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How a laptop dies

D

Don Phillipson

Flightless Bird
Advice requested: ancient Toshiba Satellite 1900
(new battery last year, used seldom) while connected
to mains power (downloading Ubuntu upgrades for
40 min. or so) emitted a soft pop and went wholly
dark. Power button initiates startup process for
about 5 seconds, dying with the same soft pop
before GRUB has timee to load.

On a desktop this would suggest a PSU failure.
Has anyone seen this elsewhere?
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
 
R

Roy Smith

Flightless Bird
On 2/25/2010 4:51 PM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> Advice requested: ancient Toshiba Satellite 1900
> (new battery last year, used seldom) while connected
> to mains power (downloading Ubuntu upgrades for
> 40 min. or so) emitted a soft pop and went wholly
> dark. Power button initiates startup process for
> about 5 seconds, dying with the same soft pop
> before GRUB has timee to load.
>
> On a desktop this would suggest a PSU failure.
> Has anyone seen this elsewhere?


Yup! A Toshiba MX-35S I had did something similar, though mine would
run for about 5 minutes then go blank. Power indicator would still be
lit, but no drive activity and nothing on the display. Turn it off for
5 minutes or so and it would start up again, then go dark after running
for 5 minutes. Local PC shop said that the motherboard needed to be
replaced and would cost over $500. So I just decided to trash that
laptop and buy a new one.

--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Home Premium

Timestamp: Thursday, February 25, 2010 5:36:56 PM
 
B

Barry Watzman

Flightless Bird
The most likely problem is a capacitor or switching transistor failure
in the power supply section of the motherboard. Chances of fixing it
are slim (not zero, however, just slim; it MIGHT be visibly obvious if
you remove the motherboard). What I would do, however, is look for
another Toshiba 1900 on E-Bay. One is likely to turn up, and to be
cheap (under $20 for the entire laptop).


Don Phillipson wrote:
> Advice requested: ancient Toshiba Satellite 1900
> (new battery last year, used seldom) while connected
> to mains power (downloading Ubuntu upgrades for
> 40 min. or so) emitted a soft pop and went wholly
> dark. Power button initiates startup process for
> about 5 seconds, dying with the same soft pop
> before GRUB has timee to load.
>
> On a desktop this would suggest a PSU failure.
> Has anyone seen this elsewhere?
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:hm73qb$i5i$1@news.eternal-september.org,
Barry Watzman typed on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:15:04 -0500:
> The most likely problem is a capacitor or switching transistor failure
> in the power supply section of the motherboard. Chances of fixing it
> are slim (not zero, however, just slim; it MIGHT be visibly obvious if
> you remove the motherboard). What I would do, however, is look for
> another Toshiba 1900 on E-Bay. One is likely to turn up, and to be
> cheap (under $20 for the entire laptop).
>
> Don Phillipson wrote:
>> Advice requested: ancient Toshiba Satellite 1900
>> (new battery last year, used seldom) while connected
>> to mains power (downloading Ubuntu upgrades for
>> 40 min. or so) emitted a soft pop and went wholly
>> dark. Power button initiates startup process for
>> about 5 seconds, dying with the same soft pop
>> before GRUB has timee to load.
>>
>> On a desktop this would suggest a PSU failure.
>> Has anyone seen this elsewhere?


If you both are talking about the old '94 era 486 T1900 series of
Toshiba laptops... I didn't know there was any of them still running
after all of this time. As Toshiba didn't use any fans and the power
regulators would cook themselves to death in about 5 years of everyday
use. And here is a handy link for those old 486 Toshibas.

The Ultimate Unofficial 486 Toshiba FAQ
http://home.att.net/~ronkar/toshiba.html

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2
 
M

Mike S.

Flightless Bird
In article <hm8g67$jnq$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>In news:hm73qb$i5i$1@news.eternal-september.org,
>Barry Watzman typed on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:15:04 -0500:
>> The most likely problem is a capacitor or switching transistor failure
>> in the power supply section of the motherboard. Chances of fixing it
>> are slim (not zero, however, just slim; it MIGHT be visibly obvious if
>> you remove the motherboard). What I would do, however, is look for
>> another Toshiba 1900 on E-Bay. One is likely to turn up, and to be
>> cheap (under $20 for the entire laptop).
>>
>> Don Phillipson wrote:
>>> Advice requested: ancient Toshiba Satellite 1900
>>> (new battery last year, used seldom) while connected
>>> to mains power (downloading Ubuntu upgrades for
>>> 40 min. or so) emitted a soft pop and went wholly
>>> dark. Power button initiates startup process for
>>> about 5 seconds, dying with the same soft pop
>>> before GRUB has timee to load.
>>>
>>> On a desktop this would suggest a PSU failure.
>>> Has anyone seen this elsewhere?

>
>If you both are talking about the old '94 era 486 T1900 series of
>Toshiba laptops... I didn't know there was any of them still running
>after all of this time. As Toshiba didn't use any fans and the power
>regulators would cook themselves to death in about 5 years of everyday
>use. And here is a handy link for those old 486 Toshibas.
>
>The Ultimate Unofficial 486 Toshiba FAQ
>http://home.att.net/~ronkar/toshiba.html


This brings back memories of my old T1950CT. The on-board PSU was
particularly finicky and prone to instant damage. One story circulating
was that you needed to plug the external power supply into the computer
_before_ connecting it to the wall jack. If the power supply was "live"
when first connected to the computer, it could fry some component in the
internal PSU requiring motherboard replacement.

I once added a memory card in the dedicated RAM slot only to have all
sorts of power-related blinkies occurring. The machine would not boot on
battery alone, only with the AC supply connectedf. Ick.
 
D

Don Phillipson

Flightless Bird
"BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in message
news:hm8g67$jnq$1@news.eternal-september.org...

> If you both are talking about the old '94 era 486 T1900 series of
> Toshiba laptops... I didn't know there was any of them still running
> after all of this time. As Toshiba didn't use any fans and the power
> regulators would cook themselves to death in about 5 years of everyday
> use. And here is a handy link for those old 486 Toshibas.


This Tosh Sat 1900 is about 10 years old, was then near
the top of the line: it has a fan but ran perceptibly hot. Since
it was free (discarded by a friend) I have no complaints.
Next toy -- perhaps one of the first generation Eees with
all-chip storage?

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:hm8lq8$qg4$1@reader2.panix.com,
Mike S. typed on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:28:24 +0000 (UTC):
> In article <hm8g67$jnq$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
> BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>> In news:hm73qb$i5i$1@news.eternal-september.org,
>> Barry Watzman typed on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:15:04 -0500:
>>> The most likely problem is a capacitor or switching transistor
>>> failure in the power supply section of the motherboard. Chances of
>>> fixing it are slim (not zero, however, just slim; it MIGHT be
>>> visibly obvious if you remove the motherboard). What I would do,
>>> however, is look for another Toshiba 1900 on E-Bay. One is likely
>>> to turn up, and to be cheap (under $20 for the entire laptop).
>>>
>>> Don Phillipson wrote:
>>>> Advice requested: ancient Toshiba Satellite 1900
>>>> (new battery last year, used seldom) while connected
>>>> to mains power (downloading Ubuntu upgrades for
>>>> 40 min. or so) emitted a soft pop and went wholly
>>>> dark. Power button initiates startup process for
>>>> about 5 seconds, dying with the same soft pop
>>>> before GRUB has timee to load.
>>>>
>>>> On a desktop this would suggest a PSU failure.
>>>> Has anyone seen this elsewhere?

>>
>> If you both are talking about the old '94 era 486 T1900 series of
>> Toshiba laptops... I didn't know there was any of them still running
>> after all of this time. As Toshiba didn't use any fans and the power
>> regulators would cook themselves to death in about 5 years of
>> everyday use. And here is a handy link for those old 486 Toshibas.
>>
>> The Ultimate Unofficial 486 Toshiba FAQ
>> http://home.att.net/~ronkar/toshiba.html

>
> This brings back memories of my old T1950CT. The on-board PSU was
> particularly finicky and prone to instant damage. One story
> circulating was that you needed to plug the external power supply
> into the computer _before_ connecting it to the wall jack. If the
> power supply was "live" when first connected to the computer, it
> could fry some component in the internal PSU requiring motherboard
> replacement.
>
> I once added a memory card in the dedicated RAM slot only to have all
> sorts of power-related blinkies occurring. The machine would not boot
> on battery alone, only with the AC supply connectedf. Ick.


Hi Mike! I remember good arcs when connecting the power cable to my
T1950CT. I did have the 16MB PCMCIA memory card for it too. Although
mine later wouldn't boot if it was on AC power. As the brick would drop
a few too many volts if you tried and the power light would just blink.
So mine you had to boot up on battery power alone. And once booted, then
you could run it off of AC power. Although one day it just won't boot at
all. It was a very fun machine for the time. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:hm8uae$8jo$1@theodyn.ncf.ca,
Don Phillipson typed on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:50:04 -0500:
> "BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in message
> news:hm8g67$jnq$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>
>> If you both are talking about the old '94 era 486 T1900 series of
>> Toshiba laptops... I didn't know there was any of them still running
>> after all of this time. As Toshiba didn't use any fans and the power
>> regulators would cook themselves to death in about 5 years of
>> everyday use. And here is a handy link for those old 486 Toshibas.

>
> This Tosh Sat 1900 is about 10 years old, was then near
> the top of the line: it has a fan but ran perceptibly hot. Since
> it was free (discarded by a friend) I have no complaints.
> Next toy -- perhaps one of the first generation Eees with
> all-chip storage?


Hi Don! Yes that is why I mentioned the 486 part. Because Toshiba had
two 1900 models of two different eras. Confusing, eh? I still have two
Toshiba 2595XDVD from about the same era as yours. From '99 actually.
Both of them still work, but I only fire them up about once a year.

Yes those Asus netbooks are really nice. As I really like all three of
mine (the fourth one is used for spare parts). They are pretty darn
rugged too and can take lots of abuse. Just don't sit on them. lol

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2
 
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