Toshiba won't boot

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by TimW, Sep 14, 2014.

  1. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    As the title says, my toshiba won't boot. The hard drive won't spin up. DVD drive works, but hard drive stays dormant. I am looking for suggestions. Please.
     
  2. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Hiya, Tim.

    Try removing then reseating the drive, if it's SATA, you could test it internally in a desktop machine.

    If it works in another machine, time to check in the BIOS of the Tosh.
     
  3. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Did that........have a cloned drive the exact same and it won't boot either. Reseated the original and no boot. Guess I could try putting the old drive in the enclosure and see if it can be read. Think I can get into the bios without the drive?
     
  4. Imandy Mann

    Imandy Mann MajorGeekolicious

    Hello.

    Can't understand no more response than this.

    I searched earlier and saw maybe cmos battery, bios or UEFI. As for as bios without the drive I searched "bios on toshiba". F2 or F12 and a few other ways depending on model, windows, and how it was installed. 2 links in attachment. Both Toshiba. May not work as links. Cut and paste in address. The list of models is endless.

    Many thanks.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    All I have is a black screen, I don't even get the toshiba screen to enter F12 for the bios.
     
  6. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    Sounds like EEPROM failure due to bad blocks or a rot IC chip.

    Unless you can find a way to flash a Toshiba from a CD-ROM, it sounds like you're the proud parent of a brick...

    :(
     
  7. Imandy Mann

    Imandy Mann MajorGeekolicious

    Symptoms:
    Plug in the power adaptor and try to start the laptop.

    •Nothing happens.
    •The “ON” light comes on, the fan spins, but nothing on the screen (black) and you can’t hear the HD working after 10-15 sec.
    •The “ON” light comes on, the fan spins, but after a few seconds the light goes off.
    •After pressing the “ON” button the screen stays black and you can hear a quiet high-pitched sound coming from the laptop.
    Troubleshooting:
    Look for the “lid closed” switch and try pushing it a few times. It’s usually a small switch near the hinges that is pressed when the lid(the screen) is closed. Sometimes these switches get stuck in the “lid closed” position that results in black screen(no backlight) or non-starting laptop. Also some laptops have a magnetic switch (newer Dell’s and most Apple’s), that doesn’t get stuck.

    Test the laptop with another power adaptor. Although not common, the adaptor can fail and not supply the needed voltage even if it has a green “power on” light that lights up when you plug it in. Even if you measure the output voltage and it’s OK, the adaptor may have failed and wouldn’t supply that voltage under load (typically 3.5A to 6A). You can use an universal adaptor or go to an independent repair shop and ask them to check it (some shops will try to charge you for “estimate” for doing just that, so ask in advance).

    Reset the RAM. See the article on RAM failures for instructions.

    Remove the hard drive and the CD/DVD if it’s easily removable.

    Finally try to start the laptop again with only the power adaptor plugged in and with the RAM reset and all removable components and the battery out. If there’s still nothing on the screen, you will need to bring it to a repair shop.


    The above from laptoptips.com/motherboard.

    Don't really agree with the laast sentence.
     
  8. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I think that's most of it broadly covered, Tim, other than checking for video output to an external monitor.
     
  9. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    I think you are right. :(
     
  10. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    I just had a Toshiba die on the bench. It was toward the end of a factory recovery and installing drivers/restarting repeatedly. There was a rather loud click, the laptop shut down instantly, and will not power back up no matter what I've tried short of cracking it open and physically poring over the mobo.

    I really like ThinkPads...
     

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