[ale] Laptop without LCD panel (running Linux)

[Beddingfield, Allen]

I can hit f2 to get into setup, to verify some output is going to the 
broken LCD.  FN-F4 is supposed to switch to the external video, but it 
does nothing here..  I've hit FN-F4, F4, ALT-F4, CTRL-F4, and no output 
to VGA.

This is a Toshiba Satellite L875-S7208, BTW.


On 8/12/18 10:12 PM, Alex Carver via Ale wrote:
> You should be able to switch the video at boot before the OS.  I've had
> three laptops that all showed boot screens on external monitors.
> Usually it takes flipping the output using the Fn key and one of the
> upper row function keys during that period to make it switch.
> 
> The signals on the cable to the LCD panel are not usually one of the
> common formats.  It's typically something only the LCD driver itself
> will understand so finding an adapter is not likely.
> 
> On 2018-08-12 19:45, Beddingfield, Allen via Ale wrote:
>> One of my co-workers gave me a laptop that his wife dropped and broke
>> the display, and the entire assembly off the back (LCD is broken, rear
>> cover busted, hinge broken free from it, etc..).  The laptop body itself
>> is fine.  I got on EBay and discovered that the entire display assembly
>> is going to be about $150 to replace - not worth it.  So, I had another
>> idea:  Open it up, remove the hinges, unplug the video/camera cable, and
>> remove the wireless cables.  My plan was to just plug in a monitor to
>> the vga output, and use it for a computer, somewhat looking like an 80s
>> console without the TV.  I tried that, but got no video output.  So..  I
>> plugged in the broken video cable, and attached it to the broken LCD
>> panel.  I was able to see enough of the output to see that the PC is
>> booting up.  It looks like the switch to the external output is done in
>> software AFTER Windows comes up.  So much for my idea of a small Linux
>> machine.
>> I'm wondering now if there is some sort of an adapter in existence that
>> I can plug the video cable that goes into the back of the LCD panel to,
>> and get VGA, DVI, HDMI, or some sort of useful output to connect a
>> monitor to?
>>
>> Any ideas, anyone?
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Allen B.
>>
> 
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-- 
Allen Beddingfield
Systems Engineer
Office of Information Technology
The University of Alabama
Office 205-348-2251
allen at ua.edu