XO Troubleshooting Display

This is the portion of the XO Troubleshooting Guide for diagnosing problems with the display of an XO laptop.

The display doesn't turn on

Use a strong light shining on the display to confirm that the problem isn't that the backlight won't turn on. If you see text or graphics on the display, the problem is with the backlight.

Use a known good display to check whether the display or the motherboard is broken.

If the known good display also does not turn on, the motherboard is broken and should be replaced.

One half of the display looks bad

Many of these end up being problems with the main display cable (the thick one). The rest are due to display failure.

Is the display cable properly connected ?

Disassemble the laptop to access the larger flex cable from the display to the motherboard. Make sure that it is properly seated in its connector and properly clamped down. The white stripe on the cable should be close to and parallel to the black tab clamping the cable down.

Photo needed here, a closeup of the display connector

If the connector is broken (the small black tab fails to stay in place), the motherboard will need replacement.

Is the display broken ?

Use a known good display to check whether the display or the motherboard is broken.

If the known good display shows the same problem, the motherboard is broken and should be replaced. Typically, this problem is due to a display failure.

The backlight isn't even

In this case, a vertical pattern of light and dark is seen on the display. The difference between light and dark regions being strongest at the bottom of the screen.

Is the backlight cable properly connected ?

Disassemble the laptop to access the small flex cable from the display to the motherboard. Make sure that it is properly seated in its connector, and properly clamped down.

Photo needed here, a closeup of the backlight connector

If the connector is broken (the small black tab fails to stay in place), the motherboard will need replacement.

A temporary solution is to wind a small strip of paper several times, jamming a small piece of it into the connector to hold the flex cable in place. A piece of tape covering the connector provides additional stability.

Is the lightbar broken ?

If the cable is well seated, then it is likely that the actual lightbar in the display has failed. This lightbar can be replaced (the display itself is probably fine.)

Is the motherboard backlight driver broken ?

If replacing the lightbar fails to correct the problem, it is a motherboard problem. Check the voltages across R147, R148, and R149 when the backlight is operating. They should be equal. If they are not, replace the corresponding switch transistor (Q13, Q14, or Q15, respectively) with a generic NPN low power switching transistor (2N3904 equivalent).

Do all led's light up ?

Test: Open the the screen. (2 tiny screws) Reconnect cables, boot up the XO. Some led's light up, some don't.

Fix: Resolder broken leds.