| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
dansut
Starting Member
USA
10 Posts |
 Posted - 06/04/2006 : 18:03:33
|
OK this is a weird one.
After a number of years happy use of my P2120 (read the case was absolutely trashed) the cat decided to push a large 3D metal @ sign off a shelf and onto its screen (no joke) causing a good healthy crack; although it still worked and initially wasn't too bad it eventually became worse and annoying to use ...
Luckily for me I had previously acquired the remains of a P2110 that someone was selling on here with an alledgedy fried MB - the screen, keyboard and case on this were absolutely mint. I actually only wanted the power jack sub-board and intended to strip and sell the rest of the useful parts here but on seeing the condition I knew I would eventually switch my internals into this.
To cut a long story short everything seems to work fine except there is something very weird going on with the display. What I am seeing is a screen blink that gets worse the longer I have the screen on - and the higher the brightness the faster the blink (almost a flicker at high brightness) and faster it happens - with brightness above 3 notches on the OSD it happens almost instantly. Over time the blink gets worse (faster) until the screen shuts itself off. Hitting the lid shut switch will re-initialize the sequence but the longer the laptop has been on the faster it will degrade to being unusable again. It looks to me like it is the backlight that is going off rather than a display glitch - but I might be wrong about that.
Other facts:
- I replaced the 2110 lid complete (have not even opened it).
- Video Driver or screen resolution changes do nothing to change this - it even happens on the BIOS setup screen.
- I have yet to open up again and reseat the connectors - it seems unlikely to me these could be the problem, but I could be wrong.
- Even at low brightness notches the display seems much brighter than it was previously, this might be my dodgy memory.
I know the P2110 uses the Rage chip vs the Radeon in my P2120 so maybe there's an incompatibility there; or maybe there's something in the inverter that is incompatible - I could at least swap the inverter, although having opened the lid on my wrecked P2120 I am not wild about doing this to this almost perfect P2110 lid.
Any advice, experience, or thoughts are welcome so I can decide what my next move will be.
Cheers
/dan |
Edited by - dansut on 06/04/2006 19:54:28 |
|
|
NigelS
Senior Member Member
Canada
1339 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2006 : 19:57:03
|
| What a brave and ambitious gamble to take - very entertaining report, actually. I have no expertise here, just forum-related moral support. Also - rather than me speculate about why your screen behaves the way it does, I shall just say you have an excellent grasp of the issues at hand. An electrical expert in the forum audience hopefully may be able to offer a path to repair or a workaround. However - I have to ask, did it cross your mind to just replace the Samsung internal display with a new one? (Rather than go the Parts route?) |
 |
|
|
dansut
Starting Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2006 : 10:01:25
|
Thanks for the moral support Nigel 
I've not really thought about buying a "new" screen - the panel is the same spec for the P2110 and P2120 AFAIK and this one seems almost to work perfectly  in fact I'm using it now. If there is something different in the actual panel, and someone knows this, then I'd appreciate the info being posted. I have a feeling that if there is a diference then it is something in the other circuitry in the lid - which is one of the reasons I think this is a backlight problem.
More info:
Temperature seems to definitely have an effect - last night in my hot office after the laptop had been on all day, it was virtually unusable; this morning after being turned off through the night I have no blinking, even at higher brightness notches. If I was an optimist I might say it's fixed but I know nothing has changed and I'm sure the blink will be back. :(
When the blink was really bad last night it was even blinking on the lowest brightness setting - the screen was going dark for longer periods of blink, so long that I could see in the dark periods that the display image was still there it was just almost black however this darkness was complete at the left edge (aerial side) of the screen fading to barely visible right side.
I'll update as I find more info - as always any support is welcome. |
|
|
|
dansut
Starting Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2006 : 10:36:22
|
It's definitely not fixed  and I'm still going with the heat theory ... used in a cool environment it seems to last much longer before the blinking starts. |
|
|
|
dansut
Starting Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2006 : 17:01:54
|
Still getting this problem but now have more info:
Running off the battery the problem seems to be much less prominent - occasionally non-existent. However as soon as I plug the power plug in the screen flickers itself to off very quickly at anything above the first brightness notch. I think this provides more evidence that a faulty or incompatible inverter is at fault - I'd love it if someone electronically knowledgable could confirm or deny the correctness of direction of me thinking as I'm really no hardware guru.
I probably should just bite the bullet and open up the P2110 lid but I can't yet bring myself to butcher such a spotless item. I have the inverter out of my broken P2120 lid and am wondering if anyone with a P2110 in parts could check the part#s on theirs? The visible P (which is a P2110) site shows me the screen is the same part# only differences on label are 0224 -> 0245 and 2TF0181706 -> 2TJ0181302 (VisualP -> Mine) which to me looks like the serial# - again confirmation appreciated. My P2120 inverter has the following code#s etched on it: SP-23, PH-BLC102A, N263952, 1C02522-06, CP146521-01. And printed on it BK0801A.
As always, ANY kind of help or support is appreciated.
|
|
|
|
dansut
Starting Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2006 : 20:52:52
|
It's Fixed!
I, at last, decided to crack open the lid - it's not easy but it is much easier if you have one already in bits right next to the one you are disassembling. As soon as I had it open there was plenty of evidence that the inverter indeed was at fault - but perhaps not because it was incompatible - the top (low voltage) end of the board and surrounding was covered in a corrosive dusty layer. Not a great picture but here goes:
I don't know what happened but I know what fixed it. I replaced the inverter with the one from my broken screens lid and now have no issues. I am very happy  hope this tale helps someone else in the future. |
Edited by - dansut on 07/10/2006 20:54:04 |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Topic Locked
