Laptop display problem

[fshanda]

My wifes laptop is having a problem with the display flickering. Its a Sony Vaio PCG-FX120 PIII 700mhz. When its pluged into the AC adaptor the display is flickering and turning on and off. When its running on the battery it goes completly wacked and is almost unuseable, turning completly off and on. Anyone have any ideas what is happening. My best guess is either the backlight is going bad or the display connection to the board has come loose.

Any suggestions as to what it could be are welcome.

[fosin]

Yea, the backlight is going out. They're just a fluorescent lamp, and you know how those things act when they're bad. That's why the intermittent failures.

[fshanda]

Is this something that I could repair myself? Is the part something that I could purchase? I tried looking for parts for this laptop a few months ago, it has a cracked key on the keyboard. It must be a well built unit because there was almost nothing for sale on ebay at all for that particular model. If I lookup my laptop I get 5 pages lol.

[fosin]

An HP was easy enough to find the part and replace. Judging by the pic you posted of the exploded view of your laptop...you shouldn't have a problem :D. Maybe search for tips, someone prob has posted instructions for the sony's.

I can't get lamps for sony's at dealer cost, but I'm sure google could find someone at a decent price. Also, sony may sell parts on their web site. If all else fails go to a sony authorized repair center from the yellow pages and order one. Even if it's just a TV repair shop, they should be able to get one.

[fosin]

Did you find instructions? I took some pix of a bulb replacement on a desktop LCD. Should be similiar, if you want to see them.

[fshanda]

That sounds good fosin. I have searching for parts and other trouble shooting information about her laptop. Not a lot to choose from when it comes to problems with this model. I did see one thread on a forum about a bulb going bad. They were saying that the screen would dimm and brighten and that the display was faded or dull. This one has a great picture when its working and it dosent dimm and brighten it flickers on and off completly. Works for 5 minutes sometimes and then shuts off again. I guess it could be the same problem. I did find a site that seems to sell every light bulb made on the planet. All I need is the part/model number off of the bulb.

Im going to take it apart tonight and see if I find any loose connections first. If everything else looks ok im going in for LCD surgery.

[fosin]

On and off completely. Well, that may be the converter. I would probably try that first. If I remember correctly, they are about $30 for HP displays. You may have to get that direct from sony. Search for that and see if you see any info about it.


Here's a pic of a lamp if you want to see what it looks like:

[fosin]

The wires are on a hook. Once you unhook them, it slides right out:

[fosin]

Just for kicks, Here's a exploded view:

[fshanda]

Your a brave man fosin. Thanks for the picts.

I saw those inverters on Ebay when I searched her laptop model for parts. They weren't that much there either. Is the inverter in the base assembly or in the display assembly? I didnt see any inverter in my Dell, the display plugged right into the video card.

[fosin]

It's in the display assembly.

...and not so brave. That's a defective panel someone gave me :D.

[fshanda]

OK heres my picts.

[fshanda]

Pict 2

[fshanda]

Pict 3

[fshanda]

Pict 4
Im guessing that the strip in pict 3 is the inverter?

[fosin]

Yea, with the little black thingies.

[fshanda]

little black thingies

Is that one of the technical terms you learn in college or in technical traning :D

I thought they were whatchamacallits.

[fosin]

It's a CS majors term I guess :D. I only had to take 2 ciruit labs in college. Doides, resis, trans, and caps are about the extent of my naming capabilities. I assume those are the transformers, but never seen ones like that before except on LCDs.

[djwolf]

I have a problem also... my display likes to flicker and show all weird lines and stuff. I can stop this by moving the screen back and forth or holding the edge and pushing it forward a bit. I own a sony vaio pcg-grv7p. Can anyone help me out here?

I would attach a screen dump but i don't know how to do that... :(
Can anyone tell me how?

[fshanda]

I wish I could help you but I never got mine to work. I tried a new inverter and a new screen and the same problem persists. I could try a new video cable but havent been able to locate one. I think it may be the motherboards on board graphics is messed up. All I know is I spent to much money and it still dosent work. This laptop is going onto ebay as soon as I have a chance to put the add together.

Dj there is an option when posting for attaching an image to your post. Only one image per reply.

Welcome to XtremePC:)

[fosin]

That sux fshanda. djwolf, that sounds serious. If the video is distorting that involves more than just the backlight which sounds costly to me. You may try posting your prob on a larger forum and see if anyone has any suggestions.

[davidamarkley]

djwolf, does your laptop have an external monitor SVGA port? If so, try to hook up an external known-good monitor and if the display is fine, then you know it's not the video adapter. Is the laptop under warranty? If it is, call the support line, and go through the troubleshooting stuff, then they'll probably ask you to ship it too them and they'll probably end up either tightening the video cable(best-case scenario) or replacing the LCD display(worst-case scenario).

BTW, Welcome to XPC!!

David

[djwolf]

I took the laptop to a professional to have a look at and the guy said it's the graphics card that is at fault... How much would that cost all up to fix? I know the damn thing is built onboard so that would be costly... can someone give me an approx. price???

[Xaotic]

Usually, more than the laptop is worth. Is there any chance the unit is covered by warranty? I've changed more than a couple of planars and it's a pain in the tail, normally about 1-2 hours of labor time. The parts are the expensive part. Many planars had non upgradeable porcessors and were 1000 or more from the manufacturer. Even the ones with removable processors are expensive, due to the proprietary nature of the cases.

[shan]

It might be backlight problem .
Bad CCFL or Bad Inverter.
But sometimes temp change or Bad Toggle switch also creates such problems.
you can learn more about it on
http://www.247laptoplcd.com/Laptop-lcd-repair-laptop-screen-repair.htm
or
http://www.247laptoplcd.com