First, Thanks in advance all ye with much more knowledge than I.

Toshiba Satellite Laptop 2455-s305

Working fine today at lunch. AVG ran a HUGE update at lunchtime whilst I browsed. Fine when I left, computer was still on.

Came home after work, about 4 hrs later. Nothing! Absolutely dead. :eek: CD/DVD won't play or even eject. Only light on is power & battery (both green). I get no spinning, no beeping, no screen whatsoever. Dry, cool environment.

Anyone? Your excellence is appreciated!

Member Avatar for nicentral

Whoa that really sucks. Could be from a power surge? A couple of things to try. Pull all media bay items out including battery and try booting. Try booting with a different power brick. You could even try pulling the hard drive and memory out and see if it at least powers on. It should at the very least beep at you to let you know that something is missing. If you get nadda, then you could have an issue with the power distribution board.

Why do laptops have to be so much more of a pain than desktops.

Cheers!

Andy

Removed CD/DVD & Battery, plugged into new location (work), pressed power, and.....
still nothing.

Unfortunately, I myself am a little squeamish about getting into the guts of the machine. Although don't know why I should be at this point. Could it be worse???

So, if I do have an issue with the power distribution board, what would correcting such a thing entail? With proper direction, I am fully confident in my abilities.
Or, is this something for "the professionals"?

Again, many thanks for assistance!

OK, so someone at work suggested possibly the power cord is to blame.
Me thinks this is too simple a solution, but you out there probably know best.
Here are the power details, should they be helpful:

1. When unplugged, no lights at all.

2. When plugged-in, power cord light & battery light are aglow (sometimes the battery light starts out orange (lower power) & eventually turns green).

Is it worth trying a new power cord? or best to go with the dist. board?

hmmmm. What do you think?

Member Avatar for nicentral

Typically, however not always, if the light is on the power brick and on the machine, it is getting power. Do you know if your battery is charged? Does it have an indication light for the amount of charge left? If so, and you know you have a good battery, it should still boot good power cord or not.

There are a number of possiblities that it could be, however, looking at the cheapes fix first is the best way to go. Power Distribution boards are typically between $12 and $40 off of ebay, so that could be a cheap fix. If it is a failing power switch, that might actually be on the motherboard. That would be a much more expensive fix.

Replacing a power dist. board is pretty easy, if it is a seperate board, just look for the piece that looks the same and replace it.

Now, getting into your laptop can be the tricky part. I would HIGHLY suggest finding the service manual for your laptop to make sure you remove all of the correct screws and clips that you would need to remove to get into the machine. Otherwise you could damage the case, or something inside.

If you aren't comfortable with this: Is your laptop under warranty still? I'm assuming no, otherwise calling for support on this would have probably been your first step. You could also take it to a support shop and they could take care of it for you.

Let me know if you want to know anything further.

Cheers!

Andy

Well, this makes no sense to me (I welcome any explanation/information)---

I took it in for a diagnostic, they pressed the power a few times while I was there, and once again, ..nothing.

I left the laptop there for them to take a look at, and within 5 minutes of driving off, I received a phone call that it was "up 'n running". I turned around & went back.

I asked the tech how he did it. He said he held down the power button for 10-12 seconds & then pushed the delete button while holding the power button in, and the screen (miraculously) "appeared". I asked for an explanation, but he wasn't forthcoming, to say the least. I took my laptop & left (after paying them- am I a sucker?).

So now my question is-
Did this person actually do something that made my computer work again?
or
Did this person get lucky?

If it's the former, what exactly does that do? I tried searching it, but couldn't find anything.

Cahrazy, huh?

I doubt hitting Delete did anything for you. But, they did do something valid.

Holding the power button in for 10-12 seconds is called clearing the "flea power". Even when in an off state, systems still have power going through them. By clearing the flea power, you remove that energy. If a static charge built up, or a capacitor simply needed to be discharged, that will do the trick.

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