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Just now my T60 screen got "black" (so no display). On my second monitor: no problems so the VGA output works.

Symptom: Screen blanks / no display, but it works on the second monitor

Steps to reproduce: - boot - wait (it does not matter what you do you do not have to login or anything) - (now the monitor of the laptop slowly begins to make a ssssssssHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHWOEOEssssssss noise of about 10 seconds) - right after the sounds ends, the monitor gets black. Sometimes it seems to be the same each time.

Software: Installed no new software before/after, running ZoneAlarm and antivirus.

Other: It does not feel hot in any place, there don't seem to be running processes with strange behaviour.

Warranty: Out of warranty

What was I doing: Typing text on a website and doing some PHP coding in a text editor.

What can I do here other than buy a new laptop? Does it sound familiar to known cases?

Update 1:

Hmmm... not handy 3 or 4 months ago I ordered and installed a new fan. Now the LCD. Which does not seem the core issue but some electric issue so it seems replacing the LCD is not the thing to do here.

If it is not the LCD that needs to be replaced (see other threads), which parts can I order to fix this? Is there any information which could lead me to identify the issue? I have read replacing the "inverter" AND the "backlightning" would that make sense?

Update 2:

I replaced the inverter with another inverter, but IO have the same problem. I DID notice that the inverter is the component that makes the sssssssssssssHHHHHHHHHH sound AND it becomes very hot in a few seconds. (So both the old and the test one) The problem is hmmm wat is then the thing that makes the inverter hot by (assumption) after which it shuts itself down. Is it either the input or the output? The output seems to me not, because the screen seems to function so it must be the electricity coming in. But what causes it to become so hot would it be the VGA card outputting some unusual high voltage seems unlikely?

I am looking for the component to order / replace

update 3:

Great news. Ewendish gave me the hint to look in the BIOS. While I was in the BIOS I noticed that the screen did not switch off and there was not a high pitched sound. So I lowered some settings in the BIOS. I then noticed that with brightness turned to 0 (via FN End), it does not make a high pitched sound and does not turn off, with brightness turned up just three "stripes" it starts making the sound. So I could from now on work under lowest brightness modus or... see where the problem lies. So as stated below with either power management or display drivers / ATI Catalyst settings / Windows display settings. I'm trying to see where it lies, but I will google some first.

Update 4:

I wiped clean the Windows XP installation and installed Windows 7 on it. Unfortunately the problem remains: as soon as the brightness goes up the screen starts hissing.

This means... back to original thought: it probably IS a hardware problem. Although ... again... if it is NOT the inverter, what is it? Could it be the backlightning component? I could try to switch that with a another T60... but this is quite tricky.

5 Answers 5

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If it is not the LCD, then it most likely is the inverter, which would also make noise when it fries

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  • Well... I have some other T60's laying around let's see if I can manage download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/… (page 103) to fiddle in an inverter of another T60 to see if this works.
    – edelwater
    Jan 16, 2011 at 21:06
  • Care to add something to explain what he should do next or how to troubleshoot it? Even if it's returning it to the vendor
    – Ivo Flipse
    Jan 16, 2011 at 21:29
  • @squircle @ivo-flipse: dus..... I replaced the inverter with another one but... unfortunately the same problem: I noticed that the Shhh sound is caused by the inverter (the new one makes the same sound) AND that the inverter gets unusually hot unfortunately uhm,.. WHAT makes the inverter hot/shhhhíng ?
    – edelwater
    Jan 20, 2011 at 18:50
  • 1
    @Edward A faulty power management configuration and/or power management drivers can cause this sound. I've found that this definitely happens on Linux systems on the T61, but can be minimized through kernel options. I'm not aware of anyone killing their inverter through this, but I wouldn't be surprised.
    – ewindisch
    Jan 20, 2011 at 19:44
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    @ewindisch : thanks! you brought me the idea to go to the BIOS settings. I noticed that the screen did not switch off in BIOS AND did not make a high pitched sound (!) So I turned performance to medium and the laptop showed its screen. However when I turn up the brightness it starts making the high pitch sound, when I lower the brightness to zero the sounds is not there. Interesting.
    – edelwater
    Jan 20, 2011 at 20:24
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If the symptom does not occur for a long time when you are in the bios then it is not a hardware failure (such as for example an electrical short on the output side of the inverter overloading the inverter).
-- Have you tried re-flashing the bios with a bios update from Lenovo? -- Try booting from a live Linux CD instead of the regular hard drive. That will narrow down the possibilities and eliminate any Windows corruption as a possible cause. Good luck.

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I did notice that this doesn't happen when running on battery. When attaching AC the noise occurs instantly and the display back light switches off finally.

Suspending the System helps to enable the light again.

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I firstly disabled all display adapters in device manager, then downloaded the latest display adapter chipset for my laptop directly from Intel (which was newer than the laptops driver updates site). I used my phone to download then usb to laptop. Installed that, then turned down display brightness on windows power management (to lowest) just in case. Now I have it turned up to the usual brightness or just a bit under and my laptop is fixed! It had been in storage for months, I thought it needed a new part but it didn't. Good to have it back!

Good luck.

(I had the same problem - high pitch noise then screen turned black).

This seems to be a driver issue, simple as that is!

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It definitely is a hardware issue!

Had the same symptoms on a T60 and solved the issue by replacing the CCFL (that tiny, fragile light tube along the bottom of the screen). I kept the original inverter. The CCFL was taken from an even older T43 with exactly the same screen size.

This requires dissembling the LCD, which is a tricky process, but cheap if the replacement part comes free.

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