Lenovo Laptop issue

[rx590overclocker]

My grandfather is having laptop issues.  The laptop is the Lenovo G50-45 with an AMD A8-6410 and 6GB of RAM.  The display in the laptop will light up and the backlight will change brightness, but it will not put up a picture.  His Dell external monitor does work however.  The display settings do detect the screen in the laptop, but it will not identify the display or put anything on it.  I am pretty stumped.  Sometimes, but not everytime it will put up a Lenovo boot screen, but then it just goes to a lit up gray.

[Applefreak]

Of course you need to unplug the display cable first otherwise the screen will stay off. Also there should be a FN combination to switch monitors. Try FN+F7, or some other combination. Also the button for entering the bios is on the left next to the charging port on G50 models. You should be able to switch inside of of windows as well, using the display settings.

[rx590overclocker]

8 minutes ago, Applefreak said:

Of course you need to unplug the display cable first otherwise the screen will stay off. Also there should be a FN combination to switch monitors. Try FN+F7, or some other combination. Also the button for entering the bios is on the left next to the charging port on G50 models. You should be able to switch inside of of windows as well, using the display settings.

Thx, I will try what you suggested, I will keep you updated, If i can get a picture I will post it.  Again, Thank you.

[rx590overclocker]

57 minutes ago, Applefreak said:

Of course you need to unplug the display cable first otherwise the screen will stay off. Also there should be a FN combination to switch monitors. Try FN+F7, or some other combination. Also the button for entering the bios is on the left next to the charging port on G50 models. You should be able to switch inside of of windows as well, using the display settings.

we have tried combinations of Fn and F# keys, and none of them help.  We are now getting no signal in the external monitor either, it is completely black, and when we turn it on it gets no signal.  My grandfater is not ready to try the bios yet but we will later.  Could it be a driver problem? or a hardware problem?  The backlight works, so Could the LCD Panel board or cable be not working?

[Applefreak]

If you get a bios screen, it's likely OS related so a repair install might work. If you are not able to get into bios, it's something hardware related or very likely. Also try removing the battery on push the power button a couple of times to discharge the board. If you feel like you can open the unit. You can also remove the cmos battery which is connected with a 2-pin connector to the motherboard (black or yellow tape around it usually, but that can stay on). 

If the internal monitor has an issue, you should be able to use the external one as long as you can switch back to it. 

I've seen bad lcd cables before and replacing them is not easy as one side is soldered to the panel itself. Replacing it does not guarantee a working monitor, there are other things that can be broken. Replacing the screen by a certified technician will be around 150 for the screen plus half an hour to an an hour of work depending how the laptop is assembled. On standard Think Pads, this is can be done relatively quickly. I've replaced some myself but never on a non Think Pad lenovo machine so I cannot tell you how much or how little work it would involve. My guess, if you need the internal screen to work and software doesn't fix it, get a refurbished Think Pad T5xx to replace it with. The price will likely match the cost of the repair. If you have a repair shop in your area, you want to ask for an estimate, maybe they can fix it. Sometimes you only need to replace a fuse but it always requires soldering.

[rx590overclocker]

2 minutes ago, Applefreak said:

If you get a bios screen, it's likely OS related so a repair install might work. If you are not able to get into bios, it's something hardware related or very likely. Also try removing the battery on push the power button a couple of times to discharge the board. If you feel like you can open the unit. You can also remove the cmos battery which is connected with a 2-pin connector to the motherboard (black or yellow tape around it usually, but that can stay on). 

If the internal monitor has an issue, you should be able to use the external one as long as you can switch back to it. 

I've seen bad lcd cables before and replacing them is not easy as one side is soldered to the panel itself. Replacing it does not guarantee a working monitor, there are other things that can be broken. Replacing the screen by a certified technician will be around 150 for the screen plus half an hour to an an hour of work depending how the laptop is assembled. On standard Think Pads, this is can be done relatively quickly. I've replaced some myself but never on a non Think Pad lenovo machine so I cannot tell you how much or how little work it would involve. My guess, if you need the internal screen to work and software doesn't fix it, get a refurbished Think Pad T5xx to replace it with. The price will likely match the cost of the repair. If you have a repair shop in your area, you want to ask for an estimate, maybe they can fix it. Sometimes you only need to replace a fuse but it always requires soldering.

yeah, if it broken, it is old and not running fast anyway, We will replace it if hardware is broken.

[rx590overclocker]

I know how to take apart and build desktops, but laptops are a bit out of my range of expertise