NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Toshiba Forums › Toshiba Notebooks › TECRA 8100 will not boot
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

TECRA 8100 will not boot

post #1 of 28
8/8/06 at 10:41pm
Thread Starter 
i just recently purchased a tecra 8100 from ebay ,minus power supply . after recieveing the new power supply i ordered ,i plugged it in and it wouldnt boot.
heres what is happening
I get the "external power" and "on" light in green, short HD light for about 1 second (it looks like it seeks shortly) then HD light goes out and the computer just runs-- no screen, fan is running , HD is spinning maybe-- hard to tell, but pretty sure it is. It acts like it is on, but no way it is booting without a screen as the HD is not active...and no POST beep.
Sometimes it wont shut off. Sometimes I hold the power button and it begins to beep. Once it beeped 30 times then powered off after a 3 second push to the power button. Othertimes i hold the power and it simplt shuts off .
i don`t want to spend money in parts if i don`t really know whats causing the prob.
i don`t have any spare parts to try.

any suggestions would be a big help

thanks
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 28
8/9/06 at 12:48am
Try to see if the lid switch is depress all the time, it's in the top corner (Can't
remember if it's left or right) Anyway, you'll find it because it protudes by
around quarter of an inch. If not, your display is off.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 28
8/9/06 at 8:10am
What was the guy's description on EBay, did he mention any problems???

Do you have a desktop monitor that you could try hooking up the laptop too.
Just to see if the lcd is dead or not
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 28
8/9/06 at 12:22pm
Thread Starter 

toshiba tecra 8100

yeah the switch is on the right hand side at the top and it it protudes by
around quarter of an inch. i tried pressing it and it works. the guy who i baught it from on ebay said it worked and it had windows 2000 installed but that could be a anything but the truth. i still cant get it to boot ive tried everything. could it be a loose connection on the MB,or maybe ram prob, it powers up but thats it. 3 days now still no further ahead.

toshiba tecra 8100
p-111
128 mgs ram

thanks for help,still much more to learn
please any help is greatly appreciated
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 28
8/9/06 at 12:27pm
Thread Starter 

tecra8100 will not boot

oh i also tried hooking up external monitor to no avail seems like theres power to the system but not enough. i ve repaired alot of desktop comps over the years but this is my first crack at laptops.

thanks any input is good input.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 28
8/9/06 at 1:34pm
Did you see the Toshiba logo when it boots or just blank screen and nothing else? Any activity at all in the screen?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 28
8/9/06 at 2:30pm
Thread Starter 

tecera 8100 will not boot

theres nothing just a blanc screen no boot screen ,no activity light from hd nuttin. its like there is no power to the mb. the dvd lights up hd blinks for a second, but nuttin happens. im frustraited, i didnt want to dismantal it.but i was hopeing for a better solution.ive reseated the ram checked hd connections,used ac adaptor withot battery,ext monitor. idk

anyway ill keep reading other posts and stuff
any help is better than no help at all.

thanks
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 28
8/9/06 at 3:36pm
Do you have single module ram or two memory module in there? If two try it one by one only... Also check the size it might have been swap to a bigger size, max it can take is 128 mb module only...
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 28
8/9/06 at 3:46pm
The max ram it can take is 256 per slot for a total of 512. My 8100 came with 2 64mb modules which I think was the standard on those. But I ended up havin a bad slot b which was something lots of other people have had witht he 8100 and I've seen in a coupleof dells fromt he same period.

Try removing the ram modules and use them one at a time testing each module in each slot until you can rule out bad ram or a bad slot.

If you boot with an external monitor, do you see the Red toshiba logo?
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 28
8/9/06 at 5:36pm
Thread Starter 

tecra 8100 will not boot

thanks 4 the replys ,
i1ve tried already switching ram from a to b avd vice versa still no go. i have only 1 128 meg ram stick it could be bad ,or not ,i cannot tell only have 1.id order more ram but it might not be my trouble.
still no logo or anything blanc screen with power lights on.keeps beeping when i turn it off.

thanks for replys at least someone is trying to help

thanks
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 28
8/9/06 at 6:17pm
Does the on/off indicator blink? If so try to figure out the blink sequence and post it here. It can be tranlsated into a hex code that can tell a tech what the problem is. It should be like 8 blinks (either long or short) followed by a pause, then repeat.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 28
8/9/06 at 6:39pm
Thread Starter 
no the on/off light stays on as well as another the comp led i guess both are green.no blinking, only time they blink is when i use the battery then a green and amber light blink ,the same time evey time
the ac adaptors green led goes dull and bightens as well when battery is installed.when battery is removed all power lighs are functioning.

thanks 4 replys
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 28
8/9/06 at 9:56pm
I wonder what would happen if you tried to boot it with a Win98 boot floppy disk in the FDD
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 28
8/9/06 at 10:48pm
Thread Starter 
no floppy on this machine must be external. never recieved one.
still tryin no go

thanks for reply
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 28
8/10/06 at 12:28am
Thread Starter 
i dismantaled some of the parts turns out my fan isn`t working either.im beginning to suspect mb but ill keep open mind on that.
still no go
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 28
8/10/06 at 12:45am
I suspect it's the memory, if you can find one machine to test yours or
borrow one, it will confirm it. Fan will not run if nothing is heating up, that's
how it is designed.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 28
8/10/06 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 
ill order another stick 128mb ram and give it a shot. i`ll check back when i get results.

thanks for info
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 28
8/11/06 at 2:03pm
I have a Tecra 8100 too, exact same problem, well symptoms, on switch on HD light flashes for about 1 sec, ON light is on and the one at far right flashes briefly, I've no manual so not sure what this light is telling me.....
When turning it off, a brief push of the button causes it to beep once followed by 29 short beeps before it goes off.
Holding the F12 key down and then trying to start up causes the message:
Ready for BIOS update. Place the BIOS update diskette in the drive and press any key when ready to proceed.
The far right light is on now when this message is displayed
Have you tried that?
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 28
8/11/06 at 6:06pm
Ok update on what I've done, read somewhere else about dodgy memory slots and putting bits of card under the cover to physically push the memory card down, well this trick worked for me, I found that a credit card is just the right size to bridge the gap across both slots as the cover is flimsy and I needed something with a bit of strength to it, I also put some paper under the credit card on top of the memory stick for good measure.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 28
8/12/06 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
thanks nickpen
at least ive got ready for bios update up on screen ill try the credit card thing but it dosent seem like a permant fix but better than nuttin .

at least somethins workin

thanks for help
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Toshiba Notebooks
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Toshiba Forums › Toshiba Notebooks › TECRA 8100 will not boot