Member Avatar for Jaguara

Toshiba 305 Laptop.

Took a blunt trauma to the keyboard, will not start up.

On power up, the power on light starts, sometimes the hard drive light will flash very quickly and go out. Then nothing. Nothing ever appears on the display. No beeps.

Sometimes after this, if you force power down by a 5 sec holding of power key then try again, it will do the above for 1-2 seconds then power light will go out...sometimes to come back on again a few seconds later of its own accord.

  • Fan is running.
  • HDD spins, but does not access. HDD works fine in other laptop. Good HDD from other laptop used in this one has same symptoms. All data has been backed up from the drive without error.
  • Fn button light comes on while Fn button is pressed.
  • Caps lock light does not come on.
  • Wireless network adapter light does not come on.

Opened casing. No obvious signs of physical damage, all connections were secure. Removed and replaced all connectors to ensure tight fit. Cleared dust from fan and a few hairs that had infiltrated the housing. Even removed CPU and replaced, replacing cooling gel (I thought that perhaps the chip had been compressed against the cooling unit by the blow and that perhaps the gel had been squeezed out and no longer had a good connection to the cooling unit.).

  • Tried the 60 second hold down power button while all power supplies disconnected - no effect
  • Tried boot disk, but BIOS never gets to checking the drive.
  • Tried swapping the memory modules - no effect

Any suggestions?

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  • 8 Replies
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  • 2 Months Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by jingda

Dani AI

Generated

The thread shows thorough user-level swaps and cleansing already from ; below are targeted, practical isolation and board-level checks that were not mentioned and often reveal damage after a localized impact.

First, isolate the keyboard/power-switch circuit: remove or unplug the keyboard ribbon and any small daughterboards (power button, touchpad) and then try powering with AC only (battery removed). A crushed key matrix or a shorted power-switch board can prevent POST even when fans spin. If comfortable with basic bench work, momentarily short the two pins of the power-switch header (brief, careful contact) to rule out a faulty switch—only do this after documenting connector positions and taking ESD precautions. Try an external monitor as well to exclude a dead LCD/inverter.

Second, verify the power source and rails before assuming CPU failure: check the adapter label and confirm its DC output with a multimeter, then look for the standby/main rails on the board (visual inspection for blown/bulging caps, lifted traces, hairline cracks around connector and regulator areas). If you see lifted solder joints near large chips or odd discoloration, that points to board-level repair (reflow/rework) rather than a simple part swap.

Take sensible cautions: remove power and battery before probing, keep screws and connectors organized, and avoid prolonged runs with the chassis open. If these isolation steps don’t expose a short or missing rail, the most likely outcome is motherboard damage that needs a board-level technician or a replacement mainboard; weigh repair cost vs replacing the machine. Note that software fixes like safe mode (as suggested by ) will not apply in a pre-POST situation; others here such as and reporting similar symptoms may find the above isolation sequence useful.

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Member Avatar for jingda

It seems like you are a windows expert Jaguara, you have try almost everything and your problem still persists. How long have you been using your laptop. You said there is no physical damage, are you sure everything in the laptop is intact like the hard disk, fan or others?

Member Avatar for Jaguara

I have a lot of experience with desktop machines, but have never really fooled with laptop hardware before. I have not kept up with all the new technologies.

I said there is no obvious damage. There was nothing loose in the case, no cracks in the MB, nothing loose, nothing visably broken...

The hard drive worked in another machine to extract the data, and then I swapped it with the drive from another Toshiba laptop...and it worked in that system.

The fan is spinning when power is on.

The CPU looked intact and undamaged when I removed it, but I have no way to test it in another machine. I suppose there could be internal damage without physical indications.

This laptop is about 2 years old. It took an impact to the keyboard while open, and power was off. Hours later when trying to power up I discovered the problem.

The only other thing I have been able to think of is to try resetting the CMOS.

Member Avatar for jingda

CAn you boot into safe mode, it might be a virus problem.

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

I have a lot of experience with desktop machines, but have never really fooled with laptop hardware before. I have not kept up with all the new technologies.

I said there is no obvious damage. There was nothing loose in the case, no cracks in the MB, nothing loose, nothing visably broken...

The hard drive worked in another machine to extract the data, and then I swapped it with the drive from another Toshiba laptop...and it worked in that system.

The fan is spinning when power is on.

The CPU looked intact and undamaged when I removed it, but I have no way to test it in another machine. I suppose there could be internal damage without physical indications.

This laptop is about 2 years old. It took an impact to the keyboard while open, and power was off. Hours later when trying to power up I discovered the problem.

The only other thing I have been able to think of is to try resetting the CMOS.

Hello,
have you solved the problem? I have something almost similar...

Member Avatar for jingda

Hello,
have you solved the problem? I have something almost similar...

The original poster have not come back for a long time so we are not sure. So florinconstanta, you said you have a similar problem. Did you solved it, if yes. How?

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

No, I havent solved it, yet.....

Member Avatar for PeteBWB

Let me chime in ... exact same problem! I've not been able to resolve.

Member Avatar for jingda

How old is your laptop and what is your laptop model. Do you have a warranty? If yes sent it for repair.

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