Did you fix your problem? I have the exact same problem with my M1530... hdmi and vga works fine, but the internal lcd is black. (Not a backlit problem).
Also the power + D shows flashes of solid colors, but full diag (fn key) reports 0321... I am inclined to believe it's an LCD problem but the D key test makes me think otherwise again...
this is weird, now all of a sudden the screen starts working again and the full diag doesn't list any error... Is this a symptom of LCD dying, or something else? I don't think it's the LCD cable, as the laptop wasn't even moved when I left it on the table connected to external monitor via CGA... and all of a sudden the LCD started working again...
I need to fix the problem for good (for a few months at least) so I can give it to my sister who won't be able to fix it herself and she is on the other side of the country :( if someone had similar issues and knows what the issue is, I really appreciate your input.
the screen showed a huge black band on one side this morning when it woke up from sleep... I tried to restart the PC and the screen is dead again... only time it shows anything is if I press D key and power.. sometimes it shows with backlit on, sometimes not, but pretty much consistently it shows that alternating color screens.
I took a chance and drove an hour to a LCD seller who had them in stock and to my disappointment the new screen does the exact same thing.. the guy at the shop tested my existing LCD and said it works just fine.. so, I think I'm down to LCD cable, Inverter and Motherboard itself... I hope it's not the motherboard since it doesn't make any financial sense in replacing it as we could rather buy a new laptop for a little more. This one works pretty good with external monitor or HDTV, so hopefully it's just a cable problem.... what do you guys think?
Also, when the screen is black, there's absolutely no picture so I am inclined to believe it's not the inverter problem.
a few weeks ago, out of no where, i started to experience the same thing.. i would watch videos and then the screen would go black (but my programs were still going on since i heard the videos playing). i wasnt sure what was going on, so i kept turning off the power, off and on, by hitting the power button. my friend told me it might be the graphics driver, but by the time i tried to go to get an update, it did the same thing.. if im lucky, i can get the image on my tv (hdmi cable).. it starts to scan for a problem..and i think it gets the same error (i havent tried it lately).but it goes black eventually.
anyhow, i went to best buy to get it checked, but i wasnt lucky so they were not able to get a view on the external screen (it happened to me at times).
they suggested i call Dell-- but Im sure their support might not help, since I cant turn on the laptop
has anyone found a solution? im seeing its not an LCD issue.. if its the motherboard, that is expensive and might not be worth buying it (better to buy a new laptop)? if i do that, is it true I can get my hard drive and make it an external hard drive so i can access all my files, programs on another laptop?
If the system won't power up, you likely do have a mainboard problem. Yes, you can mount the drive to recover your data files (but not the installed programs - they will not function).
I think jose608's problem was similar to mine in that the PC itself powers up and works fine, but just the LCD wouldn't work sometimes most times. However the PC works with external monitor or TV via HDMI port. I was planning on using mine (if I won't be able to repair it) as a htpc but if you want to pull out HDD, you can put it in an external enclosure and retrieve all your data (like ejn63 said, you can't get the OS or installed programs to work).
I have never seen the issue with external displays but if you are starting to see issues with them too, then I am afraid it could be a motherboard issue... the MB runs a little under $200 on ebay, but considering you won't get a reliable warranty for that, replacing it doesn't make much sense as you could probably buy a similar powered new laptop for about 350 now.
Has anyone with similar issues had success with a LCD cable replacement? that's one thing I am willing to try next.
ok, I think I'm done troubleshooting and trying to repair this... i'll try to use this as HTPC as long as it continues to work with my TV. I just got a brand new LCD cable today and still the same thing.... so it must be the motherboard :(
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
February 28th, 2011 04:00
First thing to try is an external monitor to verify that there's an image on it. This model system has a faulty nVidia chip in it.
If the external monitor is OK, the next thing is the cable.
If a replacement cable doesn't solve the problem, replace the screen.
coolpal
6 Posts
0
March 14th, 2011 20:00
hi Waldtest,
Did you fix your problem? I have the exact same problem with my M1530... hdmi and vga works fine, but the internal lcd is black. (Not a backlit problem).
Also the power + D shows flashes of solid colors, but full diag (fn key) reports 0321... I am inclined to believe it's an LCD problem but the D key test makes me think otherwise again...
coolpal
6 Posts
0
March 15th, 2011 09:00
this is weird, now all of a sudden the screen starts working again and the full diag doesn't list any error... Is this a symptom of LCD dying, or something else? I don't think it's the LCD cable, as the laptop wasn't even moved when I left it on the table connected to external monitor via CGA... and all of a sudden the LCD started working again...
I need to fix the problem for good (for a few months at least) so I can give it to my sister who won't be able to fix it herself and she is on the other side of the country :(
if someone had similar issues and knows what the issue is, I really appreciate your input.
coolpal
6 Posts
0
March 16th, 2011 20:00
the screen showed a huge black band on one side this morning when it woke up from sleep... I tried to restart the PC and the screen is dead again... only time it shows anything is if I press D key and power.. sometimes it shows with backlit on, sometimes not, but pretty much consistently it shows that alternating color screens.
I took a chance and drove an hour to a LCD seller who had them in stock and to my disappointment the new screen does the exact same thing.. the guy at the shop tested my existing LCD and said it works just fine.. so, I think I'm down to LCD cable, Inverter and Motherboard itself... I hope it's not the motherboard since it doesn't make any financial sense in replacing it as we could rather buy a new laptop for a little more. This one works pretty good with external monitor or HDTV, so hopefully it's just a cable problem.... what do you guys think?
Also, when the screen is black, there's absolutely no picture so I am inclined to believe it's not the inverter problem.
jose608
2 Posts
0
March 16th, 2011 23:00
hello everyone!
this is my first post on here..
a few weeks ago, out of no where, i started to experience the same thing.. i would watch videos and then the screen would go black (but my programs were still going on since i heard the videos playing). i wasnt sure what was going on, so i kept turning off the power, off and on, by hitting the power button. my friend told me it might be the graphics driver, but by the time i tried to go to get an update, it did the same thing.. if im lucky, i can get the image on my tv (hdmi cable).. it starts to scan for a problem..and i think it gets the same error (i havent tried it lately).but it goes black eventually.
anyhow, i went to best buy to get it checked, but i wasnt lucky so they were not able to get a view on the external screen (it happened to me at times).
they suggested i call Dell-- but Im sure their support might not help, since I cant turn on the laptop
has anyone found a solution? im seeing its not an LCD issue.. if its the motherboard, that is expensive and might not be worth buying it (better to buy a new laptop)? if i do that, is it true I can get my hard drive and make it an external hard drive so i can access all my files, programs on another laptop?
any response/help would be great appreciated. =)
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
March 17th, 2011 05:00
If the system won't power up, you likely do have a mainboard problem. Yes, you can mount the drive to recover your data files (but not the installed programs - they will not function).
coolpal
6 Posts
0
March 17th, 2011 13:00
I think jose608's problem was similar to mine in that the PC itself powers up and works fine, but just the LCD wouldn't work sometimes most times. However the PC works with external monitor or TV via HDMI port. I was planning on using mine (if I won't be able to repair it) as a htpc but if you want to pull out HDD, you can put it in an external enclosure and retrieve all your data (like ejn63 said, you can't get the OS or installed programs to work).
I have never seen the issue with external displays but if you are starting to see issues with them too, then I am afraid it could be a motherboard issue... the MB runs a little under $200 on ebay, but considering you won't get a reliable warranty for that, replacing it doesn't make much sense as you could probably buy a similar powered new laptop for about 350 now.
Has anyone with similar issues had success with a LCD cable replacement? that's one thing I am willing to try next.
coolpal
6 Posts
0
March 21st, 2011 17:00
ok, I think I'm done troubleshooting and trying to repair this... i'll try to use this as HTPC as long as it continues to work with my TV. I just got a brand new LCD cable today and still the same thing.... so it must be the motherboard :(