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overjoyed · Guest

I have a inspiron 8500, when I boot it up I see the Windows XP boot
screen, then it goes black. It works with an external monitor, but the
LCD is not on. I have uninstaled my display driver, Radeon Mobility
9000. When the display driver is uninstalled, the laptop screen works,
I reinstalled the display driver and it goes black again, only working
with an external monitor. How do I switch the laptop from laptop screen
to external monitor and the other way around, anyone know how I can fix
this? any help is appreciated!

Pagan · Guest

"overjoyed" <overjoyed@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1115940216.107061.167960@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

ikenfixit

Backlight or inverter is probably dropping out.. Common on all brands for failure..

adlpz · Member Joined: 07 Jun 2005 Posts: 3

hello, i have same problem but with a compaq presario 17xl274, i replace the inverter board and blackligth but the problem is not correct, the lcd cree is black but external monitor work well.

i need help!!!!

adlpz · Member Joined: 07 Jun 2005 Posts: 3

hello, i have same problem but with a compaq presario 17xl274, i replace the inverter board and blackligth but the problem is not correct, the lcd cree is black but external monitor work well.

i need help!!!!

jorg20057000

did you have the inverter tested before you put it in and were did you get it from you can have them repaired instead of buying a new one here are some links http://laptop-inverter-repair.biz/ also try the original windows video card drivers laptops are fussy with drivers from video card companys http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

ikenfixit

Inverter circuit wont be affected by a driver issue.. Go into BIOS and let it sit and see if the backlight still drops out.. Post back results...

JayRI · Member Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 2

Well, just had a customer machine (same model, Inspiron 8500) with the exact same problem. The cause of this problem for this machine was the standby switch (triggered normally by closing the laptop). I noticed the plastic tip (located off to the left of the power button) that contacts the bottom of the LCD frame when the lid is shut was "crooked" - not flush straight up and down - and was bent a bit over to the side.

I removed that top row panel that holds the LED'S and the power button. Just used a small flathead screwdriver starting on the left side of that panel. There is a small rectangular opening there perfect for unsnapping it and lifting it up gently, then working your way over to the right side, until it comes up. (Careful of the ribbon cable underneath on the far right, not too much room to pull the panel off and lift, but enough)

Looking underneath, the standby "trigger" is held in place by a very flimsy, very thin oval-shaped piece of plastic, normally held in place by two little plastic tabs. Well the mount had come off of one of those tabs, and was intermittently contacting the conductive material beneath it. Once I pushed that plastic piece back up on to the tab and it was flush again, the machine boots up fine. Really horrible design, in my opinion. But what do I know. :P

Hope this rant can help you out. Good luck!

Jay, Rhode Island

ikenfixit

Lid switch issue show up on quite a few different models and you are right its NOT a good design on this model.. Glad you had the easy fix however..

Han · Member Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 1

Answering JayRI:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
My wife's machine developed the problem. Just after the windows desktop appeared (albeit with horizontally stretched icons, which still needs to be fixed), the screen would go blank, and nothing brought it back. An external monitor would give some view, but not really good enough (maybe I reset the resolution too high). All kinds of tests from the Dell Utility partition seemed to work fine, but only on the external monitor.

Upon your suggestion, I pried the top blue aluminum molding and the attached gray strip with the hinge covers off. This disconnected 2 connectors to the body of the machine. I pried the little gray plastic switch thingy for the cover closing off, and reseated the 2 connectors a couple of times, then pushed the power button. Now the machine works again!

What's even better is that my wife has usurped my older Dell Inspiron 8200, and wants to keep that slower machine, and I get to keep the 8500. Everyone is happy!
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Occasional lurker

marclandau · Member Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 1 Location: detroit, mi

I have a similar problem. On my Dell Inspiron 1100, my screen stays black when I return from Standby mode. I have to shut down by holding down the on/off key and reboot, then it works fine, but what a pain in the neck. About 10% of the time, it comes back from Standby just fine, but I haven't figured a pattern to it. I have tried plugging the computer into a regular monitor and hitting the (fn)(crt/lcd) key, but that doesn't work.

Please help!!!
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marclandau

Jujutsuka · Member Joined: 17 Aug 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Maui, Hawaii

Jay, you rock! I just had a client walk in with the exact same problem, exact same model. He'd taken it to one of our competitors who did everything under the sun (except, apparently, using Google sly wink

) including calling Dell, and came up empty. I found your posting and got him taken care of in less than 5 minutes!

Mahalo, my friend!!

John
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"There are only 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who know binary and those who don't"

jonny5 · Member Joined: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 1

I have same problem as marclandau above.

Im on a Dell Inspiron 1100, and I can enter Standby mode, but when i try to reboot, my screen stays black when I return. I then have to shut down by holding down the on/off key and reboot.

Slightly different issue than other ones above, but any ideas?

JayRI · Member Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 2

Han and Juju-

Glad it worked out for you guys. Keep on truckin'.

-Jay

Darklattice · Member Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 1

Hello,
I have a similar problem with my Dell Inspiron 2500. I replaced the CCFL tube (the small flourescent tube that lights up the LCD display) and the screen worked fine for a few days. THEN just after a couple of days, after going into hibernation, the CCFL doesn't turn back on. When I restart the tube lights up, I see the Dell Insprin Screen and then it goes black. So, I'm pretty convinced this is a software issue. The only way I've found around this is to unplug the laptop and wait for a full boot up before plugging the laptop back in. VERY bizare, eh?
Any ideas on how to permamently solve this most annoying problem?
Thanks and CHeers!