Laptop Video Problems

[Instiga8er]

Hopefully I have posted to the right board here, and if any of you have any laptop repair experience, I would really appreciate your input. I have a Dell Inspiron 5000 (PIII-600) and recently lost the video display on it. In trying to troubleshoot the problem, I connected a CRT monitor (known to work) to it and got no picture on the monitor, so I ordered a new video card from Dell. I installed the card, but still not getting any picture on either screen. My first thought was that the screen itself was bad, but because the CRT monitor had no picture either, I'm looking for other solutions before I have to send it to Dell and pay them big bucks to fix it. If any of you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks

 

[Harvey]

If you're not getting any picture, at all, even a startup screen, to get to the CMOS, I'm afraid you're in for a repair bill. If your machine has access to a jumper to reset the CMOS to a safe mode, try it. At this point, it can't hurt.

Good luck.

 

[ojai00]

When replacing the video card, did you notice the LCD flex cable loose? Did you remember to plug it back in?

Here's a guide to removing and replacing parts, in case you don't have it: Removing and Replacing Parts: Dell? Inspiron? 5000 Series

Hope this helps.

 

[Instiga8er]

Thanks for your response - yes, I made sure the LCD flex cable was plugged in, but I am going to go back through it this weekend step by step. In the meantime, I ordered a backlight inverter (only paid 9.00 for it) and will install it to see what happens - can't hurt. If it was my pc acting up, I'd rip and tear until I figured it out, but I just don't have enough experience working on laptops - guess this is one way to get it!If you have any other ideas, send them my way - thanks