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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.
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 am
I often find little orange beads ~3 mm diameter that appear on my keyboard after transporting my laptop (ThinkPad). Do you think they could be popping out of some kind of backing for the LCD?
May 31st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
[...] Check out my previous post for more information about troubleshooting LCD screen backlight failure. [...]
February 24th, 2009 at 8:58 am
REPLACEMENT:LCD Screen ?
IBM Thinkpad T42
April 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I just purchased a replacement lcd screen for my Dell laptop. I didn’t realize that it didn’t have an inverter attached. Can I remove the inverter to reinstall on the new lcd screen?
April 21st, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Danny,
Yes you can. If the new screen is the same as the old one, there should be no problem at all.
June 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 am
Thanks, big help!
October 25th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Hi,
So I just had 1.5GB of RAM put into my friend’s computer three days ago (by a professional). After it was installed, the guy turned on the computer and it worked. But my friend went to turn it on tonight and he said that his screen was completely black and there was a green angled Z within a circle that was lit up on his screen. He said he can hear the fan coming on, but it’s like the screen is in hibernate mode. He said the DVD works, but if he pushes the power button, it just turns the fan on and off.
Sorry that I can’t be more specific about the symptoms – doing it over the phone is hard. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks!
Laura
May 5th, 2011 at 5:09 am
for me restart your computer laptop and wipe any programs with your original xp disc
August 6th, 2011 at 6:53 am
Thank you so much!!!! I had a laptop I have not used for 3 years because of the black screen, today I just decided to work on it and just clicked the display close switch and the screen came up. Wow!
January 28th, 2012 at 10:13 pm
I have a T23 IBM Think pad and my screen went black. I can usually get it to come back on if I tap the back of the screen (Probably NOT the best idea) This time, however, it just stays black. I attempted to locate the display close switch which was mentioned above and cannot find it. I am not computer literate at all. Can anyone help me or should I just go out and buy a new one?
February 1st, 2012 at 3:59 pm
@ Joshua,
This could be just connection related issue. It’s possible that you can fix the problem by reseating video cable connectors.
This requires laptop disassembly. If you don’t feel comfortable taking it apart, probably you should take it to the repair shop.
It might make sense to fix this laptop if you do it yourself. Probably not worth fixing if you take it to the repair shop.
T23 is a very old laptop. Probably it’s a good time for a new one.