[Monitor Fail] Not Solved , No relation to Puppy OS

[jonathan10]

Well , this is beyond strange :
I have never came up with such a problem e v e r .

The Facts :
I'm using a sony vaio laptop with an intel gma950 graphics card .A few hours ago i tried to frugal-install puppy linux 4.31 and i failed - something wrong with the grub settings i suppose . After this i tried to install puppy normally , so i booted from the cd , waited to copy the files on ram , set up the keyboard layout , chose the correct resolution , chose xorg , and ,finally , i was in puppy's desktop .

Resolution was perfect , colors were fine , no problem whatsoever .
But ...the fatal mistake : i clicked the 'browser' icon on desktop and then total black! the screen went off !
At first i wasn't worried , after all i have tried quite a few OS'es in this laptop and i'm used to things going wrong . So i hard restarted the laptop ,but from then on the laptop screen is unusable : it is black and i can hardly see a thing . Even the boot splash screen is black . I can only see one or two shades of grey (no letters) when tilting the screen forward .

Then i connected an external monitor and everything is ok , the laptop screen ,however, is still unusable .So , i didn't install puppy , i didn't chane any xorg settings , i just clicked the browser button , and the screen is dead .Computer is perfectly usable with an external monitor , i am logged in ubuntu right now . Wtf has happened ? Did the puppy bit the internal laptop cables ?? It is the strangest thing i have ever come across
Please help

[CatDude]

Hello jonathan10

Puppy physically destroyed my screen ?!?!!

That's a little harsh don't you think.

You do not mention what model vaio you have,
but a quick google sony vaio screen gone black
produces quite a few results, one of which is this one: Sony Vaio screen

Seven pages spanning from: Nov 2003 through to Nov 2009

So if you ask me, it looks like you are yet another victim.

And it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Puppy.

CatDude
.

[mikeb]

The build quality of sony equipment is atrocious...we have been bitten a few times in recent years and will never buy their junk again.
An OS cannot kill a screen...just an unhappy co-incidence....

Sony used to make reliable quality TV's in the seventies....but that was a long time ago but it seems they are playing on the reputation from that period.

mike

[Flash]

I agree that Sony's quality isn't what it used to be. I'm not impressed by their internal DVD burners.

Jonathan10, I'd guess the LCD backlight power supply failed. I imagine this is an expensive repair on a laptop, but maybe not. If it is the backlight, the LCD screen is still working. Theoretically, you could still use it if you took off the backlight so that light can shine through the LCD panel. I don't know how hard that would be. I've torn up several failed LCDs to see if I could fix them, but didn't go as far as removing the backlight from the LCD panel itself.

[8-bit]

I have to agree with the backlight or the board that supplies power for it going out.
A while back, my wife bought a Mintek portable DVD player.
It was working fine for awhile.
Then one morning she turned it on to view a crochet video tutorial and the screen logo flashed with color and then dissapeared to leave a black screen.
The picture was barely visible and I know that the backlight or the power board for it quit.
So now, it is just so much trash until I can find a replacement board or backlight.
I have taken LCD screens apart and put them back together, but it is not for the novice to do.
Depending on how much you value that Sony VIO laptop, you could get a replacement LCD panel for it.

[rokytnji]

Plug in a External CRT Moniter first to make sure chipsets are working. Which you already did. Time to see how mechanically inclined you are.

My fix below

http://yatsite.blogspot.com/search/label/Broken

And yes sir. Puppy didn't kill it. Hard ware failure more than likely coupled with age of equipment.

[Sit Heel Speak]

When the screen goes black on my vintage-2001 Thinkpad (twice, so far), it's time to disassemble it, clean the end of the ribbon cable from the TFT where it plugs into the inverter, and make sure this end is pushed in firmly, seated snugly. I give the copper contacts a scant drop of a contact enhancement fluid, Stabilant 22, I bought it from a specialty electronics shop but am told it is available from any Toyota dealership's parts department (though they call it something else). And while I'm inside the case, disassemble the cpu's heatsink+fan, apply a fresh very thin (essentially transparent) coat of Arctic Silver thermal transfer compound to the heatsink with a razor blade (wipe off the old coat first with 99% isopropyl alcohol on a Q-Tip cotton swab), and clean the dust bunnies out of the cpu fan and airduct outdoors, using compressed air in a can. Over the past nine years I've rescued a couple dozen Dell laptops, six or seven Toshiba's, and two Sony Vaio's the same way. I charge $80 for the service.

[jonathan10]

First of all , thank you all for your answers .
I didn't mean to be mean with puppy ,i tried puppy 4,31 on another machine a while ago and it was the first time i was able to play HD video on that , when everything else ( windows codec packs / coreavc's / other distributions ) had failed .
It may be an unhappy coincidence ,just as mikeb mentioned . I hope that you see why puppy was the first to blame , even if an OS causing mechanical failure seems a little crazy to me : everything ,including puppy-boot , was fine and the moment i clicked the damn icon all went black

Vaio model : vgn-n21e/w - 3 or 4 years old
GPU : intel gma 950
Working with nearly no problems till now . I was sonyvaio-happy but this was quite a fail I may go back to thinkpad's now ...i don't trust lenovo however .

Time to see how mechanically inclined you are.

Indeed ...wish me luck . i have never gone beyond changing ram in a laptop . Assuming i'm extra-careful , can i damage the pc further by trying to fix the screen ?
So , to summarise , taking that external monitor is working and that some shades of grey are visible when tilting the screen , this is probably a laptop-screen failure . Correct ?

[rokytnji]

Laptop screen failure = correct.

Wish you Luck? Good Luck

Why? Because it works with external Moniter. Causes could be anything from where the laptop ribbon cable plugs into the motherboard on up to the back of the LCD. Also Back Light as other members have suggested could be the culprit also.

Just Take your time. Pull ALL drives and Battery and Power supplies and Follow proper Electro Static Discharge procedures. (google it). The worst is you can break it. You might consider letting someone like a hardware tech (like sit heel speak, I just am a shady tree tech ) take a stab at fixing it also as it seems not to be a mother board issue and could be a simple fix. Or treat it as a adventure and a learning experience. Your choice.

[mikeb]

Hmm i would be inclined to use the external screen (or buy a cheap second hand one) and keep a lookout for an non working viao with a good screen (if there is such a thing)...hard to say whether backlight or display...since the backlight uses inverters that get warm I would suggest that.
You say black...which suggests no light at all.
I did fix a monitor once and all that had happened was the ribbon was not fully in the connector.

Our ex lodger trashed his new laptop screen by hitting it with a mobile phone....he is still using the laptop with an external screen a year later...his only drawback is that he cannot get into the bios like that.

mike

[sikpuppy]

I'd be inclined to change the thread title since it is erroneous.

Old style CRT screens can and do fail if they are set to too high a frequency which normally results in a nasty smell and smoke, although most recent models come with a built-in fail-safe to prevent this.

However, LCD screens don't suffer the same shortcomings. They simply will not provide a picture, or will only show a portion of the screen, if they are set to a bizarre resolution, frequency or colour depth.

I'd say the possibility that software had anything to do with the screen failing is so improbable as to be impossible.

[Sit Heel Speak]

taking that external monitor is working and that some shades of grey are visible when tilting the screen , this is probably a laptop-screen failure . Correct ?

If you can see shades of gray, 99 times out of 100 the screen-to-inverter cable-end just needs re-seating in the inverter's socket as I described above.

Rarely, the connection cable itself has snapped, owing to being incorrectly assembled in the first place (or incorrectly assembled by the last person who opened it up) and thus getting pinched when you open and close the lid. In which case you would see no gray, just a dead screen. The cable is a standard part, cheap to replace.

Failure of the TFT (laptop screen) itself is extremely rare, so long as you don't hit, scratch, or hole it.

Failure of the inverter does sometimes happen due to heat and age, but then you would see either a dead screen or psychedelic static.

Be careful when you disassemble the Vaio. Study the manual first. Take care to note which size of those tiny Phillips-head screws goes where. Don't use force on the lid hinge bezel. It is really a job for a meticulous craftsman, not a "shade tree mechanic." Which is the reason why $80 is the standard shop fee here in Seattle for opening up a laptop. Plus parts. But I very much doubt that any part in your Vaio has failed. The TFT-to-inverter cable has simply worked loose from the inverter socket. It is just a force-fit, there is no retention latch, so over time the thermal expansion and contraction of the socket tends to squeeze the ribbon-cable end out.

[vtpup]

Yup, it's the backlight or backlight circuit. Had it happen twice (on Windows btw -- nothing to do with the OS).

One way you can tell is to hold the screen up to a strong light coming from the side. Often you can then see very faintly the lcd part of the screen still working -- but it needs the backlight to be visible normally.

Yes, people have taken tha backs off of LCDs, added fresnel lenses flood light, and made projection TVs. I've thought about doing this with one of my old TP600e's. You can search for this on the internet. Also laptops with bad screens make good servers. And You can often pick up a junker lappy of your same model on Ebay, with a good screen, and swap parts. Sometimes that's easier than replacing the backlight tube itself -- very delicate work.

Yes, I think the title of this thread needs an edit, Jonathan10. Reminds me of, "My dog ate my homework."

[jonathan10]

*Title changed*

Well , here is an update :
Found online the disassemble instruction manual of the model ( it has a "SONY CONFIDENTIAL" banner on every page - lol )

Take care to note which size of those tiny Phillips-head screws goes where. Don't use force on the lid hinge bezel.

I never understood the need of those tiny screws . Never understood why they make it difficult to open a laptop
I was so close to snapping and using force ,but i managed to take the screen apart without breaking it ,hurray !

The TFT-to-inverter cable has simply worked loose from the inverter socket

The inverter has cables on both ends .Here is a screenshot from the left end

Are you referring to that one ? Or the right side white/pink cables ?

Yup, it's the backlight or backlight circuit. Had it happen twice (on Windows btw -- nothing to do with the OS).
One way you can tell is to hold the screen up to a strong light coming from the side. Often you can then see very faintly the lcd part of the screen still working -- but it needs the backlight to be visible normally.

That's exactly what's happening

Yes, I think the title of this thread needs an edit, Jonathan10. Reminds me of, "My dog ate my homework."

"Puppy ate my screen" ,maybe ?

[Sit Heel Speak]

Are you referring to that one?

Yes, the left-end shot. Pull that flat end with the bare copper strip contacts straight out. If you have some 99% isopropyl alcohol, use it (sparingly) and a cotton swab (q-tip) to clean the flat copper contacts. Then lightly coat the contacts with contact-enhancement fluid if you have some, but if you don't then just let the alcohol dry off. Gently push the flat strip back in and work it in til it's snug. If memory serves, it is possible on the Vaio to turn it on, to test, without having to completely reassemble the machine. Just snap the keyboard back in and push the power button. And see if you once again have video.

[mikeb]

Open heart surgery by forum
good luck..

mike

ps did a lawyer rewrite the thread title?

[jonathan10]

Open heart surgery by forum
good luck..

mike

ps did a lawyer rewrite the thread title?

lol why do you suppose that i'm studying law btw

Repair-work didn't go exactly as planned . I'm afraid it is indeed a backlight failure . So i have three options : repair the screen for 180€ , buy another sony laptop (i'm a marketing victim , i admit it) or buy a cheap compaq netbook and use the old one as a client .
I tend to the 3rd option , and , with a little googling , i came across TightVNC server software .The only thing that worries me ,however , is the security issue ...is it safe to use the server-client model wirelessly ? Or is it a quite easy task for someone to log into my ubuntu/puppy client and operate it as well ?

[mikeb]

I don't have a TV or buy newspapers so avoids the marketing hype.... buy another sony..once or twice bitten, should be shy...ahhhhhh...mind you as a lawyer perhaps you could find a way to sue the arse off them .

Well wpa2 wireless and encrypted VNC would sound pretty safe to me....or a cheap monitor?

mike

[vtpup]

I don't have a TV or buy newspapers...

And I thought I was the only one.

Re. wireless security and tightvnc: Depends on where you are. Around here wardriving would require a snowmobile.

It's tough for the hackers trying to air crack stuff with a snow covered laptop and mittens on in the dark with bear sneaking up behind them. If we see someone like that, we just invite them in for a warm cup of cocoa and give them the wpa key.

[Sage]

Only just spotted this thread.
Yup - got the T-shirts. A lot of good advice foregoing.
Never had trouble with those pesky ribbon connectors - the clamping action is usually good enough to crack surface oxidation.
Two prime suspects : the lamps and the caps.
Lamps have very limited life, so if yours has lasted more than a few years, you've got better than average samples. New cold cathode tubes can be obtained, but genuine replacements are more expensive than an external flat screen (bear in mind you need at least 2, maybe 4 @ ~$40 each!). For those fellow masochists, it is possible to modify cheaper varieties sold (by eg Ebuyer) for case modding @ ~$5each.
But, but, but - first of all, take a look at the capacitors in the power supply (of the screen, not necessarily the mainboard, although that may also have problems if caps of same genre) and check for bulging, seepage, etc http://www.badcaps.net/forum/.

If you're really unlucky you'll find both faults in the same unit...