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

[Alex Deucher]

On Apr 4, 2005 12:29 PM, Mack Stevenson <mackstevenson@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Dear all:
> 
> I used Linux on my T21 for three years without any hiccups. Then as many
> others I was seduced by Apple's new offerings... I'm now returning to Linux
> (new job), and thus returned to my trusty old thinkpad, which still works
> like a charm (well, almost!).
> 
> Now I am running kernel 2.6.11 (slackware) and I've reproduced my old setup.
> Tt runs as nicely as it always did, except for the screen: when I boot, it
> often stays black. Most of the time it lights up in the middle of the Linux
> boot process, sometimes not at all (in those cases I log in blindly and
> shutdown the system).
> 
> Pointing a lamp directly at the screen l've noticed that the screen is not
> really *off*: it is just incredibly dimmed. I can see the text scroll by,
> and the colorful IBM logo is also visible right after booting.
> 
> Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Can this be a hardware problem,
> even if the screen works perfectly when it is "lighted"? Or is my
> configuration at fault? I only run Linux on the t21, so I can't tell you how
> the Windows boot process goes. Can you think of possible reasons as to why I
> am having this trouble? I remember installing lilo on the MBR; do you think
> this might be the reason?
> 
> I have really come to appreciate this great laptop - which does everything I
> need and, performance-wise, is perfect for me - and therefore I don't really
> feel like spending $2k on a new one.
> 
> Thank you in advance for any tip.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Mack
> 

maybe your lamp is going bad?  

Alex