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12996
April 5th, 2004 21:00
Dim Screen on startup, with new LCD
OK here is the problem, the same as I said in my past post. The screen on my INSPIRON 8200 is very very dim to the point that I can barely see anything. It started a few weeks ago and progressively got worse until now I can never get the brightness back. I followed through with Dell tech support and of course my warrenty is expired. Well after going through some troubleshooting with the tech guy he said that it was the LCD and it needed to be changed. Well not wanting to spend $700 on the screen and $250 on the service I came to the forums to see if anyone else had the problem and a lot of people did. Most had the same problem as I did and they tracked the problem down to the backlights or the power inverter. So I went out and got a new LCD on eBay through one of their protected dealers and I got my new screen in today. I hook it up and guess what, the same problem. If anything the dimness in the screen may have brightened a little, but it is still like the backlights are not coming on. I have it on good authority that the screen I bought was brand new so the backlights and the inverter would be new as well. Can anyone help me with this problem? I just emailed Dell tech support about this and have not gotten and email back from them.
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gemaiyappa
7 Posts
0
April 5th, 2004 23:00
Exactly the same problem as that of 'ebh5348'. Although my "mistake" being that I bought my Inspiron 8100 on ebay UK last month! Was in a hurry and being a poor research student, the offer looked so irresistable. Look, what I've gotten myself into now ...
The screen is very dim on startup. Have to crane my neck to even see the restart and shut down options (in the hope that it will somehow come back up bright). Although my problem started last week, I just dismissed it as a one-off occurance. But yday it troubled me for an hour. Only after exhausting all options and persistently restarting for an hour, was I able to get the screen back bright. I did connect it to an external monitor to check if the problem was with the VGA card, but it doesnt seem so. Even removed the front plate and unplugged the monitor cable and plugged it back again, but to no avail! Today, it got even worse, with the screen not illuminating the *entire* day. Imagine my frustration when I have a research paper deadline looming ahead.
Short on finances to buy a new monitor. Also havent spoken to the ebay seller about returning the item (professionally factory refurbished, he claimed) just yet. Any help from experts out there will be most appreciated.
Suggestions and HELP please! Thanks in advance.
ebh5348
7 Posts
0
April 6th, 2004 01:00
Well I have some information that may help you, I don't exactly know how well it will work for me though. I just got off the phone with Dell tech support, for the first time I was talking to someone that actually seemed like they knew what they were talking about, but that is another story. Anyway he told me to try these things because it did not seem to be a hardware problem at that time since the video card seemed to work because the external monitor worked and it wasn't the LCD because that was new and the odds of me getting another screen that did the exact same thing is a little too much to believe.
What it came down to was that he told me to update my display drivers because they might be corrupted, also he said if that did not work then try to update the BIOS through the FlashBIOS downloads from the Dell support site. I did both of those and it still did not work. But that is for me and maybe it will work for you, you have nothing to lose really by updating them.
As it turns out I had asked the tech guy on the phone if all else failed could it be that the connector that hooks the video card to the LCD flex cable that supplies the power and data to the LCD, was bad. He said he doubted it, but would not rule it out. I had also sent an email to the tech support to see where they would come from and ironically they thought of the same thing, it being the video card connector since the rest of the card seems to work fine.
Now my problem is that I have this brand new LCD screen that I really don't need now that I have tested that theory out. I just hope that the guy I bought it from will be understanding and allow me to return it to him because it was on my laptop for all of three hours and then I took it off and placed it back inside the box.
Like I said I don't know if what I have said above will help you in anyway but it may. I on the other hand will just have to wait to see if I can get my money back in the LCD screen so I can get another video card.
gemaiyappa
7 Posts
0
April 6th, 2004 09:00
Thanks a ton for your help, really appreciate it.
I did exactly as instructed by you and tried updating my BIOS thru the FlashBIOS downloads from the Dell support site. But the installation fails throwing up the msg - "Unable to obtain required information about your system.Setup cannot complete". I used the other link on dell support where one can find original and current information about one's system and it works fine and displays all the information, but fails while installing the FlashBIOS.
A case of one problem leading to another, this!
Please HELP (again)! Thanks in advance.
ebh5348
7 Posts
0
April 6th, 2004 13:00
no idea how to fix that problem with your system, sorry. When I updated my BIOS it updated fine. The thing with BIOS's is that they are delicate and sometimes you don't really need them. If you can try reverting your BIOS back to the original one that you had.
an update on my LCD status, the guy that I bought it from said he will accept it back, but he will charge a restocking fee, so I am wondering about that one. I'm sorry that I could not be of more help to you.
gemaiyappa
7 Posts
0
April 6th, 2004 22:00
Thats alright, thanks all the same.
My plight is pitiful ... what with keeping my monitor powered on all night coz I dont want to start my day trying to get this thing powered!!! With research in full swing and deadlines approaching, I dont want to rish switching it off. So I've decided to try anything that experts on this forum advice.
Hope you get your ebay thingie sorted out with minimum fuss.
Still calling all ye experts ... all/any suggestions welcome and will be appreciated.