Laptop problem: Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 has no video. The customer complained that the laptop LCD video just disappeared without any reason. When he starts the laptop the screen lights but there in no data on it.
Laptop diagnostics: I started the laptop normally and LED showed normal activity. The hard drive started spinning. The LCD screen lighted but it was solid white color without any data on it.
Laptop repair process: when I get a laptop for repair with video problem, I always start with checking an external video. I connected the laptop to the external CRT monitor and started the laptop. The external video was fine and the laptop booted to Windows without any problem. Usually, if the external video is fine, the system board is good and the problem is in the LCD itself, in the video cable or in a bad connection between the LCD and the system board. On the next step, I removed the keyboard and reseated the display video cable on the system board, but it didn’t fix the problem. The laptop still booted without any data on the screen. Finally, I opened up the LCD display and found that the video cable connector on the back of the LCD screen was half way out. I reseated the connector and restarted the laptop. This time the laptop started normally and I got internal video. So, if your laptop starts with solid white screen without any data on it, try to reseat the video cable connector on the back of the LCD screen.
The following guides could be helpful for you:
Complete Toshiba Satellite M35X disassembly guide with instructions
Removing LCD, inverter board, video cable
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February 1st, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I seem to have fixed it. I tried flashing the bios using a floppy disk, but I forgot the floppy drive wasn’t working. As this old laptop only lets me flash the bios using a floppy disk, I opened it to take a closer look at the floppy drive, and noticed a problem with the flexible flat cable that connects this drive to the mainboard. A couple of the metallic conductors at the end of this cable were folded, aparently as a result from forcing the cable back into its socket a long time ago. Having fixed that problem seemed to have fixed the blank screen problem for some reason.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
LuigiZ,
Are you sure the screen is completely blank? Take a closer look, maybe you can see a very faint image? If you do, it’s possible you have a failing inverter board or backlight lamp.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:24 am
I have this blank-screen-at-boot issue with my old
Satellite 2250xcds. The problem is that when I turn on the laptop, only a blank screen shows up, I can hear the OS sounds so I know it is working. I used an external screen and it worked fine. But when I restart the laptop using the on/off button, after having left it on for for a couple of minutes (with the blank screen), the laptop boots up normally with the lcd screen working perfect. I know it’s not a loose cable issue, I opened it to check it myself and everything seems to be in order. I don’t know what else to do to get it fixed, maybe flashing the bios would help… Any thoughts?
December 9th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I disassembled my Satellite M35X-S149 to repair a cold solder joint on the DC power socket. When plugging the LCD wire harness back into the mother board I found a black wire coming out the middle of the harness with a lug on the end. It is obviously supposed to be secured by a screw somewhere within an inch or so. I just can’t figure out where to put it. HELP. Thanks
November 28th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I have a toshiba satelite A55 the screen is black but I can see the picture in the back i am buy a inverter board but i can’ solve the problem whit that but if i am connect a external monitor yes work’s fine any solution please?/
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
http://i38.tinypic.com/v4mm40.jpg
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Toshiba TE2000
Nothing happens when the power button is pressed…
October 13th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
b-rad-on,
If you have no external video, most likely this problem is not related to the LCD screen as you mentioned. Could be bad memory or bad motherboard.
When you have a problem with the laptop LCD screen, it still should work fine with an external monitor.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:40 am
well im having the same problem but instead of a blank white screen, i have just nothing at all. the monitor doesnt turn on so i connected it to an external screen display thingy and it still didnt work. any suggestions? im thinking it is the cd screen itself and i’ll have to replace it but i want to be sure before i buy a new screen for this laptop.
September 20th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Darlene,
First of all, you’ll have to test your laptop with an external monitor.
Connect the monitor to the laptop using VGA port on the side. Turn on the laptop. If video appears only on the internal screen, use Fn+F5 keys to switch video from internal to external mode.
Find out if your laptop works fine with the external monitor or you still have the same problem with video even on the external screen. Let me know.