Old Laptop CCFL Repair

[Richard4432]

Hi Everyone, I have been watching some videos on YouTube and practicing my electronics skills.  I wanted to try and fix an old Sony laptop I have.  I think the LCD Inverter is bad from the original machine.  I have been unable to locate an exact replacement so I thought I would try a generic inverter and this is where I am at.

The laptop works with an external VGA screen.  It is a Sony Vaio PCG-F690 from around the year 2000.  It is a P3 850, 128MB RAM, with an ATI Rage mobility.  I though it would be a fun Windows 98 machine and would make for a good project to move up in my beginner status.

The laptop screen just died one day.  As a result this system has been sitting in storage for years.  If the original inverter is installed the screen shows no signs of life.  Using my meter I can measure the input voltages at the inverter.

My original inverter has 5 pins.  Voltage In (16 V), Drive (5V), Contrast, Brightness, Ground.  The new board has 4 pins.  Voltage In (5-28VDC), Drive (0-1 volt off, 2-5 volts on), Brightness, Ground.  I soldered the wires from the laptop lcd cable to the inverter.  My monitor will now turn on white but I can't see anything else.  During the laptop boot the screen will go dark for a second before it redraws to white.  Originally I had VCC, Drive, Brightness, Ground.  I moved the Brightness wire to contrast.  That made the layout VCC, Drive, Contrast, Ground.  Both results are the same.  If I do not connect either brightness or contrast the screen remains dark.

1 - Can a generic inverter be used? 
2 - Am I going about this project the wrong way?
3 - Does anyone know where I might get another generic CCFL driver that has 5 inputs?

I need to know what to research or read to get me moving on the right path.

Edit - I found the forum post for some good beginner materials and will start looking there.