C6Gunner
12-15-2008, 10:38 PM
A potential customer phoned me today describing how his Dell Inspiron 5160 laptop no longer displays anything on boot.
I asked him if he had tried plugging it into an external monitor and hitting the Fn+F8 key, and he said that he did without success (both on a CRT and an LCD).
Next, I asked him if he tried to turn off al the lights in the room to make sure it wasn't just the bulb or the inverter that were the cause. He saw nothing at all even in total darkness. So I ruled out those two parts.
BTW, the computer fully boots, there just isn't any video (bad MB ruled out).
I'm intending to remove the nVidia 5200 card that was installed as an add-on at the time of purchase, and to try and boot without it in the hope that there is an integrated video chip that still works. I still haven't found out if there is a jumper to be configured on the MB.
I'd appreciate any other thoughts, or pointers, about this problem. :confused:
Steve
I asked him if he had tried plugging it into an external monitor and hitting the Fn+F8 key, and he said that he did without success (both on a CRT and an LCD).
Next, I asked him if he tried to turn off al the lights in the room to make sure it wasn't just the bulb or the inverter that were the cause. He saw nothing at all even in total darkness. So I ruled out those two parts.
BTW, the computer fully boots, there just isn't any video (bad MB ruled out).
I'm intending to remove the nVidia 5200 card that was installed as an add-on at the time of purchase, and to try and boot without it in the hope that there is an integrated video chip that still works. I still haven't found out if there is a jumper to be configured on the MB.
I'd appreciate any other thoughts, or pointers, about this problem. :confused:
Steve