Laptop Screen goes blank on boot
MRR2
I have a Gateway Model W340UA
AMD Athlon 64*2
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100
Windows Vista Home Premium Entertainment... (32 bit)
First computer with Vista, have had it almost two years, used
occasionally, didn't like the way the screen would go blank every time
it had something to do. Was told it probably didn't have enough memory,
upgraded to 2 gig, didn't make a difference. Lately, something weirder
is going on.
Every time I start the computer, whether from shut down, sleep, or
hibernate, it does everything necessary and I can watch the screens,
until right when it gets to the point when I can start using it. Then
the screen goes blank. Backlight appears still to be on, but it is as
if the computer is sending a blank image in black to the screen.
Doesn't matter what I do to the keyboard or mouse, nothing changes.
Here's what's really weird. If I plug in an external monitor, the
screen comes back on with the image I would expect, my background and
icons, then I can unplug the external monitor, and all is well until I
shut down, sleep, or hibernate (or just leave the computer long enough
for those things to happen with power savers... or if it shuts down
because it overheats from running too long).
I've tried updating the NVIDIA driver, doesn't do it, says driver is up
to date. Had it in for diagnostics, they (I believe) removed the driver
and reinstalled it. Didn't help.
(If external monitor is already plugged in on boot, sometimes the
picture comes up, and sometimes it doesn't.)
Any ideas?
On Edit, it doesn't make a difference if the monitor is powered on,
just plugging something into the monitor jack seems to "wake up" the
laptop screen.
MRR2
I would feel like a real idiot, except I don't claim to be a computer
tech, and the things don't come with clear instructions either.
Plus, the guys who were supposed to be computer techs, the guys I paid
money to diagnose and fix the problem, the guys who failed!!! didn't
have the answer either.
The answer is Fn[F4]
This was provided by the tech at Computer Renaissance, and for that,
they didn't even charge me! (Of course, I give them other business, and
now I will continue to do so...)
For some reason, the computer was set to send to an external monitor
rather than to the laptop screen. All that was really needed was to
tell it to send to the laptop screen instead of the external monitor.
(Of course, Vista still causes the screen to go black at what seems to
be odd times, like it has to think before completing a process, but I've
learned to be more patient about it.):)