Continue to Site

Welcome to our site!

Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

  • Welcome to our site! Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

Output VGA from Laptop with a broken screen

Status
Not open for further replies.

spitso

Member
I have a laptop (acer extensa 5220) which its screen dose not work, so ive been outputing its display to an external monitor via vga. The problem is it was discconected by my brother and now i believe it has gone back to outputting to the computer lcd display.

The problem is i dont know how to switch it back to output via vga????
1. As i said i cannot see the computers LCD display so i cant see what the computers doing.
2.I downgraded from vista to XP and have lost the use of the "fn" (function) key, so i cannot use the toggle output shortcut key.

i would like to keep using this computer and not just use its hdd as an external.

Any ideas?
 
The FN key is often independent of the OS.

Are you sure the toggle function isn't working for internal/external screen ?
 
I recently had a screen fail on a laptop, the problem was with the backlight, the image was still there on the screen but very dark.

To get the thing set up to an external monitor so that I could copy the important stuff off the disc to another computer, I illuminated the screen from the front with a bright torch.
It was a bit of a struggle, I could only see a bit of the screen at any one time but I managed to do it ok and eventually got the external monitor running so I could copy off my data.

So, if your problem is the backlight, try that, but if there is just no drive to the screen sorry I have no ideas.

JimB
 
The FN key is often independent of the OS.
Are you sure the toggle function isn't working for internal/external screen ?


Didnt know that, but yes i've tried many times and many different keystroke combinations (even when the screen was working) and the fn key did not work.
Could only output via vga through control panel.




Many times the ribbon cable gets broken. Here is a place that I have used for parts before: https://www.pchub.com/uph/default.aspx

I recently had a screen fail on a laptop, the problem was with the backlight, the image was still there on the screen but very dark.

To get the thing set up to an external monitor so that I could copy the important stuff off the disc to another computer, I illuminated the screen from the front with a bright torch.
It was a bit of a struggle, I could only see a bit of the screen at any one time but I managed to do it ok and eventually got the external monitor running so I could copy off my data.

So, if your problem is the backlight, try that, but if there is just no drive to the screen sorry I have no ideas.

JimB


Ive checked the ribbon cable with a meter and have repaired any wires which were broken. Great website though.
Ive just bought an inverter for the pc because im fairly sure the inverters broken.
But does the inverter play any part of actually displaying stuff onto the screen? or does it just provide a backlight

Ive even seperated the LCD and placed a backlight behind it with no prevail
 
You basically can't put a backlight easily behind the screen.

The image should be really dark if the backlight failed and my really dark nearly invisible. A light on the front of the screen will help, but make sure the brightness is up all the way. The screen should be very faintlly visible when you look at it at a sharp angle.

The inverter provides a high voltage DC to a tiny florescent tube. Newer models are using LED backlights.

Since you found a broken ribbon cable, I'd try to replace it if they have one.

LCD's have a transmission mode and a reflection mode. The screens use more of a transmission mode.
 
Ive tested every wire in the ribbon cable and all test fine.

ive been using torchs (bulb and white LED) on all angles of the LCD (even stuck a white piece of paper behind the LCD and illuminated it trying to "project" something) and cannot see any noticeable change at all.
Do you believe without a working inverter it would be EXTREMELY difficult to see the display?
hopefully this replacement inverter fixes this *fingers crossed*
 
I suspect that if you cannot see anything dim in the display then:
1. The brightness isn't high enough
2. Something else is wrong.

In a laptop that I have with likely a bad tube. you can see the screen very faintly. I THINK a darkened room with a pinpoint light source works the best. Flashlight, high intensity light.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest threads

New Articles From Microcontroller Tips

Back
Top