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.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
April 13th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Oh wow
I bought this on eBay for around $430, so I guess it really isnt worth fixing. Thanks for all your help.
April 13th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
If you take it to a Toshiba repair center it would approximately cost you:
$280 USD for the system board
$240 USD for the power board
Plus labor and tax.
April 13th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Alrighty, thanks
About how much do you think it would cost to fix it?
April 13th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Yes, it looks like a bad/defective connector. At first, you cannot start it one-two times a week, then once a day and finally not at all.
I would think twice before I invest any money into a failed Toshiba TE2100. I’ve seen a lot of laptops coming back for repair with the same problem a few months later after we replaced the system board and the power board.
April 13th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Here’s something new:
I just went to try to turn it on, and it did..but only for about a second. It came up with the Toshiba start screen (like it alwawys does) but then it turned off and went back to flashing orange. Does this mean that it has a bad connection or what?
Thanks a million,
Connor
April 13th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Alright, thanks for the fast reply, Ill look into getting new parts
April 13th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
If you reseated the power board and it didn’t help, then most likely the system board and the power board have to be replaced. The problem occurs because of a bad connection between the system board and the power board. I always quote to my customer both parts because you never know witch one is causing the problem.
Good luck.
April 13th, 2006 at 12:31 pm
We tried tusing just the battery, and then just the AC adapter to power it up. All we can get out of it is just flashing orange light.
Thanks
April 13th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Hey Connor,
Did the technician check the AC adapter, may be it’s dead?
April 13th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
My Toshiba Tecra TE 2100 is having the third issue: 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.
I hyave a computer tecnhinican over at my house now, who just tried to reseat the powerboard, but it still didnt work. Are there any other things we can try?
Thanks