Trouble with video (console/X11) on Toshiba Sat Pro 6100 notebook

[Dr. Gary E. RAFE]

Any list readers have any experience repairing/replacing
the video card in Toshiba notebooks ?

Shortly after resuming my Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100
(running 6.1-R) this morning from an overnight ACPI suspend,
the LCD display became corrupted suddenly -- jiggly
pixels, vertical black bands -- and the keyboard/mouse
unresponsive.

After a hard (power) reset, the console display itself
was corrupted (text not in the correct place), but
the system booted OK and proceeded to fsck its
previously not-unmounted filesystems.
The LCD display, however, was a real mess, with pulsating(!)
blue/white vertical bands and the keyboard unresponsive, again.
(I took a digital picture of the LCD, but it's still
in the camera).

After fsck finished its work, I logged onto the system
from my wife's notebook, and proceeded to shut the system
down properly.

After waiting a few minutes, I started the notebook again,
and the text console looked fine.
The boot completed successfully,
after which I found a login prompt.

Then, after a couple of minutes like this,
the alternating vertical bands re-appeared over
the text console, but the keyboard was mostly responsive
(the Caps Lock LED wasn't lighting when it should).
I was able to log into the console and shut the system
down properly again.

Now, I managed to find a replacement video board for
this model Toshiba on eBay for a decent price and got
that on its way, just in case...

After I got some time to investigate this a little more,
I found discussion regarding known trouble with the connection
between the system board & video board here:
<http://www.laptopka.com/2006/04/28/replace-notebook-system-power-video-board/>

I also discovered what appears to be an excellent guide
to disassembling Toshiba notebooks here:
	<http://www.irisvista.com/tech/>

Before I start pulling my notebook apart to verify
the unseated video board problem (vs failed video board),
I'm interested in seeing if other -mobile readers
have encountered this kind of problem in the past
(and related experiences in solving them).
--
Dr Gary E RAFE: drgerlists at gmail dot com