Season's greetings, fellow Anandtechers!
I'm trying to figure something out about this Toshiba Satellite P100 which I'd like to repair before calling it quits for christmas.
The laptop initially came into the shop unable to power up, a diagnostic of "dead mainboard" was decreed and a replacement board (used) promptly ordered from some Hong Kong power seller. When the replacement got here I noticed some slight differences between it and the original: different AC connector shape, DVI-out (original didn't have DVI) and mini-pcie connector for a discrete VGA.
Anyway, I worked around the AC connector problem but now when the laptop powers up (LEDs light up, Fan spins) I get no image. the LCD actually lights up, but remains blank.
I apologize for that rather long introduction, but here's my question for anyone out there who's put in some hours resurrecting dead laptops, particularly toshiba satellites:
Do laptop motherboards designed for use with discreet VGA cards have the onboard graphics capability enabled as a backup? Can I use a mainboard from a P100 which originally came with a GeForce 7600, but without the external VGA?
I'd like to figure out why this isn't working, please post back if you can help.
I'm trying to figure something out about this Toshiba Satellite P100 which I'd like to repair before calling it quits for christmas.
The laptop initially came into the shop unable to power up, a diagnostic of "dead mainboard" was decreed and a replacement board (used) promptly ordered from some Hong Kong power seller. When the replacement got here I noticed some slight differences between it and the original: different AC connector shape, DVI-out (original didn't have DVI) and mini-pcie connector for a discrete VGA.
Anyway, I worked around the AC connector problem but now when the laptop powers up (LEDs light up, Fan spins) I get no image. the LCD actually lights up, but remains blank.
I apologize for that rather long introduction, but here's my question for anyone out there who's put in some hours resurrecting dead laptops, particularly toshiba satellites:
Do laptop motherboards designed for use with discreet VGA cards have the onboard graphics capability enabled as a backup? Can I use a mainboard from a P100 which originally came with a GeForce 7600, but without the external VGA?
I'd like to figure out why this isn't working, please post back if you can help.