Blank, Back-Lit Display Screen on Startup. PLEASE HELP!!!

I'm new to this forum, but the members here seem to have a lot of knowledge and experience with solving problems. I have been searching for a topic similar to my problem to try and solve my issue, but 5 hours in and I can't seem to find a fix, so here's my case:

I just bought a 4K off of ebay and plugged it in only to see the screen light up, but stay blank.

I thought it was a problem with the OS, so I re-flashed OS 1.71 using the OSLoader and got the same blank screen.

I know that the display screen is plugged into the board correctly because I opened the MPC and made sure that the ribbon was seated properly (the screen wouldn't be lit if the ribbon is out)

I read somewhere in this forum that after loading the OS, you should press GLOBAL, F6 then F5 (my screen is blank so I have no idea what that command does) so I tried this after re-flashing the OS again and adjusted the contrast and found my display working, only to tell me I have a FATAL ERROR. I turned the MPC off, then on again and still only have a blank screen.

I re-flashed the OS again and tried connecting my MP with Aksys. Aksys found my machine and I could browse thought the files on the hard drive in the unit. I double clicked on a program in Aksys which opened up a what looked like a keyboard editor on my computer. I then touched one of the pads on the MPC and, again my screen started working only to tell me I have a FATAL ERROR and I got an error from Aksys telling my that my USB cable might have been unplugged.

I honestly have no idea what's going on with all of this. I am willing to send this in for repair, but I am trying to work though Ebay's Buyer Protection Program to at least get the seller to pay for the price of repair. The auction listed the unit as being "Used, but functional as intended," and obviously it is not usable as I received it. The auction also said that the unit had an 80GB HDD, and when I opened it I found a 61.4GB HDD which made me even more upset.

I was really excited when I picked the MPC up at the post office, but now this ordeal is driving me crazy! Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance

Might be a stupid question but have you tried adjusting the contrast knob right next to the screen?!

Yeah, I solved my problem. I think the RAM became unseated during shipping. When I removed both sticks of RAM it worked fine and when I plugged them back in properly it also worked. I read about similar situations on this board and someone suggested unplugging the memory, and I misunderstood that as meaning unplug the hard drive (which didn't work). Anyway, I still got gyped on the HDD, but at least I can start playing around with this beast. All I need now are some good samples, since the guy who sold it to me erased everything off of it.

good one.

it is always nice to figure things out properly.

now, to the beats


here is an interesting blog about the mpc4000
http://boomboxbeats.net/?p=48

Exact same thing. Bought used MPC 4000 on eBay.
Machine was not that well packaged and prob got banged up in transit.

Powers up. Blank backlit screen. Hard drives seems to boot but can not confirm this since screen remains blank.
Tried many of the tricks mentioned by others on this forum. Removed RAM. Reseated RAM. Reseated white
display ribbon. Reseated power cables. Removed internal HD. Remove CDR drive. Tried 220V and 110V.
Managed to use AkSys, which recognizes MPC and internal drive.

Updating the MPC OS from computer seems to work but not sure about the Global->F6->F5 since screen remains blank. Countless restarts later and still blank screen.

Have not checked the ribbon cable end inside the display housing yet. Do you have to disassemble the disply housing and
remove it to get to the ribbon?

This is the first time I buy crap off eBay that was defective ...