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Inspiron 1100: Can't see LCD (Flickers/Rolls) but CRT works
Good morning,
My daughter arrived home last night for college break having problems with her Inspiron 1100. Yesterday morning the computer worked fine. However, once aboard the plane she opened up the laptop and no longer had a working LCD. When booting up the computer the screen flickers/rolls where you cannot see or discern anything on the screen. This happens every time you boot the computer.
I hooked up the computer monitor from our home PC and was able to Fn-F8 to the CRT and boot up that way. No problems with the CRT. I tried rebooting the laptop multiple times, starting up in safe mode, deleting and reinstalling the video driver, checking for any "messages" via the device manager, etc. No success.
My daughter said that the laptop was not dropped or anything like that yesterday and she had no previous problems with the display. I asked if the laptop had gone through x-ray screening machines at the airport and she said it had. It was transported in a high quality, well-padded laptop bag.
Any suggestions for what I can try to fix this problem or is it time to take advantage of the extended warranty I purchased when I bought her the Inspiron?
Thank you,
... Kirby
My daughter arrived home last night for college break having problems with her Inspiron 1100. Yesterday morning the computer worked fine. However, once aboard the plane she opened up the laptop and no longer had a working LCD. When booting up the computer the screen flickers/rolls where you cannot see or discern anything on the screen. This happens every time you boot the computer.
I hooked up the computer monitor from our home PC and was able to Fn-F8 to the CRT and boot up that way. No problems with the CRT. I tried rebooting the laptop multiple times, starting up in safe mode, deleting and reinstalling the video driver, checking for any "messages" via the device manager, etc. No success.
My daughter said that the laptop was not dropped or anything like that yesterday and she had no previous problems with the display. I asked if the laptop had gone through x-ray screening machines at the airport and she said it had. It was transported in a high quality, well-padded laptop bag.
Any suggestions for what I can try to fix this problem or is it time to take advantage of the extended warranty I purchased when I bought her the Inspiron?
Thank you,
... Kirby
- Thanks for the replies.
The laptop is actually still under warranty (one of the few things I've actually gotten an extended warranty for since I knew my daughter would be transporting the laptop back and forth across the country).
I emailed tech support about the problem and got a prompt reply. They asked that I tap the backside of the LCD some and also gently flex the LCD to see if that changed the frequency/nature of the display. It did. After informing tech support of this they indicated that the LCD was probably bad. However, before sending out a replacement unit they sent me a link to some technical documents and asked if I would try to see if the LCD connections were perhaps loose.
I followed the instructions (which were quite clear and easy to follow) and proceeded to remove the keyboard, the complete laptop top, and the actual LCD unit from the top. After disconnecting then reconnecting a total of three connectors and putting everything back together I fired up the laptop and, viola, no more LCD display problem. I guess one or more of the connectors was loose after all.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing this unless asked to do so by tech support or unless you are willing to possibly tear something up. However, I did want to mention it in case it might help someone else out there facing similar problems.
Through it all I can't help but highly recommend Dell and their tech support folks. Previously with a faulty Axim and now with my daughter's computer I couldn't have asked for better customer service. Way to go Dell!
... Kirby
ejn63
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Posted December 19th, 2004 13:00