Dell Inspiron 8600 Screen

**Baldie559** · 02-06-2007, 06:56 AM

I normally have my laptop connected to an external LCD screen. When I do disconnect the external monitor to go mobile, there are instances when the screen stays black. I've tried toggling (FN key + F8) between external and internal monitor and nothing seems to show, just black. I restart it and nothing shows. There are times when I don't have any issues but I tend to get this issue more. I've even reseated the connection into the motherboard and nothing. I've taken really good care of this but it is about 3 years old, is it right to assume that its failing?

Both screens were working fine until I disconnected the external last night and went into my living room and then the screen would not come on.

95five-0 · 02-06-2007, 07:18 AM

You might want to start by updating your video drivers. If you go to dell's website you can search by your service tag number and get the correct drivers for your system.

**TheMatt** · 02-06-2007, 01:31 PM

Does it work if you switch the laptop screen back to the primary display on the external monitor?

**Baldie559** · 02-06-2007, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMatt

Does it work if you switch the laptop screen back to the primary display on the external monitor?

Yes. If I switch from external monitor to laptop screen, I get nothing. But when I switch it back to external it shows. Yesterday both screens were working fine up until I shutdown and disoconnected the external then booted up and nothing came up. Normally when booting, my laptop shows the xp screen, then automatically switches to external for log-in/windows.

02-06-2007, 06:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
Baldie559 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: California Posts: 654 OS: Xp and Vista	Dell Inspiron 8600 Screen I normally have my laptop connected to an external LCD screen. When I do disconnect the external monitor to go mobile, there are instances when the screen stays black. I've tried toggling (FN key + F8) between external and internal monitor and nothing seems to show, just black. I restart it and nothing shows. There are times when I don't have any issues but I tend to get this issue more. I've even reseated the connection into the motherboard and nothing. I've taken really good care of this but it is about 3 years old, is it right to assume that its failing? Both screens were working fine until I disconnected the external last night and went into my living room and then the screen would not come on.

02-06-2007, 07:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
95five-0 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Corinth, TX Posts: 1,339 OS: 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008	You might want to start by updating your video drivers. If you go to dell's website you can search by your service tag number and get the correct drivers for your system. __________________ "If it's really a supercomputer, how come the bullets don't bounce off when I shoot it ?" <<PC Pitstop>><< AVG Free>><<Spybot>><<Everest 2.0>><<Trend Micro House Call>><<HijackThis How-to>>

02-06-2007, 01:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Does it work if you switch the laptop screen back to the primary display on the external monitor? __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides