A few days ago I had to repair a notebook with symptoms that didn’t look like a hard drive failure at all. But the problem was fixed after I replace the hard drive.
It was Toshiba Satellite A70-S249 notebook with the following problem.
When I press on the power button, the laptop starts up as usual and a red Toshiba logo appears on the screen. After a moment the logo disappears and the screen turns black without any faint image and flashing cursor. The blue light around the power button stays on and fans continue to spin normal but nothing appears on the screen. I noticed that the hard drive LED blinks green on the startup and after that shows no activity at all. After a closer inspection I noticed that the screen is not completely black (like dead black), it didn’t have any image on it but it had a very faint backlight (I would say about 3-5% of normal brightness). I was able to see that there is some backlight after I pressed on the lid close switch and the screen turned to completely black.
Here are my troubleshooting steps that I went through to find the problem.
First of all, I replaced the memory module and didn’t get any changes. Removed the wireless card, still had the same problem.
After that I removed the hard drive and started the computer. This time I got something. The notebook successfully passed the Toshiba screen and started looking for a boot device. I got some activity on the screen. To make sure that the notebook itself works fine, I booted it from Knoppix (live Linux CD) and successfully loaded the Linux operating system to the desktop. So, that’s the hard drive problem!
I installed the hard drive back in the laptop and tried to boot it again. The same failure occurred again; I got a black screen with a very faint backlight and no hard drive activity at all. I tested the hard drive with Hitachi DFT test and failed an advanced test. The problem is detected!
Finally I installed a new hard drive, reimaged the drive with a recovery DVD and got the laptop back up and running.
By the way, even though the customer’s hard drive failed the DFT test, I still was able to access it from another computer. The customer had important personal files on the failed drive. I connected it to our recovery desktop computer using IDE adapter. The “failed” hard drive was detected without any problem and I was able to recover the data.
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November 1st, 2008 at 6:40 am
I tried memory module test.
It is working.
This is my first repair on laptop.
Thank you very much
September 21st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Lin,
Could be bad memory module or bad connection between memory and motherboard.
Try reseating the memory module, move it into the empty slot.
Try replacing it with another known good module if you have any.
September 21st, 2008 at 2:51 pm
my laptop the power button on my laptop goes on well, but no vision come out on the screen..the had disk is not loaded, the indicator light flickers for a few times and then gone, and the laptop screen stays black, and nothing else happened. Advice please? What is the problem? Thank you in advance.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I turn on the toshiba satellite laptop and it comes up with a reddish hue then a second later goes to a black screen and then shuts down.
I tried re-booting but the same thing happens.
What should I do? Is it worth it to fix?
June 1st, 2008 at 9:56 am
thantin,
Could be software related problem. Try reinstalling the operating system from the recovery disc. Call Toshiba and ask them. If you have a newer model, most likely you can purchase a new recovery disc directly from Toshiba.
June 1st, 2008 at 9:54 am
Koert,
Yes, you should be able to boot and run your laptop even when the hard drive is removed. Here’s what you can do. Download Knoppix – live Linux CD and burn it on a CD. Boot your laptop from this CD and you’ll be able to run Linux from the CD. You’ll get all applications you need – web browser, music player, text editor and much more…
Try Knoppix, it’s very cool OS.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:51 am
I have a TOSHIBA SATELLITE model every time I try to boot the red logo comes on and then windows and then safe mode.
I boot in safe mode but it comes black screen & nothing.
why ?
I also need the recovery disc. where can i get it ?
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Is it possible to boot and run a laptop with no hard drive installed? My Gateway ARC200 has a “known problem” with a poorly engineered cable/connector.
I hate to throw the computer away and was wondering if it’s possible to run small programs, surf the internet, and watch DVD’s by booting directly from a USB or PC slot. The BIOS supports booting from external devices, but I don’t want to dive in until I can be relatively certain that I’m not wasting my time.
Thanks!
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
my Toshiba 1900-303(a discontinued model) encountered the same problem…
funny enough i managed to get it fixed by repairing the windows..
i put the bootable CD and it detected it, choosed the option for repair the windows and then it showed the windows loading logo and everthing started normally..no dead screen..
so maybe in some of the laptops, the problem is just a damaged windows copy!!
April 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
bill,
Can you boot the laptop in Safe Mode? Did you try using Last Known Good Configuration option?
This can be software related problem. You can try reinstalling the operating system from the recovery disc.
WARNING. If you use the recovery disc it will erase all personal data and reinstall everything back to factory defaults.