Here are some tips and tricks for troubleshooting and fixing laptop video problems. Video issues are very common within portable computers and with the following tips you should be able to detect and eliminate basic laptop video problems.
Laptop LCD screen has a faint image.
Look at the LCD screen very closely and check if you can see a faint image on the screen. It’s possible that the LCD lid close switch stuck in the “closed” position and the backlight stays off even when you open the LCD screen or turn on the laptop. The switch turns off the backlight when you close the LCD display to save the laptop battery power. Check the LCD lid close switch. Usually it is a small plastic pin located close to the LCD hinges. Try to tap on the switch a few times to turn on the backlight. If after tapping on the LCD lid close switch the backlight stays on, you fixed the problem.
It is also possible that after tapping on the LCD lid close switch the backlight works fine, you see a normal video on the screen for some time and then the backlight turns itself off again. In this case I would blame the FL inverter board. Try to reseat cables on both end of the FL inverter to make a better contact between the cables and the FL inverter board. If it doesn’t help I would try to replace the FL inverter board.
Laptop LCD screen is solid white color.
Most likely it is just a bad connection between the LCD display and the system board. I would try reseating the video cable connector on the back of the LCD screen first and check if it fixes the problem. After that I would try reseating the video cable connector on the system board. I would also try reseating cables if there is no video on the LCD screen at all.
The video on the LCD screen is garbled.
Try to connect the LCD screen to an external monitor. If the external video is fine, you have a problem with the LCD screen or the LCD video cable. You can try to fix the problem by reseating the video cable on the back of the LCD and on the system board.
If you see the same garbled video output on the external monitor most likely it is not the LCD screen problem. In this case the system board (with onboard video) is bad or the video card is bad.
I understand that these tips will not cover all video problems with portable computers. If you have a different problem, you are welcome to leave a comment and I will try to help you if I can. 
Are you looking for a new LCD screen for you laptop? Try searching here.
Here’s a notebook display assembly diagram and tips for finding spare notebook parts.
Related articles:
Fixing notebook LCD screen with water damage.
Screen inverter replacement. Fixing laptop backlight problem
Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?
Laptop screen shows strange colors. What could be wrong?
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September 17th, 2006 at 9:38 am
Anirban,
I don’t think that your problem is related to BIOS. If the laptop was dropped and doesn’t work properly anymore, most likely the problem is related to a loose connection. It’s necessary to open up the laptop and reseat loose connections.
In your case I would check connectors on the FL inverter board, located inside the display assembly. After you reseat connectors (unplug cables and plug them back), you might get the backlight back. I hope you didn’t damage the backlight bulb, when you dropped the laptop. If the backlight is damaged, the repair would be more expensive.
Also, I would check if the keyboard is properly connected to the motherboard. You’ll have to lift up the keyboard and reseat the keyboard cable on the motherboard.
Here are IBM hardware maintenance manuals.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
I have an IBM A31p. I dropped it while it was in the bag from not too high. Now I am geting a black screen but if I look carefully, sometime I can see a faint image.
Also when I press the Alt. key, the computer beeps. I cannot use Ctrl+Alt+Del anymore.
Can it be a BIOS problem at all? Does the beeping tell me anything?
September 14th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Zachary,
I cannot help you with your Fujitsu Livebook, I’ve never worked on Fujitsu laptops. Check out my guides for Toshiba laptops on this site: irisvista.com. Go through a few display disassembly guides and you’ll get an idea how to take it apart. I don’t think that it would be much different for Fujitsu laptops.
September 14th, 2006 at 11:12 am
If thats the case are there any kind of precautions I need to take prior to ripping the LCD screen open to make sure the connections are sound? Actually heck, looking at it I dont see any screws or anything like that holding the screen on. According to the previous diagram on the front page it looks like the connection you are talking about is behind the actual LCD screen itself, but how to I take that apart to take a look? I’m kind of a computer dummy so please excuse the question if it sounds stupid
September 13th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
Zachary,
In most cases the laptop backlight fails because of a bad FL inverter board. With a failed inverter board a laptop behaves exactly as you described. A lid close switch failure is not very common and usually I place it at the end of my troubleshooting steps. I would try to reconnect the inverter board cables, just to exclude a loose connection problem. If it doesn’t help, I would go with the FL inverter board replacement.
September 13th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Joe,
I think that removing the switch is an option, but you have to know what you are doing. Most likely it’s not enough just remove the switch and it’s necessary to connect some traces. I just checked a lid close switch on a Toshiba system board and it has 6 different contacts.
September 13th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
I too have the Fujitsu lifebook S6210 and have the exact same problem. I can turn on the computer and hook it up to an external monitor and it works fine. As a matter of fact the screen flashes a little when I turn it on and also when switching it to external monitor and back. the image on the screen is feint. My question is kind of twofold. 1) Is there some sort of way to permenantly enable the backlight to always stay on so that the switch (you said its possibly magnetic) is disabled? (perhaps in bios) 2) If that is not possible are there any ways to possibly fix this problem without getting the switch replaced? (I want to fix it but I am currently not making as much money as when i bought the laptop and do not have the cash to get it fixed) thanks for your help (if you have any)
September 13th, 2006 at 8:42 am
I would like to disable the switch that turns off the backlight. Removing the switch, is that an option? I attempted cleaning it, it didn’t have any effect. I’ve already changed the power inverter and the bulb. Occassionally, the screen will flash on for a few seconds when I play with the switch. That’s why I would like to just eliminate it altogether. Please advise and I will be looking forward to hearing from you.
Joe
September 12th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
James,
I’m not familiar with Fujitsu Lifebook, never worked on any. I guess this laptop might have a magnetic lid close switch. Usually a magnet is located somewhere under the LCD screen bezel and the switch itself under the palmrest. The lid close switch is activated, when you close the lid and the magnet gets close to the switch.
September 12th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Xxloganxx,
Have you tried to reseat the video cable on the system board? Here’s maintenance manual for HP Pavilion zv5000 Notebook PC. The video cable connector is pictured on the page 148 (5-41). Disconnect the cable from the system board and connect it back.
It’s hard to say witch part is causing the problem; it could be a bad video cable, a bad video connector on the motherboard or just a loose connection between the video cable and the motherboard (I hope the last one). Try reseating the video cable first.