Ever seen a seemingly ok, quite new 24″ Syncmaster SA300 LCD monitor from Samsung – which refuses to show an image, but can display its own system messages?
Try a firmware update! I found this solution in the PC Help Forum.
A firmware update for a computer monitor you wonder? Yes! Obviously you need a second working screen on your system, e.g. you can connect the Syncmaster as a second screen to your laptop. You then download an executable program from Samsung’s homepage and run it. The program will tell you not to switch off the monitor or disconnect the cable while it moves the new firmware over the VGA cable onto the monitor. During this update the animated error message on the monitor will freeze and at the end the monitor will switch itself off.
Now comes the exciting moment – switching the monitor on: will it work…. Well in my case it did! Showing the cloned copy of my laptop screen.
Small sidenote: of course I had first disassembled the monitor, but I couldn’t find a trace of an electronics fault inside…
There is even a Youtube video describing this proedure. It really makes you wonder what this firmware update is all about… Is it resetting the internal automatic fail timer of the monitor?