This is an interesting thread as I am also having trouble with similar
issue. My problem is with a Thinkpad 600E 13.3 active matrix display (
a second TP that I am repairing). When I turn the TP on, the backlight
would come on for a couple of seconds (enough for me to read the memory
size, and then it would go off. If I let it continue booting, I can see
that the LCD faintly show system info. So I bought a replacement
inverter on eBay and I got the same problem. Sent that one back (on an
RMA) and they replaced it with another one. Same symptom. (I have
successfully done this on my other Thinkpad, so I might swap the one
that I know work on the unit I am repairing). In the mean time though,
I have a question for yall: The inverter is all solid state, so what
really wears out in it that would cause it to fail? My experience with
solid state devices is that most of them just worked until something
catastrophic failed inside the chip.