Inspiron E1705 Screen keeps going black

Question

This problem just started a week ago. After powering on my laptop, the screen goes black after 15-30 minutes. The only way to get the screen to come back on is to close the lid and open it again. The longer I have the laptop on, the quicker it keeps happening. One night after having the laptop on for over an hour, the screen kept going blank about every 45 seconds. I was on the phone with Dell support, and the only thing that we could narrow it down to was that it didn't happen when running on batteries? Very strange. I tried another AC Power adapter, but the problem still happened. I've run all the diagnostics and everything is fine. I've reset the BIOS setting, no help. I'm tempted to wipe out the HD and reinstall windows, but at this point I'm thinking it's a hardware issue. I've read the forums and it seems no one has had this exact problem; some have been similar. Anyone have any ideas? My laptop is still under warranty so I'm thinking my best option is just to send it in to Dell and let them look at it.

Fatcharlie · Answer

Doesn't Dell have a forum administrator that is supposed the read the posts and reply to them. This site is pretty useless otherwise.

DELL-Chris B · Answer

Fatcharlie: You state that the problem started a week ago. Do you recall any software or hardware changes you made to the system at that time?

Although it *may* still be hardware, have you tried restoring the system back to a point prior to this issue?

Fatcharlie · Answer

There was a Microsoft update maybe a week prior to the problem starting. Besides that, I have not installed any new software or hardware. I did perform a system restore for the day before the Microsoft update. It had no effect. I can try going farther back, like maybe a month.

cupjava · Answer

I have similar problem - my situation was that i did a backup with Maxtor, accidently forget it was backing up, came back about 15 hours later and my screen was blank.  No way could i get it to come back.  I had to hold the power button down to shut it off. Then a day or two later i was able to get it on but only on battery power.  As soon as i would plutin the AC power supply the screen would go blank and i would have to shut it off again.   I have not yet talked to Dell, was looking here first.   No new programs were installed, nothing changed except that i noticed it had been running very hot recently and would go as high or higher than 46C.   Hope someone has an answer.

gojrowe · Answer

Hey just wondering if you found the fix to your black screen problem...   I have the same problem, I have the E1505   I noticed this problem does not happen if I am not connected to the power cord...   its when I am running on the cord that the screen will randomly go black...   fyi I figured out too you can press Function and F8 and the screen will return,   however the problem continues...how annoying!! let me know please...and I will   do the same for you if I hear anything...Dell Tech support is no help...   Jeremy

randkb · Answer

My wife is having a similar problem with her Inspiron, except it's not a completely black screen, there's a little box in the middle of the black screen with vertical lines running through it. Has anyone seen this, or is it just a black screen?

randkb · Answer

Tech support was no help to my wife, so I did some digging. Apparently, there's a video driver update that went out in September. The tech guys at Dell didn't even know about it or suggest it. After some searching, I found out about the driver update, which is located here: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R165210&SystemID=INS_PNT_1501&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=13120&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=7&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=222384 My wife installed it and the problem has not happened since.

cupjava · Answer

Im' only the phone right now trying to see if they can help me.  I did the web chat thing, but that did not work well so i finallly had a chance to call.  If i get any resolution I will let you know.

gojrowe · Answer

I dont think it is any issue related to drivers.  I had my monitor replaced and it fixed the problem.   luckily my laptop is still under warranty so I had nothing to pay...just brought it in to a Dell service center in my hometown..   they said the problem is typical, and it is the monitor going out.... apparently Dell monitors are c r a p p y

mgumm · Answer

I have had this same problem with my e1705 for a couple weeks now. Dell support was no help. I tried updating the driver with the link above but it was not valid for my system. Anyone had any luck fixing this issue on a 1705? Fn F8 every 5 minutes is getting old, and the only other option is to hook up an external monitor which defeats the purpose of a portable laptop.

cupjava · Answer

When i had Dell support on the phone the other day, they upgraded my BIOS. That night I still had the problem, BUT from the next day on my computer has been working fine (except it runs hot, but i had that problem before) so far.   They sent me a box to return the computer to be fixed, but I am going to use it for a while longer and see if the problem returns.

Gebauer · Answer

Hi,

I have a similar (same?) problem on a Insp 6400.

The screen is running black, when the notebook is not touched for a while. I guess this is the power saving routine, which I also like to use. So this is still intended. The problem is that the screen doesn't come back online after waking it up (e.g. moving the mouse or hitting the keyboard).

I tested a little bit to identify the problem:
1) If you run a external display simultanously both screen will go black, but only the external will come back online.
2) If you change the display settings (resolution) in the above configuration the notebook screen also come back alive.

This little test indicates for me, that this is NOT a hardware problem, but an driver problem. Unfortunately you can’t use the X1300 driver’s von ATI directly. Perhaps a driver or firmware update by Dell will help? There are still lots of Insp6400 users out there…

Here is the Test system:
Insp. 6400
15.4 Widescreen UltraSharp (1680x1050)
ATI X1300 (driver version 6.14.10.6618)
Win XP SP 2.0 Build 2600

Thanks for any help…

Best,
Jan

mgumm · Answer

cupjava - Do you know which bios version they updated you to? I have downloaded the latest 09 version for the e1705 (I believe it was 7/07 date) and I am still having the issue. Tech support could not help.

mgumm · Answer

I spoke with a reputable laptop repair service about this issue on my e1705. This is their info "it sounds like the lcd inverter. The inverter is what supplies the high voltage for the fluorescent tube inside the display. It's
going out when you plug in the ac because on ac most laptops are set to
display a brighter picture and that drives the inverter harder.
To test their theory I went into the bios settings (f12 at startup) and changed the display brightness on ac power to 4 instead of the factory setting 8 - battery power setting is 3. I have had no problems on ac power since. we'll see how long I can hold out before the backlight inverter fails completely.

Jaromir Vanek · Answer

Hi, I've got same problem on my Inspiron 6400 as you. I'll try to instal diferent drivers even latest omega drivers, bot nothing helped. :smileysad:   J

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Inspiron E1705 Screen keeps going black

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