Patchy intermission of service
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Cottage tales | 6 commentsFor the last few weeks my laptop has gradually been developing cataracts. It has been difficult to write and publish my articles. The problem started with a display that flickered intermittently, then long spells with a black screen and a very faint image of what I should see when I touched the lid switch.
Last night it moved from sick to critical. A black screen with a faint unreadable display. As this is the engine that drives the blog writing, there can be no posts or answers to comments until the laptop opens its eyes again,
I’m now trying to fix the problem myself with the help of Danny’s set of computer repair tools and loads of advice from forums.
I am writing this on Danny’s company laptop which he needs access to 24/7. Hopefully the Cottage Smallholder site will be up and running again very soon.
Just in case somebody might have the answer, my laptop is a HP dv1000. The Internet has provided many potential solutions but it will take time to try them all.
If you have a laptop like mine, have experienced this problem and fixed it yourself, please let me know how you did it. I can still receive email on my mobile phone.
Leave a reply
I’m glad it’s “only” a computer issue causing problems. I’m afraid I have no advice whatsoever to offer as I – such a practical, I can fix anything kind of person usually – go weak and pathetic when it comes to computers and have to go begging for help in a useless girly way that actually makes me ashamed. Perhaps I should go on one of those how to fix your computer courses that are always being advertised. But none of this helps you, so I’m going for a bit of a giggle to lift your spirits and sending my moral support for a speedy resumption of service.
I thought I had a major technical failure today when the screen went black – dead… completely dead. Fault tracked to a cable which had been pushed out of it’s socket by a ‘studio assistant’ (rather large ginger feline) exploring under the desk!
Hope you get things fixed soon
Celia
x
My lap top screen goes every so often. I dont know the make as I am at work at the mo! but it goes green then black. It is something to do with being opened and then shut again. so the cable or something needs replacing in the back. Hope it is something you can fix!
Sounds like it might be a couple of things, if past experience (Dell and Toshiba, not HP…). Most obvious is a loose connection between the monitor and motherboard. Fixing this requires removing lots of small screws with a jeweler’s screwdriver, remembering where they go, and then checking the connections at both ends of the video cable. Another (less favourable) option is that the inverter board for your screen is on the blink. Try borrowing an external LCD or CRT and hooking up the laptop to this. If it is a problem with the inverter board, the external screen should display no problems. If not, it’s something more serious and I have no idea what!
Hope this helps.
Sympathy and empathy are all I can offer I have no technical knowledge but as a blog writer myself I know just how you must be feeling it is a real pain when the technology lets you down…
Do you have another monitor that you can plug in to the lap top? That will give you a clear idea of whether it is just your screen that is the problem. (I did have a screen replaced on a Toshiba by a local repair shop for around £175, much less than a Toshiba recommended repairer quoted!!)