Acer 5720 black screen

[bettz]

Hi all,i've got a problem with my sisters acer 5720 laptop.At first i would boot up with the screen barely visable after pressing and holding Fn & F6 the screen would show up but would then go back to barely visable.After unplugging the battery & taking out the power lead i proceeded to hold the power button for 30 seconds to reset the laptop but then nothing.Now the Fn & F6 keys do nothing.

When i boot up i can hear the fan and hardrive start up.They also stay on but the screen is just back.At the front i've 2 lights on a green lightbulb & a green battery icon.

Any ideas on what i could try?

 

[brandonwh64]

have you tried to shine a flashlight on the screen and see if you see the background once its loaded? if so then sounds like the backlight inverter went out

 

[scaminatrix]

Try pressing Fn+F5 as soon as the laptop turns on, then press Fn+Left arrow key.
Looking at a pic off the net, left arrow key might be "brightness up"

EDIT: It looks like Fn+F6 tells the laptop to put video to an external monitor? Not sure.
EDIT 2: If this is your keyboard, I'm right

 

[bettz]

I've tried with the light on my iphone 4 lol but nothing.I did think it was the backlight inverter aswell.I could get the screen up until i reset it by taking the battery out now nothing.The hdd light comes on at boot up then goes off.

 

[bettz]

I've tried your method still nothing.Just want to def make sure its the inverter as i dont fancy shelling out for it then it turning out to be something else.Thanks for the replies guys

Try pressing Fn+F5 as soon as the laptop turns on, then press Fn+Left arrow key.
Looking at a pic off the net, left arrow key might be "brightness up"

EDIT: It looks like Fn+F6 tells the laptop to put video to an external monitor? Not sure.

 

[scaminatrix]

Have you pressed Fn+Left arrow repeatedly?
If that does nothing, press Fn+F5 and then press Fn+Left arrow repeatedly.
Pressing Fn+F6 has caused it to output the video to an external monitor, so we need to get it back using the lappy screen.

 

[bettz]

Yep tried both at startup and still nothing

Next step ill connect it to my pc monitor and see if i can get anything

Have you pressed Fn+Left arrow repeatedly?
If that does nothing, press Fn+F5 and then press Fn+Left arrow repeatedly.
Pressing Fn+F6 has caused it to output the video to an external monitor, so we need to get it back using the lappy screen.

 

[scaminatrix]

Try Fn+F7, your finger might have slipped one time
Oh, just noticed, try Fn+Right arrow key repeatedly

 

[bettz]

Tried connecting it to pc monitor and nothing.I tried pressing Fn & F6 to get it to work with the external montior but nothing.I've noticed that caps lock and num lock lights dont work whilst pressing them.Surely if it was just the screen these buttons would still work?

 

[scaminatrix]

Surely if it was just the screen these buttons would still work?

Correct. Sounds like it's not POST-ing at all.
How long has it been like it for (having to press Fn+F6 when it starts up)?

 

[bettz]

She's been having problems for the past week.The screen was barely visable,the only way it would light up was by holding Fn & F6.I then did a reset by taking out the power lead and battery and held the power button for 30 seconds but since i did that i get nothing now when booting up

Correct. Sounds like it's not POST-ing at all.
How long has it been like it for (having to press Fn+F6 when it starts up)?

 

[scaminatrix]

Try Fn+F2 or Fn+F3 or Fn+F4. Leave it about 5 seconds after starting up before doing any of the Fn commands.
If the laptop has a volume knob on it, turn it all the way up (this might sound silly, I'm just thinking outside the box)

 

[bettz]

Update took a stick of ram out and booting up screens back on

Try Fn+F2 or Fn+F3 or Fn+F4. Leave it about 5 seconds after starting up before doing any of the Fn commands.
If the laptop has a volume knob on it, turn it all the way up (this might sound silly, I'm just thinking outside the box)

 

[scaminatrix]

Hahaha classic. I only just found out that my Toshiba Tecra A6 runs without ANY RAM!!!
The volume knob thing, FYI, I know some lappy's have a feature where you put a music CD in the drive, turn it on and it just plays the CD without booting into windows (laptop come Hi-Fi lol).

Glad the culprit is eliminated!

 

[bettz]

Its booting but screen goes back black until i press Fn & F6 it briefly comes on then goes off again so could it be the inverter? also what would cause the ram to have gone faulty? after cleaning the ram and re-installing its booting fine. Looks like its just the screen.I'll order a inverter and give that a go

Thanks for your help

Hahaha classic. I only just found out that my Toshiba Tecra A6 runs without ANY RAM!!!
The volume knob thing, FYI, I know some lappy's have a feature where you put a music CD in the drive, turn it on and it just plays the CD without booting into windows (laptop come Hi-Fi lol).

Glad the culprit is eliminated!