minolta dynax 5 no frame counter

[kafkaesque]

i have just bought a used minolta dynax 5 film camera. i have used this particular type of camera before so i know my way around it. i inserted a roll of film and it made the usual whirring noise. i took a few pictures and all seemed perfectly fine, but then i looked at the screen. what struck me as odd is that on this camera, where there should be a frame counter there is.. well.. nothing. not even the line that is supposed to be underneath the numbers. i looked over the manual and it says that should the film be loaded incorrectly, the counter will flash 0. but what if there is no counter at all? does that mean that the particular sensor responsible for this function is broken, or is something wrong with the whole camera? or maybe i really did load the film incorrectly?
thanks in advance!