[ltp] T30 weird video problem

[Pablo Vera]

Hello everyone,

I am having a weird problem with a T30.  After a while of being turned 
on, the LCD screen becomes garbled with horizontal lines.  It looks like 
interference.

This problem started a few months back.  At first, the problem presented 
itself after 30 minutes or more, and it was minor.  Just a few lines and 
it usually corrected itself after moving the lcd screen a little.  But 
the problem started to increase.  The garbling became more intense and 
more difficult to stop.  Right now, garbling begins after about 30 
seconds of booting up.  It happens both on the BIOS screen and when the 
OS is running.  It gets so bad, that the screen begins to black out.

I opened the laptop, reseated the lcd connector, air dusted the fan and 
everything inside, but the problem persists.

I read somewhere that the first thing to do is to connect an external 
monitor to see if the problem is with the internal video card and chip 
or with the lcd screen itself.  So I did that and here is where I 
discovered the weirdness of the problem.

By pressing Fn+F7 I cycle the display output like this: Internal LCD -> 
External monitor -> LCD + External -> Internal LCD ...

Well, the external monitor always looks fine.  The internal LCD screen 
is garbled when it is the only active output, BUT ... if both the 
external monitor and the LCD screen are enabled, then the LCD screen 
looks fine.  Even when no external monitor is connected.

Right now, after I turn the laptop on, I press Fn+F7 two times to enable 
the external monitor, eventhough none is connected, and the LCD screen 
looks fine.


Any clues as to what the problem might be ?

-- 

Thanks,
Pablo
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