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Extremely dim display on Powerbook 12"

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interlaced

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 16, 2005
564
2
I just got an older 12" Powerbook off of eBay. The seller said that the display was damaged from a spill. When I received it, it powered on fine but I noticed that I could still see everything on the screen, just had to look real close or open things up against a white background. I assumed that it needed a new inverter board. I got a working one but when I installed it, it didn't solve my problem. So I pulled a working screen (display, lcd, inverter, etc.) off of another 12" Powerbook and installed it. The screen is still dim!!!

Does anyone know what else I can do to solve my problem?
 
Power supply? That's really odd in any notebook. I know I've gone changing out screens and parts only to relize I had the brightness turned way down.

If you've completely replaced the screen than it has to be the backlight isn't getting any power or the problem is software based.
 
Is the backlight on the LCD itself? I know the problem can't be the screen anymore since I've replaced it. When I hook it up to a TV, it shows up just fine. :confused:
 
marissaaa said:
Is the backlight on the LCD itself?
Click to expand...
It's all connected and stupidly complex... I know that on the VGA model it isn't possible to change out only the backlight, but thats the only powerbook I've seen with backlight problems.
 
I've changed the LCD itself and also tried changing the entire display (with a different LCD) but still no luck. So maybe it's not the backlight? It's a DVI model, but I dunno if that helps.
 
I just read one of the discussions on the Apple forum that it could be a faulty DC board. Is that possible? It seems that none of the LCDs I replace it with solve the problem so I'm thinking it must be something else. Could it go even deeper and be a problem with the entire logic board?
 
marissaaa said:
I just read one of the discussions on the Apple forum that it could be a faulty DC board. Is that possible? It seems that none of the LCDs I replace it with solve the problem so I'm thinking it must be something else. Could it go even deeper and be a problem with the entire logic board?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say the entire logic board, but quite possibly the part which controls LCD brightness.

Take in and get it looked at?
 
I believe it's out of warranty, so I guess taking it in isn't really an option. :eek:
 
Did you ever figure out what the problem was?

I just replaced the inverter board and that didn't help. I also can't run the Hardware Test because I can't see what's on the display and nothing will show up on my external monitor unless I'm booted into OS X.
 
Yeah, it was something about a bad logic board. The whole thing needed a replacement. :(
 
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