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I have a 3 year old Inspiron 8600 notebook computer. It was working wonderfully when I turned it off using the power button yesterday. My husband attempted to restart the computer several hours later and the screen is black. No logo, no backlight, just black.

The green power light is on, the disk drives open and attempt to engage so it does not appear to be a power issue. I attempted to connect my laptop to an external monitor using analog cables and hitting fn+f8 on the laptop, but the monitor simply showed "1: analog input" on dark gray then went to a pitch black screen.

My Inspiron 8600 notebook computer uses a Radeon 9600 mobility card. I use the computer for basic internet access, word, youtube videos etc. Is the problem most likely the video card? How can I determine this for sure? What card should I get to replace this card if need be? Will any Radeon 9600 card fit in my laptop? Also where can I get instructions for replacing the card if this is the issue? I have previously replaced a PSU and video card on a desktop, but never on a laptop.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by disophisis

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A compact troubleshooting checklist and repair guidance for that builds on 's comment about memory issues. Work top-to-bottom; try the noninvasive checks first, then move to hardware checks only if comfortable.

  • Power-reset: unplug mains and remove the battery (if removable). Hold the power button ~20–30 seconds to drain residual charge, then plug in mains only and power up. This clears some BIOS/power-state hangs.

  • Backlight vs. signal: shine a bright flashlight at the screen very close and at an angle. If a faint image is visible, the LCD is receiving a signal but the inverter or lamp/backlight is dead. That points to a panel/inverter fault rather than the GPU.

  • External-display sanity check: connect a second monitor or TV with the VGA lead before powering the laptop. If the external never shows POST/BIOS either, the fault shifts toward system board/video output. If the external shows an image but the laptop panel stays dark, focus on the panel/inverter/LVDS cable.

  • Quick hardware isolation (if comfortable): remove user-serviceable items one at a time (battery, HDD, optical drive, extra RAM sticks) and try to boot. Listen for POST beeps or drive activity patterns. As suggested, memory problems are common — testing with one module at a time or with a known-good stick helps narrow that down.

  • Visual inspection: open the bezel only if you know how and look for loose LVDS/inverter connectors, cracked solder joints, or bulging capacitors on the inverter/board. Photograph connections before disconnecting.

If the faint-image test fails and the external monitor shows nothing, the problem is likely board-level (GPU or chipset). Board-level repairs (reflow/reball or motherboard replacement) are specialist work and usually more expensive than inverter/panel fixes. Take safety precautions (ESD, disconnect power) and consider a repair shop for component-level diagnosis.

Member Avatar for disophisis

If it is the video card I believe you will not be able to replace it (I think these things are attached to the motherboard, but I'm no expert).

Get these a lot on daniweb, and this is usually one of the solutions...

Video cards will not display at all on startup or at any other time without memory. If you can open up your laptop and reseat the memory (take it out carefully, and reinsert it into the slot) this can sometimes fix it. I do not know why the memory will sometimes fail like this, my only guess is chip creep or something like that.

try that and come back if it fails.

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