Toshiba Satellite M45-S355 "Memory Dump" then "Media test failure"...

[jfkimberly]

I keep my Toshiba Satellite M45-S355 laptop powered on virtually all the time. One morning I woke up to a blue error screen that was full of text, but most notably said "Memory Dump". I restarted and it ran as normal for several days. But then it happened again. And finally on Thursday, while I was actively using my computer, it started making a bit of a grinding noise and then went to the blue "Memory Dump" screen. I powered down, and when I tried to power up again, the Toshiba screen flashed up but instead of booting, it went to a screen with

PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM

So I powered down again, pretty certain that my HD had just crashed and burned. In a desperate display of hope beyond hope, I called my ex-boyfriend and asked him to send the recovery CDs that I'd left at his place when I left without realizing my trip home was one-way. They arrived today, so I pulled my laptop out of its case and set to work, hoping to boot it up so I could salvage any data that might be salvagable.

But instead of being dead and having to boot off of the CD (I changed the boot priority setting on Thursday before I realized I didn't actually have the recovery CD with me, so it's been sitting in the case while I waited for the disk)... Anyway, instead of having to boot off the CD like I expected, Windows came up just before I could even put the CD in the drive. And I did a cursory check, and it appears all my files are where I left them and everything is in working order.

So, my guess is I have a cooling problem (I noticed that the internal fan didn't seem to be working, and the area where my palms rest on the keyboard does tend to get hot... I have a "Chillpad" laptop fan system, and I think that's been keeping my computer going even though the fan is dead)... so, that's my hunch. Before I rip this thing apart to replace the fan and clear out dust and debris, does anybody have any other suggestions?

[disophisis]

No suggestions; if the fan doesn't work I'd replace it. It IS a laptop, so the fan is almost essential for that thing to survive.

And yeah, blow out the dust; is it possible you were getting blue screens with memory problems because the memory was getting too warm?

[fredkoerner911]

I purchased a used toshiba M45-S355 laptop on ebay. When I boot my laptop it gives me the same error, "PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM" After that, my laptop will boot up and runs as long as you do not shutdown! if you try to reboot, it wont shut down, it stays in the windows shut down mode. If you manually shut down, after 5 minutes or so, it boots up like normal again.
Can anyone tell me what that error code means? and what is causing it? Please respond to: [e-mail]