DalekSec Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Hello All Had a teacher hand in her school laptop today after the laptop died on her last night and now when it switches on only has a white screen and the smell of smoke I have tested the following - - Stuck a monitor on it, works on the monitor - Replaced screen with a working one, still white - Changed HDD still white - Tried HDD in another laptop, works fine - Took laptop apart to look for problems all looks fine no heat damage Any ideas what it might be? I tried to track the cable to the monitor to the GPU and seems to be in good shape. Laptop Model is Dell Latitude E5420 Thanks
Norphy Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 When you changed the screen, did you change the invertor as well? About the only other thing it could be is the video cable I think.
DalekSec Posted January 29, 2015 Author Posted January 29, 2015 Yea the invertor attached to the back of the screen. The only area that is left is that video cable but its a hard area to get to too have a look....
simonmpoulton Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 This is usually caused by a defective screen or screen cable. I would be concerned about the smoke you mentioned though - check both very carefully for any signs of burning and replace.
DalekSec Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 I managed to take it apart to reach the cable, but from my eyesight it still looks fine but does smell a bit funny
mac_shinobi Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Remove all power sources ( battery and mains cable ) from both laptops --> Remove a working screen + Invertor + Display cable from a working laptop ( same make and model obviously ) --> Install this into the laptop with issue(s) and try again Also is there any dust / dirty / debris blocking up the heatsink / fan unit in the laptop ? Also what Graphics card / GPU do these laptops have ? If nvidia then maybe an over heating issue ? Also maybe worth a shot is to get a memory module(s) from a working laptop and replace the RAM / Memory in the faulty laptop and see if that is any different ? If it is still the same then I would say remove the battery and mains power from the laptop, then disconnect the cmos battery for at least 5 mins and then re connect the cmos battery ( when you boot it back up you will need to re program the date / time and possibly SATA or Hard Drive Mode ) so will be a good idea to make a note of what the hard drive settings are set to in the bios before disconnecting the cmos battery. If after all this it is still the same then possibly a faulty GPU on the motherboard or faulty motherboard ?
DalekSec Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 Have replaced the screen around with a working one, worked fine in another laptop and the replaced screen in the broken one is still white. I gave it a good dusting and now cant see a speck of dust. The GPU is and Intel 3000. Also tried different types of ram. Seeing as it works fine via a hdmi I've ordered a new cable from the GPU to the screen, only £10 and worth a shot!
difinity Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 If the GPU was faulty there would be no output to an external monitor. It looks like an LED screen so no inverter, ensure the battery is removed before unplugging the monitor cable as they can blow a fuse on the motherboard. Have you tried the "white screen" in a working laptop ? If there is a burning smell, remove the motherboard completely and carefully check both sides, post photos if you want a hand looking it over.
DalekSec Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 I think I have found the source, I just took the screen cable out ready to replace it, and there is a burn mark and scraped it away to reveal some bear cables. along with a bit of melted plastic 1
mac_shinobi Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 I think I have found the source, I just took the screen cable out ready to replace it, and there is a burn mark and scraped it away to reveal some bear cables. along with a bit of melted plastic Possibly that faulty cable which has melted , presume after replacing that it works fine ?
DalekSec Posted January 30, 2015 Author Posted January 30, 2015 I have ordered the cable ( not taking one out of another laptop its a pain to get out ) hopefully will come next week will keep you informed 1
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