Member Avatar for kevinwdw

Ok, I have encountered two issues. About two months ago, my laptop suddenly wouldn't start up as usual. I thought it would be the power adapter, so I powered up with the battery and still no luck. So could this be the internal battery? It would power up sometimes not everytime.

Second issue is just yesterday I managed to power my laptop and now the screen is dark. I have to shine a lamp over my screen to type this message. I take very well of my laptop of 6 years and these problems are happening just recently.

Please help me,

Kevin

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Dani AI

Generated

Kevin described two separate symptoms that can be related or independent: intermittent power and a very dim display. The fastest way to decide whether to repair or replace parts is to run a short set of low-risk tests that isolate the failing subsystem.

Start with power checks (do these before opening the case):

  1. Remove the battery and try AC only. Then remove AC and try battery only. Note any LEDs, fan spin, or drive activity.
  2. If available, try a known-good, compatible adapter. If not, check the adapter label for voltage and measure its output with a multimeter (DC volts, center pin vs outer sleeve).
  3. With both battery and AC removed, hold the power button 20–30 seconds to discharge residual power, then try AC-only again.
  4. Look and feel at the DC jack: wobble, heat, or a burned smell point to a bad jack or connector.

Display checks next:

  1. Connect an external monitor (VGA/HDMI). If the external shows a normal image, the logic/GPU is fine and the problem is in the lid assembly (backlight/inverter or panel).
  2. Shine a strong flashlight across the dark screen while the system is on. If you can faintly see the desktop or BIOS text, the LCD is receiving image data but the backlight is dead (inverter or CCFL/LED backlights).
  3. If the external monitor is also blank, suspect power-rail, GPU, or mainboard failure.

Safety and next steps:

  • Visual inspection (with power off and battery removed) for bulging/leaking capacitors or a loose DC jack can be revealing.
  • Backlight/inverter repairs involve high voltages; leave CCFL inverter work to a competent technician if unsure.
  • Back up important data now if you can get the machine to boot; intermittent power risks disk corruption.

As and pointed toward power and display faults, follow the order above to pinpoint which part to replace (adapter/DC jack, inverter/backlight, or motherboard). If diagnostics point to the mainboard, weigh repair cost vs replacing the laptop given its age.

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Member Avatar for starfireone

Sounds more like a short in the mother board or power supply. I doubt if a new battery would help you out. If it is doing the same thing with the AC adapter plugged into it.

Member Avatar for cguan_77

could be the power circuit in your mother board not functioning properly...and regarding screen very dark..it could be your LCD panel is failing...

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