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Hello Everyone..

I am working on a Toshiba Satellite P305D-S8834 that has no power at all.

The client decided to work on the laptop while there was a nasty storm in our area. He said he was just putting in the login password when it just went off - it apparently made a small sound.. like zoop.. ? .. and would not power on again.

The power cord that he has with his machine is a universal one, so it doesn't have a light on it to show if it's working or not.. so I ordered a replacement cord & adapter from Toshiba and it shows full power when plugged in. There is absolutely nothing from the laptop when plugged in. No lights or anything.

I plugged it in, without the battery in place, and there is nothing. Nada.

My next thought was that the battery is dead - but of course, I don't have a multimeter to check that, and it's a $90 part, so I want to find out if there's anything else that can be done, before going that route.

I searched this forum last night and found several options to try including removing and replacing the CMOS battery. I must admit that laptops are not my forte, so I'm not sure what the CMOS battery even looks like in a laptop (I'm a PC girl).

So here I am now..

I have an opened laptop. I checked the site where the power cord plugs in and everything looks fine. There are no singes or otherwise burnt looking items in there. It does have a smoky smell, but the client is a smoker so I'm not sure if that's a cigarette smell or a burnt by lightning smell.

Nothing looks out of the ordinary. I removed the RAM sticks. It does have a wireless card connected, so I'm unsure if the CMOS battery is under that??

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So my main questions are:

1. If everything appears to be dead.. new power cord not working, how can you tell if it's the battery itself if there's no multimeter around to test it and is there anything inside the computer itself that could be a tell-tale sign?

2. Will removing/replacing the CMOS battery do anything for this machine?

3. Can this Toshiba Satellite be saved?

***

Any ideas/help would be SO appreciated!!

Thanks,

Michelle aka sk88rz

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Dani AI

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Following 's follow-up that the motherboard was ultimately found fried, here is a concise, practical checklist and what to expect when a Satellite shows no signs of life.

First, confirm the external stuff: verify the AC adapter voltage and polarity with a multimeter or try a known-good adapter of the correct rating. With the battery removed, look for any LED, fan spin or faint signs when plugging in. Do a careful visual inspection at the DC jack and the nearby power circuitry — burned components, cracked solder joints, or discolored PCB are strong indicators of power-rail failure. Note: replacing the tiny RTC/CMOS battery rarely cures a complete no-power condition; it is seldom the root cause.

Next, basic board checks a repair shop will run: check the input fuse (usually labeled F1/F on the board) for continuity, test for shorts between the main input rail and ground, and probe the main regulator area for expected voltages. An open input fuse or a measurable short usually points to failed MOSFETs, regulators, or other power-management ICs rather than a single user-serviceable part.

Repair options and economics: if the fault is limited to the DC jack or the input fuse, those are cheap fixes. If multiple power components or the power plane are damaged, board-level repair or a full motherboard replacement is required. For replacement, use the exact PCB part number/revision printed on the board — mismatched boards can cause compatibility problems. Compare repair quotes against the laptop's current value; older notebooks are often best recycled for parts, with the hard drive salvaged for data.

Safety and final notes: use ESD precautions, avoid powering a board that smells strongly of burned components, and responsibly dispose of damaged batteries. When the power path shows visible burn/failure, practical outcomes are usually replacement or part-salvage rather than a low-cost repair.

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I guess this case is closed. After a little more work and power, the motherboard is fried.

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