Laptop display problem - help required.

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Fletcher
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Laptop display problem - help required.

Post by Fletcher »

Hi .. my Sony Vaio laptop has developed a display problem - I've been monitoring it for a few days now [I'm using someone else's at the moment on short term loan].

It seems that as the laptop warms up the LED display starts to fade then destabilizes entirely into lines & then random flickering - if I start it in the morning [after a cooler night temp] I can get 10 minutes before it disintergrates - if I use sleep mode during the day I can get as little as 2 seconds only.

I decided it was likely a hardware connection problem rather than graphics card etc so I took it in for a check - when a remote screen was attached that worked fine [so not graphics] tho the laptop screen hazed out as usual - the firm thought it was the LED display packing up & that it would need replacing [or buy another laptop, which I am reluctant to do].

I still think it could be a wire with a break that when heated expands causing problems - I don't have much experience with these things so any suggestions or troubleshooting would be appreciated.


I'll check back when I can.
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re: Laptop display problem - help required.

Post by John Collins »

I know little about these things but could it be overheating? Is there the sound of the fan running?

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Post by jim_mich »

See diagnostic flow chart: http://www.ifitjams.com/lcd.htm

From your description it sounds like the video processor is overheating. Or video memory failure, again possibly by overheating. So why would the external monitor also work? My guess is it uses a separate video circuit and memory? Edit: Or a video chip connection failure? (I'm not an expert, so these are simply logical guessing.)

So why is the video overheating? Does the laptop have a cooling fan? Has the fan failed? Does the video chip have a heat sink? Has the the thermal compound between the heat-sink and the video chip failed? Or is the video chip failing.

You might try putting the laptop in the refrigerator to cool it down and see if it is only an overheating problem.

This is from about seven months ago discussing problems with the Sony Vaio:
http://www.ehow.com/about_5652346_sony- ... blems.html
It says that if the external monitor is working then the problem is with the LCD screen. I do not think this would always be true. The portion of the video circuitry driving the laptop screen could be failing while the portion driving the external monitor might work just fine. If this be the case then replacing the LCD screen is not going to solve the problem.

Service techs usually use cold air from aerosol cans to spot cool components to see if their overheating is causing the problem. This cold shock can also damage the components, so it must be done gently.


Some of the Vaio series had a defective NIVIDA graphics card which Sony will fix for free! See Youtube video dated Jan 19, 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZQWfAUQBWc

Some people have posted videos where they fixed bad video problems by heating the video chips with hair dryers for two minutes or by putting older video cards in ovens for 8 minutes, which some say remelts the solder joints which fixes micro-fractures in solder.

The bottom line: Fletcher, I think your problem is more likely in the video chip or its connection than in the wiring or screen.

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re: Laptop display problem - help required.

Post by Fletcher »

Thanks guys - jim_mich, your insights were helpful for me 'appearing' a little knowledgable when I talked to the second lot of tech's today, & got a better response than the other lot who wanted a quick buck - will find out in a few days just what the real problem is then whether it can be easily fixed etc.

Cheers.
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re: Laptop display problem - help required.

Post by Furcurequs »

jim_mich wrote: Some people have posted videos where they fixed bad video problems by heating the video chips with hair dryers for two minutes or by putting older video cards in ovens for 8 minutes, which some say remelts the solder joints which fixes micro-fractures in solder.
I was able to fix a problem, at least temporarily, with a neighbor's old Xbox by using a hair dryer on one of its video chips. I applied a little pressure, too, I think to the top of the chip as I heated it. That particular Xbox was a version that was known to have issues with the solder joints due to the video chip overheating during normal operation.

I don't have much experience with laptops, but it would probably be wise to consider potential mechanical issues first - like this or maybe even the integrity of the, I assume, ribbon connection from the circuit board to the display.

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re: Laptop display problem - help required.

Post by Fletcher »

Yes, that's the first things I thought of - mechanical connection issues & broken wires/joins.

We'll see what the answer is this time rather than you need a new screen which is just as expensive as a new computer that I got the first time.
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Post by Furcurequs »

Hey Fletcher.

I'm sure we can all sympathize with your computer problems.

I'm currently posting from a different browser in a different version of Linux on a different hard drive partition than I normally use. In the past couple of weeks I had noticed I was having some disk read problems with my main Linux partition - occasionally losing a few files, even. Today my power went off for all of 2 seconds - and just long enough to reboot my machine and apparently wipe out important system files that were needed to run my windows manager.

Luckily, I had installed several versions of Linux on different partitions on my 500 GB hard drive when I first got it, so at least I'm able to boot up in a version I don't normally use and access a bit more easily some files and things.

I will have some work ahead of me, though, to get the version of LInux I normally use re-installed and all my favorite programs up and running like they should again.

...and, of course, I hope... ...please... ...please... ....that it's not my whole hard drive about to go. I guess I better start backing some stuff up.

:(

Anyway, good luck with your laptop.

Dwayne
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Re: re: Laptop display problem - help required.

Post by racer270 »

Fletcher wrote:Yes, that's the first things I thought of - mechanical connection issues & broken wires/joins.

We'll see what the answer is this time rather than you need a new screen which is just as expensive as a new computer that I got the first time.
hi Fletcher ,
i have not been around here for a wile..
laptops are lit by a small florescent lite tube that has a small ballast , outside the LCD screen...

mine went out , like yours id doing..

it could be the , florescent lite ... itself or more likely
small board that powers the lamp..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220759243473

the lamp bulb and power board , are about $ 38.00 on ebay...

and you should be able to find a brand new LCD , for about $85.00 on ebay..

i have 3 dell laptops , the first one i replaced the parts..

but found it much simpler to just go ahead and get a hole new LCD screen and power board..!
....because the parts are so very small ,

the likelihood of having less then a Grate outcome ,
trying to repair it ,are a issue..

rather then just replace it...and being done with it...

hope this helps.. Gordy
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re: Laptop display problem - help required.

Post by Fletcher »

Thanks for the tips racer ..

It was established that the screen itself was ok & there was no overheating problem - the laptop was pulled apart & put back together & the motherboard reset - it ran fine for 24 hrs then in the morning straight back to the problem I had - I took it back to the tech's & insisted they connect an external screen in front of me - it performed fine while the laptop screen was lined out & unreadable - they then agreed it was a wiring connection issue because it had gone for 24 hrs without a problem - so probably a fine crack in the soulder or some such - anyways new wiring being quoted & ordered.

I went straight out & bought a cheap external screen which I am running now - actually I've got used to the larger screen & quite like it - no longer portable though :7(
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