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Screen remains 'off' after re-opening laptop

post #1 of 16
9/6/06 at 3:23am
Thread Starter 
Ok. Let me explain the situation. I currently have my power settings set to where closing the laptop is set for 'do nothing' and merely shuts the screen off leaving the OS unphased.

More recently ive come across an issue where when opening it back up the screen will remain off and the only way I can fix it is either to RDC in from another machine (will boot the laptop to the locked/login screen and the screen will actually turn back on) or a variation of a shutdown (shutdown, restart, hibernate, etc.) and booting it back up.

Now the even weirder part is that I just recently did a fresh format like no more than a few days ago. Fresh XP SP2 install, all drivers up to date, all windows updates, and a set of regularly used programs that are from reputable sources (like adobe photoshop and premiere, microsoft office 2003, etc..) and needless to say the problem still remains.

Anyone even remotely got an idea? Is it a software problem? Maybe a hardware problem somewhere? Thanks for the help.
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post #2 of 16
9/6/06 at 8:04am
Hi, i have seen this issue a few times on my lat. D820 Somtimes it happens, and sometimes not. It's very anyoing for me, but i found no solution, just to restart and hope it'll not happen again.
If you find some solution, please let me know.
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post #3 of 16
9/6/06 at 10:01am
Thread Starter 
Well, I cant say this is a definite fix until I test it a few more times but it doesnt hurt to try: I just looked on the intel website and theyve got some new drivers available for their onboard graphics cards. devmgr lists the newest drivers dated 8/14 while the previous version they had on the site was dated way back to like 3/23. Although after the restart its only been running for like 5 minutes as of this post, with the newest drivers installed its handling like it should.

If anyone else has any better ideas though, im still looking for them. I'll keep on my hunch here and see how it goes.
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post #4 of 16
9/6/06 at 11:08pm
Um when my laptop goes into hibernate I have to hit the power button to turn the laptop back on. Then I notice that if the screen is blank I just close the lid, open back up, and voila!
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post #5 of 16
9/7/06 at 12:10am
Thread Starter 
Actually so far with the laptop running all day, the new graphics drivers seem to solve the issue.
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post #6 of 16
9/11/06 at 9:26am
Thread Starter 
Actually, it looks as if the problems still happening and there have been a few occasions where my simple RDC in, login, close connection bit hasnt worked and I indeed had to force it into hibernation or hard shutdown to get the screen back.
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post #7 of 16
9/11/06 at 6:22pm
How often does it happen now and how long when it happens before it prevents you from getting back in to windows (blank screen)
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post #8 of 16
9/11/06 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 
It's once again back to happening every time I close the laptop whether im on battery or AC power. And its instantaneous as to when it happens. I can close it and like a half second later open it and it will be blank.

I've been trying to narrow it down to maybe a random application I may have installed causing it but sadly I am not having any luck finding anything in that department.
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post #9 of 16
9/12/06 at 2:49am
does it occur in safemode as well or during bios?
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post #10 of 16
9/12/06 at 3:01am
Thread Starter 
Dunno. lemme check here real quick.

EDIT: BIOS it works as it should (off when closed, near instant on when opened). Safe mode still does the same thing as normal boot.

while Safe mode kind of defeats the whole 'drivers the culprit' bit, heres the general layout of my drivers:
Chipset: Dell support page
Graphics: Intel website
Wireless: station-drivers.com latest broadcom bc43xx drivers
Wired NIC: Intel website
Sigmatel Audio: Dell support page
56k mode: Dell
Synatic Touchpad: Dell
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post #11 of 16
9/13/06 at 1:15am
seems hardwarish to me i take it your 1200 is out of warranty?
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post #12 of 16
9/13/06 at 1:37am
Thread Starter 
Nope. Actually I got this thing on ebay like back in february. Manufacter date was like October '05 I think. It came in fairly brand new condition, with all the original papers and everything and in the original packaging. And last I checked what few 'warranties' listed on the site under my service tag ended back in janurary.

Nevertheless, I really have no clue whats going on as its just recent went back into a possibly short fit of working as its supposed to. I'm gonna keep an awfully close eye on loaded applications and see if I cant find some correlation between those and the problem popping up.
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post #13 of 16
9/13/06 at 4:20am
i have the same problem sometimes. if i close the lid and change the power properties (ie: plug in or unplug) this can happen. i think it has something to do with how windows manages power usage. i'm really grasping at straws here, but as you said same thing happened in safe mode so it's probably not a driver issue. in my case it doesn't happen often enough for me to worry about, but another way i have found to "force" the LCD back on is to use the "external monitor" button. on my 1210 there f8 + function will try to use a monitor plugged into my vga port. if one is not plugged in it will give an error, usually bringing the LCD back to life.
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post #14 of 16
9/13/06 at 2:27pm
I know people who have horrible luck with the powersaving feature that turns the LCD off on many notebooks but in your case if this option isnt on im sure its hardware related thats causing this. Best way to know is thru the BIOS screen and closing the lid. If the ysstem happens to shut the LCD off then theres is definetly wrong.
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post #15 of 16
9/17/06 at 12:56am
Another thing you can check is if the screen doesnt come back on when you open it, hold a small magnet to the spot just below the right touchpad button. there's a remote possibility that the magnetic reed switch on your machine is malfunctioning.
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post #16 of 16
9/17/06 at 1:04am
Thread Starter 
Actually, mine doesnt have a magnetic switch. Rather there is a small push switch located inside the right hinge. And I have indeed double and triple checked that with no change in results. no noticeable damage or malfunctioning of the switch.
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