IBM T40 backlighting on the blink...

Went to power up my T40 this evening.

It only lights up for a second, enough time to see the full screen IBM
Thinkpad logo on the LCD, and then goes dark.
After that if I get the room lighting just right I can dimly see text on
the screen but it is like being in a coal mine without a light.

I tried reseating the cable from the LCD to the motherboard but no change.
Could this be an inverter card failure?

There was no warning that this failure was coming on.. Before today the
back lighting was fine.

Steve

Somewhere on teh intarwebs Steve Stone wrote:
> Went to power up my T40 this evening.
>
> It only lights up for a second, enough time to see the full screen IBM
> Thinkpad logo on the LCD, and then goes dark.
> After that if I get the room lighting just right I can dimly see text
> on the screen but it is like being in a coal mine without a light.
>
> I tried reseating the cable from the LCD to the motherboard but no
> change. Could this be an inverter card failure?
>
> There was no warning that this failure was coming on.. Before today
> the back lighting was fine.

Hi Steve. It'll either be the inverter or the CCFL (backlight) itself.
Depending on the price of a replacement inverter you could buy one first and
try that. Depending on the spec of your T40 and any attachment you may have
to it, it may or may not be worth getting the CCFL replaced either
professionally or, if you're very handy, having a stab at it yourself.
(Google CCFL replacement.) If your display is a 'FlexView' it would be worth
replacing the backlight IMO (if that's the problem) as they're superior
displays. I'd hate to have to go back to a TN (standard) LCD myself,
FlexView's rock!

Good luck,
--
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.