laptop not working, all I get is black screen

[asif2k]

I have a Dell Latitude cpx laptop. It was working before, while I was using it with XP on it, it suddenly crashed on me. It just died and got black screen. When I turn it on, all I get is black screen. Everytime I turn it on. I see the LED's power on, but nothing shows up on the screen. All I see is black screen. I was planning to install linux on it. Where should I start troubleshooting?


thanks in advance

[cold_candor]

Am I correct in assuming you get absolutely nothing upon turing it on, not even a POST screen?

More often then not, when I get problems like that it's related to faulty RAM.

If possible, try replacing your RAM and see if that helps (preferrably by temporarily swiping some from another PC, rather than buying new).

Since sometimes noone thinks of the obvious: Check your monitor connections and/or monitor itself.

Good luck!