Laptop screen goes blank after log on

Townie

I think an auto update on my laptop installed wrong or something. It displays user name and stuff correctly, but after I enter my password and it says "loading personal settings" the screen goes blank. I hear the log on sound fine and the "pop" of this one window that opens everytime I restart so it's gotta be loading just not displaying. I tried safemode and I saw the standard "Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 etc., etc..." along the edges of the screen but the rest was black. Then the screen went blank again. A couple times it's gone blank before I even got it to run safemode. I'm on my bro's machine right now (he lives about 2 hours away from me) and I was looking for help before I go home and scream at it some more. It's been doing this since last night when it said it was loading a java update. I tried to scroll over it for info and the screen went blank. It did the same on restart but worked fine the 3rd try. Then this morning it auto-restarted and I can't log on correctly. Anybody think they can help? :?

Ruckus

It's probably routing video signal to your external monitor connection.

The following solution applies to acer laptops, other brands use similar setups:

Possible Solution 1:
The Function [Fn] key plus F5 ([Fn]+F5) switches between monitor modes, one by one. Typically these modes include (not nessicarily in this order):

a)Notebook LCD only
b)Notebook LCD and External Monitor (duplicate)
c)External Monitor only

Try hitting [Fn]+F5, wait a few seconds, then hit it again, up to three our four times.

Possible Solution 2:
[Fn]+F6 is a key combo to disable the notebook's LCD. It only has two possible states, on and off, so if you hit [Fn]+F6 once it disables the LCD, again and in renables the LCD.

[edit] and when I actually read your post it sounds like a driver issue. Try tapping F8 repeated during windows boot and getting into Safe Mode. Find and reinstall (or possibly rollback) the previous driver.

Townie

Just to make things clearer - I've got a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop. It's supposed to have dual monitor capabilities but I've never gotten them to work. Safemode hasn't loaded correctly, nor the debug mode, so I haven't been able to reset anything from there. I'll try some of the suggestions when I get back to the machine and see if some mode will work.

Townie

The saga continues. I don't believe this crap... :x

I discover in the course of events that the screen flashes on when the button that's pressed when you close the laptop is pushed and released. It only lasts about 3 seconds but I'm trying to work my way around the problem. Then my surge protector kicks out and the monitor displays normally on battery power. (Dimmed but at least it's stable) I try a system restore but when I plug it back in and restart, the screen goes blank again just like before. I'm not sure but this sounds like something other than the driver acting up.

contagious_d

Ruckus wrote:

It's probably routing video signal to your external monitor connection.

The following solution applies to acer laptops, other brands use similar setups:

Possible Solution 1:
The Function [Fn] key plus F5 ([Fn]+F5) switches between monitor modes, one by one. Typically these modes include (not nessicarily in this order):

a)Notebook LCD only
b)Notebook LCD and External Monitor (duplicate)
c)External Monitor only

Try hitting [Fn]+F5, wait a few seconds, then hit it again, up to three our four times.

Possible Solution 2:
[Fn]+F6 is a key combo to disable the notebook's LCD. It only has two possible states, on and off, so if you hit [Fn]+F6 once it disables the LCD, again and in renables the LCD.

[edit] and when I actually read your post it sounds like a driver issue. Try tapping F8 repeated during windows boot and getting into Safe Mode. Find and reinstall (or possibly rollback) the previous driver.

I checked, on the inspiron 8600 the combination to switch displays is fn + F8. You also might have the brightness all the way down. Hold down fn and tap the up arrow. If it is working when running on batteries, one of these is probably the problem, as most laptops (well, most I have seen) store two settings for these hardware related display settings: one for when it is plugged in and one for when it is running on batteries.

Townie

Hmmm... it appears turning the brightness up when the cable is unplugged made it react the same way as the original brightness did while having it plugged in. I'm typing now with the cable connected and the brightness down. It went blank once but knocking it down a couple notches seems to be holding it off for now. So I'm guessing it was some screwed up power save feature? I dunno. I didn't adjust the brightness any when this started happening so it has to be a side effect of something. I'll post more later once I'm sure the thing's stable

Townie

Well it's acting up again. I can't lower the brightness any further yet the screen still kicks off when the cable's plugged in. It's fine unplugged but otherwise it goes off. I'm not sure what other settings to change. I dinked around with the power options and that didn't seem to do anything at all. Any suggestions?

Townie

Just a quick follow-up. Dell sent a repair guy to replace the screen and video card. I described the problem to him and he said it sounded like the screen was kicking the card off. I'd gotten it to display fine on an external I borrowed from my cousin so I pretty much agree with him. Everything's runnning normally now. I'm thinking about getting an external LCD with some of my Christas funds so I can run dual screens. Maybe a 19-20" Samsung or Dell. I'm still comparing prices. I'm also considering a mac mini and a switch kit if I have enough left over.

Sikarian

I think it's just Dell and video don't mix. I've got a Dell E1505...damn thing never remembers my video settings. I have my laptop screen as primary, and my external LCD as a secondary set to the left. Every time I restart, it either goes back to clone, and changes all my resolution settings, or it does that goofy thing where both monitors act as 1, and the wallpaper stretches across them both.



Also, surprising you got a Dell tech to fix it I put in for a bad video card and memory...3 weeks later the tech finally shows up (without scheduling an appointment or anything, just showed up at my door). Didn't fix the problem, and now there is a bulge in my keyboard. I called Dell and told them about the bulge, they told me to fix it myself and sent me a link to their service manual online :?

Townie

I'm lucky I've got extended coverage until Sept. '07. My hard drive went out about a year ago and they sent me a new one pretty quickly to replace it. It was just hell trying to discuss it with them over the phone because I kept getting the runaround of reps who didn't know what was wrong with my machine. This time I did the tech support thru their chat with a rep thing on their site, which worked out pretty well considering my screen problems.

vijay

hi myself vijay from ahmedabad-india,
when i start my laptop lenovo y410 it start up normally but when i enter password after that it goes blank so what is the problem can anyone help me...
thanks in advance....