Why Toshiba Tecra TE2100 laptop locks up or will not boot at all?
One of our biggest customers use a lot of different Toshiba laptops and one of the models is Toshiba Tecra TE2100. We repaired many of these units and we noticed that some of them had very similar problems:
- Laptop locks up when you move it or sometimes freezes by itself. The video is still on, but the acupoint (keyboard mouse) and the keyboard itself do not work anymore.
- You can start the laptop, but you see CMOS (RTC) battery error on start up. After you clear the error, the laptop boots fine. After you reboot the laptop, you get the same error.
- Laptop will not boot at all. There is no power or power LED blinking. There is no hard drive activity. There is no external or internal video.
- When you press power button, laptop shows some activity, but there is no video on LCD screen.
At the beginning, when we just started working on this model, we tried to fix CMOS (RTC) battery error by replacing the RTC battery. Unfortunately, it didn’t help to fix the problem at all. We found that the main culprit of the problem is a poor connection between the system board and the power board (CMOS battery is connected to the power board). In some cases you can fix the problem by reseating the power board. Carefully disconnect if from the system board and connect it back. Turn on the laptop and see if it fixed your problem. If it didn’t help, most likely you have to replace the system board and the power board. Unfortunately, I cannot say exactly which one is causing the problem, the system board or the power board. The same story with laptop lock ups, try to reseat the power board.
You can fix a video problem by reseating the video card. We noticed, that over time the video board pops up from its connector on the system board and you can get video if you push it back in place.
Conclusion: before you start replacing parts, disassemble the laptop and try to fix the problem by reseating the power board and the VGA board. My disassembly guide for Toshiba Tecra TE2100 can help you to take apart the laptop.
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March 4th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Hi!
I would like to ask, maybe somebody know, why I keep hearing some small noises coming from my Toshiba Satellite Centrino. The switch for sound is off and the sound I hear is a small beep that’s coming from time to time. I barely can hear it but I’m afraid that’s a sign that should show me some problems, that maybe I have to fix.
Thank you,
Marius.
March 3rd, 2007 at 8:43 pm
k, everytime I start up windows, there’s this blue screen that pops up everytime that says it’s dumping its physical memory or somethin’; what should I do? I have important files to retrieve, so how can I finally get to use my computer? #2; my taskbar always freezes up, I hate that, can someone help me please?
March 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 am
Thabiso,
Here’s a guide for taking apart a Toshiba Tecra M2 notebook. You can access the fan and blow off dust if you lift up the keyboard as it shown on the step 9.
March 3rd, 2007 at 8:48 am
Trunnes,
It’s possible that the video cable is loose or the graphics card (if it’s a discrete module) doesn’t make a good connection with the motherboard. In cases like this I usually try reseating the video cable with graphics card first.
March 3rd, 2007 at 8:44 am
Ramesh,
To update DMI on a Satellite M35X laptop you have to create a bootable floppy disk. This utility is available only for certified Toshiba technicians and you cannot download it from the Toshiba website.
I don’t know what kind of CD they sent to you. Take the laptop back to the service provider and they should fix it.
February 27th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I have the Tecra M2V-S310 and my fan is clogged but i have absolutely no idea how to get through to it.
February 26th, 2007 at 2:57 am
my toshiba laptop fails to show display after booting .
But when i gently press the underneath where the processor is located it shows display but when i release no display.what could be the problem??
February 26th, 2007 at 1:58 am
Hi CJ
I have Toshiba laptop M35X-S329. Recently authorised service provider replaced my mother board due to the DC jack issue. from that time when i reboot my laptop with the company given recovery DVD it is giving wrong machine error. I got the DMI updates from the service provider he asked me to reboot with that CD but my laptop is not recognising. Pls. let me know how i can update the DMI information with the serial no etc in my laptop.
Thanks in advance
Ramesh
February 25th, 2007 at 2:02 am
Mike,
I’m not sure what is wrong, it could be anything. Maybe overheating? Check the BIOS version installed on your laptop and if it’s outdated try upgrading the BIOS. Here’s a quoted from the change history for version 1.50:
I have no idea what it means but it could be somehow related to your problem.
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:15 am
Toshiba Tecra M4-S435 Tablet Fan/System Freeze Problem:
Hi – I have a Toshiba Tecra M4 Tablet PC. I’ve already had it repaired once (a new HDD and Cooling Fan were replaced). The problem I’m having is: At random (but regular) times, my computer will lockup (all mouse and keyboard inputs ignored) and the only thing I can do is manually hold the power on/off switch for 5 sec. to manually reboot. Upon reboot, same problem occurs. Every time the system locks up, the same thing happens each time: I hear the fan oscillating/really blowing air hard (but before the system locks up, I BARELY HEAR THE FAN AT ALL!!!). The problem usually doesn’t take long to happen at all (only 5 or 10 minutes of usage on a COOL LAPTOP) and happens with ANY running application (notepad for example) and happens when I’m NOT on the internet or on the Internet (doesn’t really matter), and happens with nothing external (ie. USB) attached.
What is causing this problem? Help Please!
Many, many thanks in advance!
Mike