D laptops with exactly the same display problem. When you move the display panel, the image on the screen flickers, some random horizontal lines appear in random places or the image disappears at all. As soon as you stop moving the display, the image ether turns back to normal or the display continue to remain black.

I did some research and found that this problem could be related to the display cable made by CMI.

How can you tell if the display cable was made by CMI? You’ll have to open up the display panel and take a look at the letters and numbers below the barcode on the cable. If first three letters are CMI, the cable was made by CMI.

The following models could have a faulty display cable: Toshiba Satellite M300, M305, M305D and Toshiba Satellite Pro M300.

If you experience a similar problem with your Satellite M305 or M305D laptop, try replacing the display cable first. If the problem still exists, even after replacing the cable, apparently it’s related to the LCD screen.

If the laptop is still under warranty do not open the case or you will lose the warranty. Take your laptop to the authorized repair center.

Instructions published at amilo-forum.com explain how to remove the keyboard from a Fujitsu Amilo A1667G notebook.
On most notebooks the keyboard is secured by two or three screws hidden under the plastic cover above the keyboard but not in this model.

In Amilo A1667G the keyboard is secured by a few plastic notches.

using the modeling knife i pressed the notches to the side while trying to put the knife’s blade under the keyboard so that i can lift it.
You can start from the top side and one by one press the notches while the keyboard is released.

How to disconnect the keyboard cable from the motherboard.

1. Carefully unlock the connector by moving the brown plastic brace in the direction shown by two red arrows. You’ll have to move just a little bit, maybe 1-2 millimeters.
2. After the connector has been unlocked you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.

If the screen on your HP Pavilion zv5000 laptop suddenly went dark, most likely this problem is related to the inverter board. This guide explains how to get inside the display panel and and replace the failed inverter board with a new one. You will not find these instructions in the official service manual.

The screen inverter replacement will take about 20-30 minutes. You can find a new inverter board for your Pavilion zv5000 laptop here for less then $15.

Here are some of the most common inverter failure symptoms:
1. The laptop starts fine but you barely can see any image on the laptop screen. If you connect an external monitor, it works fine.
2. You turn on the laptop and the screen works fine for a while but then it goes dark. If you restart the laptop the screen starts fine and goes dart again.
3. When the screen is dark you can light it up for a moment by tapping on the lid close switch.

It is possible that your inverter board is OK and there is a problem with the backlight lamp inside the screen, but this failure is less common.

Other posts related to HP Pavilion zv5000 laptop repair:
1. Removing LCD screen and replacing backlight lamp.
2. Removing keyboard and upgrading memory.

In the following guide I will explain how you can replace broken display hinges on Dell Latitude C640 and Latitude C540 series laptops. Replacing and removing hinges is not a difficult task if you are careful and pay attention to details. I’m not sure if you can use the same hinges for both Latitude C640 and C540 but the following removal and replacement instructions should be the same for both models.
1. Find new replacement hinges.
2. Follow the laptop disassembly instructions below.

Proceed on your own risk and do not blame me if you destroy the laptop.
Before you start, remove the laptop battery.

Remove five screws securing the keyboard. These screws are marked with a letter K stamped on the base.

Remove five screws securing the display hinges. Three screws on the left side and two screws on the right side.

Carefully lift up and remove the keyboard bezel with a flathead screwdriver or another sharp object.

Lift up and remove both hinge covers.

Lift up the keyboard from the base. Be careful, the keyboard is attached to the motherboard with a flat ribbon cable. Disconnect the keyboard cable and remove the keyboard.

The keyboard cable had been disconnected from the motherboard.

Remove four screws securing the video cable.

Carefully disconnect the video cable from the motherboard by the yellow belt on the connector.

Remove six rubber screw seals with a sharp object. Remove six screws located under these seals.

Insert your fingers between the display bezel and the LCD screen and carefully separate the bezel from the display. Keep separating the bezel from the display with your fingers until you can remove it. Remove the bezel.

Remove two screws securing the LCD screen to the display hinges. You’ll find two screws on each side of the screen.

Remove the LCD screen from the display cover. Be careful the screen is attached to the video cable.
Unplug the video cable from the LCD screen (Green Arrow).
Unplug the video cable from the inverter board (Red Arrow).
Remove the screen.

After the LCD screen had been removed you can remove two screws securing both display hinges.

Remove both hinges from the display cover. Now you can replace both hinges, or just a broken one.

Is it possible to test laptop screen inverters with a regular multimeter? I was asking myself exactly the same question many times before until I found this article published by Morris Rosenthal. Apparently, you can test inverters with a multimeter but you have to have the right one, with frequency rated at least 50KHz.

my $20 meter failed to register anything! So I borrowed a better meter from my neighbor, a Fluke 110 true RMS meter. The Fluke specs show it’s rated to 50KHz, which turned out to be critical in the inverter test application.

I’m not sure how accurate this test is, so I will probably find a Fluke multimeter and try it myself. If this test works 100%, it will be very helpful to me.

By the way, some of you may ask what a screen inverter is and where it’s located inside a laptop? I’ll try to answer in a few words. The inverter board is a power supply for the LCD screen and it powers up the backlight lamp (CCFL) inside the LCD screen. When inverter fails, the LCD screen remains dark even after your turn on the laptop. You still can use the laptop with an external monitor attached to the VGA port but not with the internal screen. The image on the laptop screen will be very dark, almost invisible. The inverter board is located inside the display panel and in most laptops you’ll find the inverter board located right below the LCD screen.
The image below explains how the inverter board is connected to other components inside your laptop. You’ll find more information in this article.

Here’s how you can test the inverter board using a spare backlight lamp.

Basically, you unplug the LCD screen from the inverter and plug in a known good backlight instead. If your test backlight lamp doesn’t light up, most likely there is a problem with the inverter board.

If you plat to test more than one LCD screen, you mgith consider buying this CCFL bulb and inverter tester designed by LCDParts.net. You can find this tester here.

Finally we have the LCD Screen Tester available (LST01 is including a 12V DC Adapter) after months of experiment with many different types of LCD screens. No more guess works! This custom built equipment can help you isolate problem between CCFL Backlight Lamp and Inverter in seconds.

I could get the screen to come back on momentarily by toggling Fn-F7 a few times, but after about 10 seconds it went blank again. After rebooting, same thing — 10 seconds and blank.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that I could actually see the windows very, very dimly on the screen. However, it was so faint I couldn’t see a cursor or read any text but the screen was definitely trying to project the image. So I hooked up an external monitor and the image displayed just fine.

The author of the above mentioned article article tried replacing the screen inverter board first but it didn’t help. After that he replaced the LCD screen and this resolved the problem.
From myself I would like to add a few more tips for troubleshooing and resolving laptop backlight problems.
Let’s say the laptop screen went blank but you still can see a very dim image on the screen. An external monitor connected to the laptop video port works fine.

Here’s what you can try:
1. Check the display close switch – a small button located close to the left hinge. Make sure this switch moves up and down without any problem, try tapping on the button. When the button gets stuck in the “closed” position, it cuts off power from the inverter board and the screen will be black. Tapping on the display close switch can help to turn the screen back on.
2. Try reseating connectors on the inverter board. The screen can go black when it’s not making good connection with the inverter board.
3. Replace the inverter board.
4. If replacing the inverter board doesn’t help, probably there is a problem with the backlight lamp inside the LCD screen. It’s possible to replace the backlight lamp without replacing the whole LCD screen, but it’s not easy. Here’s how you can find a new backlight lamp for your laptop.
5. If you cannot replace the backlight lamp you’ll have to replace the LCD screen.
6. If all above mentioned steps do not help and the screen is still black, your problem can be related to a faulty video cable or bad motherboard.
You’ll find IBM laptop disassembly instructions in hardware maintenance guides.
You can use these troubleshooting steps for any laptop.