MacBook 3,1 (late 2007 Santa Rosa) Screen Dark Issue

[Surely]

As the title states, I have a late 2007 Santa Rosa MacBook (3,1).

A problem has started happening this past week or so:

Once in a while, when I wake it from sleep, the screen is extremely dark. It's not completely off- you can still see the contents of the screen, but it is really difficult to make anything out.

If a white webpage is open, you can eventually find the mouse arrow and you can move it around. I tried doing a restart by selecting 'Restart' from the "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?" box, and when it restarted, the screen was still dark. However, when I shut the computer down completely and then start it up again, the screen is normal.

I think this has occurred 3 times in the past 2 weeks.


So, anyone have any ideas?

[flopticalcube]

Could be the auto-dimmer not working correctly. Try resetting the SMC and see if that cures it.

[Eidorian]

Reset your PRAM and SMC first.

[Surely]

So PRAM first, and then SMC?

Also, are these the directions I should follow?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

and

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964


Thanks guys......

[Surely]

I've gone ahead and reset the PRAM.

I'm going to see if that solves the problem, and if not, I'll reset the SMC.

[Surely]

Update:

The screen darkening just happened again, and I couldn't get it to brighten again. After shutting down and restarting again, I decided to open and close the screen a little, and the screen brightened. When I moved it back, it darkened.

Looks like it's a loose connection in the hinge of the MacBook.

Anyone have any idea if this is something that can be fixed on my own with limited tools (a screwdriver), or will soldering or something more complicated be required?