Member Avatar for BelligerentJedi

Hi everyone,

I'm a new member. I just joined this forum in the hopes that someone can help me fix my laptop. Basically, its been acting a little strange and freezing up a lot. Yesterday it froze and I had to hold the power button to force a shut down, when I tried to turn it back on the screen was black but the power light was on. The lights on the cd drive flash and the fan and motors go on for a second, then nothing happens. Also the keyboard seems to lock up after the fan and other boot activity stops.

I've tried different configurations of the ram chips (i.e. removing one, rearranging them) and removing the battery and booting with just the power supply but neither work. I also saw something in another thread about removing both the battery and power supply and holding down the power button for 30 seconds before plugging in the power supply and turning it on. None of this worked for me though :(

Help...

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

Generated

Building on 's symptom report and 's suggestion, here is a focused, practical checklist to narrow down the cause and protect data before doing anything invasive.

Symptoms that show a brief spin/drive activity then an immediate stop usually mean the system gets initial power but fails to complete POST. Likely culprits are the DC-in/power circuitry, an early BIOS/EC fault, a short or failing board component, or a bad power switch/keyboard short. Work through these steps from least to most invasive.

  1. Check the power source and jack. Confirm the AC adapter is putting out the voltage printed on its label (use a multimeter). Inspect the barrel jack for looseness or damaged pins; a loose jack can deliver power briefly then drop out.
  2. Isolate peripherals and storage. Remove the hard drive and optical drive and try to power on; if the machine posts without drives, a shorted drive/cable may be the cause. Try a single known-good RAM stick from another laptop (test each slot) to rule out module vs. slot failure.
  3. Visual inspection. Look for bulging or leaking capacitors, burn marks, cracked solder joints, or a burnt smell. Age-related capacitor and solder-joint failures are common on older notebooks and match these symptoms.
  4. Watch/listen for diagnostics. Note any beep codes or LED blink patterns and check for a stuck power button or keyboard connector that could halt boot. If BIOS corruption is suspected, consult Toshiba support documentation for A105 BIOS recovery methods.

If recovery of personal files is a priority, remove the hard drive now and copy data via a USB enclosure before pursuing motherboard repairs. If the DC jack or motherboard appears damaged, or if comfortable repair skills are lacking, a reputable laptop repair shop is the safer next step. Use ESD precautions while handling internals.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

how about over heating ,have you had it cleaned of dust and dirt in the heatsinc and fans,it doesn't take much dust to cause it to over heat

Member Avatar for BelligerentJedi

Hmm... I've never had it cleaned, but I'll open it up and give it a shot. I've had some problems with it overheating and shutting down in the past, but could that really keep it from booting even after the computer has cooled down? Unless something was fried by the heat.

Member Avatar for caperjack

Hmm... Unless something was fried by the heat.

could be ! actually you don't need to take it apart ,buy a can of compressed air and blow it out from the outside

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