Solved Toshiba Satellite C55Dt connect to external monitor with a broken screen?

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A possible explanation as to why you cannot find a CMOS battery explained here by John_295 thanks to Rustys for sharing this info with us (y)

So, if this is the case with your model of notebook removing the main power brick + the AC adapter and leaving disconnected for a while would have the same affect as pulling a CMOS battery.

I know you said that when powered up the notebook shuts down after a few minutes but when you are next able to do this can you place the back of your hand by the notebooks exhaust vent to see if the air being expelled by the cooling fan is warm, if it is it suggests that there is power getting to the CPU, if it stays cold after restarting the notebook a few times it may suggest the opposite.
 
You mean like literally inside of it? The silver cover doesn't seem to come off and ive unscrewed everything on it, and the backside has a couple of star shaped screws that are too small for my screwdriver, and my screw driver has some pretty tiny heads. http://imgur.com/a/x4YEN
Also yes the fan does run, I remember it being cold air, but I will have to put everything back together again to make sure.
 
ajshn said:
You mean like literally inside of it? The silver cover doesn't seem to come off and ive unscrewed everything on it, and the backside has a couple of star shaped screws that are too small for my screwdriver, and my screw driver has some pretty tiny heads.
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Did you go to the link that I provided it explains in detail what I was stating? Yes I do see where the confusion came in and NO do not open the HDD. What I was referring to (like the link shows) is where the HDD is stored. Yet that may no longer be the case after further research there may not be a CMOS battery as explained in post #41.
 
I did go to the link yes. i just got a bit confused due to lack of sleep and the fact my laptop is a bit different, sorry. I didnt try to open it.
I don't think there is a battery at all, unless its invisible. The laptop is now staying on and blowing hot air sometimes, Its been over 5 minutes and the laptop is still on, and its a little bit hot.
 
Omg, i just started it up again and it showed up on my external monitor!, the laptop screen is still black but this is amazing! The only thing I didn't put back in the laptop was the wifi antenna, which didnt really work anyway. What just happened? Thank you guys!!! All my files and programs are still there too.
Extra question, would the screen still turn on if the laptop isnt completely put together? I haven't put the hinges back in (since i need new ones) so the laptop is in two pieces, should it still come on that way, or should i try to put the broken hinges back in? Also does anyone know if the blutetooth adapter in my laptop is also on the wifi card/adapter? Cause my laptop wont connect to my bluetooth mouse, buy hey thats a minor issue in comparison. :LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
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ajshn said:
Also does anyone know if the blutetooth adapter in my laptop is also on the wifi card/adapter?
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Yes some do have Bluetooth built into them.

ajshn said:
Extra question, would the screen still turn on if the laptop isnt completely put together? I haven't put the hinges back in (since i need new ones) so the laptop is in two pieces, should it still come on that way, or should i try to put the broken hinges back in?
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Yes and it may be the broken hinge that is pinching a wire.
 
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I thought it was the hinge and the wire origonally, but when i took the hinges out and used a new wire nothing happened.
So the hinges are not in right now and the screen isn't snapped into the back and front cover, should the screen still come on? Or should it only turn on when it's all in one peice. I will buy new hinges but only if the screen works.
 
ajshn said:
I thought it was the hinge and the wire origonally, but when i took the hinges out and used a new wire nothing happened.
So the hinges are not in right now and the screen isn't snapped into the back and front cover, should the screen still come on? Or should it only turn on when it's all in one peice. I will buy new hinges but only if the screen works.
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I have seen once a laptop run with out the covers for the screen. Now the rest of the laptop was assembled completely and yes it did work correctly.

You might try the key combination for the keyboard to see if the internal display come on.

The most important thing that you should do since the system is some what working is back up you personal pictures/documents and so forth to an external device and or drive.
 
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Oh don't worry all the stuff on my laptop is just a copy of the stuff on my desktop, which is also on an external hard drive. I got backups for days. :LOL:
I'll play around with it some more tomorrow. I'm not home now.
 
Sorry that I have not been around but glad to see that some progress has been made (y)

In answer to your question regarding the notebook screen needing to be connected, like Rustys I have come across it before elsewhere and the person concerned was quite happy to use it that way, reason for this was their main power brick was past its best and they didn`t want to pay out the cash for a new one so left it connected to the AC adapter, which obviously means that they needed a power outlet close by.
 
So while trying to see if I can get the screen to come back on, I tried using my original LCD cable along with the new one, I'm not currently getting a signal to my screen or an external monitor with either anymore, (though I only got the external monitor to show up the other day with the new cable) but the computer stays on and the fan blows hot hair with is a good sign. From googling I see alot of people have problems connecting this series of laptops to external monitors even when the screen works. I've pressed every key toshiba or random people on the internet has suggested to connect it and nothing. I would be completely fine with the screen not working if it just connected to an external one 100% of the time.
When looking at it again, I noticed the little silver cable plugged into the motherboard next to the word "touch" is also label control board cable. If broken does it only prevent the touch ability from working or does the stop the screen itself too?
You can see the cable in the first image and where it goes to in the second: http://imgur.com/a/XFjWd .
 
ajshn said:
So while trying to see if I can get the screen to come back on, I tried using my original LCD cable along with the new one,
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Too late now but once you had the screen working I would have thrown the original cable in the trash and left well alone.

ajshn said:
When looking at it again, I noticed the little silver cable plugged into the motherboard next to the word "touch" is also label control board cable. If broken does it only prevent the touch ability from working or does the stop the screen itself too?
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It is possible that the touch cable needs to be connected so as to make the circuit complete, not saying this with 100% certainty as some circuits regardless of what type they are will function when a component is not attached, a notebooks touch pad as one example.
 
I never had the screen working, I was only able to connect it to an external monitor. I can't even find a replacement touch cable for sale.
Once my new hinges come in by next month and i can actually put the laptop back together in one piece I'm either gonna get a relative to help me out or pay someone (which would be much quicker...). I wonder if toshiba did something weird in this laptop and made it so that it can only be connected to an external monitor if the screen works. Because last time the screen went i could connect it and once i moved the lcd cable slightly the screen came back and i could plug it into an external monitor.:whistle:
 
Sorry was a bit unclear there, I meant the external screen :oops:

ajshn said:
I can't even find a replacement touch cable for sale.
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You should also consider that there is nothing wrong with the present cable so replacing it may not help.

ajshn said:
I wonder if toshiba did something weird in this laptop and made it so that it can only be connected to an external monitor if the screen works.
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Based on the following from your reply #46 it would suggest not;

ajshn said:
Omg, i just started it up again and it showed up on my external monitor!, the laptop screen is still black but this is amazing!
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ajshn said:
because last time the screen went i could connect it and once i moved the lcd cable slightly the screen came back and i could plug it into an external monitor.:whistle:
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The above does suggest that all display related cables need to be connected and that by having to move the display cable at all that it was either loose or the cable damaged.

The fact that the notebook is staying powered up is an improvement to what you had so you are hopefully going in the right direction, really not sure how much I would be prepared to spend on this being honest, easy for me to say this I know but if I was going to invest time and money into such a project I would have bit the bullet and purchased a replacement screen first, far easier to sell on if things don`t work out.
 
Yup, here an update, was super busy the last few days, sorry.
If the cost ends up being more than 100$ I would just move on and consider buying a new laptop in the future. But if its less than that I will go for it.
Ive found lcd screens for the non touch version, but i don't know if they would fit in mine. How can i tell of mine is a 40 pin or not? Visually i cant tell. I dont care at all about the touch screen. If you could tell me what pin this needs to fit into that would be great :LOL:
http://imgur.com/a/xgA74 Sorry about the quality, uploading it lowered it alot.
 
Thats alright, I wouldn't even bother ordering the screen until its closer to the date my hinges arrive. Which won't be until August 1-15.
 
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