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Dell white screen of death?

Discussion in 'Mobile Computing' started by grc1, Aug 18, 2008.

  1. grc1 Newcomer, in training Posts: 16

    Hi,
    I have a dell x200 . The lcd has suddenly gone all white.
    So far I have done the following.
    Checked the conections.
    Changed the lcd.
    Removed the lcd.
    Put in a new (spare) lcd

    Now with an external monitor I get an all black screen that shuts off after about two seconds. In the time of those two seconds I can clearly see a flashing prompt ( - ).
    The screen seems to shut off as the laptop starts to read the cmos.

    I have disasembled the entire laptop and still no change.
    I have frozen the video chips with cool spray and still no change.

    It apears to me that I have a corrupt bios or cmos but I cannot try to correct it because I can't see the d*m screen. Oh , I almost forgot, I just finished re installing winxp when all this happened. The laptop apears to run normally exept no video.

    I would apresiate any constructive thoughts on this problem.
  2. grc1 Newcomer, in training Posts: 16

    I have also removed and repaced every single removable part . ie ram,harddrive,modem,ect
  3. mscrx Newcomer, in training Posts: 829

    is it possible to attach an external screen and see if it shows more?
    does the white screen appear right after you switch the laptop on or when it starts loading windows? did you try to boot from an alternatifve os or pe?
  4. grc1 Newcomer, in training Posts: 16

    Hi,
    The screen turns white immeditly upon startup, just white and nothing else.No bios load or anything
    When using an external monitor the screen is black. The black screen will stay on for about 3 seconds and I can see a prompt (-). The screen then shuts off.
    The external monitor shuts off before the laptop loads the bios or cmos.
  5. mscrx Newcomer, in training Posts: 829

    sounds like a dead video chip. can you change the display mode (fn+f8)?
  6. grc1 Newcomer, in training Posts: 16

    Hi, well I tryed the fn-f8 comand and no change.on either lcd or standard monitor.Everything else seems to be working fine. The keyboard works, all of the drives work and you can even hear the hard drive.

    I think it may be time to find a new motherboard.
    Thank you for your help.
     
  7. 1979roadkill Newcomer, in training

    just my exp

    your laptop videocard is malfunctioning or dead
    or it can be because of PSU failure... check by changing the laptop power adapter...if still problem psu is not either giving enough power to hardware like videocard or ram...
    change the RAM it can be cuz of ram aswell.

    remove hard drive/ remove ram/ remove dvd/cd and then power it on.. if still no bios screen then ur mother board is problem...

    in some cases if ur laptop heatsink is not ventilated then at the end of the day ur processor dies of over heating n can cauz this symtoms....

    check for ur self from these angles may be they are of any help to you...
    good luck
  8. grc1 Newcomer, in training Posts: 16

    Found the problem

    Well, with the help from a pro tecky, it has been determined that the problem is the video chip. The video chips are actuly quite cheap but installation it very expensive. So I think this motherboard will be put in the scap parts shelf.

    Thank you to all who have helped me with this pain in the *ss motherboard.