Laptop Screen Backlight(?) Issue

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by chookers, May 18, 2016.

  1. chookers

    chookers Staff Sergeant

    Peering at the screen, you can tell it's displaying. Sadly, it's only bright enough to see for a brief moment.

    I'm running into the D-Sub on the TV and have the CRT/LCD setting to display on both the laptop monitor and the TV. TV is a clear picture and the laptop I'm guessing from reading I've been doing is lacking the backlight.

    History: No updates have been done in the timeframe that the monitor issues surfaced. No drivers changed, no programs installed (except vaguely possibly ExamDiff and one or two portable apps (http://portableapps.com/).

    A week or two ago, I noticed the screen seemed to be shadowed in one area but the shadow seemed to go away if you brightened the screen all the way. Also, the screen seemed to be flickering, like lightbulbs sometimes do before blowing, that really quick, irritating flickering. This didn't usually last long, maybe 30 seconds at the most and it would settle down, ditto the shadowing.

    Now, if I switch between CRT/LCD options or press then release the little screen switch near the hinge (the one that turns off the monitor if you close the lid), I tend to get a very quick proper display on the laptop monitor before it goes dark again with the displayed information impossible to read.

    The issue is the same through a hibernate and resume, brief flashes of a clear screen and then only the vague outline can be seen.

    A fan came on a while ago but I don't know what fans this has so can't state which it is. A month or so ago, a fan was making a considerable noise and would make less or more depending on the angle of the laptop and finally shut up. I have no reason to believe it died because I've only ever heard one fan from this laptop and it's in the same area as the one that started up tonight.

    I've been smelling one or more odd smells recently but I'm not sure if it's the new insecticide bait I'm using or around the laptop itself.

    I have a cat that as the weather has cooled has taken to sitting on the laptop again if I'm not around, either the keyboard if I forget to lower the lid enough to stop her, and more recently, she's figured out she can climb on the lid and it closes and she sits on that instead. (Thank goodness the other two cats haven't learned laptops are "made of warm!") Personally would be surprised if that's made any difference but it's part of the history of the laptop so I offer it for what it's worth.

    Laptop specs:
    Dell Latitude D530
    Vista Business, up to date maybe 2-3 months ago (limited bandwidth equals updating only in certain locations)
    Not all the drivers that should be installed because for some reason, I didn't seem able to find them at Dell when I set up this laptop. Recently I did but I haven't made any changes. The only driver that it keeps wanting to install, as far as I can tell, is the wifi. (If I turn off the wifi (Fn + F2) and then on again, it pops up a Found New Hardware. However, wifi works normally so I don't really know what the problem is that it keeps wanting to install it.)

    So, with all that info, what's the most likely thing I'm dealing with, please? If it involves pulling open the laptop, how hard is that? If soldering is involved, please give details on temperature required because I now own a variable temp soldering iron, though I haven't done all that much soldering in my life so reasonable details would be appreciated.

    Thanks, folks.
     
  2. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

  3. davismccarn

    davismccarn Specialist

  4. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I also tend to think that the weight of the cat sitting/laying on the lid may have caused some problems. You may need to replace the backlight.
     

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