laptop help please.

roughlad · 13 Dec 2007 at 21:32

My dads laptop screen has sudenly went dark as if the backlight has died, yet if u close the lid and open it the screen will kick in as norm for a few seconds then go dark. Any ideas as to what might be causing this as it was running fine no line on the screen or owt.

fobose · 13 Dec 2007 at 21:44

If you press the FN key and press the brightness buttons on the keyboard, does that fix the problem?

paradigm · 13 Dec 2007 at 21:46

Its probably the microswitch that senses if the lid is open or not. If you can get under the keyboard/top plate, you should have a look if the switch can be disconnected and see if that helps at all.

Seen this a number of times at work.

roughlad · 13 Dec 2007 at 23:34

if i titl the screen into the light i can see the outline of all the icons n stuff.

paradigm · 14 Dec 2007 at 19:12

Yes, the backlight is off, as you already said :confused:

beermonster · 16 Dec 2007 at 19:35

if its flicking back on briefly that would usually indicate the switch is working, so it will either be the inverter located in the lid just below the screen under the plastic bezel or the screen itself, in the lcd the backlight is a glass tube similar to a striplight the inverter creates a massive voltage to kickstart the light.