Laptop whiteout

January 2, 2012 9:00 AM

Laptop screen turns white every so often, more often than not.

I have a Toshiba Satellite A205-S5841. What will happen is either on reboot or somewhat there after, the screen will slowly fill with white lines or it boot with the screen going white. This happens regardless of whether the screen is in text or graphics mode and happens in either Windows or Linux, so I doubt it is an issue with the onboard graphics.

Research tells it it might be a misseated cable, bit I have not opened it up at any point in the past, and I am trying to avoid cracking it open without a definite plan of action.

Any suggestions?

posted by Samizdata to computers & internet (3 answers total)

But I have not, even.
posted by Samizdata at 9:01 AM on January 2, 2012

When it the screen goes white -- does it resolve itself by adjusting the lid/screen? Or do you have to restart it ?

I would open it up. Make sure you have a container (or bowl) to hold the screws, and if you don't regularly open up things -- take images along the way. Often there are different sized screws at different levels along the way.

Once open, just re-seat anything that can be.
posted by Land Ho at 11:00 AM on January 2, 2012

It doesn't seem to resolve the problem, but your answer gives me hope I am on the right track with a user-servicable problem. The prior research I had done suggested it was an inverter issue. Until I noted a troubleshooting post on a forum I visit which mentioned a similar problem, with a similar solution.
posted by Samizdata at 1:12 PM on January 2, 2012