G74SX - screen turns off when battery is not in?

[Lazer77]

I don't understand what happened. My G74SX was running just fine for awhile, and then out of nowhere one day the screen went black. I tried using the FN combination to maybe turn off the dim on the screen and it just didn't work, I turned off the laptop and then it wouldn't start. I put the battery in, and everything works just fine. But the moment I take the battery out (while plugged in of course), the screen goes black again and there is no recovering from it without turning the laptop off. When I say black, I mean that its not even lit up and appears to be off (although the laptop is clearly running and the power light is still on).

Happened out of nowhere. Any ideas?

[cl-scott]

Have you verified that this is actually the display turning off and not just the backlight going off? It is often very difficult to tell the difference unless you are specifically looking for it. I ask because if you send this unit in for an RMA, that can be a very time saving bit of information.

[Lazer77]

cl-scott wrote:
Have you verified that this is actually the display turning off and not just the backlight going off? It is often very difficult to tell the difference unless you are specifically looking for it. I ask because if you send this unit in for an RMA, that can be a very time saving bit of information.

How would I check that?

Also I am really hoping to avoid having to send it off, because for one, I can't imagine it being inexpensive (the laptop isn't old, it shouldn't be having such problems), and I use it every single day for school. I am hoping to avoid that if at all possible.

[cl-scott]

I would suggest putting like a Windows Explorer window on the screen in a specific location so you know what you're looking for. Then you trigger the display to "shut off" and you will need to shine a flashlight or something on the display, or move it so that it is in pretty strong light, so that you might be able to make out the faint image being projected on the display. Even if you know what you're looking for, this can be a tricky task, so it might not be a bad idea to get some friends over to take a look as well.

Either way, the unit is likely going to have to be sent out to resolve this issue, but if you can figure out if the display has failed as opposed to just the backlight, then it might help speed the repair process a little. Or if you want to attempt the repair on your own for an out of warranty unit, you have some idea what parts you will need to buy, as opposed to just taking a stab at it and replacing say the motherboard, only to have it not solve the issue.

[dstrakele]

If you connect your laptop to an HDTV, does it display video when the laptop display is black?

Can you test with another power adapter rated at 150 W and 19.5 V?

[Lazer77]

Well actually a little update, I went to class and I came back, decided to try to boot without the battery, so far so good. It booted just fine.

I did notice that the problem occurred when I plugged my Zune in, and started syncing music. It happened very shortly after that. Every time I tried booting after that was with the Zune still plugged in. This time I tried without the Zune, and it worked just fine. I didn't think it could cause this but I'm far from an expert so I'm not even sure.

In addition to that, I believe it was on Saturday, I turned on my laptop after it was on hibernate (basically off and unplugged) for a few hours. First thing that pops up is that Microsoft Security Essentials found a virus (might have been a Trojan?) and was in the process of removing it. Maybe 1 minute later it popped up with a green message and said virus was removed. I ran MSE and Malwarebytes after that, came up with nothing. Ran MSE and Malwarebytes after I had this problem today, came up with nothing. If this contributes anything at all.

[dstrakele]

I experienced a similar issue on my G74SX when I attempted to boot with my Android phone plugged into the USB 3.0 port. I typically charge the phone with the laptop shut down. In my case, I did get a flashing cursor in the upper left of the display. When I restarted with the phone removed, all was well. So I don't do that anymore...

[Lazer77]

dstrakele wrote:
I experienced a similar issue on my G74SX when I attempted to boot with my Android phone plugged into the USB 3.0 port. I typically charge the phone with the laptop shut down. In my case, I did get a flashing cursor in the upper left of the display. When I restarted with the phone removed, all was well. So I don't do that anymore...

Very interesting, I wonder what causes this? I will continue to monitor it and update if anything new happens. Thanks so much guys, you all have always been awesome.

[dstrakele]

In my situation, the Android Phone shows up as the 1st boot device in the BIOS if it is attached to the USB 3.0 port at startup. I suspect this is the problem...

[Lazer77]

dstrakele wrote:
In my situation, the Android Phone shows up as the 1st boot device in the BIOS if it is attached to the USB 3.0 port at startup. I suspect this is the problem...

Hmm, this happened after I plugged the Zune in. I actually have to charge it so I will give it a shot now.

EDIT: So far it hasn't done anything strange, and the battery is still out. Very strange!