Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up

gangan · 02-01-2008, 07:30 AM

Hi,
My 1yr pressed certain keys and now the laptop does not show anything on it's screen, not even the booting things.

It's a old Dell laptop model No: TS30H
Inspiron 3200 D266XT

I had windows professional running on it.

All I see (below the monitor screen there is small LCD display which shows some sysmbols, mainly the battery) a new sign something like a rectangle and a half circle above it. Felt like keyboard symbol. My friend felt as if hard drive problem.

Please help.
Thanks

**TriggerFinger** · 02-01-2008, 10:26 AM

Press the power ON/OFF button and see what happens. If nothing happens still after like 5 to 10 secs. press the power button a little bit longer until all lights turn OFF. Then press it again to power ON to see if it recovers.

I am not familiar with your laptop but I think it went into hibernation mode. Also if you see a key with the same symbol just below the monitor as you have described (usually in one of the keys from F1 to F12) try pressing it again. In other laptops they have an Fn key which you should use in combination with the Fx (x = any number from 1 to 12) key.

gangan · 02-01-2008, 10:44 AM

Thanks for the reply.
I tried all that, all what happens is nothing on the screen but I hear hard drive noise.
I do have Fn key. I tried pressing F1-F12 with and without Fn key.
Nothing helps.
I tried troubleshooting guide from Dell, the indicator is for CD-Rom, Harddisk access.

**TriggerFinger** · 02-01-2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gangan

Thanks for the reply.
I tried all that, all what happens is nothing on the screen but I hear hard drive noise.
I do have Fn key. I tried pressing F1-F12 with and without Fn key.
Nothing helps.
I tried troubleshooting guide from Dell, the indicator is for CD-Rom, Harddisk access.

So I believe you tried rebooting (both cold and warm start) but to no avail. Do you have a bootable CD? Perhaps an XP installation CD or linux or W2K installation CD? Try booting from that and see if you have screen.

As per your description above on hard drive noise... what do you exactly hear? I believe you did not confuse this with the sound of CDROM trying to read or initialize. Did you hear a crackling/clicking sound coming from the hard drive?

gangan · 02-01-2008, 11:11 AM

The sound is as if fan is running, like accessing HD.
I will search if I have bootable CD and try to boot from that.
But then why even BIOS doesn't come up?

**TriggerFinger** · 02-01-2008, 11:36 AM

Hi gangan,

I apologize for misunderstanding...

Assuming it went into hibernation, my guess is a power reset would have recovered from it. If it is an LCD problem, not even a power reset would show a screen but it would if you use an external monitor. If it is an HDD problem, you will have screen and go into BIOS.

But since you said not even BIOS is seen (meaning no screen at all) then I suggest you try using an external monitor.

gangan · 02-01-2008, 12:39 PM

My guess is something really screwed up. If it's monitor then why should it show the disk accessing icon. If it's disk then why isn't BIOS showing up.
May be both are gone.

gangan · 02-01-2008, 12:39 PM

Can someone PLEASE help me.....

FUBAR Hoii · 02-01-2008, 12:42 PM

Hi
Is there absolutely nothing on the screen i.e a very dark image? barely visable?

**TriggerFinger** · 02-01-2008, 12:50 PM

Disk accessing icon flashing is normal... it only means you have disk activity. This may or may not mean a failing HDD.

But if you do not have a screen, not even for BIOS setup or a splash screen during startup in both LCD and/or external monitor.. that's the problem.

For all intents and purposes, I would go with checking if there is screen or not. If you can get screen then go ahead and check for HDD problems. It would almost be next to impossible to check for HDD problems first without a good screen

gangan · 02-01-2008, 03:19 PM

Tried external monitor, no luck. Still display is blank. How come it's not going to BIOS?

**TriggerFinger** · 02-01-2008, 06:50 PM

It should go into BIOS if you have pressed the right key (F1 key for some laptops) but I guess you cannot see the splash screen because you cannot see anything on your screen. My personal opinion... if you have tested it using an external monitor and yet you dont get good results then probably you have a toasted video card if not a toasted mobo. If that is the case, there is nothing more you can do.

Let us see what other members say about your situation.

gangan · 02-04-2008, 10:17 AM

Noone is saying anything.
I might have lost BIOS I guess, then why it shows the hard disk symbol. Is there anything I can do to get other members attention.

**TriggerFinger** · 02-04-2008, 12:04 PM

perhaps you did. you might as well bring it to a repair shop. that way they can do the analysis and the troubleshooting for you.

bhahar84 · 02-06-2008, 03:14 AM

Hi gangan!!

Sorry for the late reply.

So did you tried to connect it to external monitor? Its the same blank on the external monitor?

Where is the disc icon located on laptop, is it on screen? And can you see the disc activity icon on the external monitor as well?

gangan · 02-06-2008, 05:00 PM

External monitor is also blank.
There is small LCD display on the which only shows symbols like batter.

bhahar84 · 02-06-2008, 07:58 PM

So the LCD display is showing the battery symbol, right? Is it showing the battery symbol on the external monitor as well?

02-01-2008, 07:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Hi, My 1yr pressed certain keys and now the laptop does not show anything on it's screen, not even the booting things. It's a old Dell laptop model No: TS30H Inspiron 3200 D266XT I had windows professional running on it. All I see (below the monitor screen there is small LCD display which shows some sysmbols, mainly the battery) a new sign something like a rectangle and a half circle above it. Felt like keyboard symbol. My friend felt as if hard drive problem. Please help. Thanks

02-01-2008, 10:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,211 OS: Windows 7 Beta, Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Press the power ON/OFF button and see what happens. If nothing happens still after like 5 to 10 secs. press the power button a little bit longer until all lights turn OFF. Then press it again to power ON to see if it recovers. I am not familiar with your laptop but I think it went into hibernation mode. Also if you see a key with the same symbol just below the monitor as you have described (usually in one of the keys from F1 to F12) try pressing it again. In other laptops they have an Fn key which you should use in combination with the Fx (x = any number from 1 to 12) key. Last edited by TriggerFinger; 02-01-2008 at 10:28 AM.

02-01-2008, 10:44 AM	#3 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Thanks for the reply. I tried all that, all what happens is nothing on the screen but I hear hard drive noise. I do have Fn key. I tried pressing F1-F12 with and without Fn key. Nothing helps. I tried troubleshooting guide from Dell, the indicator is for CD-Rom, Harddisk access.

02-01-2008, 11:11 AM	#5 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up The sound is as if fan is running, like accessing HD. I will search if I have bootable CD and try to boot from that. But then why even BIOS doesn't come up?

02-01-2008, 11:36 AM	#6 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,211 OS: Windows 7 Beta, Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Hi gangan, I apologize for misunderstanding... Assuming it went into hibernation, my guess is a power reset would have recovered from it. If it is an LCD problem, not even a power reset would show a screen but it would if you use an external monitor. If it is an HDD problem, you will have screen and go into BIOS. But since you said not even BIOS is seen (meaning no screen at all) then I suggest you try using an external monitor.

02-01-2008, 12:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up My guess is something really screwed up. If it's monitor then why should it show the disk accessing icon. If it's disk then why isn't BIOS showing up. May be both are gone.

02-01-2008, 12:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Can someone PLEASE help me.....

02-01-2008, 12:42 PM	#9 (permalink)
FUBAR Hoii Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Hi Is there absolutely nothing on the screen i.e a very dark image? barely visable?

02-01-2008, 12:50 PM	#10 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,211 OS: Windows 7 Beta, Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Disk accessing icon flashing is normal... it only means you have disk activity. This may or may not mean a failing HDD. But if you do not have a screen, not even for BIOS setup or a splash screen during startup in both LCD and/or external monitor.. that's the problem. For all intents and purposes, I would go with checking if there is screen or not. If you can get screen then go ahead and check for HDD problems. It would almost be next to impossible to check for HDD problems first without a good screen

02-01-2008, 03:19 PM	#11 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Tried external monitor, no luck. Still display is blank. How come it's not going to BIOS?

02-01-2008, 06:50 PM	#12 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,211 OS: Windows 7 Beta, Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up It should go into BIOS if you have pressed the right key (F1 key for some laptops) but I guess you cannot see the splash screen because you cannot see anything on your screen. My personal opinion... if you have tested it using an external monitor and yet you dont get good results then probably you have a toasted video card if not a toasted mobo. If that is the case, there is nothing more you can do. Let us see what other members say about your situation. Last edited by TriggerFinger; 02-01-2008 at 07:07 PM.

02-04-2008, 10:17 AM	#13 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Noone is saying anything. I might have lost BIOS I guess, then why it shows the hard disk symbol. Is there anything I can do to get other members attention.

02-04-2008, 12:04 PM	#14 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,211 OS: Windows 7 Beta, Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up perhaps you did. you might as well bring it to a repair shop. that way they can do the analysis and the troubleshooting for you.

02-06-2008, 03:14 AM	#15 (permalink)
bhahar84 Mysterious Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Malaysia Posts: 1,373 OS: Windows XP SP2, Vista Ultimate My System	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up Hi gangan!! Sorry for the late reply. So did you tried to connect it to external monitor? Its the same blank on the external monitor? Where is the disc icon located on laptop, is it on screen? And can you see the disc activity icon on the external monitor as well? __________________ .:CPU-Z::Power Supply::Recuva::Unlocker::SensorsView::PSU Calculator::Everest:.

02-06-2008, 05:00 PM	#16 (permalink)
gangan Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9 OS: Windows 2000 Professional	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up External monitor is also blank. There is small LCD display on the which only shows symbols like batter.

02-06-2008, 07:58 PM	#17 (permalink)
bhahar84 Mysterious Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Malaysia Posts: 1,373 OS: Windows XP SP2, Vista Ultimate My System	Re: Please help - blank screen, nothing shows up So the LCD display is showing the battery symbol, right? Is it showing the battery symbol on the external monitor as well? __________________ .:CPU-Z::Power Supply::Recuva::Unlocker::SensorsView::PSU Calculator::Everest:.