19 replies to this topic

[yaniz]

Whenever I press the power button on my Toshiba Satellite L500D, it starts up with a black screen. The hard drive and the fan are running but no post and no booting appear (Windows isn't loading). The screen remains black. A hard reset/start doesn't help. I have however noticed that if the power cord (PSU) is disconnected and the battery removed and put back again (the battery only) it fires up upon pressing the power button and runs without any problems the rest of the day.
 

Conclusion: I have the feeling that the laptop starts more frequently after having removed and put back the battery with disconnected PSU. This is the feeling I have after having tried different measures in order to single out the problem, so it may be just a feeling ...

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you very much!

[paws]

Hi Yaniz,
 
1 Try removing the battery and the power supply wire....(make sure the computer is fully powered down...not just a sleep etc)

2 Next connect the power wire (but leave the battery disconnected)

3 Try to power on your computer...does it start OK?
Report back with what happens at step 3
 
If it doesn't start then its likely a power issue with the external power supply unit, power wire, motherboard socket/connection, or mains electrical outlet.
These are the things you need to check:
 
3 Check power (voltage) at the electrical outlet is correct for the location you are in (In my country, for example, it should be 230v (plus or minus 5%) in US of A it is probably around 110-115v and other parts of the world may have different "national" voltages.

4 check the output voltage at the end of the power wire (where it plugs into the computer) for this Toshiba it should be 19v 

 

5 If you have access to a known good working power supply of the correct rating then it would be worth trying that and see if it helps
 
Please don't take any risks when trying to check things out, if you are not absolutely sure of the correct and safe way to do it the get an electrician or competent computer technician to do this for you.

 

Post back and let us know how you get on.

Regards

paws

[yaniz]

Dear Paws,

Thanks for your support.

I removed the battery, the power supply wire, connected the power wire again, powered on the laptop several times and it started somewhere on the 20th attempt. After that it runs without any problems, but the next time I would want to start the laptop the same issue would be there again.

The power (voltage) at the electrical outlet is correct. Unfortunately I do not have the tools to check the output voltage at the end of the power wire.

 

You are welcome to provide any further suggestions that might solve the issue.

 

With kind regards,

Yaniz

[paws]

 Hi Yaniz, Can you borrow a known good working PSU and wire (of the correct rating/voltage) as this is the next logical step....
 
If it still is unreliable at starting up correctly with the known good working PSU and connector then its pointing to a socket or motherboard problem...

Regards

paws

[terry1966]

like paws suggests, i think it's a failing power supply too.

when a laptop or pc first starts up it draws the most current/power/amps which then drops down when everything is running.

a failing power supply will have trouble providing this initial power demand on a consistent basis but can manage it every now and again and why it starts after a number of tries, once it's up and running the lower power draw is less of a strain on the power supply and why everything then seems to work normally.

 

curious why the battery needs to be removed and then replaced tho before it starts up when the power lead is not connected. i'd have thought just unplugging it from the power source so only the battery power is available would be enough for it to start up as normal if the battery was good.

 

be interested to see if when finally up and running on power supply alone with battery out, if running stress testing software, where everything is running at max and causing most strain on the power supply (except for start up.) would cause it to shut down.

 

just my opinion.

 

Edited by terry1966, 10 December 2013 - 09:47 PM.

[yaniz]

Hi paws and terry1966,

Thank you both for your kind attention!

paws, I will try a working a AC/DC adapter/PSU from another laptop with the following specs:

input 100 - 240V   1.5A     50-60Hz
output 20V 3.25A

The present adapter for my Toshiba Satellite has the following specs:

input 100 - 240V   1.5A     50-60Hz
output 19V 4.74A

Will the first  adapter meet the requirements to use it in order to test the starting up?

terry1966, thank you for the explanation regarding the power supply (initial power demand and lower demand after start up). Sounds reasonable. I have however not noticed that the laptop will die at any point or in any circumstances, regardless if it uses the AC/DC adapter or the battery as a power supply. It runs all day long until I shut it down or until the battery dies.

Thank you both and kind regards.

[paws]

Hi Yaniz,

I cannot recommend that you use a 20v PSU as your computer only needs 19v

I am always careful not to exceed the voltage by more that one half a volt as a maximum....

 

However if you want to take the risk its your decision...

 

Regards

paws

[yaniz]

Hi Paws,

 

Thanks, I will try to find a PSU that meets the requirements or purchase a multimeter. I'll come back to this forum as soon as I've checked the output voltage of the power supply.

 

Until then thanks and best regards.

[paws]

[yaniz]

Hello again,

Unfortunately I have not received the multimeter I ordered from a webshop yet. I have however been "playing" with the laptop and noticed that it starts up directly if I disconnect (unplug) the PSU for some time, then connect the PSU back to the laptop, press the power button and the laptop/windows fires up  without any problems.

So there must most likely be a PSU issue, I guess. But is it possible that both the PSU and the battery are malfunctional as the the laptop behaves in the same way regardless if I start it by pressing the power button with the PSU connected and/or battery in place (in this case it needs to be powered and shut down about 15-20 times before it fires up)?

If I unplug the PSU from the laptop for a while and then plug it in again, it fires up on the first attempt after having pressed the power button.

Could the info above be of any help in order to pin down the issue.

Thanks for any help.

Yaniz
 

[yaniz]

Hi again,

 

I haven't dealt with the laptop for some time as I have been abroad, hence the delay in posting on this forum. Now, I have  checked the output voltage of the power supply and it is stable at 19,5V (19V is required), so the PSU seems to be okay. The start-up problem has however increased and it can take half a day in order to fire up the laptop. It is however easier to start it up if I let it run (the hard drive and the fan are running but no post and no booting appear - black screen and Windows isn't loading) for half an hour or so and then switch it off and then start it by pressing the start button. It usually strats on the second or third attempt.

 

Conclusion: starts on second or third attempt when warm after having been running for at least 30 minutes or more.

 

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you very much!
 

[paws]

Hi Yaniz, I think the nest step is to check out the computer's hardware...

The faults could be in either hardware or the software/Windows...

 

1 Start off by trying to boot from a Windows Installation disc....? is it any quicker at booting up?  ( you may need to alter the boot priority in the BIOS to CD/DVD/Optical drive as priority 1 with Hard drive as priority 2... dont forget to save the changes before exiting the BIOS with the Microsoft Windows Installation disc in the machine.... you should see a message come up

"press any key to boot from CD"

so press the space bar once and you should see the Windows install screen come up, if they do then exit and refect on the stae of your back ups...are they all Ok? should you wish to perform a repair install or a format and reinstall....

 

2 The next step is to try booting from a live distro LInux (Linux Puppy is good) if you need directions on how to download and burn the CD then post back and I 'll post up some notes for you.

 

If Puppy linux runs Ok and boots up reasonably quiclkly then we have eliminated a lot of your hardware as potential suspects and therefore it will help us focus attention on the likely areas for success.

Regards

paws

[yaniz]

Hi Paws,
Thank you for writing back.  Unfortunately the laptop came with no Win7 installation disc  (how can Toshiba sell a laptop without an installation disc? ), just with a repair option on partition D, so a repair installation from a disc is not an option.
I can however use an old XP installation disc I have and perform a clean installation, but before I do this I want to perform a mirror backup of partition C, and before that I will try to boot up with a Linux distro. Lubuntu is as good as any, I suppose. I will alter the BIOS settings in order to enable Lubunto to boot from CD.
Hope I will find the time during the coming weekend. You are welcome with any further comments in the matter.
Thank you for your kind attention and assistance.
Kind regards,
Yaniz

[terry1966]

 

I can however use an old XP installation disc I have and perform a clean installation,

don't do this under any circumstances.

 

paws just wants to see if it boots quicker to a screen with a windows or linux disc, so yes you can use the xp disc to check if you get to display something on the screen quicker, but always exit out of it before making any changes to your pc, if paws decides you need to do a repair install or factory reset then i'm sure paws will tell you to use the built in restore partition so you still have the windows 7 operating system.

 

 

and before that I will try to boot up with a Linux distro. Lubuntu is as good as any, I suppose. I will alter the BIOS settings in order to enable Lubunto to boot from CD.

yes definitely the best next step.

 

Edited by terry1966, 04 March 2014 - 08:49 AM.

[yaniz]

Thanks for the warning, terry!