"broken" flickering laptop screen

Hardware Hub Laptops & Netbooks
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First of i just want to apologize for my first post here being for tech support, but all my google-fu has failed me.

On to the issue

I got a problem with my laptop screen. It’s an asus notebook, win 8.1, maybe 3-4 years old. Don’t know the model since I’m kinda illiterate, but i guess i could look it up if it’s really important

The thing is when i move my screen even slightly, it just turns into a striped colored mess, usually of green or magenta, sometimes and flickers back and forth like crazy, sometimes it stays the same color with vertical blackish lines across the screen, until i rotate the lid some more and i get a complete whiteout. The first time it happened i thought maybe the graphics card was broken since it just happened randomly, so i plugged it in to my TV with an HDMI cable and i still got an image so the card was at least working. Next obvious fault i could think of would be a loose or damaged cable right? well i don’t think that’s it either, because if i get the problem, insert an HDMI cable, the desktop resolution changes because of the TV settings, and then i get picture again (on my laptop), then if i pull the cable out, resolution resets to it’s original without problem and i get picture. another way to “fix” it is to press the power button and go into sleep mode, and then start it up again, fixes the problem, until i touch the screen or there is some shaking, either by me moving it or setting it down to fast/rough, or by environmental vibrations. Using it on a train or boat is a complete no-go.

problem looks similar to pic, but more “solid” with usually only one color, and not as fabulous

So since it’s not the card, and not a cable (even opened the lid casing and removed/reconnected the screen) could it be the screen position sensor acting up? like a faulty gyro or something? sending some signal where it doesn’t know if the screen should be on or off at the same time? i mean unplugging and re-plugging the LCD screen DID work for maybe a day and a half, but i guess that just because of throwing all the parts around knocked the sensor back into place or something? I’ve changed the settings to “On lid close do nothing” but the problem is still there.

When i google, everything with similar symptoms is said to be a bad cable connection, but IF that were true, ye olde arcane art of “turning it off and on again” shouldn’ work, should it?

I humbly lay myself at your mercy

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Just to clarify. The issue is gone when you connect the laptop to an external display, right?

It really does seem like a bad cable/connector, as the issue arises when the laptop is moved.

1 Like
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We are Tek Syndicate after all. Tek Support is what we do!

It would really help to know atleast the manufacturer.

Thoughts:
AMD Drivers tend to cause screen flickering at times, my work arround is Crtl+Alt+Del and then press Esc.
Hardware issue unlikely as the error happens independent from the display.

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If it's under warranty, then call it in and have it fixed. If not, then the best thing you can do is look up your make and model, buy a replacement panel, and take a crack at it.

Some tips. 1. take screenshots every few minutes of the work layout and where the screws are.

Label paper plates for all the different size screws and leave them in there.

Replace the panel and look at your screenshots and take your time. If you need to, take a break, that's what you have the pics and plates for.

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Thanks for the replies people, ill try to respond to everyone individually without making a complete mess

Well yeah, but the issue disappears on the laptop as well if i connect to an external display, IF there was a bad cable/connector between the card/mobo, surely just plugging and extra monitor into a separate "outflow" would not repair the original connection between card/mobo?

this is the make and model

https://www.asus.com/au/Notebooks/R505CB/specifications/

warranty is long gone my friend, and i don't even know if it's the panel that is the actual problem (by panel i assume you mean the actual LCD screen? changing the screen itself wouldn't be to hard for me, it's only 4 screws and i got a set of precision screwdrivers. But if it's the actual cable, and i have to crack open the main case to get at the mobo and stuff, I'm out on deep waters, opened it once to clean the fans, and that was were i hit my limit

Basically I'm grasping for straws that it's not a cable issue (that it doesn't seem logical for it to be) since getting a new cable and replacing it would be out of my league.

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The cable usually comes attached to the panel, from my experience. It's all one unit.

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I was actually on about the cable that connects the screen to the board.

You could try re-installing drivers and updating BIOS. Make sure all Windows updates are installed.

Run 'sfc /scannow' command. Which will scan the intergrity of Windows sytem files, and attempt to repair them.

Make sure RAM is properly seated. Check health of RAM with MemTest86.

Check health of HDD with CrystalDiskInfo.

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Usually you have to take the whole thing apart. But as you said it's just 4 screws. Check to see if the cable is detachable from the panel. That ribbon cable should attach to somewhere on the mobo. It's a pain in the ass to get to it, from the laptops I've done in the past.

It honestly just looks like the ribbon cable came loose, so you can just try to reseat it. Don't even bother putting it all back together... just test it.

If you can't detach the cable, don't even bother taking the panel apart... just buy a new one.

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well yeah, me too? Im confused now, are we talking about the same thing here? check the picture below

9000 years in ms paint.jpg952x526 54.8 KB

If the ribbon cable was broken, surely just slapping something into the HDMI port would not solve the problem? but the strange thing is that it does, and by that i mean restore image to the panel/lcd

ok will try tomorrow then, it's almost 2AM now

I've done this before, it's no problem detaching the ribbon cable from from the panel and then reattaching it. this process make my screen a bit more stable before it freak out again, but not for long, a couple of closes and opens of the lid and the problem is back, so maybe the fault is where the ribbon cable connects to the MOBO? but as i said to Tim734 above. if it was a case of bad connection, slapping something into the HDMI port should not fix it?

Here is what i want to try, it might be the lid position sensor that is spazzing out for some reason. From what I've gathered, its usually a tiny magnet or something like that which is placed inside or around the screen casing. I want to try to yank it out, even if turns out it's not the problem, i still don't really need it so no real harm done. but i have no idea what it looks like or what i should look for, anyone know where these magnets/sensors usually are located and what they look like?

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Oh I'm sorry, yeah you're right... I was thinking that you meant that you were using the hdmi port on your laptop as a workaround, not that it started working on your panel again.

That sounds to me like it's either the GPU / APU, or MOBO in which case I would totally try updating the bios / chipsets from your mobo manufacturer first. Then after that, install Display Driver Uninstaller, and re-install all proper drivers.

That's a strange one. See if anything happens with or without power attached.

Try changing resolutions and refresh rates to see if that affects anything.

Just gotta start playing with the variables of the display / motherboard until you notice a change, to see where the issue is coming from. If you're out of warranty, then this may not be fixable by yourself...

In reality it still could be the panel... but it's hard to tell.

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aight, I'll try messing around with that stuff tomorrow, thanks for the help.

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Yes we are indeed on about the same cord. You threw me off when you said:

'IF there was a bad cable/connector between the card/mobo, surely just plugging and extra monitor into a separate
"outflow" would not repair the original connection between card/mobo?'

I thought that you were talking about a cord that connects the card to the motherboard.

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shit i see it now, my bad. don't know what i was smoking