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White screen of death!

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One day several months ago, I was playing games on my iBook, and suddenly the display went white! It still "works," but it's useless to me because I can't see anything I'm doing. What's wrong with it? Can it be fixed?

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mayer
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Plug it in to an external monitor to check the GPU (graphics card).

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have an external monitor, but I think I know where I can borrow one. I intend to update this question after I can check that. ^_^

453,

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lemerise
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I'm pretty sure your LVDS (video) cable is disconnected from the LCD panel. Here's the procedure to reach the LVDS cable and socket via this youtube video. You'll see the LVDS cable at 1:54.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCyl1_TBr...

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Tri Emil Alim
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I have the same problem and have it solved (50%).

My laptop went white when start and there is startup sound and I able to shutdown via keyboard shortcut.

In my case, it's the cable that conect LCD with the Motherboard.

I open up my laptop (the whole shebang), and I ended up with a cable that only need a little push. It loosen from the "place-it-should-be".

Now I got it, but every time I start up my laptop, i have to push the cable.

For the record, i let some of the casing open so I can push the cable.

Here is the picture.

Block Image

That 2 cable is connecting the LCD panel with the motherboard.

Only with the push, it'll work.

I hope you guys have the same "easy" problem.

For the record, this cable worth Rp 400.000 in USD, it's about $44.

I rather using the push than purchasing a new cable. :D

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lkvee
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I am experiencing the same problem on my iBook G4 14" (1.42 GHz).

I tried accessing Open Firmware but got a white screen. I powered down, rebooted, let it power up and waited for a few minutes. I was able to hear the beeps that result from adjusting the volume with a corresponding level of loudness. I then pressed the power button and the enter key, and the iBook shut down.

I rebooted with external video ready to go.

External video works!

The primary image went directly to the external video monitor. I was not able to set up an extension to the desktop. Any changes I made to either video failed to get an image on the LCD.

I'm thinking the video cable's gone bad (or perhaps needs reseating) because a good cable would at least signal the iBook to setup extending the desktop to the external monitor. I will confirm once I get a replacement video cable and/or LCD.

Thanks for reading!

Update

I just replaced the LCD with another one. I didn't test whether the replacement was working.

I was able to replicate the same white screen.

I'm going to test/replace the video cable.

Edited by

Thanks for sharing! I thought I was the only person to ever get a white screen of death! My husband has theorized that there's some kind of loose connection within the computer. Directly after the screen went white, he banged it around a lot and actually got the display back - for a second before it went white again. After that all the banging in the world won't bring any picture to that screen :\ I'm looking forward to trying an external monitor, and if that works, maybe I'll just permanently use the iBook with it.

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Vincent Gerris
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Did any1 find a solution?

I have the same,internal screen blank,external screen ok.

Changing screen and cable did not help.

Any1 knows what causes this?

Pressing video chip did not help

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Vincent Gerris
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Thanks for replying.

Not sure if I can relate that picture to an iBook?

I think it is no cable problem, I switched it already, same white screen.

When I take the cable there is a slight difference.

So it seems the image data is not transmitted properly through the cable.

I checked the connector, but it seems fine.

So either it is not or it is a logicboard issue I guess?

Someone here has the same, no fix though.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa...

Does anyone know a solution?

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Chris
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Hi,

Although this thread is a bit old, I am really curious if anybody actually find a solution to the problem described by Ikvee.

I am experiencing exactly the same problem recently with my sisters iBook G4 14inch (late 2005). White Screen, external video OK.

Although we are not ultimately interested in repair, I am just super curious what the cause migth be. BTW: I also changed the LCD, which did not solve it.

Did anyone find an explaination in the meantime??

Cheers, Chris

If it is working fine with an external monitor. The LVDS/video cable is bad. I would have said that prior to you stating you replaced the LCD. Since it is working on an external monitor the video circuitry is good. Since the screen is white, not black, the backlight circuitry is good.

ABCellars,

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