Laptop help

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:21 pm

Ok, this is the first time I have run into a problem that I can not fix myself. I have a Toshiba laptop that has been working great. Well now you can plug it up and see the AC light steady green and the battery light steady green but when you push the power button it does nothing. The power button lights up and then goes off and all the indicator lights shut off also. You try to push the button again but this time it will not even give you a light. You can unplug it andget the lights again but it just repeats itself again when trying to power it on. When trying to power on without it plugged in you get the power light and then it shuts off. You can repaet this over and over and over. Does anyone have a clue as to what might be going on? Thanks for any help you can provide. Thsi one has really stumped me.

110chadman · Post by **110chadman** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:54 pm

maby a bad cmos battery --- or the ram memory has been dislodged open all the back covers on the bottom of the laptom and make sure all items are secured same with the battery

if that does not work pull the hard drive out package it up and send it to me cause i have a toshiba laptop with a broken screen that need to be replaced!!!! ---- just kidding --- or take it to a reputable computer repair place

i think a few other folks here know a few things about laptops

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 6:25 pm

I have been working on computers for almost 10 years now and never really worked on laptops so this one has stumped me. I thought memory so I checked it and made sure it was seated properly. I have checked every connection inside the machine. I have not checked the cmos battery though. I will check that. I am just hoping it is not the motherboard. My other thought was thatthe battery is dead and will not take a charge. I know some laptops will run without the battery as long as they are plugged in and some will not but I am not sure about the Toshiba.

Post by **snoopdog** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:17 pm

Depends on the age of the Toshiba. Older Tosiba's had two c-mos batteries that looked like Ni-Cad packs found in phones. Today's Toshiba laptops either have the coin c-mos batteries or none that are visible. Older Toshiba laptops would definitely act strange when the c-mos battery died.

On to the solution though. Try to re-seat the ram and see if you get anything. A lot of laptop boards have on-board ram so you may try to remove the so-dimm and run on the on-board ram if it has it. Some cmos on laptops can be cleared by unplugging the power pack, holding down the power button for 30 seconds and then plugging in the power pack, again holding that power button still for another 30 seconds.

Are you sure the laptop is not booting up ? If the backlight fails you will not get a picture on the display you can actually see, so for trouble shooting purposes you may want to hook up an external monitor !!

Redfish · Post by **Redfish** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:44 pm

On some Toshiba models (almost all), the computer will not boot if the battery has been killed and come close to reverse voltage. Take the battery completely out and try to reboot.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:00 pm

I have tried booting with no battery but still does the same thing. I have tried booting with no ram but still same thing. I have moved ram to other slot but still same thing. I can not see any cmos battery on this. It is a Toshiba Satellite M35X. It is not really old. I think it is a 1.6 Centrino. I will try the 30 second on and off thing snoop and see if that works. Is it possible the battery has just died? This is my first time actually working on a laptop so I learning. When I press the power button and hold it it does nothing but as soon as I release it the power button light blinks, the ac power light blonks and the battery light blinks but not the hard drive light. I do not hear any fan or hard drive. I am positive it is not booting snoop.

Post by **snoopdog** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:25 am

90% chance it is the motherboard anyway. 90% chance it will not be cost effective to repair. Have you actually checked the cmos battery or are you saying the system battery ?

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:21 am

I was talking about the system battery. I can not locate a cmos battery on the motherboard.

Post by **snoopdog** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 10:02 am

It is probably integrated into an IC on the board, more than likely in the RTC chip so that is a no swap. Inevitably the board is more than likely bad, you can always get an idea of a swap price by looking on Ebay. You can use the online Toshiba Atlas to get a part number if you cannot locate one on the board itself.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 10:23 am

I appreciate the help.

Brandon · Post by **Brandon** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 1:56 pm

My vote's on a dead system board.

Guardfather · Post by **Guardfather** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:18 pm

I agree with Snoop, it's the board or possibly the system battery charging module. If it's a ram problem it will light up, but will not post. The lights would remain on. Most units will still post/boot with a dead cmos battery, but would have to find all the devices each time, of at the very least, force you into settings to set them yourself.

Toshiba, however, is weird, sometimes impossible to diagnose. You can call me and I'll give you the number of a good TOS tech in the Mobile area. Crane Computers 661.2021

At the very least, bring it by the shop and let me look at it before you spend a shitload of money, or throw it away.