[pgwen]

I have a Dell latitude laptop, when I turn it on I just get a white screen. Yesterday i took the battery out for hours and then replaced it and plugged in the laptop and it booted up??? Today it will not boot up.

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Hi pgwen sorry to hear you are having this display issue.
Can you try connecting the laptop to another screen to see if you get a display.
Possible causes 1: Loose or disconnected video ribbon from the MB to LCD screen,
2: Failed inverter 3: Bad MB this can include a failed graphics chip.
What model Latitude is it, how old is it, is it covered by a warranty?

[phillpower2]

Hi pgwen sorry to hear you are having this display issue.
Can you try connecting the laptop to another screen to see if you get a display.
Possible causes 1: Loose or disconnected video ribbon from the MB to LCD screen,
2: Failed inverter 3: Bad MB this can include a failed graphics chip.
What model Latitude is it, how old is it, is it covered by a warranty?

[pgwen]

it is a dell lattitude c610. i connected it to a monitor and I have display, and can use the computer. the back light seems to be working, because it stays white and does not flicker.

[pgwen]

The laptop is not covered by warranty. could the screen be going bad?

[phillpower2]

it is a dell lattitude c610. i connected it to a monitor and I have display, and can use the computer. the back light seems to be working, because it stays white and does not flicker.

This suggests that the video display ribbon has either gone bad, has worked loose due to opening and closing the top screen or even become completely disconnected, it could be any one of these things and if you google it you will see how common an occurrence it is.
Unfortunately it will need a partial disassembly of the laptop to check this out, the best we can hope for is it simply needs plugging back in securely and taping into place (one of the main reasons this happens is it is not done properly if at all at time of manufacture) or worst case scenario needing to purchase a new video ribbon.
Here is a guide showing how it can be done http://support.dell....lay.htm#1001090 read the guide throughly before attempting a repair and if you are not confident please allow a Tech to do it for you.
Good luck and let us know how things work out for you.

[pgwen]

okay! My husband and I took apart the computer. What we found was that the video ribbon was not connected...it looked like the tape had been cut straight across. Hubby plugged it back in and taped it. We put everything back together and still no display, in fact, the sctreen is not quite as white as before...i can still see light ,but before it seemed white, now it seems black with the little backlight on??? Could we have not gotten something else quite connected. Again I hooked to other monitor and it works just fine. On the good side I can now take a laptop apart:)

[phillpower2]

...it looked like the tape had been cut straight across.

Do you mean the tape that was holding the ribbon in place? If so check the ribbon for damage and also inspect the sockets the ribbon plugs into for damage.

We put everything back together and still no display, in fact, the screen is not quite as white as before...i can still see light ,but before it seemed white, now it seems black with the little back light on???

Again the ribbon and associated connection points need to be inspected and whilst you are there inspect the back light/inverter, it would seem coincidental that the ribbon was disconnected and that the screen had also gone bad but I suppose it is possible, the ribbon or connection points are my guess.
Before reassembling the laptop this time just connect the ribbon and switch on the laptop and see if you get a display, let us know how you get on.

[pgwen]

Thanks so much. My computer is cured!!! When I started to take the computer apart for the second time, i discovered that the flex cable was not plugged into the motherboard correctly. I fixed that and it all works. Initially though it was the flex cable that came loose from the screen. Thank you so much for all of your help.

[phillpower2]

Congratulations on resolving your laptop display issue I am happy you fixed it
Thank you for allowing me to assist you, for choosing GTG and most importantly for posting your solution so that it may help others