[ltp] intermittent video problem (770 tp)

[Charles E Taylor IV]

On Mon, 14 Apr 2003 15:50:08 -0700 (MST)
"M. Leo Cooper" <thegrendel at theriver.com> wrote:

> A couple of days ago, the display momentarily distorted, then corrected
> itself. A few minutes later, the display blanked out totally. I went out
> of X, back to the console (ctl-alt-backspace), but there was no video
> there, either. I rebooted, and lo and behold, the video came back at
> the startup screen.

> Since then, I've used the machine for hours at a time, and the video is
> normal. I guess this means the back-light didn't burn out, but maybe the
> "inverter" is getting ready to go.

> Anyone have any idea of what's going on here?

If the problem starts repeating itself, you might need to head back to
Ebay and get a new screen/inverter.  I find that buying the whole
Thinkpad top is simpler than trying to get a new inverter.  I had a
Thinkpad 770X that did that.  The problem got worse and worse (it
happened more often) for about a month.  Then the screen didn't come back
at all.  If it happened once and never again, X might just have been doing
something wacky.

By the way, you can usually restart the backlight if this happens by
putting the laptop in standby mode for a couple of seconds.  Hit Fn-F3,
wait a few seconds, then press another key.

If you have the 1024x768 13.3" display for your Thinkpad, it'll be
relatively cheap to replace the screen using parts from Ebay.  If you
have that fancy 1280x1024 model, well ... :).

-C. Taylor