Intermittent display issue, Toshiba U50D-A, AMD A6 CPU, no display...sometimes?

Geekomatic on 25/08/2015 - 21:58

This is really strange. The laptop has been babied- nothing but well-cared for. Only just over (of course) 12 months old. Opened it up & the insides are pristine, nothing burnt, no dust, all cables fine. I felt the CPU heatsink and it's cool.

Push power button, it lights, fan starts…nothing happens on-screen. I have the hard disk unplugged at the moment so I can get it backed up, & so I can eliminate the drive or Windows being the issue.

Now, power it up—about 6-8 times & all of a sudden, you get the display back (the screen telling me I don't have a bootable disk). Then, turn it off & you have to go through the same 6-8 tries again.

Tried swapping RAM, new RAM, removed battery/power only, I just can't figure it out.

The poor girl who owns it has to move in a few days & this is her only PC. She's just had terrible luck with laptops since I've known her.

Is it toasted? CPU/GPU? Only output for video, other than the laptop screen is HDMI & I don't own a HDMI monitor to test it out.

Ideas?

Thanks in advance.

:)

Computing

Comments

  • bjdchwr on 25/08/2015 - 23:25

    I would recommend you to give it a go with external monitor. Tell us how it goes so we can isolate the issue.

  • scrimshaw on 25/08/2015 - 23:37

    Well it'd be a lot less guessing if you worked out if the laptop can output to a monitor first.

    If it doesn't display anything via VGA/HDMI, then you have a much more serious issue that can only be fixed at the factory, or with a replacement part (sometimes, the entire mobo).

    If it does do output via VGA or HDMI, then it's probably just a flat panel issue.

    Check to see if the LVDS cable is loose. Remove the flat panel display from the laptop, then check the backside of the panel. There should be a LVDS cable inserted into a ZIF socket, as pictured
    http://en.community.dell.com/cfs-file/__key/communityserver-…

    remount the cable and try again. If the cable is dodge you might just need to order in a new cable.

  • Geekomatic on 26/08/2015 - 01:42

    No VGA, only HDMI, & I don't have a freaking monitor w/HDMI. I do have a small LED TV with VGA for PC & two HDMI ports. I tried connecting the laptop to that but didn't get a picture. Not sure if it's a TV thing or if the laptop wasn't outputting (I connected it once I had something on the main screen to look at & it didn't show on the TV).

    It's weird that it just happened out of the blue, too. Although, she did say she'd updated to 10 & it started playing up, in general. Another reason I wanted to disconnect the HDD (that, and not having it power-cycled 8-10 times in order to get to a working desktop.

    The other thing is- if she does this power-cycle & gets it going, Windows does load & function.

    I understand what you're saying about cables- I just haven't ever seen an internal cable "suddenly" disconnect like this- then reconnect. Every 6-8 power-cycles.

    It's bizarre.

    • scrimshaw on 26/08/2015 - 02:02

      Other things you can try is to run the laptop without a battery, use a different AC adapter and also give the BIOS a reset (either the 'soft method' — going into BIOS and resetting to factory defaults, or the hard method — by taking the CMOS battery out).

      regarding broken products that are out of warranty, you still have rights and can in fact take the product back to the vendor or manufacturer to have it fixed or replaced. You just need the receipt or proof of purchase.

      http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-07/broken-but-out-of-warr…

      and if they question you, just show them this piece of literature

      https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Warranties%20and%20refu…

      Turn to Page 14

      How long do consumers’ statutory rights apply?
      Statutory rights are not limited to a set time period. Instead, they apply for the amount of time that is reasonable to expect, given the cost and quality of the item.

      This means a consumer may be entitled to a remedy under their statutory rights after any manufacturer’s voluntary or extended warranty has expired.
      For example, it is reasonable to expect that an expensive television should not develop a serious fault after 13 months of normal use. In this case, the consumer could argue the item was not of merchantable quality and ask for it to be repaired, even if the manufacturer’s voluntary warranty had expired.

  • Geekomatic on 27/08/2015 - 01:08

    To wrap this one up, I've advised the woman to bring the unit back to Officeworks under the ACCC directive. This unit had an original (RRP) of over $1,200AUD. It would be assumed that the device would last for more than 17 months of light use & very protective handling.

    I also had a chance to plug-in my little TV w/HDMI to another computer, and it DID display from that PC. So, that likely means either fried GPU or mainboard on the laptop.

    Thanks all.

    :)

    PS- the back-up was ridiculous…No way to get to the data w/o moving the drive to another machine. Then, the thing claimed "hibernation status" (unable to mount) in Linux, I had to sudo to -ro & then copy out to another external drive. Windows 8…ugh.

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