Screen goes Black

RealityRipple · Nov 13, 2008, 09:15 AM

My mother has this laptop... it's a "NascarPC", which doesn't seem to exist anymore. It was really cheap, and I just stripped off all the labeling and reformatted it before I gave it to her to make everything nice. This was a year ago...

Now, the screen occasionally goes black occasionally, and looks like it's trying to display a bad refresh rate or something... Sometimes it happens when it's not even booted to Windows yet. It's got nothing to do with it being plugged in, battery life, etc. I can work around it by making it standby when you close the laptop (close, wait, open, it's back to normal). I've got the latest drivers on it for everything, currently updating it. She doesn't ever go online, and only uses it for word processing. There are no viruses on it, no spyware, nothing wrong whatsoever. The screen just likes to screw up.

Anyone have a clue what might be causing it?

**kris23** · Nov 13, 2008, 02:20 PM

try to see if the stuff still displays in the screen when it goes black, you may have a faulty backlight....

RealityRipple · Nov 13, 2008, 09:31 PM

Nothing displays. It's just black and flickery.

**kris23** · Nov 14, 2008, 01:45 AM

im not sure, it doesnt seem to be a GPU problem, so the issue is limited to the LCD, backlight and its connectors....

do you have any warranty on the laptop? id talk to whoever made the thing and see if anything can be done.... sure beats digging into there if theres something they can do.

RealityRipple · Nov 14, 2008, 10:01 AM

I don't think they exist anymore...

GigaWatt · Nov 14, 2008, 01:31 PM

well, i'm not an expert in notebooks, but it could just be some faulty wiring... it could be that something just is not connected the right way or the connection is being disrupted from time to time...

RealityRipple · Nov 15, 2008, 10:09 AM

I reinstalled the drivers with Catalyst Control Center installed and it worked fine. Didn't even have to bother with installing .NET since we didn't need CCC to run anyway... but whatever. Has anyone else noticed the drivers seem... bad without CCC installed? (I tried reinstalling without the CCC and the problem came back. I think it did it during startup because it was trying to display a refresh rate it couldn't handle for the windows startup screen, too...)

RealityRipple · Nov 18, 2008, 08:38 PM

Well, that only lasted 2 days... It's back again. Still need help with this, please!

**kris23** · Nov 19, 2008, 02:29 AM

all i can think of is to get a screwdriver and start digging around!

good luck

kn00tcn · Nov 20, 2008, 10:17 AM

can you make a video?

it does seem to be something with the panel

what happens if you set the close lid option to 'turn off monitor' instead of standby?

Nov 13, 2008, 09:15 AM	#1
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Screen goes Black My mother has this laptop... it's a "NascarPC", which doesn't seem to exist anymore. It was really cheap, and I just stripped off all the labeling and reformatted it before I gave it to her to make everything nice. This was a year ago... Now, the screen occasionally goes black occasionally, and looks like it's trying to display a bad refresh rate or something... Sometimes it happens when it's not even booted to Windows yet. It's got nothing to do with it being plugged in, battery life, etc. I can work around it by making it standby when you close the laptop (close, wait, open, it's back to normal). I've got the latest drivers on it for everything, currently updating it. She doesn't ever go online, and only uses it for word processing. There are no viruses on it, no spyware, nothing wrong whatsoever. The screen just likes to screw up. Anyone have a clue what might be causing it?

Nov 13, 2008, 02:20 PM	#2
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black try to see if the stuff still displays in the screen when it goes black, you may have a faulty backlight.... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Nov 13, 2008, 09:31 PM	Thread Starter #3
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black Nothing displays. It's just black and flickery.

Nov 14, 2008, 01:45 AM	#4
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black im not sure, it doesnt seem to be a GPU problem, so the issue is limited to the LCD, backlight and its connectors.... do you have any warranty on the laptop? id talk to whoever made the thing and see if anything can be done.... sure beats digging into there if theres something they can do. __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Nov 14, 2008, 10:01 AM	Thread Starter #5
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black I don't think they exist anymore...

Nov 14, 2008, 01:31 PM	#6
GigaWatt Now In Color :D Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Macedonia, Skopje Posts: 2,116 Rep Power: 81 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black well, i'm not an expert in notebooks, but it could just be some faulty wiring... it could be that something just is not connected the right way or the connection is being disrupted from time to time... __________________ It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...

Nov 15, 2008, 10:09 AM	Thread Starter #7
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black I reinstalled the drivers with Catalyst Control Center installed and it worked fine. Didn't even have to bother with installing .NET since we didn't need CCC to run anyway... but whatever. Has anyone else noticed the drivers seem... bad without CCC installed? (I tried reinstalling without the CCC and the problem came back. I think it did it during startup because it was trying to display a refresh rate it couldn't handle for the windows startup screen, too...)

Nov 18, 2008, 08:38 PM	Thread Starter #8
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black Well, that only lasted 2 days... It's back again. Still need help with this, please!

Nov 19, 2008, 02:29 AM	#9
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black all i can think of is to get a screwdriver and start digging around! good luck __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Nov 20, 2008, 10:17 AM	#10
kn00tcn DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Toronto Posts: 649 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Screen goes Black can you make a video? it does seem to be something with the panel what happens if you set the close lid option to 'turn off monitor' instead of standby? __________________ http://www.kn00tcn.net/site/ati-catalyst-profiles/ http://www.kn00tcn.net/FPSLimiter.rar