# Half working LCD laptop screen



## Aroes (May 13, 2009)

Almost half of my Toshiba Satellite P105-S6104's screen is so called "dead". What so special about that? Well here's a short description of my problem: The screen shows different colored lines of different widths on a big portion of the right of my screen. What puzzles me most though is that at regular intervals that portion returns to an about normal state (just a little blurry) and i just make out what should be underneath those lines. Shortly after it returns to it's unfunctionnal state. My extensive :tongue: research shows that the lines are quite a common problem to which most people's reassuring :upset: :laugh: solution was to replace the screen allthough I did not see anywhere where it said the screen returned to an almost normal state at regular intervals...This happened overnight while I left my computer on at the boot selection screen, where i had the choice to boot ubuntu or windows xp. My computer did not suffer of any physical shock as far as I know... Bottom line: do i have a hardware or software problem? Should I replace my screen, take it to a professional, or should i get a new computer to save time and maybe even money?
Thanks in advance!

Ps:I already tried updating the driver for my display which is by the way a plug and play monitor and i'm too lazy to write what the display adapter for it is. I'll write it if you need it though...


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Boot into BIOS Setup and see if screen shows the same problem. Also try with an external monitor.

Post back what you find out.


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## Aroes (May 13, 2009)

Well booting into BIOS did not solve anything, but after connecting a second monitor (I never realized it was that much fun having two monitors) I got definitive results. The monitor I plugged in works perfectly, however I was not able to use it as my primary monitor for some reason, which leaves a tiny bit of room for doubt over whether this test was conclusive, but I think we can safely conclude this is a hardware problem; am I right? However, i'd like to know if anyone has a theory on why the screen would return to an about normal state at regular (i haven't timed them, but it seems like they are about regular) intervals. And finaly, what do you recommend I do?


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Booting into BIOS of course WOULD NOT SOLVE anything :grin:. I asked you to do it so you will know if it is Windows related or hardware. So I guess you do not have the problems if you just go into BIOS setup (problem only shows up when in Windows).

I suggest you first update the video drivers. If already done, then try to open up and check connections (video cable). If everything's fine (and drivers updated) then you may suspect the LCD.


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## Aroes (May 13, 2009)

Lol i know it wouldn't solve anything :tongue: . In fact, what I meant was that the problem still showed up while in the BIOS... Sorry if I wasn't clear... Anyway, I tried opening the computer up (as much as I could) and found nothing relevant as far as I could tell. Then again the video cables (if I wasn't mistaken about what they were; i'm not much of a hardware guy...) were pretty much inaccessible and all I could do was look at them from the top. They didn't seem damaged and the only reason I think they could have been is overheating, because it was very hot where I used to live, but it's been a long time since my computer hasn't shut down from overheating. I have the latest versions of the video drivers as well. Also, the same problem shows up in Ubuntu, although if I recall correctly, the broken portion of the screen behaves differently. The reason that isn't extremely conclusive either is that I installed Ubuntu on Windows with Wubi.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

I suggest you replace the LCD first.


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## Aroes (May 13, 2009)

Hmmm... Well I suppose that's all you can help me...
So Thanks!


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