Here are the links for Toshiba Tecra 8000 and Tecra 9000 FRU (Field Replaceable Unit Documentation). It’s very useful if you want to take your laptop apart. I’m not sure how long these links would be “alive”. These files are in PDF format. When you click on the link, the PDF file should open in a new window. If you have a slow Internet connection it might take some time to download the file.
Toshiba Tecra 8000 (size 2.7MB)
Toshiba Tecra 9000 (size 5.0MB)
Please let me know if these links are dead, I’ll delete the post.
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April 18th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I have an old Toshiba Tecra 8000 laptop which when I set it up in 2003 I set a password in the Windows XP, din’t use it for years and want to get up up and running for my 8year old son but cannot remember the password??
How can I reset it , override etc?
Regards
Guy
April 13th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
I may have a bum PSU in my 8000 as well so I am also intersted in part number / instructions on replacement.
March 30th, 2007 at 7:31 am
cj2600, Gee thanks for your latest input in your last message (#27). Your advice is sound. I think you’re right that the internal Power Supply may well be at fault. Motherboard was fine beforehand, but could’ve gone bad as well. My bet is the Power Supply. Where is the Power Supply situated internally and what is entailed in its replacement including the cost of the part, should I want to fix the old unit? Obviously, we’re not talking about an AC Adapter which seems to work fine.
In any event, most immediately, I am going to swap the old HDD into another working unit none the less. It turns out that the one I’ve arranged to acquire is exactly the same Part No. as my old one. So, that should minimize any device driver issues. Why would there be any in the first place if it is the exact same Model and Part No.? … Or, must I expect some downloading and driver installation no matter what when swapping HDDs?
March 29th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Nate,
I missed the part that the laptop goes stone-cold dead (no LED lights at all) in your first comment. If the laptop goes completely dead and even the power LED will not turn on when you plug the AC adapter, it’s not related to the memory. It’s either a bad power supply or faulty motherboard.
Install the hard drive into the working machine, most likely the hard drive will not see any difference. If you get a missing device driver, you can download it from Toshiba website, it’s not necessary to buy the CD. You’ll need the recovery CDs ONLY if you decide to reinstall Windows from scratch.
March 29th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
FWIW, I should have another working PII 366 Tecra 8000 (of an unknown Part No.) on the way shortly that I could swap the HDD into that should operate fine if I don’t solve the problem with this unit beforehand. Hopefully the HDD will not reject the alternate system unit based on Machine ID. Is it worth buying one of those Emergency Boot [from the CD-ROM] and Driver CDs for the Tecra Series offered on eBay to be able to load any missing device drivers and/or set up the new HDD install should it be necessary? Or can I obtain and load the drivers easily and quickly on my own? Is it helpful to have one with the Toshiba tsetup facility?
March 29th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
There used to be a guide that offered the logic and schema behind the part numbering system Toshiba used for the Tecra 8000 series. There were so many permutations, that it was useful to have this guide to help you figure out what the Part Nos. meant and read them better to know what they were referring to in these units. I’d just like to have one if it still available.
March 29th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
cj2600, Thanks. I’ll follow up your suggestions. FWIW, after not touching it for weeks, I tried another AC Adapter and lo and behold it booted into WIN98 and seemed fine. I thought I found the problem. Then, all of a sudden, as before, it shut down again. Went stone-cold dead. LED lights wouldn’t go on again. I’m going to check the RAM and reseat it. The threads on the phillip’s head screws are stripped that secure the memory cover. How do I remove screws with stripped heads? Is there some tool for this? As soon as I open it, I will remove and reseat the memory. 256MB of RAM is in there. Also, do you think any PC Wizard, Emergency Recovery, Tecra Boot and Driver CD’s available by sellers on eBay are any good?
March 29th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Nate,
I don’t know where you can find it but if you tell me what part number you are looking for, probably I can help you.
I don’t think this is related to the PW protecting. Remove the hard drive and start the laptop without it. If the laptop still fails to boot, something else is going on and it’s not related to the hard drive.
I would try another known good memory module, it could be just a memory problem.
I think the laptop should start even if the RTC battery completely discharged or missing at all. You will not be able safe any changes or time, but the laptop should start.
As I said before, start the laptop without HDD installed. If it still fails to start, you have another issue. Try replacing memory first. Try reseating the module and move it from one slot to another.
I would agree with the second group of people. There shouldn’t be any major issues if you use a different Tecra 8000. It’s possible that some drivers will not be recognized, but the laptop still should start and load Windows. BTW, you can install the hard drive into another working Tecra 8000 and run Hitachi’s drive fitness test (you’ll find a link in “Links” on the right side). Just in case.
March 29th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Further, I have a Tecra 8000 (Part No. PAT800U-KB51) that ran WIN 98SE2. It has a PII366 w/ 10GB HDD and 24X CD.
It was in perfect condition. Then, at one point, I saw fit to try and PW protect the HDD and/or laptop in general. I’m not sure how well I succeeded in PW protecting the HDD or the computer, if at all (don’t think I succeeded), but one thing’s for sure. Afterwards, the system wouldn’t power up. All dead. No LED lights went on. I’m not if this was due to bumping the unit or attempting to PW protect it (the HDD and the Computer).
Now, strangely, on occasion, without warning, the laptop would suddenly start up … randomly … after pressing the power button – but that could happen after weeks elapsed or not at all.
Still, when it decided to start-up momentarily, it would boot beyond the red Toshiba start-up Screen to the WIN98 banner, as if loading the OS, and then shut down all of a sudden … not to restart at all no matter what you did. All LED lights went on when it teased me this way.
Given this phenomenon, I was wondering if an internal battery (RTC/CMOS) or power supply is dead or barely working (holiding any charge) on occasion? I run it off of AC power as I have for a long time.
Further, I was wondering if the shutdown had to do with attempting to and possibly succeeding in PW protecting the HDD or the computer at large? Something comes to mind about this happening relative to PW protecting a HDD, but I can’t find the relevant Toshiba material on this.
Finally, I’ve considered swapping the removable HDD into another working Tecra 8000 model to see what happens and if I can then access and use the data on my HDD? I’m variously told that if I try this, I should get the same exact model Tecra 8000 down to its Part No. in order for the swap to be successful and the HDD to make a smooth transition. Does it really matter? Others say that any Tecra 8000 series model will suffice, but you may have to load some additional device drivers.
There is a Toshiba Support Bulletin (Doc. ID#98080589) that suggests if you’re working with a PW protected HDD, it might not swap (be interchangeable) to another machine if a PW was used. If I can’t start my machine, how can I tell if it’s PW protected?
The only time I tried to swap HDDs in the past (not sure if they were PW protected or not), the not the same machine ID message would make the swap fail and limit access. Can I overcome this?
Further, in order to make a successful swap work, do I need to acquire an exact same Tecra 8000 down to every aspect of the Part No., or will the same Model No. suffice? How about the unit being merely part of the Tecra 8000 Series as a whole? … Or is any transfer of the HDD doomed to fail because it won’t recognize a different Machine ID? … That is, the HDD is programmed to recognize only each model in a series down to it’s part number identified by a unique and specific Machine ID (sort of like a Serial No.) that is different from every other laptop of the same ilk (e.g. Model and Part No.) to the point that swapping drives doesn’t work even between the same Part No. laptops?
I’m wondering if the seating of some internal component was thrown off due to a slight trauma that has put the machine off-kilter? … but is otherwise fixable. Any insight and assistance is most appreciated.
March 29th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Do you know where I can find a Part No. Guide To Tecra 8000 Series?