Laptop backlight power cable frayed. Is it possible to repair?

[MaxIBoy]

It happens whenever this laptop (a six or seven month old Toshiba Satellite) is jostled, or these days, completely at random. What happens is that the backlight shuts off, and doesn't turn on until both of these criteria are met:

The screen has been turned off, allowed to rest, and turned on again
It gets tired of this game.

Shutting the laptop and opening sometimes works. Ctrl-alt-backspace sometimes works. Full restarts sometimes work. More often then not, it's some combination of three or four of these in a row, combined with subtly changing the position of the hinge, until it works.


So far, it's still usable, but it's very annoying.



I know it's the backlight because, if the lighting is perfect, it's still possible to see sort of what was on the screen (but forget the possibility of actually reading anything.)

I know it's a hardware problem because it's happened at the BIOS screen before.

I have (probably) voided my warranty by installing Ubuntu.



What are my options as far as repairing it goes? I came up with the idea of attaching the backlight to a USB cable and powering it off a USB port, but someone told me USB wouldn't have enough voltage. I don't have a firewire port, just an i.link.

I want to avoid taking a soldering iron to the motherbord if even remotely possible.

[tgalati4]

If it's a fluorescent backlight then it runs at ~70 volts, so shorting it can cause other problems. If it's an LED backlight, then it requires high current--so it will be a heavy conductor. Either way, repair is tricky because whatever caused it to fail (design problem) won't be fixed, so expect it to fail again in another year.

Is this unit not under warranty? Perhaps there is a recall? Have you done a google search on your exact model to see if this is a widespread problem?

[aeiah]

read your warranty. i really doubt you've voided it by installing ubuntu. if so, just restore it to windows or wipe the hard drive before sending it back. you should be covered if its only that old.

[MaxIBoy]

Update on the problem: It may not be the cable, it's possible that the plastic screen cover isn't pushing down on the screen and holding the assembly together enough. Pushing it down and then turning the screen on and off seems to work 100% of the time.

I've done some Googling, and actually it's fairly common to void a warranty by reformatting.

I'm also worried about sending my laptop off to Toshiba, having them reformat and install Vista without fixing the actual problem, and then charge me for the copy of Vista.

Vista does not ship with recovery CDs, if you lose it they want you to buy another copy.

Finally, there's a chip on the corner of the laptop. The screen glitch predates this chip, but since it's there, the warranty might be void.




I will dig out the terms of the warranty when I get home.

[markp1989]

I had a similar problem on one of my old laptops, there was a lose connection on the inverter board , because mine was out of warranty i just opened up and pushed the connector in.

because its a hardware fault you should still be able to get the warranty to replace, it, if they argue, just be demanding till you get what you want

[MaxIBoy]

All right, I'll just dust off my Bash/Python scripting skills and write an automatic reply-to-computer-generated-form-letter program. I love writing those.


Before I send it off, I'll back everything up, just in case.

[jpittack]

Send in your computer without the hard drive. They don't need it to check a screen. When I sent mine in, I keep the cd drive, hard drive and battery because they wanted to save on shipping costs.

[MaxIBoy]

I just hope they don't ship it right back and say, "There's your problem, you don't have a hard drive."

Besides which, don't you void the warranty by opening it up to remove the hard drive?

[MaxIBoy]

All right, here is my warranty and coverage info:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_outFrm.jsp?ct=CF&Center=EntitlementLookup&BV_SessionID=@@@@0677116722.1224108156@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccgadefgmjflddcgfkceghdgngdgnj.0
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/pdf_files/stdwar/gma500666010_web.pdf
Found it by plugging my part number and serial number into Toshiba's website from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop.


My coverage info suggests that the screen and screen bezel are covered as part of the warranty.


Trom the looks of the warranty, they reserve the right to reformat your stuff while repairing your computer. That chip off the side of the computer will not be repaired by the terms of the warranty, but I don't care about that. However, they could use that chip as an excuse to claim that the laptop has been "abused" and therefore is not covered. I'll have to ask their tech support about that.


Another problem is that the warranty does not cover "Damage caused by use of the Product outside the usage or storage parameters set forth in the Product User’s Guide." Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, the User's Guide is basically a simple manual for how to use Windows Vista. I haven't followed that guide for many months now.


EDIT: Here's the online manual for my laptop:
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com//content/support/manuals/userguides/su1976824/SatA200_GMAD00173010_08Feb15.pdf



I have to say that the layout of Toshiba's website is one of the best I've ever seen from a large computer manufacturer.

[1875]

All right, here is my warranty and coverage info:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_outFrm.jsp?ct=CF&Center=EntitlementLookup&BV_SessionID=@@@@0677116722.1224108156@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccgadefgmjflddcgfkceghdgngdgnj.0
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/pdf_files/stdwar/gma500666010_web.pdf
Found it by plugging my part number and serial number into Toshiba's website from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop.


My coverage info suggests that the screen and screen bezel are covered as part of the warranty.


Trom the looks of the warranty, they reserve the right to reformat your stuff while repairing your computer. That chip off the side of the computer will not be repaired by the terms of the warranty, but I don't care about that. However, they could use that chip as an excuse to claim that the laptop has been "abused" and therefore is not covered. I'll have to ask their tech support about that.


Another problem is that the warranty does not cover "Damage caused by use of the Product outside the usage or storage parameters set forth in the Product User’s Guide." Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, the User's Guide is basically a simple manual for how to use Windows Vista. I haven't followed that guide for many months now.


EDIT: Here's the online manual for my laptop:
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com//content/support/manuals/userguides/su1976824/SatA200_GMAD00173010_08Feb15.pdf



I have to say that the layout of Toshiba's website is one of the best I've ever seen from a large computer manufacturer.

They have no way of knowing how you have used and stored your system. Just send it back and keep hasseling them until you get a repair done.

[MaxIBoy]

Problem is, I need this for school... oh well, I'd better start making those backup DVDs.