Laptop screen not coming on

suppafly

Hey Guys,

Wasn't sure whether to post this in the windows vista forum or hardware. I figured hardware as i think its an issue with that and maybe not the OS but i could be wrong.

So my sister in-law has a gateway M-series laptop running windows vista with an intel centrino processor. Seemingly out of blue one day when turning on the laptop the screen didn't seem to come on. When you press the power button you can here the hard disk spinning up and the power light on the computer comes on just you see not at all on the screen. There is no blinking cursor or anything it just seems as if the screen is turned off and everything behind sounds like its working fine in the background just the screen isn't coming on. I heard no beeping sounds when turning it on either

Any ideas what the issue might be and how to resolve it?

Knex*

First of all, have you tried connecting an external monitor to make sure that it is solely a screen issue?

suppafly

i just tried hooking it up to my monitor on my desktop and it didn't work. it just showed no signal on the monitor.

I also tested my other laptop in this manner to make sure the cable was fine and it worked ok.

So now that its confirmed that there is some issue with the screen any other ideas?

Knex*

Is there an fn button on the laptop? Usually bottom left by Windows key and Ctrl?

If so, there is probably a few icons on the f keys running across the top of keyboard (f1, f2 etc). One of these will have a square on it, and this is usually for switching between monitors etc.

Keep laptop plugged into external monitor and when its booted, press fn plus that key. On my laptop its f4, but it can vary from model to model.

suppafly

sorry i should have mentioned that i tried pressing the function key and the corresponding f key for switching to the monitor but i didn't switch. I tried doing it a few times but still just got no signal

Chazz Michael Michaels

Shine a light on the screen when turned on. Can you see images? If so, Google voltage inverter.

Knex*

Also, is the fan making any extra noise, or is it sounding regular?

suppafly

the fan sounds normal and so does the hard drive. Doesn't sound like its over exerting itself or anything. I'll try the flash light thing.

SCOOP 64

Same happened to my Toshiba Laptop last week. looked up on line and common for the ribbon to come lost so pulled top panel lifted up keyboard, push ribbon back in and it worked, for once a easy fix,i know yours is not a Toshiba, but worth a look if you find nothing else.

Dariukas

To me it sound like your graphic card died. Had same issue on my VOSTRO 1400...

I was able to verify that the screen is working by pressing "D + Power Button", this runs pre-boot display test which worked.
At the time dell support sent an engineer and replaced the motherboard, so i was lucky...

200motels

Dariukas wrote: »

To me it sound like your graphic card died. Had same issue on my VOSTRO 1400...

I was able to verify that the screen is working by pressing "D + Power Button", this runs pre-boot display test which worked.
At the time dell support sent an engineer and replaced the motherboard, so i was lucky...

It also happened a friend of mine with a Sony Viao, it turned out the graphics had died on motherboard.

williamdonohoe

if you have a heat gun handy and are comfortable taking apart the item strip it and apply heat to the graphic card for 1-2 mins this should re flow any broken connection in the graphic card, this is a one time fix works 80% of the time including it is the card thats the problem hope this helps.