Page 5 - Dell laptop - screen goes black - help!

Thanks so much. My daughter was finishing a report and when she tried to turn her Dell on the screen was black. I tried your solution and it turned on right away. Thanks again...you saved the day.

Clicking the Function Key and the crt/lcd key do NOT seem to work on my Dell 5100 Laptop.

I get the bios and safe mode screens ok.

It's just when windows xp starts up, the laptop lcd goes black.

I can use an external monitor just fine.

So is there an answer for this problem?

Thanking You in Advance.

I found this site and thank everyone for the ideas that I can try. I have an Inspiron 6000 and have this issue as well. my monitor goes black and my cpu is still running fine when I connect it to another monitor. the display comes on for 5 seconds or so whenever I hit fn + f8, close and open the lid, or start up the cpu. I ran the diagnostic that dell recommended (hold down the fn when you start up your cpu) and get a series of beeps that the dell tech support guy didn't recognize. the beep code was 1-4-6. several other people on the dell forums have this same error as well.

I have unplugged almost everything from the cpu (display, hd, memory, etc.), reflashed my BIOS, and reset my cpu to the factory settings and still have the monitor problem.

thank you for the forum and hopefully we can solve this issue without the need for everyone to purchase a new lcd screen or laptop.

I have a Dell inspiron 1525 and it is flickering then goes black screen after alittle time ---and appears by the lights still on that it is on- but the screen is black - what is it and do I need to buy another laptop? I have not had this but about 1 1/2 yrs or so- but no warranty

it is most likely the inverter which is on its way out/is defective.

If you have access to an external monitor, plug your notebook into that. If it works properly on the external display then it is most likely to be the notebook display inverter that is the problem.

I am currently working on an Inspiron 1200 for a client of mine. He was receiving a very dim picture yet everything was properly displayed when hooked up to an external monitor.

Naturally I assumed it was the inverter that was the culprit so I agreed to fix it for him. The inverter arrived, installed yet I received the same problem -- Powers on, Dell post screen for literally half a second and then blackness. Hooked up to an external monitor again, works fine. I must mention I am a technician at a local computer store (have fixed many laptops for LCD/Inverter repairs) which gave me access to a working Inspiron 1200 LCD, I changed the screen as well and still no results.

I have tested the CPU, Ram, all the essentials; I have even completely removed the motherboard from its casing (with hopes that it may be a short or there may be some visible damage), unplugged everything but Ram, CPU, Mobo yet still to no avail.

Not sure what to think -- bad VGA? Then why would the external monitor work flawlessly.

Obviously this laptop was destined to be a doorstop from the point of its initial release. Regardless I'd like to see if any suggestions could be thrown my way.

Thanks!

Try the ribbon cable that goes from the main case to the cover.

I failed to mention I have tried the LCD ribbon cable, if that is what you are referring to.

How can I give you tips if you don't include all the pertinent information?

So, the LCD ribbon cable you changed goes from the mainboard through the fold to the inverter and then to the LCD?

It's possible that there is some form of corrosion or other damage at the mainboard connector, but I'm thinking that your supposition is correct-- the video section on the main board is bad.

Keep in mind that the graphics are generated in two different ways on these machines-- one set of signals for LCD panels, which could be one of several different formats, none of which you'll see in a desktop graphics card, and then a standard EVGA output for external monitors.

So, it is very possible that the LCD signal generator is bad but the VGA converter still works okay.

Yes, the LCD ribbon cable goes from the mainboard to the inverter and then to the LCD; I did not spot any sort of corrosion anywhere on the board.

Thank you for the information on the varying graphic signals, it humbles me a bit to have a catagorie to label the problem under!

Im going to bring it to my work and see if the other techs can give me some last thoughts before I make this a doorstop.

I'll let you know if there are any positive results, ty again!

I have replaced the inverter on my dell laptop. When I first started it the screen worked properly for about 15 minutes and now it is back to its old tricks of going black during the boot. Now what?

Hi Mike,
I am having similar problems with my Dell Precision M2300 laptop. I will try to turn it on and hear 2 clicks and the screen is black despite the power being on. I have tried multiple times to get it going but still had the same problems. One time it booted correctly then led me to the Safe Mode diagnoistic, it ran the scan saying it was corrected, and the problem happened again. At one point when it was 'working' it switched to the blue screen of death saying dump of memory. (This is also happening to my gateway laptop).

Any information that you could offer would be great...I have 2 laptops and neither of them are working!!



Thank you,