HP Mini 110 weird video problem

[ciscotim]

Hi all -

I have an HP Mini 110 with a weird display issue-

When powered up, it shows nothing but vertical colored lines on the
righthand half of the display, sort of like a colored barcode.

There are no readable characters at all, the lefthand side of the screen is totally blank.


Now - I know your FIRST assumption is "the LCD is bad"



BUT -- one of the primary tests for bad LCD display is to plug in an external monitor and do the keyboard shortcut to make the system switch to using the external display.

On the dozens of laptops I've repaired over the years, because that's a BIOS call (not booted software)
that _always_ works in order to switch to the external display and test the rest of the system.

But this system will _not_ switch to the external display either -

I've bought a brand new MB off Ebay and put it in - which replaces the entire video subsystem; there's not a separate video card.

Same problem.

BTW - the screen and case are in perfect condition - absolutely no signs of external damage or mistreatment.

At one point, on an external monitor, the system switched ONE time to an external display. Then it would never do it again.

By the way, the HD chitters intermittently and the HD access light flickers, looking for all the world like a normal boot process.
The system will pull a DHCP address from my network and will ping, so I know it's able to boot correctly.
(Unfortunately it's a Win7 Home, so no remote desktop)

It really appears that the only system malfunction is this weird display issue.

I've never seen an LCD display "block" the mainboard BIOS functions that switch to an external display- that's always worked for me to test the main system.
The failure to switch was why I replaced the mainboard thinking "ok, for this once, it's NOT the LCD, it's something with the video processor - the display is showing exactly what it's being sent- garbage"

Thoughts anyone?

 

[rclarke250]

Cable or inverter card. only things left in the video subsystem. I did have a laptop not work on an external display when the inverter card failed, until I disconnected the video cable from the main board.

 

[xwb]

The other problem could be that someone has put some pressure on the back of the screen in the wrong places. There is no obvious external damage. Hold the top left and bottom right corners of the screen and try twisting the screen slightly - works every time on my 12 year old Compaq LTE which has this barcode problem.

 

[DrB0b]

Ive ran into several random Make laptops that for some reason or another wouldnt let me switch to external video, unsure of the exact reason so its not a ridiculously uncommon thing.
When it switched the one time to external, was everything looking normal on the screen for whatever brief time it was on it? Being only a cable and LCD left in the equation, I would reseat the cable behind the LCD and see if that makes a difference at all. If not replace the LCD.

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[ciscotim]

Well, I tried the unplug cable thing.
No go.. still can't switch to an external display.

I also tried it with the external display not even connected.
No go.

I don't know if there's some hardware in the back of the display that must participate in the "switch to external video" or not. If there is, it would make sense that the LCD cannot be disconnected and the system be able to switch to external display.

btw - as I recall, the system did in fact operate normally the one time I managed to get it onto external display.

 

[ciscotim]

Debating exactly what the chips on this board do- the video cable connects to this, not directly to the main motherboard...

I wonder if one of the SMB chips on here has something to do with switching.
I wish I could get my hands on a 110 display to swap out and test with....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-Jack-and...928?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519a712b70

 

[ciscotim]

whoops.. that card from my last post does not connect to the video... at least not that one.

I'm going to have to go home and look at the system.. now I don't recall how it works.

anyhow-- I only found one cable I could disconnect on the video, and that didn't change anything.

I may have to peel off the entire foil shield backing and get down to the inverter that I'm sure is back there.. this little LCD is well wrapped in foil as compared to others I've worked on.

 

[DrB0b]

Are you saying the video/LCD ribbon connects to the DC board? If so I dont see where. The only "plugs" on this go to the battery, AC adapter, and the parralel cable transfers DC and coms to the battery. Maybe Im not seeing it but to the best of my knowledge, the LCD ribbon doesnt connect to this.

This shouldnt have a video card in it and should connect directly to the motherboard. Odds are you need a new LCD but without being able to test first makes this a bit of an issue, might be in your best interest to take it to a local PC shop that has the LCD in stock and give them $40 to check and see.

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[ciscotim]

Yeah -- that was what I realised after looking at the picture of a DC board at work, and now checking the MB at home.

It's got to be the LCD -- somehow...

I'm going to look on Ebay for one -- hopefully I will still come out ahead on this if I'm careful...

the Mini was free- and I've got $65 in the MB so far, and I could sell that on Ebay again-- (if I ever get round to selling things)

even with the $65, I may find a display cheap enough
to be well below the price of a whole Netbook...

<begin satire>
After all, this is a hugely expensive piece of equipment, and clearly deserves hours of my time and thousands of dollars in parts to try to revive what will probably be worth $25 in a year or so after the tablets come down in price</end satire>