So, this requires a bit of back story about myself. There are two words that describe me: passive and practical. I am most passive in terms of the quality of my possessions. As long as they still serve their basic purpose, I probably won't replace them. This leads to many arguments with my parents, such as:


Mother: You need new boots.
Me: Why?
Mother: They look ratty and worn.
Me: Do they still protect my feet?
Mother: Well, yes...but...
Me: Then I don't need new boots.

This goes for just about everything I own, from cellphones ("The screen is cracked." "Does it still make calls? Yes? Then I don't need a new phone."), to printers (who needs color printing?), and to computers. As of now, my gaming computer's graphics card doesn't work. Does it still work for basic computing and sound editing? Yes.

However, a couple of weeks ago my laptop's screen stopped working. It first started only showing 256 colors, though I could usually bend it back in place. Days later it wouldn't show the full spectrum unless I held the screen's upper left corner. Two days ago, the screen would only really work at all if I held the upper left corner.

This video shows what I mean:


While I would normally let this pass, as I don't really use my laptop much now that I am out of school, I have recently started to draft heavily on the laptop (I work in a theatre as a lighting designer and carpenter, drafting things I need to build and light plots to hang is pretty important to me), with a program that may or may not be released by AutoDesk and may or may not be an legitimate copy. I NEED this program to do my job.

I am forced to act.

I am not fond of taking things in to be repaired. I am also not fond of paying $800+ on a new laptop. I therefore resigned to fix it myself. This wouldn't be the first time I have fixed a computer on my own (note to others: stay away from Dell, especially Dell laptops), though I have never operated on a screen before.

The laptop in question: Toshiba Satellite M105


I first broke out my tool box to see what I had at my disposal.


Tools: Fork and spoon pocketknife, flashlight, 25ft. tape measure, black electrical tape, Zippo tape measure (seriously, it's a Zippo), StageJunk focusing tool, safety glasses, miniature hammer pocketknife, small Phillips screwdriver, large slotted screwdriver, pin cushion, welding gloves, crescent wrench.


I used my Gerber multi-tool to remove the protective rubber tabs on each corner of the screen. I then used the small Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws.


I removed the plate at the top of the keyboard so that I could disconnect the screen from the bottom of the laptop.


Using the large slotted screwdriver, I pried off the plate surrounding the screen. This was fairly difficult...almost as if they didn't want me to do it...


I though the problem might lie with the placement of the circuit board on the back of the screen, so my first solution was to use something to prop it up in a similar way to its location when I twisted the corner of the screen.


This was met with failure. The problem was with the screen itself, it needed to be slightly twisted.



I scrounged my apartment looking for some kind of spacer I could install permanently to force the screen. I found some of those nifty foam wall hangers. I cut them in small strips and doubled them up to form a thick spacer.


I place one on the front of the screen where it needed to be twisted inward.


I then placed a spacer behind the screen to force it outward.


When I put the screen back together, with the front plate forcing the actual screen between the two spacers, I was met with relative success!



The screen now shows the full spectrum most of the time (it can still be a bit unstable, but a quick squeeze on the location of the front spacer seems to fix it).

I made it work using these tools: Large slotted screwdriver (for safe prying), a small LED flashlight (attached to my belt, increases visibility), a Gerber multi-tool (for unsafe prying), Scotch Heavy-Duty Mounting Squares, a small Phillips screwdriver, and a pair of shears (to cut the mounting squares).


Note: I fully realize that this totally violated any warranty I still had on my laptop. I also realize that this was fairly dangerous (for the first test I removed the battery. After it didn't work, I left the battery in to check other possibilities. THIS WAS DANGEROUS. I do not condone such action, and I did get shocked once, though minor. However, I could not run the risk of Best Buy telling me to buy a new laptop, as would probably happen.

Thank you for reading.
John Galt

PS - Soon I will invent an engine that runs off of static electricity and will render 99% of technology obsolete. This will be a good day.