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Yeah, i know, there seem to be a lot of laptop LCD not working threads, not one of them could shine any light on my particular problem..

I own a Dell Inspiron 2600 Laptop. And up until the other day, it was working fine, then i notcied after i restarted it one day after a windows update, the LCD came back as solid white at POST (before the OS loads). i thought that was kinda odd, so i waited a little while to see if it would come back after XP loaded, and it didn't. I hooked up an external LCD monitor to it and that has a great output with no problems. i tore down the laptop and removed the video card and reseated it, to no avail. i was able to get video while in safe mode, once or twice but now i get all white all the time. i also tried reinstalling XP. no luck...

I'm wondering if maybe its a video card? i even looked at the ribbon cable that feeds the LCD from the main board at the hinge to see if maybe it were worn out or cracked, no dice...

any thoughts?
J

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Dani AI

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Short summary and likely direction: because the fault shows before Windows and an external display can be driven, a driver fix is unlikely (as suggested). The failure chain to focus on is the LCD assembly and its wiring: backlight/inverter, the LVDS ribbon and connectors, the display timing (T-CON) on the panel, and finally the video interface on the mainboard.

Practical, ordered checks to isolate the faulty part:

  • With power on, use a bright flashlight at an angle to look for a faint image. A faint image with no backlight points to inverter/backlight; a uniformly bright white image usually means the panel is powered but not receiving video/timing.
  • While powered, gently move the lid/hinge and press around the LVDS cable routing. Intermittent change = cable damage at the hinge.
  • Power down, remove battery/AC, then carefully unplug and re-seat the flat ribbon at both the panel and the motherboard. Inspect connectors and cable for frays, kinks, or pin damage.
  • If comfortable with basic multimeter work, verify the panel power rails (typical logic rail ~3.3V and inverter supply ~11–12V) are present at the connector. Do not probe inverter outputs.

What failures usually mean and next steps: a wiggling symptom or visible cable damage -> replace the LVDS cable. Proper power present but no image -> panel T‑CON or panel failure; replacing the LCD assembly is often the cheapest fix for older Inspirons. A faint image -> inverter or CCFL backlight issue. If measurement or part swaps are not possible, photo the connector and panel sticker, note the part number, and either source a replacement panel or get a shop to confirm.

Safety and workflow notes: always remove power and battery before unplugging connectors, avoid touching panel glass or inverter outputs, and document connector orientation with photos during teardown. Mention — start with the hinge/cable and panel power checks before investing in a full panel replacement.

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Member Avatar for DenisOxon

Sounds like driver for screen has been lost. Try looking at control panel, system, device manager and see what drivers are in place for monitor.

Member Avatar for ProjectXBOX

yeah, i had though about that, but the LCD is white even before the OS loads... so it's go tto be a hardware issue... i have reinstalled all the dirvers on a fresh XP installation... no luck....

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