Solved Blank Laptop Screen

[phillpower2]

Thanks for letting us know, rather a long period to leave a post open with no reply so please PM myself or another member of staff and your thread can be re-opened.

 

[phillpower2]

Thread re opened at request of OP.

 

[werdnarolyat]

Thanks for opening the thread again.

I have cleaned out the fans (there was a lot of fluff/dust in the cooling fins) and removed and re-seated the RAM. At present I'm still seeing a blank screen when powering on.

I have tried connecting to an external monitor with the laptop powered by battery only, AC power only, and battery + AC power.

For all cases, the laptop screen powered on but was blank and the external monitor showed a screen of green dashes.

Thanks.

 

[phillpower2]

Not a good sign I`m afraid

Can I ask how many sticks of RAM you have, hoping that it is two so that you can try one stick at a time in each of the memory slots to see if that changes anything.

 

[werdnarolyat]

There are 2 sticks of RAM. I will try as you have suggested and report back.

Thanks.

 

[werdnarolyat]

I tried as you suggested but still get a blank screen as shown in the attached image.

It is powering on and the screen changes to show a light colour but nothing else happens.

 

[werdnarolyat]

I'm not sure if this indicates anything but the screen contrast is still adjustable using the keyboard.

 

[phillpower2]

The above suggests that the screen is ok as the settings are controlled by the notebooks hardware rather than Windows.

If your notebook normally beeped once when it successfully booted up, try removing both sticks of RAM then powering up the notebook, the computer will not boot for obvious reasons and what we are looking for is to see if you get any error beeps with no RAM in the computer, if you do it confirms that the graphics solution has failed.

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[werdnarolyat]

I removed the RAM and when I switched the laptop on there were 2 beeps. The beeps repeatedly continually at intervals of about 3 seconds.

Also the screen was completely blank the entire time; it did not change at all when the laptop was powered on.

Does that indicate the graphics have failed? Is there anything that can be done?

Thanks.

 

[phillpower2]

I removed the RAM and when I switched the laptop on there were 2 beeps. The beeps repeatedly continually at intervals of about 3 seconds.

Based on your previous tests and the notebook beeping when the RAM is removed it would normally suggest that the problem is with the graphics solution I`m afraid, if it was a desktop you could fit an add on video card but being that the computer is a notebook there is no such option in this instance

A bad notebook MB replacement is most often not a cost effective option due to the high labour costs and the relatively low cost of a new or refurbished notebook that ships with Windows 10 pre - installed.

 

[werdnarolyat]

Thanks phillpower2.

I think I had resigned myself to the fact that it was not economical to repair but wanted to make sure. Just checked on eBay and a MB is about £90 as far as I can see so it doesn't make sense to attempt a repair.

I'll take the hard drive out and put it in an enclosure. Everything should be backed up but just want to be sure. Will it be possible to recover software keys using the magic bean tool by connecting the drive to another PC?

It sounds like the screen still works too so I might salvage that to make a small monitor.

Is there anything else worth salvaging?

Thanks.

 

[phillpower2]

You should be able to retrieve any product keys with Magical Jellybean.

Before doing anything else with the notebook I would suggest asking a local tech what it would cost for them to take a look.

You are welcome btw.

 

[werdnarolyat]

Thanks phillpower2.

I don't mind attempting to replace the MB myself but realise it could be quite an advanced procedure.

First thing I'll do is try to recover any product keys and make sure I have everything backed up.

Please feel free to mark this as solved and thanks again for your help.

 

[phillpower2]

You are welcome werdnarolyat and thanks for letting us know that you no longer require assistance

Should you need this thread reopened, PM a staff member and one of us will reopen it for you.