Vortex II dead screen

[omens]

Vortex II: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£89)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
CRUCIAL RAM CT2KIT102464BF160B 16 GB KIT (2 X 8 GB) DDR3 1600 MHZ CL11

2.0GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)​

500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1TB Samsung 860 QVO, 2.5” 7mm SSD, SATA III
2TB Seagate ST2000LM015 2.5 HDD
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0

So I had an issue with the graphics card as posted here: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/vortex-ii-screen-issues.82339/

I replaced the GPU and the laptop’s been beautiful in terms of operation. Most recently (after a Windows update), the screen is blank. Nothing on POST. Nothing on boot up. Nothing at log in. I’ve tried to connect an external monitor to the laptop but this doesn’t seem to work.

Any suggestions on how to investigate the issue?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Vortex II: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£89)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
CRUCIAL RAM CT2KIT102464BF160B 16 GB KIT (2 X 8 GB) DDR3 1600 MHZ CL11

2.0GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)​

500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1TB Samsung 860 QVO, 2.5” 7mm SSD, SATA III
2TB Seagate ST2000LM015 2.5 HDD
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0

So I had an issue with the graphics card as posted here: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/vortex-ii-screen-issues.82339/

I replaced the GPU and the laptop’s been beautiful in terms of operation. Most recently (after a Windows update), the screen is blank. Nothing on POST. Nothing on boot up. Nothing at log in. I’ve tried to connect an external monitor to the laptop but this doesn’t seem to work.

Any suggestions on how to investigate the issue?

So on that chassis, it's using the integrated graphics on the CPU for basic display output.

Just to be 100% clear, when you connected the external display it was definitely on the right input channel? What cable were you using and which port on the laptop?

How it works is that basic boot up until windows uses low level drivers just for very simple output. So no matter what, if the GPU is working, you should at least get the BIOS splash screen

Then after password entry it loads the full fat windows driver for the dGPU and Optimus will kick in to intelligently switch for heavier tasks.

If it’s failing to output anything at all, it suggests it's failing to boot, and as the graphics are on the CPU, would likely be because the CPU / motherboard has failed.

You can test this quite easily, if you create a bootable windows installer from here: https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

Boot from that and that should tell you if the display is working as that should display as it's running entirely separately from your windows disk.

 

[omens]

Just to be 100% clear, when you connected the external display it was definitely on the right input channel? What cable were you using and which port on the laptop?

Thanks for your response.

HDMI cable. Correct input on monitor (I cycled through inputs to double check). I pressed what I think is the correct keyboard combo. I plan to find a VGA cable to double check.

How it works is that basic boot up until windows uses low level drivers just for very simple output. So no matter what, if the GPU is working, you should at least get the BIOS splash screen

Nothing. No splash screen. No start up screen.

If it’s failing to output anything at all, it suggests it's failing to boot, and as the graphics are on the CPU, would likely be because the CPU / motherboard has failed.

The lights all seem to work correctly. If I wait the appropriate amount of time (to get to windows log in), and I used the fingerprint scanner (as I usually do), I can hear a flurry of activity. What would I experience if the screen cable or the screen itself had gone kaput?

You can test this quite easily, if you create a bootable windows installer from here: https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

Boot from that and that should tell you if the display is working as that should display as it's running entirely separately from your windows disk.

Thanks. I’ll give it a go anyway but if it’s definitely the mobo, then it’ll be time for a new laptop.

 

[SpyderTracks]

The lights all seem to work correctly. If I wait the appropriate amount of time (to get to windows log in), and I used the fingerprint scanner (as I usually do), I can hear a flurry of activity. What would I experience if the screen cable or the screen itself had gone kaput?

Well that’s the weird thing. It is an older system, what version of windows are you running?

 

[omens]

Windows 10.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Windows 10.

How strange.

It may be perhaps a limitation of an older HDMI port from the laptop that I’m not remembering, but normally, when you plug in an external monitor with HDMI, so long as it’s on the correct input channel (which you’ve conclusively confirmed) then it SHOULD just automatically start displaying to that secondary monitor.

If it were say on windows 7 still, then I could understand having to press the keyboard shortcut to actually get the secondary display enabled, but not on windows 10

If it were just the laptop monotor at fault, that shouldn’t prevent the secondary display.

The thing that would lead any display output being lost would be GPU failure, but then you’d get some kind of error on boot like flashing lights or beeps.

And on the old units the graphics always first routed through the on board graphics even if it was in game using the dgpu.

Definitely worth trying the other display output port on the laptop as a test.

If it is booting ok without error, that would suggest the screen has failed, and if that’s paired with a limitation on that older HDMI port failing to power the external monitor, that may fit.

If that was the case, if you shine a torch directly on the laptop monitor, sometimes you can make out the image just showing. That would suggest a failed backlight on the screen. Or it could be as you say that the laptop monitor cable has become worn and eventually split.

 

[omens]

How strange.

Very. I tried DVI->VGA (not realising I didn’t have VGA output on the laptop so bought a connector). Still nothing. Neither automatically nor after Fn+F7.

I’ll give the cable +/- screen replacement ago before calling it quits.