g73jh-a1 AMD black screen on startup problem!

[St0RM53]

Hello guys and merry christmas! I just came home yesterday back from a flight and my screen would not display when starting windows 7. Yes it was really weird since everything was working perfectly fine before my flight. Let me skip you the whole troubleshoot and see what i found out. It's not a software problem! At least from the looks of what i found out.

This is a g73jh-a1 with a Hannstar HSD173PUW1 display. What happens is that after the windows loading screen, just before the cursor and the login screen the drivers fail to initialize the hannstar panel, essentially freezing the computer (as it stays black and doesn't seem to respond to any input). Otherwise the display works perfectly in VGA mode (both in safe mode and when you have unistalled the amd drivers). But here's the WEIRD THING! Since i'm running a Clevo 7970m i thought maybe something (hardware) f**ked up. So i opened it, and basically when i have the gpu connected to an external monitor (VGA, haven't tried hdmi yet) and the LVDS cable of the hannstar display disconnected the laptop boots normally with the AMD drivers working perfectly fine (even tested it with furmark).

So essentially what happens the AMD drivers can't properly communicate with the hannstar display freezing the system. I've also tried to connect the LVDS cable while the system is running normally with the external display but it won't detect the display connected; i need to reboot but then i get back to square one. So..what the heck..christmas eve and got my laptop broken..cosmic rays while on the plane? x-ray scan at the airport? or just simple electronic failure? What do you think guys is the problem? I can't certainly say sure if it's software or hardware only as it kinda seems both? Thanks!

[billyray520]

I have the same Notebook (G73jh A1) with the same original screen Hannstar. I had to replace my screen a year or two ago. I would try that. Especially since you sound pretty expert with getting inside and connecting/disconnecting the lvds cable. My new screen is also a Hannstar, but has been functioning perfectly since. I have the upgraded ATI vBios and Catalyst 13.9. My problem was the psod. (psychedelic screen of death) But it was erratic, coming and going at first. I think those original Hannstars were afflicted with some sort of flaw, and were notorious for failing in our machines. Otherwise they are great screens. 😉

[St0RM53]

billyray520 wrote:
I have the same Notebook (G73jh A1) with the same original screen Hannstar. I had to replace my screen a year or two ago. I would try that. Especially since you sound pretty expert with getting inside and connecting/disconnecting the lvds cable. My new screen is also a Hannstar, but has been functioning perfectly since. I have the upgraded ATI vBios and Catalyst 13.9. My problem was the psod. (psychedelic screen of death) But it was erratic, coming and going at first. I think those original Hannstars were afflicted with some sort of flaw, and were notorious for failing in our machines. Otherwise they are great screens. 😉

Thanks for the reply. I actually have this laptop for over 4 years; i expected to replace it with something newer but i chose to upgrade it with ssd/940XM/7970M..i didn't expect the display to last for so long since it's chinese, but it is really weird how it might have failed. Wished i had a spare LVDS cable or display to test my theory, because if it is a problem with the motherboard i would get really pissed off after all the work i've put into it.

[billyray520]

St0RM53 wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I actually have this laptop for over 4 years; i expected to replace it with something newer but i chose to upgrade it with ssd/940XM/7970M..i didn't expect the display to last for so long since it's chinese, but it is really weird how it might have failed. Wished i had a spare LVDS cable or display to test my theory, because if it is a problem with the motherboard i would get really pissed off after all the work i've put into it.

I agree! 😉 They are still great notebooks, and they shouldn't have to be replaced already. One thing that is weird is that your screen is fine when you are in safe mode, or using the default VGA drivers. That might mean your display is fine, but there is something wrong with the AMD driver setup. Your notebook works ok up until the Windows 7 login screen. By that time the display drivers are loaded. So I'm not sure your problem isn't software related after all. What you didn't say in your first post is whether the VGA port works OK with the lvds cable still plugged in. Of course if the whole notebook freezes, you shouldn't have any output on the VGA port.

Is there anything interesting in the Windows logs?

[St0RM53]

I think i found out. I went on and checked the LVDS cable as much as i can (since the contacts are really small) and pin 6 which is CLK EEDID line has a broken connection. This line along pin 7 - DATA EEDID (which is fine) are required for communication of data from the LCD microcontroller to the system. This data configuration is very similar to I2C (and probably is) and it seems to be required in order for the AMD drivers to work with the display. This lines don't carry any video data which makes sense since the panel works in VGA mode. Plus i remember once not a very long time ago that the display info was blank, and more recently it was working fine..so it looks like the problem is indeed the cable..and i am not suprice since i've dissasembled this laptop so many time i lost count! Still it's 25eu for a new cable from Germany and i don't think i'll be able to receive it in time now since i'm flying back to UK on the 14th.

[St0RM53]

UPDATE! I received the NEW LVDS cable today..Now the screen info is detected normally. But still the same problem when drivers are activated. Black screen on startup..Again, external screen through HDMI or VGA works with drivers when the LVDS cable in disconnected..So with the cable out of the equation it leaves the screen, gpu, or mobo. Plus i went on and re-sit the graphics card..Lastly weirdly enough my friend's G75VW developped the same problem but it sometimes work, and sometimes not