Computer Problems! Hope to Fix it Myself!?
My lap top is acting fine, except for my screen. Sometimes it will turn "Snowy"(Like channel 3 on TVs used to be) and will scramble. I smack it lightly, or move the screen forward or back, and it stops. I know it might be a hook up issue. I trained for my A+ but I’m still very afraid to crack open my computer and root around for the answer. Hopefully you guys can help!
The screen of a notebook (or laptop) (as well as the screen of a flip phone) is connected to the video card/circuit with a flat, transluscent "ribbon" type cable (the kind wherein one can see the flat copper ribbons of wire inside). This cable is, of course, hidden from view, on the inside of the notebook.
If you had one of those flat cables in your hand, and you started bending it back and forth, back and forth, enough times, it, like just about anything else, would eventually break… if not physically on the outside, then by means of a tiny crack in one or more of those flat copper ribbon wires on the inside.
Something like that is probably what has happened.
The other possibility is that on one end or another of that flat, transluscent ribbon cable has come loose from its connection inside… either at the end which fits up into the bottom of the LCD screen bracket, or at the other end which connects to the video card/circuit. And either or both of those ends might not actually have a pluggable connector; it/they may be soldered.
How it’s built just depends on the maker of the notebook. Different makers do it differently for different models.
Of course, there’s also a possibility that it’s something else…
…but whatever it is is likely physical, and in the nature of a short of some kind, else wacking it would not bring it back.
Had you not said that wacking it helped, I would have said that it’s either a bad video card/circuit; or corrupt drivers for it. A bad motherboard would, in that case, also be a possibility.
Notebooks are HIGHLY INTEGRATED, and you would not believe how one thing going bad can affect other seemingly unrelated things.
Even though you hve your A+ certification, don’t crack it open unless you really know what you’re doing. It’s really tricky, and easy to break something simply by disassembling. It can also (in fact, it positively will) void your warranty.
That said, if you had the proper manual, you could, with your A+ cert experience, do it. With my HP notebook, for example, I notice that the complete manual instructing how to disassemble and replace parts is right there, on the support page for my particular model, as a PDF file (which I downloaded and have had on the hard drive for as long as I’ve owned and used the machine, but which I’ve never actually used or looked at other than right when I first downloaded it, out of curiosity).
Hope that helps.
The screen of a notebook (or laptop) (as well as the screen of a flip phone) is connected to the video card/circuit with a flat, transluscent "ribbon" type cable (the kind wherein one can see the flat copper ribbons of wire inside). This cable is, of course, hidden from view, on the inside of the notebook.
If you had one of those flat cables in your hand, and you started bending it back and forth, back and forth, enough times, it, like just about anything else, would eventually break… if not physically on the outside, then by means of a tiny crack in one or more of those flat copper ribbon wires on the inside.
Something like that is probably what has happened.
The other possibility is that on one end or another of that flat, transluscent ribbon cable has come loose from its connection inside… either at the end which fits up into the bottom of the LCD screen bracket, or at the other end which connects to the video card/circuit. And either or both of those ends might not actually have a pluggable connector; it/they may be soldered.
How it’s built just depends on the maker of the notebook. Different makers do it differently for different models.
Of course, there’s also a possibility that it’s something else…
…but whatever it is is likely physical, and in the nature of a short of some kind, else wacking it would not bring it back.
Had you not said that wacking it helped, I would have said that it’s either a bad video card/circuit; or corrupt drivers for it. A bad motherboard would, in that case, also be a possibility.
Notebooks are HIGHLY INTEGRATED, and you would not believe how one thing going bad can affect other seemingly unrelated things.
Even though you hve your A+ certification, don’t crack it open unless you really know what you’re doing. It’s really tricky, and easy to break something simply by disassembling. It can also (in fact, it positively will) void your warranty.
That said, if you had the proper manual, you could, with your A+ cert experience, do it. With my HP notebook, for example, I notice that the complete manual instructing how to disassemble and replace parts is right there, on the support page for my particular model, as a PDF file (which I downloaded and have had on the hard drive for as long as I’ve owned and used the machine, but which I’ve never actually used or looked at other than right when I first downloaded it, out of curiosity).
Hope that helps.
References :
un-smack it and show us a screen shot
References :
Unfortunately, most laptops are hard to open up. Most components are embedded into the motherboard too. Opening one could ruin the entire thing.
Check for a warranty.
Send it in for repairs.
Or just buy a new one.
If it works fine for now, I would just live with it.
References :
Experience
Hi, it sounds like you have a fractured wire in the ribbon cable that connects your laptop screen to the motherboard. This would entail not only opening the laptop lid assembly, but also the base component as well. Also you may need to source a new ribbon cable as well. This would be much better entrusted to a reputable repairer.
References :
Well on most laptops, on top of the keyboard is a panel.If you press in the middle and the two sides, right on top of the keyboard, the panel should pop off. Then you should have access to the cable end of the monitor.
References :