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 25th, 2006 at 6:55 am
hi there. any advice for someone who didn’t keep track of which screws gp where? i thought they were all alike, but i see there are actually four different lengths plus the hex screws. any advice is much appreciated.
cathi
April 24th, 2006 at 9:12 am
CJ,
Guess what, last night I went for it with one last board and whalaa, a fully functioning A75 again. No lines, etc. The only thing was the AC seems to have a short or something. Could be the power cable, we’ll see. Functions beautifully on the battery. After all this trouble, I’m a happy camper. Thanks for all your help.
Joseph, VA
April 23rd, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Joseph,
It’s a very weird problem! I would suspect the system board first, because it displays lines on the LCD and the external monitor. But you say that the board was replaced 3 times. Weird!!! You can try to take the laptop apart completely and assemble it on the bench, without the laptop case. With Toshiba Satellite A75 you will only need the system board and the CPU with heatsink and fans attached. The board already has an integrated memory module. After that connect it to the external monitor and turn it on. You should be able to get Toshiba welcome screen. If you still get the same lines then it could be the CPU problem. I have never seen before a CPU causing lines on the screen.
April 23rd, 2006 at 10:36 am
OK, Here’s what I’ve tried so far.
1. External monitor-lines
2. Boot in Safe Mode-lines
3. Boot in bios- lines
4. disconnect wireless card-lines
5. 3 motherboards-lines!!!!!
Wow, should I just dig a hole and gently place it in?
Joseph
April 22nd, 2006 at 2:24 pm
CJ,
Thanks. The external monitor test yields the same results: lines. How do I reinstall the driver? I only have a few seconds before it freezes up on me.
joseph
April 22nd, 2006 at 1:57 pm
Hey Joseph,
Here are some tips on troubleshooting laptop video problems. First of all, if you experience the same problem with 4 different motherboards then I’m 99.9% sure that it is not a motherboard problem.
I would try the following troubleshooting steps:
1. Connect the laptop to an external monitor and see what video output you get on the external monitor. Is it freezing too?
2. Boot the laptop in the safe mode. If you get a good video output is the safe mode, then most likely it is just a software problem. You can try to reload the operating system back to factory settings from a restore DVD (backup all important data before you run the restore DVD).
3. Disconnect the display from the system board and try to start the laptop only with an external monitor attached. If you get a good video output, then most likely the display assembly is causing the problem.
4. Test the memory modules if you have any extra memory modules installed.
5. Try to start the laptop without the wireless card installed. Sometimes a bad wireless card can cause very strange laptop problems.
By the way, have you tried to reinstall the video driver?
April 22nd, 2006 at 1:13 pm
HI.
I have a Satellite A75, out of warranty, of course. When it’s turned on, it begins to boot and can usually get to the desktop and then the screen freezes with colored lines. It usually stays on for >1 minute before this happens. Everything pointed towards a video problem and I have gone through 4 motherboards purchased on ebay trying to fix this! My computer tech. finds each one doing the same thing. What is going on???
Thank you very much,
Joseph Henson
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?