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Bars on PB 1400 display

sacmac

Member
I hope someone can help me! I have a powerbook 1400 which I use daily, however a short time ago it began having two bars on the right side of the display. These are most noticable when it is booting up, but are there in the background all the time.

The book is a great machine which I love, it is a 1400c model and has a Sonnet g3 accelerator.

Can someone please give me some advice as to how best to repair this problem, I will greatly appreciate it!

Thanks, Sacmac

 

tomlee59

Well-known member
The only fixable cause of that symptom is a display cable problem. The flex cable is not infrequently to blame. If squeezing somewhere on the edge of the lid around the display makes the bars go away intermittently, then that pretty much cinches the diagnosis. The solution is to disassemble the lid, remove and reinsert the flex cable where it connects to the display panel, and repeat as necessary. This action cleans off the small amount of oxidation that has caused the problem.

That said, a cable problem typically wipes out larger regions, not just single lines. But try the squeezing exercise anyway.

Good luck!

 

register

Well-known member
The only fixable cause of that symptom is a display cable problem. The flex cable is not infrequently to blame. If squeezing somewhere on the edge of the lid around the display makes the bars go away intermittently, then that pretty much cinches the diagnosis. The solution is to disassemble the lid, remove and reinsert the flex cable where it connects to the display panel, and repeat as necessary. This action cleans off the small amount of oxidation that has caused the problem.
That said, a cable problem typically wipes out larger regions, not just single lines. But try the squeezing exercise anyway.
In case of a bad contact I suggest to use a small amount of contact cleaning agent instead of multiple dis- and reassemblies. Do _not_ apply this directly with a spray can, as it might damage parts that unwantedly become contaminated. Better use cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks to clean the dismantled flex cable and connectors. Get a good manual and read the instructions before taking apart the machine. Even the Gravis guys use ESD protection when handling an open computer!

 
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