[ltp] frequent black screen on start-up, good later on

[Bert Haskins]

>You may not actually have to remove the LCD itself to get to the
>connectors.  If the connector is loose, unplugging/replugging the
>connectors may fix your problem without you having to remove the whole LCD
>assembly.  Sorry I can't be much more specific, but I don't own a T-series
>machine (I'm using an X22 these days).  My guess is that you can access
>the LCD cables by removing the keyboard.  The connections to the
>inverter might be trickier, since it's probably under the screen's plastic
>frame.  (Anyone with a T2X series laptop want to chime in here? :) )
>  
>
In my experience the guilty party is often the small ribbon cable that 
forks off  the large cable in the
back of the lcd.
It goes to the inverter and often  is slightly corroded.
I have not worked on a T21 yet but on other Thinkpads I have been able 
to remove the 3 or 4 screws
at the bottom of the lcd cover, carefully ( like two porcupines xxxxxxx 
)  pop the back off and remove, clean and replace this ribbon cable.
Other times I have had to replace the inverter or the capacitor on the 
high-voltage end of the inverter.
Other times I've replaced the CCFL florescent tube.
This is a nasty, nasty job but it has the advantage of yielding " brand 
new " brightness on the display.
The theory here is that at startup, the inverter has to build up its 
output voltage to the striking voltage of
the CCFL.
After that it has a much easier job.

Before doing any of this I think you should download a dos boot floppy 
or cdrom iso image off of the net
and boot up with this to make certain that the problem shows up there also.
For that matter, the problem should even show up the same way by using 
the F1 setup procedure.
The backlight circuitry doesn't know or care who is telling it to light up.
   Good  luck (UWNI )
      Bert