Re: Acer Aspire 5630 Laptop screen/display problem

Pete Zahut wrote:
> Got the above laptop and it's just developed a problem with the
> screen/display - there's a 65mm column at the right-hand side of the display
> that's gone dark. Applications open up properly and you can see the whole
> width of the app, but it doesn't go the whole width of the screen - sort of
> full display but not full screen if you see what I mean. Also, don't know if
> it's relevant or not but the taskbar at the bottom seems to be twice as tall
> as normal and isn't drag-able back to it's usual size - cursor also distorts
> in this area.
>
> I'm not explaining it very well, so have a look at this photo:
>
> http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q...nt=laptop1.jpg
>
> At first I thought it may be a display driver issue but I've uninstalled and
> reinstalled without success. I've also used a program called #1-TuffTest Pro
> (http://www.tufftest.com/ttp01.htm) that is self-booting, operating system
> independent and never goes anywhere near Windows, but shows the same
> results, so I would say that that rules out any Windows driver issues.
> Picture of that test here:
>
> http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q...nt=laptop2.jpg
>
> Any ideas what's wrong and how to fix it?
>
> TIA,
>
> Pete

Have you done a graphics driver update recently ?

It looks like a mismatch, between the actual LCD panel,
and what the software thinks it is driving.

Paul

"Pete Zahut" <dont@bother> wrote in message
news:9qidnbzMK-...
> Paul wrote:
>> Pete Zahut wrote:
>>> Got the above laptop and it's just developed a problem with the
>>> screen/display - there's a 65mm column at the right-hand side of the
>>> display that's gone dark. Applications open up properly and you can
>>> see the whole width of the app, but it doesn't go the whole width of
>>> the screen - sort of full display but not full screen if you see
>>> what I mean. Also, don't know if it's relevant or not but the
>>> taskbar at the bottom seems to be twice as tall as normal and isn't
>>> drag-able back to it's usual size - cursor also distorts in this
>>> area. I'm not explaining it very well, so have a look at this photo:
>>>
>>> http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q...nt=laptop1.jpg
>>>
>>> At first I thought it may be a display driver issue but I've
>>> uninstalled and reinstalled without success. I've also used a
>>> program called #1-TuffTest Pro (http://www.tufftest.com/ttp01.htm)
>>> that is self-booting, operating system independent and never goes
>>> anywhere near Windows, but shows the same results, so I would say
>>> that that rules out any Windows driver issues. Picture of that test
>>> here:
>>> http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q...nt=laptop2.jpg
>>>
>>> Any ideas what's wrong and how to fix it?
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Pete
>>
>> Have you done a graphics driver update recently ?
>
> No - uninstalled and reinstalled driver to try to fix the problem, but not
> updated.
>
>> It looks like a mismatch, between the actual LCD panel,
>> and what the software thinks it is driving.
>>
>> Paul
>
> Yeah, I'd agree with you there Paul - except for the fact that I've even
> used the Recovery CD/Partition to restore the laptop to the state it was
> in when it left the factory and the display is still faulty even then.
>


Ok the way to tell if its hardware or software causing the problem is when
the machine starts to boot drop into the BIOS whatever it is for your
laptop, F2 for Dells , Del for some others but anyway whatever it is for
your machine. If the problem is there in when you look in the BIOS its the
LCD panel or Cable or Motherboard port. IF it's not there then it's a
driver/application, error. Of course you could also connect it to an
external monitor and again if its there then its the grapghics card or
motherboard port or software/drivers and if its not there then it's the LCD
or cable

Can you post a screen shot of what the BIOS looks like?

Is there any chance that at some point someone replaced the LCD panel
with a different model?

Pete Zahut wrote:
>
> Thanks Fixer. The problem is still there when looking in the BIOS and even
> when running a Linux LiveCD so it's not a Windows driver issue. The problem
> is *NOT* there when viewing on an external monitor, so thanks to your
> suggestions I'll try a new screen cable first as that's the cheapest )
>
> Thanks mate,
>
> Pete
>
>

Well, I take back what I said about it being a driver issue. It's
clearly a hardware issue. Any chance that it was flashed with the wrong
bios or that someone changed the LCD panel?


Pete Zahut wrote:
> Barry Watzman wrote:
>> Can you post a screen shot of what the BIOS looks like?
>
> Photo of BIOS screen here:
>
> http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q...=lappyBIOS.jpg
>
>> Is there any chance that at some point someone replaced the LCD panel
>> with a different model?
>
> Just asked my niece and she said no, it's never had a replacement LCD panel.
>
> Pete.
>
>> Pete Zahut wrote:
>>> Thanks Fixer. The problem is still there when looking in the BIOS
>>> and even when running a Linux LiveCD so it's not a Windows driver
>>> issue. The problem is *NOT* there when viewing on an external
>>> monitor, so thanks to your suggestions I'll try a new screen cable
>>> first as that's the cheapest ) Thanks mate,
>>>
>>> Pete
>
>

Pete Zahut wrote:
> PS, just flashed BIOS from V2.90 to 3.60 and VGA BIOS from Intel V1264 to
> V1377 - but no different.
>

If you run the monitor info program here, without the external monitor
connected, and with just the internal LCD panel, does it say the
panel is 1280 x 800 ? An EDID might be a way for the laptop
manufacturer, to provide plug and play info about the panel,
its native size and resolutions. Not having an EDID on some
I2C bus, is not the end of the world, and is not a defect.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

This article mentions that the BIOS can declare some info
about the panel, using an ACPI entry. The BIOS passes ACPI tables
to the operating system. You can look in Device Manager, or
alternately, use Everest Free Edition, to dump a text file
with a lot of that stuff.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archiv...ledisplay.mspx

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

I also noticed, when looking at the Intel driver on the
Acer 5630 download page (acer.co.uk), that it has an option
to define the resolution and refresh rate during installation.
Which is a pretty strange option to see. You'd think that
info would be fixed in some other way. Maybe it is for
development purposes or something, or used to override
some default ?

Paul

For christs sake stop trying to reinvent the wheel. The problem has been
solved he has the answer, its the panel or cable he knows what it is stop
confusing the guy




"Barry Watzman" <> wrote in message
news:CCiJl.56835$g%...
> Well, I take back what I said about it being a driver issue. It's clearly
> a hardware issue. Any chance that it was flashed with the wrong bios or
> that someone changed the LCD panel?
>
>
> Pete Zahut wrote:
>> Barry Watzman wrote:
>>> Can you post a screen shot of what the BIOS looks like?
>>
>> Photo of BIOS screen here:
>>
>> http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q...=lappyBIOS.jpg
>>
>>> Is there any chance that at some point someone replaced the LCD panel
>>> with a different model?
>>
>> Just asked my niece and she said no, it's never had a replacement LCD
>> panel.
>>
>> Pete.
>>
>>> Pete Zahut wrote:
>>>> Thanks Fixer. The problem is still there when looking in the BIOS
>>>> and even when running a Linux LiveCD so it's not a Windows driver
>>>> issue. The problem is *NOT* there when viewing on an external
>>>> monitor, so thanks to your suggestions I'll try a new screen cable
>>>> first as that's the cheapest ) Thanks mate,
>>>>
>>>> Pete
>>

Pete Zahut wrote:
> Paul wrote:
>> Pete Zahut wrote:
>>> PS, just flashed BIOS from V2.90 to 3.60 and VGA BIOS from Intel
>>> V1264 to V1377 - but no different.
>>>
>> If you run the monitor info program here, without the external monitor
>> connected, and with just the internal LCD panel, does it say the
>> panel is 1280 x 800 ? An EDID might be a way for the laptop
>> manufacturer, to provide plug and play info about the panel,
>> its native size and resolutions. Not having an EDID on some
>> I2C bus, is not the end of the world, and is not a defect.
>>
>> http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm
>
> Right Paul, we're getting into major stuff that I know nothing about here
> mate )
>
> Having run the moninfo program you mention above, there seems to be varying
> info (mentions Philips, NEC, Microsoft - can't all have manufactured it can
> they?) so I'll apologise now for making this post so long but I thought
> you'd need all the info. Here's a "cut and paste" from that program:
>
<<snip>>

> &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&
>
> LPL0000 (registry)
>
> Monitor
> Windows description...... Plug and Play Monitor
> Manufacturer............. LPL
> Plug and Play ID......... LPL0000
> Data string.............. LGPhilipsLCD LP154W01-TLA1

> Screen size.............. 330 x 210 mm (15.4 in)
> Preferred timing......... Yes
> Native/preferred timing.. 1280x800p at 60Hz
> Modeline............... "1280x800" 71.250 1280 1328 1360 1440 800 802
> 808 823 -hsync -vsync
>
>
> Thanks again for your time mate,
>
> Pete
>

The second entry (LPL0000) looks like the info for
the panel (LGPhilipsLCD LP154W01-TLA1 15.4") and it
looks OK, because it is 1280 x 800. So that doesn't explain
it.

Paul

I don't believe that it is either the cable or the panel (in the sense
that the panel is truly defective).

This is not a case where part of the panel is dark in the sense that
part of the image is missing; rather, this is a case where the entire
image is present but it's not filling the entire screen. That does not
suggest either cable or, in the sense that it's defective, the panel
itself either. Rather, it suggests some kind of configuration or
software (BIOS, DMI or ACPI) configuration problem.

Fixer wrote:
> For christs sake stop trying to reinvent the wheel. The problem has been
> solved he has the answer, its the panel or cable he knows what it is stop
> confusing the guy
>
>
>
>
> "Barry Watzman" <> wrote in message
> news:CCiJl.56835$g%...
>> Well, I take back what I said about it being a driver issue. It's clearly
>> a hardware issue. Any chance that it was flashed with the wrong bios or
>> that someone changed the LCD panel?
>>
>>
>> Pete Zahut wrote:
>>> Barry Watzman wrote:
>>>> Can you post a screen shot of what the BIOS looks like?
>>> Photo of BIOS screen here:
>>>
>>> http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q...=lappyBIOS.jpg
>>>
>>>> Is there any chance that at some point someone replaced the LCD panel
>>>> with a different model?
>>> Just asked my niece and she said no, it's never had a replacement LCD
>>> panel.
>>>
>>> Pete.
>>>
>>>> Pete Zahut wrote:
>>>>> Thanks Fixer. The problem is still there when looking in the BIOS
>>>>> and even when running a Linux LiveCD so it's not a Windows driver
>>>>> issue. The problem is *NOT* there when viewing on an external
>>>>> monitor, so thanks to your suggestions I'll try a new screen cable
>>>>> first as that's the cheapest ) Thanks mate,
>>>>>
>>>>> Pete
>

"Pete Zahut" <dont@bother> wrote in
news:f6ydneNw36CLwmHUnZ2dnUVZ8j-:

> Fixer, I owe you a pint - a œ12GBP secondhand LCD cable from Ebay
> sorted the problem. Thanks very much mate, and to all who took the
> time to try and help
>)
>
> Pete
>

Don't you just love the look on the other people's faces around you when
you've troubleshot some complex problem successfully on the other side of
the planet by remote control?......(c;]



I fixed a Russian TV set in Siberia for a guy who was stumped, from here in
South Carolina. One of my friends, here, was sitting in my little messy
computer room when the Skype call from Siberia came in thanking me for
fixing his TV.

The look on my friend's face was simply PRICELESS. He still thinks I'm
some kind of genius....hee hee...(c;]



--
-----
Larry
You can tell there's very intelligent life in the Universe
because none of them have ever tried to contact us.....

"Pete Zahut" <dont@bother> wrote in
news::

> One particular friend believes I'm in league with Satan and should be
> burned at the stake as he sits there, 200 miles away, watching me move
> his cursor and doing what needs to be done )
>
>
>

I run my boxes remotely from my little N800 Linux tablet using rdesktop to
WinXP's Remote Desktop quite a bit. The Winbox is always online, so why
not let it do all the heavy lifting and storage then access just one email
client, for example, instead of all this multiple email clients and the
troubles associated with "syncing" the remote computer to the main
computers. Because the tablet's rdesktop requires a separate keyboard, or
use the crappy virtual keyboard on the WinXP box over the net, I use a
rollup rubber keyboard stored in the car if I need it to type something.

Works great for me. No syncing, less wasted space on the remote box....you
just can hear the audio and the link's not near fast enough for any videos.

"Let me check that email from 1998 on my main computer.", I say popping up
the main email on the little tablet way off somewhere. They always look so
astonished I have such remote access. They really need to learn how to USE
Windows or Linux past the basic web browser and desktop....



--
-----
Larry
You can tell there's very intelligent life in the Universe
because none of them have ever tried to contact us.....