Black screen after Sleep, can't do or see anything

[Arek]

Hi guys and girls, first off thank you for taking your time to read this

The laptop:
Kobalt (rebranded Clevo)
Windows 7 x64
xTreme Core duo (about 4 years old)
NVidida 9800gtx
4GB Ram
Cant tell you any other specifics as I cant see anything or access any details on the laptop

The problem:
I usually close my laptop lid so i can resume using it if I need it. It will usually shut itself off after a few hours if i have not
This time however when I shut the lid, it did not sleep/hibernate. The screen was grey/black like the backlight was still on but nothing else and the fans were still spinning.
I powered it off using the power button and when I turned the power back on the following day, the same screen shows.
I think it is stuck in permanent attempt to awaken from sleep/hibernate it was not able to complete because it doesn't sound like a cold boot is being performed, more like an sleep start
However since the screen is always black I cant see a thing, ever.
No cursor, blinking light or anything. The screen goes from black to a lighter color which I assume is the backlight. All the fans are spinning, and the drives are working away but the display doesn't want to play

What I've tried:
-Taking out the battery, holding down the power button for 60 seconds and plugging the power lead in and restarting; no effect
-Burned a recovery CD ISO - cant see the screen
-Put a Windows 7 ISO onto a usb ket - cant see the screen
-Connected the laptop to my mac/another screen, didn't recognise it

To answer any pre emptive questions:
No i did not install any new hardware or software and yes it is a legit version of windows


Any help or advice is greatly appreciated guys
If i could see the screen I could rip out the drivers or fault find but im quite literally blind here
Thanks again

 

[UsernameIssues]

Welcome to the Seven Forums!

Try blindly tapping the F8 key during a reboot in the hopes that you get to the safe mode.

You might also borrow/try another external monitor - besides the one that you've already tried. Maybe visit a store and tell them of your problem, they might let you hook up to a monitor or two just to test.

 

[Arek]

Hi, thank you for your reply

Unfortunately it doesnt seem to be rebooting, just going/entering hibernation, even with the power button
The reason I say this is because I'm fairly familiar with the fan noises on startup and resume and I'm fairly certain its a resume

I am going to borrow an older monitor cable from work and try again, even tho the HDMI cable does work I am going to go backwards a bit to see if that works as opposed to HDMI

 

[UsernameIssues]

If you are willing to risk it - let it power up fully, then remove the power/battery.

That should prevent the (bad?) hibernation.

 

[Arek]

Hi, thanks for the speedy response

I tried that (and possibly damaged my HDD in the process) but still the same deal
The WIFI light comes on so Windows has been loaded in less than 5 seconds
My POST is quick but not that quick

I have an older style cable to try this evening but if this doesn't work I may have to resort to a repair person, which I am loathe to do because I work in IT but all my repair stuff is in another country