Laptop Screen Malfunction

iRaariTy

Estimable
Sep 19, 2014
5
0
4,510
I have an HP 2000-2b89WM laptop and just yesterday the screen started acting funny. As soon as I booted up the laptop I was greeted by a multi colored screen and no picture, just colors and vertical/horizontal lines. I downloaded driver updates and even restored the computer hoping to fix the problem but didn't reach any solutions. Meanwhile when I hooked it up to an external display, it worked perfectly. After taking it apart i realized there was way to many screws and connectors to dis-attach the screen so I put it back together hoping it would work, and had no luck. Then when hooking it back up to the external display, I bumped it with my knee and it worked fine. Any ideas on what the problem is and how i could fix it?
 
Solution
Sounds like the usual symptom of a knackered laptop screen.

If you can then take the laptop case apart at the hinge where the cable runs through it, then while the machine is on CAREFULLY move the cable a little and see if that changes the output on the screen.
If not then get a new screen, if it does make anything change on the screen, even if it's still not fully working then get a new cable.

That's how I diagnose screen faults on laptops when I do not have a spare screen to just plug into them.

Most LCD's are around the £65 mark

plasmastorm

Distinguished
Oct 18, 2008
116
0
18,660
Sounds like the usual symptom of a knackered laptop screen.

If you can then take the laptop case apart at the hinge where the cable runs through it, then while the machine is on CAREFULLY move the cable a little and see if that changes the output on the screen.
If not then get a new screen, if it does make anything change on the screen, even if it's still not fully working then get a new cable.

That's how I diagnose screen faults on laptops when I do not have a spare screen to just plug into them.

Most LCD's are around the £65 mark
 
Solution

the_crippler

Distinguished
Jun 14, 2010
63
0
18,610
Yeah, what they said above. The good news is that, if it works with an external monitor, the problem is almost always limited to the panel or cable, and not the gfx card itself. That means that it's usually fixable. Keep track of those screws, though!