LCD screen issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter JFG
  • Start date Start date
J

JFG

Hey, gang,

I inherited a Gateway 450ROG with a video issue. When it boots to the BIOS
screen (so far I haven't gotten further) the picture will gradually
dissolve, starting with lines, then dissolve to white from top left to
bottom right. At the end of the dissolve, it is a white screen. If anyone
recognizes these symptoms as bad LCD, bad inverter, or bad anything else I'd
be happy to hear about it. Thanks, JG
 
Clark said:
Hook it up to an external monitor and see what it does.

Clark
Click to expand...

Clark, thanks for the reply.

Further information: I took it apart and checked connections. Then without
replacing screws I booted with battery only and lo and behold it came up
nicely. It booted into PCLOS, the os on the hard drive, ran beautifully for
about ten minutes and then locked. Rebooted, it ran beautifully for about 5
minutes and locked. Then 2 minutes to lock, then on boot so I'm guessing
I've got heat issues in addition to anything else. The cpu fan is working
and a ton of heat is coming out of the bottom. Right now I'm letting it
cool off completely and posting this on a different computer. .

Later today I'll hook it up to an external monitor and report back on its
behavior. It also has a cdrw that is not recognized. It does not show up in
the BIOS. I've come to suspect that this may be a parts only computer but
I'm having fun trying to ferret out its problems.

I appreciate any and all input. JG

..
 
kony said:
Logically speaking, this is probably a fault in the monitor
driving or interconnect circuitry. Physically speaking, on
a notebook it's a bit more complicated to presume reasoanble
odds compared to a desktop... physical use or abuse might
cause solder joint breakage, connectors loosening, cable
damage, board cracks, power board regulation problems
destabilizing the LCD driver circuit, and that driver
circuit may be part of the mainboard's circuitry with
integrated video, or part of a modularized add-on video card
for some upgraded video option.

If my quick search is correct, you might have ATI M7
microAGP card in it. If you can locate this card, check the
connections from it going to the LCD panel, the integrity of
the cable and connectors on both ends. Inspect the card,
remove it and reinsert it, and if you can get ahold of
another card it might be good to swap one in.

I can't be certain these suggestions will resolve it, but
it's where I'd start looking.
Click to expand...

Thanks, good suggestions. I'm having fun trying to figure this out. When
the time comes that I discover that the fix is more expensive than the
laptop is worth, I'll part it out. Meanwhile, it's keeping an old geek
busy. JG
 
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