PowerBook Titanium shows faint image on screen

JohnS

My PowerBook turns on and appears to work, but the image on the screen is very faint. It sometimes does come on when the screen is at a certain angle. Please help!

JohnS

Also, I think it's a Titanium, because it has black keys.

John

Hi! Thanks for the post!

Yes, it's a Titanium if it has black keys. In situations related to the backlight, there are four elements that can be the cause -- the screen itself, the inverter cable, the inverter, and the logic board. The inverter itself, despite popular opinion, is almost never the cause. It's rare for the logic board to be the cause of a backlight issue, but it does happen, and it can be ruled out by connecting your laptop to an external display. If it looks fine externally, you know it's not the logic board, but if an external display won't work, then it likely is. The inverter cable is generally the most likely culprit, with the screen a close second. In your case, the fact that the screen comes on at certain angles is the giveaway that the problem is the inverter cable. The inverter cable commonly gets crimped within the hinge and behaves as you describe. I would replace it first, and if that doesn't do the trick, I'd replace the screen next. But most likely it's the inverter cable.

Let me know which speed Titanium you have (and does it have a VGA or DVI port on the back?), and I'll recommend a guide on iFixit.com, or you can just go there and look it up.

John