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    AW 17 R5 Backlight gone, doesnt recognize external monitor

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by Advo, May 14, 2016.

  1. Advo

    Advo Notebook Enthusiast

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    Since about 2 hours ago, my AW 17 from 2013 just displays a black screen when I boot it up.
    It boots to Windows 10 fine, and if I shine a flashlight on the screen I can make out the windows desktop.

    Unfortunately, the laptop also doesnt recognize external monitors anymore all of a sudden.
    I tried two different ones on the HDMI and the Displayport.

    Does anyone have any ideas? If I could get the external monitor to work that would be awesome.
     
    Advo, May 14, 2016
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  2. Advo

    Advo Notebook Enthusiast

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    Now the backlight sometimes flickers on for a half a second and the external monitor also seems like its trying to get a signal.
     
    Advo, May 14, 2016
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  3. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Did you use EVGA precision/certain nvidia drivers and brick the LCD?
     
    Mobius 1, May 14, 2016
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  4. Advo

    Advo Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nothing like that.
    I have now fixed the problem - kind of - by laying the laptop on its back. As long as it's upside down, both the LCD backlight as well as the external monitor connection works.
    There seems to be a bad connection somewhere.
     
    Advo, May 14, 2016
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  5. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Would suspect bad LVDS / EDP cable.

    Still in warranty?
     
    Mobius 1, May 14, 2016
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  6. Advo

    Advo Notebook Enthusiast

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    The problem with the backlight (and the external video output) suddenly not working first appeared in May. It has now reoccurred and I figured out what triggers it. It has nothing to do with faulty connections in the notebook apparently.

    I have an Epson projector which I sometimes connect to my Alienware notebook via a HDMI cable.
    When I plug the projector into the wall socket (or hit the switch on the powerstrip where it's plugged in) while the projector is connected to the notebook, this will trigger the problem.
    The notebook screen and any attached monitor will immediately go dark; shining a light on the notebook screen shows that the backlighting is turned off, while the content can be made (barely) visible using a flashlight.
    After turning the notebook off for a while, the problem will go away and the monitor backlight as well as the connection to external monitors will work again.
    Connecting the projector via HDMI only AFTER first plugging it into a wall socket will not cause the issue; the problem arises from plugging in the projector while it's connected to the notebook.

    The projector is not grounded, perhaps it has something to do with that. I am currently using a different HDMI cable then in May, so that can't be the cause of the problem.
     
    Advo, Aug 16, 2016
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