Bad Screen Inverter?

I have a Toshiba Satellite A205 that has a "dead" screen. An external monitor still worked, so I thought it was just the cable leading from the motherboard to the screen. I replaced that, and it didn't fix the problem. So I figured it may be the inverter. But as far as I understand, when an inverter goes bad, the image is just very faint, this is totally black. And I forget what key it was that I was holding, but when booting up, I was able to to get the screen to turn bright white, so I'm assuming that means the backlight can be lit up just fine. Anyone have an idea of what this could be?

I figure if I can't diagnose I, I'll tear it apart, make a new case from plexiglass, and turn it into a home theater computer or something, but I'd like to try and get it working again just out of principle. Thanks in advance.

Do you have another "known good" computer that you could test the screen on? If the screen works on a different computer then the problem originates from the computer itself, if it does not, then the problem is the screen.

Do you have a video card in the computer? The video card could be the issue, to check this remove the video card and use the on board video connection on the motherboard.

Edit: Argh...just figured out the computer you have is a lap top and none of the above will be a practical for trouble shooting your problem.

Haha, no worries. Heck, laptop repair is never practical anyway. Snapped just about every "clip" there was, and messed up the nice clean edges prying everything apart. They definitely don't want people to tinker with them. Toshiba customer support only grudgingly gave me the name of a parts distributor.

I've had a few that I repaired by changing the screen, if an external monitor works then the video card is fine and it's more than likely a bad screen (since you did change the connector cable from the screen to motherboard) Check e-bay, but if you want to try it; if by chance you have someone with a screen that you can borrow, (that's what I did on a few, completely changed the screen to test) install a screen to test, if it works then check e-bay for a screen.

Yeah, I checked ebay and they all go for 50 or above. I figured if it was just a small thing like the cable or inverter it'd be worth the repair, but it was a free PC so I probably won't put that much cash into it. I think the best option here is probably to gut it, make a new case, and get a slim usb keyboard and mouse, and keep that external monitor hooked up to it. Thanks for the advice guys. If I get around to completing that project I'll post pics. Take it easy!

I had the same problem. Black screen as if it wasn't getting power.

Replacing the $20 or so inverter solved the problem.

My problem was on a Dell laptop fyi.

Yeah, I went ahead and purchased another inverter just in case. If it doesn't work I can at least say I covered each angle.