Is There A (Laptop) Doctor In The House?

[TomGoodheart 444]

My laptop no work. It's a Toshiba Equium A210-1AS. Similar to the Satellite series afaik.

Thursday it was fine before I went to work. I put it to hibernate as usual and when I got home ... it was dead as a dunkin donut.

Not only does it not power up as it should, it does absolutely nothing. If I plug in the ac/dc adaptor, there are none of the lights that indicate it's on mains power or that the battery is charging. No fan, the DVD port doesn't open, the screen is black. Nothing at all.

I tested it by taking it to work where my boss has a similar Toshiba laptop. I plug in her adaptor, which works fine in her laptop and mine still shows no sign of life. But if I use my adaptor in her laptop it says it's connected, so it's not the adaptor.

I'm hoping that it's the jack socket and that it's just that the power isn't getting to where it's needed. I was quoted £80 to replace the socket, so I've ordered one off ebay and will do it myself. Somehow £2.95 seemed more attractive than £80 that might not fix the problem.

But it it doesn't ... well, I'm no computerist, so that's me out of ideas. Anyone else any suggestions what might have caused the problem and what might fix it?

Sure I could buy a new laptop. The files I care about are all saved elsewhere. But I don't like Windows 7 (can you still get that?) so suspect I'd hate W8. I don't like IE9 so can't see 8.1 being appealing. I don't want touchscreen or a tablet. I like Vista. I like IE8. I want my laptop back.

Any ideas anyone?

Edited November 1, 2013 by TomGoodheart

[Coinery 1,249]

I think your instincts re socket is good!

Whilst I've not fiddled inside a laptop too much, I do remember that there is some kind of process for 'demagnetising' or de-staticing, whatever it's called, the computer before opening it up, to avoid charges, I think, transferring to some component or other! It's straight forward, and totally understandable, I just can't remember what is was, just worth a quick google about cracking the case, if you're not familiar with it????????

[TomGoodheart 444]

Ah, yes. I remember something about that now from when I upgraded the memory chips. I found a video on yuotube that shows how to take the thing apart. Quite simple, although they could have surely made it so you didn't have to undo quite so many little screws and take so much of it apart to get to what is effectively an external port! There's no obvious socket damage, but it's one of the things that came up when I searched for a dead laptop so I'm hoping it's that simple.

Of course it might end up like when I replaced the CMOS battery on my wife's Dell pc. We now have two new drive segments, two versions of Windows and neither boots up from switch on, so you have to go through F1 every time. Bloody technology!

[Coinery 1,249]

Hah, yes, I replaced the disc drive in my wife's mac about 5 year's ago...the number of screws, and ALL different lengths and counter, etc. etc.

Unbelievable, but satisfying!

[Peckris 579]

I'm a Mac person myself, but I've had laptops go as dead as dodo on me before now. The battery was usually flat, but the power adaptor wouldn't work either. It turned out there was a software cure that was to do with the Power Management System. You had to disconnect EVERYTHING (remove battery, power adaptor, etc) then press a certain key combination, wait ten seconds, reconnect the power, and try again. It worked more often than not. (Does Windows have a similar magic key cure?)

When 'not', it turned out usually to be the laptop's internal Power Supply Unit, which was more costly to replace, but cheap compared to losing your laptop and all its precious unbacked up data...

[Gary 7]

have you removed the bty and tried powering up just from the ac adaptor?

Try plugging the ac adaptor in, do not attempt to switch on the laptop, and let it sit for a few hours. The bty capacity could be so low that the ac adaptor alone is not able to supply enough juice to run the laptop and charge the bty at the same time. Have you tried another bty? This could be defective and dragging the voltage down.

Edited November 2, 2013 by Gary

[TomGoodheart 444]

have you removed the bty and tried powering up just from the ac adaptor?

Try plugging the ac adaptor in, do not attempt to switch on the laptop, and let it sit for a few hours. The bty capacity could be so low that the ac adaptor alone is not able to supply enough juice to run the laptop and charge the bty at the same time. Have you tried another bty? This could be defective and dragging the voltage down.

Yes, I bought a new battery. But normally, even if the battery is not connected, the indicator lights that show when it's on mains power illuminate. They don't at present, suggesting no power is getting to them. I'm hoping it's a connection issue. I'll replace the connection socket as I know the adapter works and hope it shows some signs of life!

[Peter 615]

Must be something in the air.I'm using my youngest daughter's laptop because I dropped mine this morning and smashed the screen.

I know what is wrong and will fix it.

My eldest's 2 month old HP has also packed up.(guarantee)

Richard old bean

Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and buy a new bit of kit.

I should imagine yours is growing whiskers.

You have full back up and I'm sure you can run your preferred windows and explorer on a new bit of kit.

Hughes are doing a basic Toshiba for less than £250.

[Fubar 82]

No need to lose all your data if the hard drive is still good.

Take it out of the laptop and fit it into a USB caddie.

You don't have to keep the software on a new laptop if you don't like it. You can still get hold of older Windows versions if you want them.

Hibernate shouldn't have flattened your battery but if you use it on the adaptor all the time you wouldn't necessarily notice that the battery was knackered (official computer speak).

Sounds like the socket as you suspect and it can be something as simple as a dry joint where it connects to the board. A common compaint because of the current flowing through an inadequate soldered joint. Although they can also break internally because of the strain.

[TomGoodheart 444]

Bah. I fitted the new socket, but it still shows no sign of life. Pretty sure I put it all back correctly. Bother.

[Peckris 579]

Bah. I fitted the new socket, but it still shows no sign of life. Pretty sure I put it all back correctly. Bother.

It could be the Power Supply Unit - ok, it's a repair, but if the laptop is otherwise in good condition, it's worth having done.

[TomGoodheart 444]

Well I used the diagnostic charts, ran through all the options and tests and ended up with it saying i should buy a new system board. Which I take to be what most call a motherboard. Since I couldn't see a new one on ebay and prices seem to be £250+ I've just bought myself a new laptop.

Just in case I decided I wanted to do such a crazy thing, anyone know what would happen if I popped the HDD from my current one into the new? Or is it better to get a cradle connector and just link it up?

It's just I think I have everything I want saved externally, but .. well, there's likely to be somethig I've forgotten to transfer, isn't there?

[bagerap 706]

I've just scrapped my old Toshiba Satellite laptop and dropped the HDD into a plug 'n play case. Quick simple and cheap. Any old programs can be moved over to your new machine using drag and drop.

[TomGoodheart 444]

I've just scrapped my old Toshiba Satellite laptop and dropped the HDD into a plug 'n play case. Quick simple and cheap. Any old programs can be moved over to your new machine using drag and drop.

Thanks! That sounds like just what I was thinking of!

[Peckris 579]

I've just scrapped my old Toshiba Satellite laptop and dropped the HDD into a plug 'n play case. Quick simple and cheap. Any old programs can be moved over to your new machine using drag and drop.

I quite agree. You can buy a USB caddy for around £10 - £15, or even less if you shop around. Then you can just plug it in and transfer all the stuff you need.

[Peter 615]

Richard

You've endured 5 days of restlessness and no doubt computer related dreams.

With computers I know it is a throwaway society.

Why anyone buys anything but the budget range beats me.

The £1500 laptop becomes the £300 budget spec in a year.

Using my method you just end up with a load of hard drives (and some useful spares )

Pop the gubbings up into the loft for an antique of the future.(I wonder how many 286's are still about?)

I've just bitten the bullet and replaced my Acer screen...it was touch and go but my Acer is just so nice.

[TomGoodheart 444]

Richard

You've endured 5 days of restlessness and no doubt computer related dreams.

With computers I know it is a throwaway society.

Why anyone buys anything but the budget range beats me.

The £1500 laptop becomes the £300 budget spec in a year.

Using my method you just end up with a load of hard drives (and some useful spares )

Pop the gubbings up into the loft for an antique of the future.(I wonder how many 286's are still about?)

I've just bitten the bullet and replaced my Acer screen...it was touch and go but my Acer is just so nice.

Yeah, it's annoying. The laptop is barely 5 years old! If it were a part I could source easily (and cheaply!) I'd happily try to fix it. But I'm wary of throwing any more money at it when a new battery, ac/dc adapter and connector didn't resolve it.

Still, teh interweb is wonderful and I was able to reassure myself that Win 7 isn't as bad as I'd anticipated. In fact it sounds as if it has pretty much all the features I liked from Vista, but may even be better.

What gets me is that a W7 version costs more than the bloody W8! I did price up a Windows 8 loaded version, but when you then add in the cost of buying W7 to replace the OS, it was the same or more than pre-loaded. Plus surely technology should have gotten cheaper in those intervening 5 years? It doesn't seem like it to me!

Anyway, I've gone for another Toshiba as they're familiar. I reigned myself in and didn't go for the 6GB. I can always add memory myself. And on balance I got what I wanted, an acceptably fast Core i5 processor, reasonable built in speakers and, from reviews, good resolution and colour display.

It took me about a year to tweak the last one to how I wanted it. So now I have another little project to play with!

Goodbye Rocxibl, my old friend.

[bagerap 706]

My main gripe with the Toshiba is that they run so bloody hot. Good for frying eggs I suppose.

[TomGoodheart 444]

My main gripe with the Toshiba is that they run so bloody hot. Good for frying eggs I suppose.

Yes, you don't really want your laptop on, well, ... your *ahem* lap. Get's a bit too cozy for comfort!

I have mine on one of those cooling tray thingies. The fan stopped working a few months after I got it (actually the fan worked, just the blades all snapped off one by one! Cheap Belkin tat), but it still helps ventilation and keeps it cooler than if it were directly on a desk or something.

[bagerap 706]

I tried a number of external cooling devices but the mighty Toshiba lap, thigh and unmentionables broiler defeated them all. Now I work between a tower and a Nexus tablet.

[Rob 3,228]

Clearly a bad time for computers. My accounts computer has just gone on the blink. Just as I was printing off the nominal ledger for my year end. If it could be persuaded to print just 90 more pages I could start with a blank sheet for the new financial year.

[TomGoodheart 444]

Well, the laptop arrived. Windows 7 was not the horrible experience I had feared and works acceptably close to Vista.

There are a few niggles, mostly for the price. Firstly, the thing came with no word processor/ spreadsheet / office package (!) OK, it has a trial version of Office 2013, but I don't want to buy something on top of what I already paid! Thankfully I have an old disk with Office 2007 but I'm not too impressed that it didn't even have Works.

The case is definitely plastic. OK, it's light. And having taken the last one apart a few times, I suspect it's strong enough. But it could have been made to feel a bit more robust.

Other than that, it's odd things like there's no physical volume control for the sound system. My old laptop had a little dial. This you just have to use one of the f buttons. The SD card port is smaller. I used to have a card I used for memory expansion, which fitted the old laptop neatly. The new one the card protrudes by nearly 1cm so having it permanently in the slot would risk damaging the card and slot. Annoying.

Otherwise it's fine, just the usual nuisance of familiarising yourself to something new. The keyboard layout is slightly different (there's a numeric pad which I didn't use to have) so I find myself catching the wrong keys occasionally. I'm still trying to get it to hibernate (hopefully fixed, one of the network adapters was set so it could wake the laptop from sleep). And I still need to tweak the mousepad settings to exactly how I want.

On the plus side.. It works!! The colour and screen resolution are good. And unlike Wifey's pc, when I look a images of coins they are actually round, not oval! You can imagine how irritating that was!!

[bagerap 706]

Try Open Office from Apache. It's free, open source, mimics Office and is reasonably compatible with existing Office docs.

[Peckris 579]

Well, the laptop arrived. Windows 7 was not the horrible experience I had feared and works acceptably close to Vista.

There are a few niggles, mostly for the price. Firstly, the thing came with no word processor/ spreadsheet / office package (!) OK, it has a trial version of Office 2013, but I don't want to buy something on top of what I already paid! Thankfully I have an old disk with Office 2007 but I'm not too impressed that it didn't even have Works.

The case is definitely plastic. OK, it's light. And having taken the last one apart a few times, I suspect it's strong enough. But it could have been made to feel a bit more robust.

Other than that, it's odd things like there's no physical volume control for the sound system. My old laptop had a little dial. This you just have to use one of the f buttons. The SD card port is smaller. I used to have a card I used for memory expansion, which fitted the old laptop neatly. The new one the card protrudes by nearly 1cm so having it permanently in the slot would risk damaging the card and slot. Annoying.

When I had to get an HP netbook a few years back (with Windows 7) I found that WordPad was a perfectly acceptable app for most of my everyday needs. What really really really annoyed me was that there was no email client on it. Think about that - no email client!!! I had to go through all the hoops of signing up for Windows Live and then downloading that whole caboodle - admittedly it was free - before I could start dealing with email.

But think about it for a moment - what OS in its right mind would NOT give you a free emailer bundled with the OS? It would be like not getting an internet browser, though having said that, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome, are only a download click away ... oh wait ...

(That's odd - the f buttons on my Mac are distinctly physical... so is the remote control if I couldn't be arsed to reach out and press an f key )