LCD POST issue

I was not able to get any help on the Alienware forum for this issue.  I have already searched all the forums and found no resolution.

My Alienware M18 R2 laptop is about 2 years old, but the LCD went out some time ago.  I got around it by using an external monitor.  However, I started to get 8 beeps on start-up that prevented booting to Windows; I just get a black screen.  I phoned tech support for a repair estimate and they had me try starting by holding down the function key, and when that didn't work, the D key. 

The tech concluded that the LCD is bad, said that they have no spare parts to repair it, but I might find an LCD kit on EBay and have it repaired locally.  I asked why Dell can't buy them from EBay and he said Dell sold all their LCD kits, and that's how they ended up on EBay.  This leads me to believe that the kits are as faulty as the screen I already have, so I'm not looking to replace it. 

A complete power-down (remove CMOS battery, etc...) did not help.

At this point, I'll settle for a work-around for the 8 beeps, so that I can continue to use the external monitor.  If I try several dozen times I might be able to get it running, but then what?