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hellojtm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2007
11
0
hi friends,

My powerbook G4 aluminum was dropped about 18 inches. The display is now hosed. Thus far I have found *nothing* wrong with the laptop except for the internal display only shows gray horizontal lines with black snow/static intermixed (still in horizontal lines).

What I'm thinking is that the display is probably actually fine and there is some little logic board in the display casing that is bad.

Here is what I've proven:

1. external monitor still works fine (means vid card is fine?)
2. swapped internal displays with another powerbook and was fully functional (means it's something in my display casing or my display itself)
3. backlight works fine (on my munged display)
4. i can see movement in the grayness when i move the mouse pointer around almost like the pointer was as wide as the screen and 90% translucent (i.e. there is a horizontal shaded bar i can move up and down with the trackpad)

I've already thought about upgrading to the 1440x960 display and being done with it. But then I started thinking it is probably a $40-50 part if I could just narrow it down.... And that would be the smart thing, rather than spending $300+

Thanks in advance for any information or suggestions on new troubleshooting techniques for narrowing down the culprit.

Jesse
 

Virgil-TB2

macrumors 65816
Aug 3, 2007
1,143
1
Not sure what you mean by "internal display" :)

... but if the laptop can power an external monitor then the graphics chips on the motherboard should be okay.

It's almost impossible for anyone to diagnose this long distance on a forum, but if the hinge is still tight between the lid and the bottom I think it likely the screen itself is what's busted. I have seen this a lot and it's usually the result of a drop (usually much more than 18 inches though), a squish or a flexing of the screen. Sometimes it ends up being the connection (loose or pinched hinge-y bits) but most often it's the screen part itself.

It is the most delicate part of the machine after all.

In my experience, the repair for this kind of thing usually involves replacing the entire screen because it's easier and cheaper in the long run for the repair guy to do that.
 

hellojtm

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2007
11
0
Thanks Virgil.

I appreciate what you are saying. However, there are multiple components housed within the display cover. The display, the inverter board, some other stuff...

And on the back of the display is a logic board. I'm wondering if someone can narrow down, from my symptoms, if it is one of the boards on the back of the display...

But I think you may be right.

Cheers,
Jesse
 
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