BIOS conflict in Toshiba laptop

[jfg]

Hello, group,

Please forgive me if this question has already been posed and answered.
I've Googled it and seen references to it but no solutions. I have a
Toshiba M45 given to me by a friend to fix if possible. So far I haven't
been able to help. When the laptop starts it goes into the BIOS but gives
an error message that there is a conflict with the PCI serial bus controller
in Slot 2. It offers F1 to continue or F2 for setup. F1 reboots the
laptop, F2 gives no hardware options except to disable wireless, usb and
touchpad. I've tried disabling all of those. Also I've removed the
wireless card, the modem, the cdrw to no effect. I also tried known good
memory sticks - no difference. In its present condition it therefore just
boots to BIOS but goes no further. One thread mentioned that the CMOS
battery might be bad and to replace it. This is not so easy on this model.
It's on the bottom of the motherboard and is soldered into place. What was
Toshiba thinking? Anyway, I'd like to hear further suggestions from those
more experienced than I am. Thanks...J

 

[the wharf rat]

In article <mtWdncLomOIwu9DWnZ2dnUVZ_uadnZ2d@mchsi.com>,
jfg <jfg@mchsi.com> wrote:

Have you tried resetting bios defaults ? Can you enter bios
setup?

 

[mike]

jfg wrote:
> Hello, group,
>
> Please forgive me if this question has already been posed and answered.
> I've Googled it and seen references to it but no solutions. I have a
> Toshiba M45 given to me by a friend to fix if possible. So far I haven't
> been able to help. When the laptop starts it goes into the BIOS but gives
> an error message that there is a conflict with the PCI serial bus controller
> in Slot 2. It offers F1 to continue or F2 for setup. F1 reboots the
> laptop, F2 gives no hardware options except to disable wireless, usb and
> touchpad. I've tried disabling all of those. Also I've removed the
> wireless card, the modem, the cdrw to no effect. I also tried known good
> memory sticks - no difference. In its present condition it therefore just
> boots to BIOS but goes no further. One thread mentioned that the CMOS
> battery might be bad and to replace it. This is not so easy on this model.
> It's on the bottom of the motherboard and is soldered into place. What was
> Toshiba thinking? Anyway, I'd like to hear further suggestions from those
> more experienced than I am. Thanks...J
>
>
I had a dell that wouldn't boot. Previous owner had let the cmos battery
go flat.
It's rechargeable, and had correct voltage, but couldn't find any way to
reset the cmos controller chip. Reset pin didn't help.
Removing and replacing the same CMOS battery fixed it.

 

[jfg]

"the wharf rat" <wrat@panix.com> wrote in message
news:hijbeu$2q5$2@reader1.panix.com...
> In article <mtWdncLomOIwu9DWnZ2dnUVZ_uadnZ2d@mchsi.com>,
> jfg <jfg@mchsi.com> wrote:
>
> Have you tried resetting bios defaults ? Can you enter bios
> setup?

Yes, have tried that. No go. F1 reboots the laptop. F2 allows you into
the BIOS but there's little you can do to change hardware. Thanks for the
thought, tho. J

 

[jfg]

"mike" <spamme0@go.com> wrote in message
news:hijdq2$vu5$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> jfg wrote:
>> Hello, group,
>>
>> Please forgive me if this question has already been posed and answered.
>> I've Googled it and seen references to it but no solutions. I have a
>> Toshiba M45 given to me by a friend to fix if possible. So far I haven't
>> been able to help. When the laptop starts it goes into the BIOS but
>> gives an error message that there is a conflict with the PCI serial bus
>> controller in Slot 2. It offers F1 to continue or F2 for setup. F1
>> reboots the laptop, F2 gives no hardware options except to disable
>> wireless, usb and touchpad. I've tried disabling all of those. Also
>> I've removed the wireless card, the modem, the cdrw to no effect. I also
>> tried known good memory sticks - no difference. In its present condition
>> it therefore just boots to BIOS but goes no further. One thread
>> mentioned that the CMOS battery might be bad and to replace it. This is
>> not so easy on this model. It's on the bottom of the motherboard and is
>> soldered into place. What was Toshiba thinking? Anyway, I'd like to
>> hear further suggestions from those more experienced than I am.
>> Thanks...J
> I had a dell that wouldn't boot. Previous owner had let the cmos battery
> go flat.
> It's rechargeable, and had correct voltage, but couldn't find any way to
> reset the cmos controller chip. Reset pin didn't help.
> Removing and replacing the same CMOS battery fixed it.

I'm thinking that this might be worth the effort. Unfortunately on this
model the battery is soldered onto the bottom of the motherboard. I guess I
should go ahead and try de-soldering it and finding a replacement. After
all, what's the worst that can happen? Already I can't boot into an OS.
Thanks...J

 

[BillW50]

In news:FuCdnZyRg4iFotDWnZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d@mchsi.com,
jfg typed on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 213:47 -0600:
> I'm thinking that this might be worth the effort. Unfortunately on
> this model the battery is soldered onto the bottom of the
> motherboard. I guess I should go ahead and try de-soldering it and
> finding a replacement. After all, what's the worst that can happen?
> Already I can't boot into an OS. Thanks...J

As you know, the Toshiba BIOS has very few options. Although all is not
lost. As they have a BIOS utility that runs under Windows to make more
changes. Unfortunately in your case, this isn't an option. Although
there was a DOS utility to make BIOS changes too. I don't know if this
still exists, but it might be worth checking out.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 2 of 3 - Windows XP SP3

 

[mike]

BillW50 wrote:
> In news:FuCdnZyRg4iFotDWnZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d@mchsi.com,
> jfg typed on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 213:47 -0600:
>> I'm thinking that this might be worth the effort. Unfortunately on
>> this model the battery is soldered onto the bottom of the
>> motherboard. I guess I should go ahead and try de-soldering it and
>> finding a replacement. After all, what's the worst that can happen?
>> Already I can't boot into an OS. Thanks...J
>
> As you know, the Toshiba BIOS has very few options. Although all is not
> lost. As they have a BIOS utility that runs under Windows to make more
> changes. Unfortunately in your case, this isn't an option. Although
> there was a DOS utility to make BIOS changes too. I don't know if this
> still exists, but it might be worth checking out.
>
tsetup.exe

 

[jfg]

"BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in message
news:hil06n$kqc$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> In news:FuCdnZyRg4iFotDWnZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d@mchsi.com,
> jfg typed on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 213:47 -0600:
>> I'm thinking that this might be worth the effort. Unfortunately on
>> this model the battery is soldered onto the bottom of the
>> motherboard. I guess I should go ahead and try de-soldering it and
>> finding a replacement. After all, what's the worst that can happen?
>> Already I can't boot into an OS. Thanks...J
>
> As you know, the Toshiba BIOS has very few options. Although all is not
> lost. As they have a BIOS utility that runs under Windows to make more
> changes. Unfortunately in your case, this isn't an option. Although there
> was a DOS utility to make BIOS changes too. I don't know if this still
> exists, but it might be worth checking out.
>
> --
> Bill
> Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 2 of 3 - Windows XP SP3

Thanks for the suggestion. I can't get past the F1 and F2 options screen.
There's no chance of booting a cd or floppy. I was hoping against hope that
there might be some magical keystrokes or something to get past the BIOS.
No such luck. Next stop is de-soldering the cmos battery in hopes of the
BIOS forgetting its present problems. If that doesn't do it I'll punt on
this motherboard and part the machine out. Thanks to all who've tried to
help. J

 

[Barry Watzman]

I would reflash the bios if you can. I'm suspcious that someone did
this previously .... with the wrong bios.


jfg wrote:
> Hello, group,
>
> Please forgive me if this question has already been posed and answered.
> I've Googled it and seen references to it but no solutions. I have a
> Toshiba M45 given to me by a friend to fix if possible. So far I haven't
> been able to help. When the laptop starts it goes into the BIOS but gives
> an error message that there is a conflict with the PCI serial bus controller
> in Slot 2. It offers F1 to continue or F2 for setup. F1 reboots the
> laptop, F2 gives no hardware options except to disable wireless, usb and
> touchpad. I've tried disabling all of those. Also I've removed the
> wireless card, the modem, the cdrw to no effect. I also tried known good
> memory sticks - no difference. In its present condition it therefore just
> boots to BIOS but goes no further. One thread mentioned that the CMOS
> battery might be bad and to replace it. This is not so easy on this model.
> It's on the bottom of the motherboard and is soldered into place. What was
> Toshiba thinking? Anyway, I'd like to hear further suggestions from those
> more experienced than I am. Thanks...J
>
>

 

[mike]

Barry Watzman wrote:
> I would reflash the bios if you can. I'm suspcious that someone did
> this previously .... with the wrong bios.
>
>
> jfg wrote:
>> Hello, group,
>>
>> Please forgive me if this question has already been posed and
>> answered. I've Googled it and seen references to it but no solutions.
>> I have a Toshiba M45 given to me by a friend to fix if possible. So
>> far I haven't been able to help. When the laptop starts it goes into
>> the BIOS but gives an error message that there is a conflict with the
>> PCI serial bus controller in Slot 2. It offers F1 to continue or F2
>> for setup. F1 reboots the laptop, F2 gives no hardware options except
>> to disable wireless, usb and touchpad. I've tried disabling all of
>> those. Also I've removed the wireless card, the modem, the cdrw to no
>> effect. I also tried known good memory sticks - no difference. In
>> its present condition it therefore just boots to BIOS but goes no
>> further. One thread mentioned that the CMOS battery might be bad and
>> to replace it. This is not so easy on this model. It's on the bottom
>> of the motherboard and is soldered into place. What was Toshiba
>> thinking? Anyway, I'd like to hear further suggestions from those
>> more experienced than I am. Thanks...J
>>
That's an interesting option.
Some of the Toshiba's had the ability to flash a bios on a laptop
that wouldn't boot. Something about shorting some pins on the parallel
port to get it to boot from a floppy.