Screen going black but not blank - not boot related, help!

[ksjs]

OK, I'm running Linux Mint 9 (Isadora) on a Packard Bell Easy Note A8.

I've had it installed for ages with no problems. It's not dual boot or anything. Yesterday I was looking at stuff on the internet and suddenly I got a black screen. Nothing would bring the screen back to life. I shut down and rebooted. All fine. Yesterday eve the same thing happened and again I shut down and rebooted, all fine. It then happened again but got worse i.e. upon rebooting it wasn't even able to display the Linux logo whilst booting. Literally I see the BIOS screen flash up briefly and then it goes black. I have tried shutting down and rebooting several times since but no improvement. I have hit all keys / function buttons but again nothing.

By the way, when I say black what I mean is that there is apparently nothing on the screen but if you look closely you can still see icons, windows etc in the background. So, it's not blank, it's a very slightly transparent black if that makes sense.

I've done a search on here but all similar issues seem to relate to power settings (which aren't the issue here) or booting, again the laptop boots fine just no colour is being displayed. I'm not aware of having changed any settings recently, installed new software or done any updates.

Any thoughts on what I can do would be much appreciated. I think it's virtually impossible for me to do any diagnostic work on it as there's no way I could see any readout / display. Thanks!

[mank_in]

Maybe the problem is the LCD ?
You can try to use external monitor to test .

[ksjs]

I was going to try this but as I was seeing images occasionally I thought no. You are however correct, now using the laptop via an external monitor. Next step find out what's wrong with screen. Thanks!

[ksjs]

The story gets stranger or maybe not? Took screen bezel off to check for loose connections - none apparent. Went into BIOS and no obvious settings to alter screen there. Then had an idea, what if I had pressed one of the function keys that has a further action linked to it (known as soft keys I think) i.e. one that diverts display to an external monitor by accident (hence why I was able to view perfectly when I attached a monitor).

I've just been messing with the function keys and there's one that apart from 'F2' also has a small icon of a monitor with a circle inside it (have looked but can't find a good image online); I pressed this and the image was then present and perfect on laptop's screen! It seems though that when I press that function key I have to press it twice rather once? Still it works. It doesn't appear to be a perfect fix though as the screen has gone black since pressing it, seemingly after I stopped typing.

Anyone knows what that symbol means? Any thoughts as to why it's sporadic / random i.e. sometimes screen goes black almost immediately after powering up, other times the desktop is displayed and then it goes black?

Thanks for any help.

[ksjs]

Starting to get really frustrating: so, all seemed well after the discovery of the function with the icon on it (see above). Today, the screen is black again, when I press that button I get the screen back for a few seconds then it goes black again. I am certain that this is a software issue and a re-install will sort (I hope).

Before I wipe the hard drive and re-install Linux has anyone get any ideas as to anything I should try?

Thanks.