[sinebubble]

The display on my Pismo went crazy today. A white spot with a green edge spread out across the screen quite suddenly. I shut the system down and brought it back up. All I got were multicolored vertical lines. It works fine with an external display, btw. I replaced the inverter, but the problem persist. So, I replaced the entire LCD and housing (I have a spare Pismo with a bad mother board), but the problem is still present! What component does that leave? Could it still be something on the motherboard and yet the external display works fine?

Well, looks like I'm going to be next in line for a new Powerbook... I'm going to miss my little black plastic beauty...

[ibook_steve]

That kind of failure of the display indicates that the graphics chip is putting out a video signal, but the display is not getting anything it understands. Hate to say it, but I think your graphics chip is on the fritz. You must have really wanted to save that Pismo to buy a new inverter (only for the backlight; couldn't have been the problem) and LCD. Hope you have enough for a new machine after those purchases.

Steve

[sinebubble]

But Steve, if it was the chip, why would it work fine with an external display?? Also, I have a second Pismo with a bad motherboard, so I was using those parts as replacements to test.

[Powerbook]

That is not the Logic Board, it is "just" the TFT. I went through this also. Get a new TFT panel (or the whole Pismo upper part, you can sell the Inverter Board) from eBay.

Regards,
PB.

[romeosc]

Originally posted by Powerbook:
That is not the Logic Board, it is "just" the TFT. I went through this also. Get a new TFT panel (or the whole Pismo upper part, you can sell the Inverter Board) from eBay.

Regards,
PB.

Check the cable to TFT is can easily become brittle & break! Sometimes a little wiggle will make it work temporarily and ten you will know you can buy a new cable!

[fisherKing]

Originally posted by romeosc:
Check the cable to TFT is can easily become brittle & break! Sometimes a little wiggle will make it work temporarily and ten you will know you can buy a new cable!

this is what happened to my pismo recently as well. apple replaced the connector from the base to the lid, and all is well...


seems like a common pismo problem...

[ibook_steve]

Originally posted by sinebubble:
But Steve, if it was the chip, why would it work fine with an external display?? Also, I have a second Pismo with a bad motherboard, so I was using those parts as replacements to test.

It could be just the LCD interface to the chip that is bad. Or, as someone said, it actually could be the cable, though usually you see a white or black screen if it's a cable connection problem, not the "blooming" that you are seeing.

Steve

[Powerbook]

Try moving the display (and so the VDC, Video data cable) - if the picture malfunction changes it could be the cable, otherwise it's the tft panel itself. I changed them on two Pismos myself, unfortunately it was always the display panel failing.

Regards,
PB.

[fisherKing]

for me, moving the lid forward & back got rid of the weird color thing that was happening on my pismo (and why i thought it was the connection, not the display)

worth checking out, as a new display can be expen$ive...

[sinebubble]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. As I said, I have a spare LCD. That did not work. I get a white screen. I tried playing around with the exposed cable, but no love.

In the mean time, I went out and bought a new 15" PB! Still, I want to get the Pismo fixed and sell it.

[Waragainstsleep]

Did you try both your display cables? My Lombard does this, but adjusting the screen angle can make it go away more often than not. I have tried reseating the display cable a couple of times, but I can't seem to get a permanent fix.

There is much more play in the hinges than there used to be. This may be something to do with it (the cable wraps around the hinge twice).