I can't do it anymore

[lucid]

Ok. So as some of you know I've gone through three broken screens on this fucking Asus shit in under four years. The first time was dead pixels and it happened only a month or so after I bought the laptop. The second time was a year after I replaced the first laptop under warranty because of the broken screen. It was again, dead pixels, so I bought a new screen and replaced it myself. Then, only four months later(a few days ago) the screen started acting weird. It was flasshing black and sometimes would just stay black and I could see anything on the screen. Eventually it just comes back on it's own or I mashed the keyboard out of desperation. Eventually it went black and never came back on. So, I just got my third new screen yesterday after the second one lasted only four months. I replaced it yesterday.

Today, it started flashing again, just like the other one. I've had it for ONE FUCKING DAY and it's already going to shit. I'm sure it's only a matter of a few days before this screen breaks in the same fashion as the other one. What a waste of $55. I'm extremely sad and angry.

I don't get it. What the fuck is the problem? I doubt it has to do with my video card because I was able to plug it in to an external monitor(hdmi) just fine after the previous screen went black. Am I really just that unlucky and I bought 3 fucking duds? I've checked the connection to the screen and to the motherboard. They are both solid. I'm also pretty sure that I got the right screen. I mean, how hard could it fucking be? There's only a few criteria:

Does it fit?
Absolutely. Otherwise I wouldn't of even gotten it in in the first place.

Resolution?
Is 1366×768, and I bought a WXGA 1366×768 screen..

LED?
Duh. It has a 40 pin connector, and if I had bought the wrong one I'm sure it wouldn't have fit at all.

So what the fuck is going on. The laptop is all I have and I take good care of it. I've only had it a little under four years. So it's not like it's and old piece of shit or something. It's an Asus K53e. If I'm not buying the wrong screen, then what the fuck is the issue here? I'm getting sick to death of fucking screen issues.

[proxx]

Ok. So as some of you know I've gone through three broken screens on this fucking Asus shit in under four years. The first time was dead pixels and it happened only a month or so after I bought the laptop. The second time was a year after I replaced the first laptop under warranty because of the broken screen. It was again, dead pixels, so I bought a new screen and replaced it myself. Then, only four months later(a few days ago) the screen started acting weird. It was flasshing black and sometimes would just stay black and I could see anything on the screen. Eventually it just comes back on it's own or I mashed the keyboard out of desperation. Eventually it went black and never came back on. So, I just got my third new screen yesterday after the second one lasted only four months. I replaced it yesterday.

Today, it started flashing again, just like the other one. I've had it for ONE FUCKING DAY and it's already going to shit. I'm sure it's only a matter of a few days before this screen breaks in the same fashion as the other one. What a waste of $55. I'm extremely sad and angry.

I don't get it. What the fuck is the problem? I doubt it has to do with my video card because I was able to plug it in to an external monitor(hdmi) just fine after the previous screen went black. Am I really just that unlucky and I bought 3 fucking duds? I've checked the connection to the screen and to the motherboard. They are both solid. I'm also pretty sure that I got the right screen. I mean, how hard could it fucking be? There's only a few criteria:

Does it fit?
Absolutely. Otherwise I wouldn't of even gotten it in in the first place.

Resolution?
Is 1366×768, and I bought a WXGA 1366×768 screen..

LED?
Duh. It has a 40 pin connector, and if I had bought the wrong one I'm sure it wouldn't have fit at all.

So what the fuck is going on. The laptop is all I have and I take good care of it. I've only had it a little under four years. So it's not like it's and old piece of shit or something. It's an Asus K53e. If I'm not buying the wrong screen, then what the fuck is the issue here? I'm getting sick to death of fucking screen issues.

Having really hood experience with ASUS myself (high end models that is) yet I am hardly suprised, I see young shitty near dead laptops almost daily.
Modern laptops are shit quality.

It sounds like it is not the screen itself , perhaps your mainboard over-volts the screen or the ground is fucked.
Sounds like there is something other than the screens going on, even though some models (anybrand) just suck fuck out-of-the box and should have never been sold/built in the first place, what you describe sounds like a factory flaw.
My ex's laptop gave nothing but trouble from near day 1  , just a bad model , however sad and discouraging that may sound.

[lucid]

That is sad and discouraging. I'm considering actually taking it to a computer guy and having him look at it and tell me what the fuck is wrong once and for all, because I just can't figure it out. I don't know what to do anymore.

This fucking sucks so much. My laptop broke literally the same damn hour that I got the final piece for my lenovo firewall. I could have started building the lab. It's like life doesn't want me to.

[proxx]

That is sad and discouraging. I'm considering actually taking it to a computer guy and having him look at it and tell me what the fuck is wrong once and for all, because I just can't figure it out. I don't know what to do anymore.

This fucking sucks so much. My laptop broke literally the same damn hour that I got the final piece for my lenovo firewall. I could have started building the lab. It's like life doesn't want me to.

External monitor yeah.
But that really sucks ass indeed.
I don't have any clever suggestions about the laptop/screen right now sry.

[lucid]

I have no idea if this makes sense or not but, could it have something to do with my battery? The reason I ask is because I had thought the previous screen broke a day before it actually did. I turned on the laptop and the screen was black and wouldn't change. I thought it was broken and turned it off and punched a baby. Then suddenly(maybe due to the baby punching) I decided to take out the battery and turn it back on. Sure enough, the screen came on just fine.

This new screen started flickering and flashing much like the other screen did soon before it broke. This one was a little different. Today I took out the battery before trying anything at all and turned the laptop on. No screen. So I put the battery back in. Screen. Took the battery back out. Screen! I've had it like this for a little while now with no flickers. I've been moving the laptop around to test it, because sometimes moving it makes the screen flicker as well. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that taking the battery out actually fixed my problem.

I don't know why that would be though. Perhaps the battery is old and is outputting too much voltage? I don't know.

[Stackprotector]

With asus the best thing you can do is keep the stuff under warranty and nothing else. I have had a problem myself with my k53sv that my powerplug overheated and melted out after 2 times repaired i had the mobo replaced. 

[lucid]

Well, turns out I was wrong. Eventually the screen started to flicker even with the battery out. The screen turned all white at one point, then it would turn black and flicker more or go back to being white. Haven't gotten it to turn on again since. So, my third screen lasted a grand total of like 3 days this time. I'm now back at square one with knowing what the problem might be. The only clue I have is that tapping on a part of the laptop to the right side of the mouse seems to actually cause flickering and shit. I don't know what piece of the mobo that is or what is located at that part of the pc at all.

Looks like my one and only laptop is fucking broken simply because the screen refuses to stay on no matter how many times I replace it 

Also, the computer guy told me it'd be at least 75 dollars to take a look so.... fuck that. I guess I'm just kinda fucked here  So there's a good chance I won't be posting here all that much for some time now, considering my only computer is broken..

God damn mother fucking screen won't fucking give up trying to screw me over here...

[Darkvision]

As a first guess id say the video card/chip is going bad. it DOES happen, and their is dick you can do about that without replacing the mobo. However in case you are not totally fucked a few things to try that it might also be(that are fixable!).

1. while pc is on move the screen around on its hinges(very slowly up and down) if you have a wire with a short/that is loosing its connection it will turn off/flicker at certain points but be fine at others. If so you will know you need to (eventually) replace the wires/cut out the bad section(if the wire happens to have some extra length)

2. Bad caps/cracks in solder joints- bad caps are easy to tell look for bulging or leaking caps, if they all appear normal it could be micro fissures in the solder joints, you can fix that by reflowing the board with a heat gun or using an oven. Note that this will stink like ass and the fumes can be toxic so well ventilated area is a MUST. In case of bad caps simply desolder old ones and solder in new good ones.

3. It is possible but unlikely you are having a grounding issue, or a problem with a socket, as for any socket fixes it would be looking to a reflow to fix or replacing(or desoldering/resoldering completely), Since you have had to have several screens replaced it is quite possible the socket that holds the wires coming from your screen has been damaged/become loose. The best way to check that is to do a partial teardown of the laptop till you have access to the socket, turn the pc on and fiddle with the connector while its on(make sure you are grounded so as to not shock the mobo!) if the screen does crazy crap while your doing this then replace/fix it.

For just about ANYTHING on this the cost of bringing it to a tech(if they were even knowledgable enough to do any of this) would damn near outweigh the cost of getting a new laptop especially a lower end one. If it is a chip going bad on the mobo then this definitively true. Pretty much at the point you need to bring a PC to a tech its time to just chunk it and get a new one. Anyway those are the 4 most likely issues your experiencing, 3 of which are rather easy/cheap to fix, and only one of which is pointless. Though i should point out evne if it is the chip it COULD still be fixed with a reflow(potentially), however if the chip itself is going bad your just fucked. hope it helps

[lucid]

That is helpful thanks. I noticed that the majority of the times that it happened was either when I was moving the screen on it's hinges or moving the whole laptop. I had thought about the cable being a problem recently. Of course I'm not going to just up and buy a new cable until I am sure.

I figured it wouldn't be the video card because it works if I plug in an external monitor/tv via hdmi. Is this an incorrect assumtion? I haven't actually tried a regular computer monitor yet but I assume that if hdmi works then it isn't the video card.

[Darkvision]

That is helpful thanks. I noticed that the majority of the times that it happened was either when I was moving the screen on it's hinges or moving the whole laptop. I had thought about the cable being a problem recently. Of course I'm not going to just up and buy a new cable until I am sure.

I figured it wouldn't be the video card because it works if I plug in an external monitor/tv via hdmi. Is this an incorrect assumtion? I haven't actually tried a regular computer monitor yet but I assume that if hdmi works then it isn't the video card.

Often it uses different paths/driver sets when going to a port. My old acer has the same issue with a failing video card, it displays fine on a monitor(except during boot on default drivers where the colors are waaay off/funky) but now no longer displays on the screen at all. It is in my opinion about 95-99% sure that its my video card failing, especially as ive seen this issue before with other laptops(at work/my own/random ppls). Its why i said it was likely that its your card and not say a cable being wonky, but they are still things to check. Also a good idea would be if you still have one of your old screens with dead pixels to plug it into the mobo and boot to see if it has the same color/flickering issues. If it does this points to it definitely not being the screen itself going bad but something wrong with wires/caps/solder/ or the chipset itself going bad. Anyway the way you described it without troubleshooting it myself id guess that your in the realm of fucked. But you have a few things you can try such as a reflow that might set you right as rain. Anyway as every laptop/tablet/mobile device now generates so much heat its VERY common to need to reflow the solder. However as that process can destroy equipment when done incorrectly i would exhaust other options first, such as swapping in a known good screen(even if it has dead pixels) to test first, test your hinges/wiring, look for bad caps by eye etc before attempting a reflow. If you dont have a heat gun use your oven.

http://www.computerrepairtips.net/how-to-reflow-a-laptop-motherboard/

in addendum to the article above:
 while everything in that is "best" practice, depending on the mobo you will find certain things impossible without destruction(or potential destruction) of items on the mobo or that you might need the use of a soldering iron to remove certain wires/speakers etc. In other words its not always feasible to remove everything. including sometimes some of the "heat guards" they have glued to the board. As you are not leaving it in the oven for super long the chance of damage from this is actually lower than removing those items, however it can/will add to the fumes. So again well ventilated area. Also i dont agree with removing the CPU as a requirement(though if the CPU has a heatsink on it/paste you should remove that). The CPU has a higher temperature tolerance than the solder does and it is unlikely to be damage by it if you follow the directions. For instance the mobo i reflowed in this laptop  i could not remove a number of things due to not having a soldering iron/its construction including the CPU, obviously its working fine. The one other major point to bring up is the temperature of your oven is VERY important. too low of a temperature and you will not partially melt(ie reflow) the solder. Too high and you will fully melt it and stuff will fall off.  **as your handling the mobo a LOT during this process remember to always be grounded, or you can static shock the board and kill it for good.

hope that is a bit clearer if not ask for clarification and ill get back to yah

[lucid]

Well great. Fuck my life. Here I am trying to obtain MORE equipment/multiple computers for lab and testing purposes, and instead of gaining, I'm just losing the few things I do have.

I quit computers.

[Darkvision]

Well great. Fuck my life. Here I am trying to obtain MORE equipment/multiple computers for lab and testing purposes, and instead of gaining, I'm just losing the few things I do have.

I quit computers.

if all else fails before the video fully dies make sure to leave a way to remote into the PC/setup lan wakeup etc. then just fiddle with it remotely.

[lucid]

I'd just like to update here that for the past three days I've been using this laptop quite a bit, and there has been literally zero incident. Which actually kind of sucks because I'm sure the problem didn't just disappear(although I'm hoping as hard as I can that it did), and when I finally let my guard down the problem is going to come back full force.

I'm fairly confident that the problem is not that my video card is just fucked, and that it's a loose solder or something along those lines. If it is a problem with a surface mount chip, loose solder connection, or whatever, is it normal for the problem to go away for days at a time? Maybe the good lord of darkness saw fit to smile down upon me and just this once, make my problems just go away....

But I doubt it.

[karsa]

@lucid

I'm in sort of the same boat as you, last month my shitty old laptop had a surprise for me. It was working all fine and dandy, I went out of the house for a couple hours, came back and noticed the screen was all fucked up. Instead of properly displaying the black color, there was a mixture of 2px wide vertical blue and black lines. At first I thought it was the screen because I had issues with it before. Then after using the laptop like that for a few days my suspicion turned to the graphics card because the screen went back to normal for a couple of seconds on one occasion. Since the tinkerer in me had to do something about it, I took the heatsink assembly off the motherboard, replaced the paste and put it all together but that didn't solve the problem. Took it apart the second time and had I not accidentally tapped the heatsink while it was on a glass surface I never would've solved the problem.

It turns out the heatsink was slightly bent upwards so the chip on the GPU didn't have enough surface contact with the heatsink which caused the GPU to overheat and give me display errors. I remembered I had some copper foil laying around from unwinding those high freq. ferrite transformers you find in typical PC PSU's. After cutting it to size and making a sandwich of the foil and thermal paste and putting it between the GPU and the heatsink the old laptop works like a charm.

[lucid]

Damn, computers are so sensitive.

Glad you got your problem solved. I'm quite the novice when it comes to hardware tinkering, and I'm afraid that poking around too much in there will fuck it up. Since this is a rather nice laptop(screen issues notwithstanding) I'm hoping that I can keep it working. Once I get my Lenovo then I'll have two nice laptops. That's the idea anyway. Guess I just have to grow some balls and open this bitch up