[ladybe]

I have an HP zd7360us laptop with NVidia GeForce FX go5700 display adaptor. The problem is that upon startup I see the windows xp logo on the screen and then it goes completely blank... no display. However, when I connect an external monitor that works fine and I get no error messages. I am not sure what the problem is. Can anyone help me?

[Gr3iz]

Welcome aboard!

Is the image there, just real faint? If you shine a light on it, can you see it?

[arknorth]

No, if the logo came up, it's not the backlight or video card - someone's hit the FN and LCD/CRT keys.

All laptops that can use external monitors have a way to switch between them - you hold the FN key down, then press the key marked LCD/CRT (or it will have a symbol of a monitor on it, usually a dark and lit monitor - on this model it should be the FN + F4 keys). Press it once and the laptop's screen will go dark and the external will turn on. Press it a second time and BOTH monitors should turn on. Pressing it a third time should leave the laptop's screnn on while shutting down the feed to the external.

If this doesn't work, then try going into your BIOS settings and make sure that the monitor setting is for INTERNAL and not EXTERNAL.

A-N

PS - I see from the specs sheet that this beastie also has an S-Video jack - the same key will switch between that as well.

[Gr3iz]

I've seen backlights that will illuminate for a few seconds before dying.

Most laptops are smart enough to sense when an external monitor is connected (or not). I just tested this on a Dell D620. With no external monitor connected, pressing <Fn><F8> causes the LCD to blink twice, but not go blank. Each subsequent press of that combination does exactly the same thing.

[ladybe]

Thanks arknorth you totally rock!!! you were right... it worked!!! my son must have hit the keys when I wasn't paying attention... that kid has hands like an octupus always getting into things. I almost spent $300+ to get this fixed, maybe I should send it to you instead Just one more question though, the resolution doesn't look as crisp as it did before this fiasco and the image looks stretched how can I fix this? I tried going under properties and settings and upped the resolution, its somewhat better but not perfect. Thanks again for your help

[arknorth]

Yes Gr3iz, I've seen that as well - but Dells have a self-diagnosis system that will adjust automatically - not all laptops have it. HP/Compaq machines usually don't, and having sold them for many years, I've seen this before (especially after kids have played with our floor models).

As for the resolution, that is controlled by an nVidia graphics driver that might need updating or adjustment - using the Windows control might not be enough - you may want to go into the Advanced settings and use the nVidia controls to improve your images.

A-N

[ladybe]

I was able to fix the resolution. Thank you anknorth again for all your help.

[ladybe]

I'm having this problem again. Sometimes hitting fn+f4 solves the problem, other times nothing happens. I don't even see the windows logo on start-up. When I shine a light on the screen I don't see any faint images. Is it my video card?

[arknorth]

If you don't see the image even with a flashlight, it means you're either feeding the image somewhere else, or the video chip is bust - which I don't think is the problem here. You have actually 3 different ways to see video out of this particular model of laptop - it's own screen, the external monitor you've been using, and an S-Video jack, which kind of looks like one of those old mouse jacks (PS2 jacks) older computers used, but actually is used by some VCRs and televisions to get a higher quality image (but no sound) out of a computer. This means you have to press the fn+F4 keys a third and sometimes a forth time to keep it running. An added proiblem is that some computers don't like being shut down while in S-Video mode, and will start up the next time with only that jack working, confusing the owner no end.

A-N