Degraten

Hi there, I have an A70 with a really weird monitor problem. The problem is, only 3/4 of the screen is being used. Everything is still completely visible, it is just that its been shrank into the corner, leaving a large black portion along the right side of the screen, and some distorted color lines on the bottom portion. This has happened with both Windows XP and Ubuntu installed as operating systems. It also happens during the initial boot process. I've tried everything I can think of that would fix it, but to no avail, so does anyone know of a way to fix this?

Thanks!

simplyadapters

Could be several things. If it's happening in both windows, bootup and ubuntu, I doubt it will be software, but I've seen that happen with corrupt drivers several times. See if it does it on an external monitor. If so try reseatting the video cable and see if that helps.

TriggerFinger

Tried it with an external monitor? I think it is an LCD hardware issue more than anything else.

Degraten

I've reseated every wire throughout the laptop, and all connections are secure. I have also tried several graphics drivers for the card, but because the issue happens before the OS even thinks of starting up (It happens from the POST screen onwards) it shouldn't be a problem with the drivers. I'm actually thinking it may be a problem with the BIOS, but before flashing, I wish to know your thoughts on the LCD Hardware issue. That seems like it could shed a lot of light on the issue if that is the problem. Thank you for your suggestions!

TriggerFinger

If you have tried with an external monitor and symptoms are the same, then it is more likely the video chip/motherboard. These symptoms come out almost immediately after you press power ON (shows up during logo, POST, BIOS settings and even until Windows).

If it works well in external monitor then it could be the LCD assembly. Consider replacement.

Degraten

The external monitor works absolutely fine. I haven't been able to test it with a wide-screen external to see if the problem persists there as well, so the problem could apply itself to an external wide-screen monitor as well. I have a question as to how it could be a hardware problem. How would the LCD monitor think it wasn't wide-screen? I've never heard of anything like that happening before.

TriggerFinger

You have a point there if it is just a shrunken screen. But as per your initial post you listed two issues; 1. your window seem shrunk (black space on right part of LCD) and 2. distorted color lines at the bottom. The lines are somewhat an indication of an LCD assembly going bad.

Degraten

Okay, thank you for that. I'll attempt some other things that could possibly aid in fixing the problem,however, flashing the BIOS did nothing to fix the screen. I'm running out of options here, so I'll do everything I can to fix it. If I eventually come upon a solution, I'll post it here for future reference. Thanks for all the help!

rickards

(sorry for ressurectign this thread, but i have the same problem)

spoke to a tech-guy, he confirms it's not software related--but hardware.

he told me to consider replacing this monkey, although not sure why exactly (it being the wireless card and all) unless it's a combo card [?]:

http://www.1hideout.com/parts/laptopimages/101_1625.JPG

Degraten

I'm fairly certain that's only a wireless card. I ended up just stripping the monitor from it and using an external one instead. However, during the process, the original worked when plugged in while the laptop was on. After a reboot, it stopped working again. The only thing I can think of is a complete replacement of the monitor, but I don't have any spares here, so I can't test to make sure.

Edit:Just in case your were wondering, those 2 wires running off the card are for the two wireless antennae jammed behind the LCD screen, not the actual monitor itself.