Mystery DELL Inspiron 1520 Display Issue

[River Valley Computer]

Hi everyone. Well, you have to get one computer you just can't figure out just to mess with your head.

We have a Dell Inspiron 1520 that will turn on fine, splash screen shows then that's it, computer boots up but screen goes black after splash screen. But - you can Fn - F2 it and get a perfect display on an external monitor. When you try safe mode with it you get splash screen and the typical scrolling of command lines then nothing on LCD.

Things we have done so far.
1. Changed inverter (2X)
2. Changed LCD (2X)
3. Replaced LCD cable
4. Reloaded OS (Vista Home Prem)
5. Changed memory modules
6. Drank 6 beers - (helped the most!)

This problem has been looked at by me and two of our technicians and none of us can find out what is wrong.

HELP PLEASE!!!!

 

[NYJimbo]

If you haven't done it, reset the BIOS to defaults, save and reboot.

 

[River Valley Computer]

Sorry Jimbo. I forgot to list that. We checked BIOS, tweaked a few things and in desperation did do a default reset. Thanks for pointing that out though.

 

[tek9]

Did you try a Linux and WinPE live CD?
How did you reinstall Vista? Via imaging or normal install?

 

[FremontPC]

What chipset is this using? Is there a

Some Dell laptops of that era had a rather unfortunate design. The GPU was mounted on the bottom of the mobo and in close proximity to the wifi. The heat from the two would rise into the touchpad/palmrest.

If it has discrete graphics, you may have a situation where onboard graphics are handling the external monitor while the premium gpu handles the laptop LCD.

 

[River Valley Computer]

Yep - tried Linux Mint and Puppy. Works find on external, shows loading on LCD initially and then goes black.

Have been Googling and found someone changed CMOS battery. In desperation will try that tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for the ideas,

 

[Markverhyden]

What chipset is this using? Is there a

Some Dell laptops of that era had a rather unfortunate design. The GPU was mounted on the bottom of the mobo and in close proximity to the wifi. The heat from the two would rise into the touchpad/palmrest.

If it has discrete graphics, you may have a situation where onboard graphics are handling the external monitor while the premium gpu handles the laptop LCD.

^^^^ What he said. Especially after swapping the inverter and LCD. Has to be a bad motherboard.