Member Avatar for florinconstanta

Hi,
I have a toshiba A215-s4747, doesn't boot all the time. I need to turn on and shut it down holding pressed the power button few times. Usually I need 3-5 attempts to start it.
When I press power, I can hear fans, some leds but the screen is blank and that's all.
I have windows vista, and my comp. worked fine for 3 years.
Please, help me.

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Based on the symptoms you posted — intermittent POST where fans spin but the front-panel LED/USB power sometimes stays off and the BIOS splash never appears — this points to a problem before Windows or the hard drive ever get involved. That matches what and were suggesting: the fault is most likely at the motherboard/power-management level rather than the HDD or OS. correctly flagged the "no USB light" clue: that is a useful indicator the 5V/standby rails or power sequencing may be failing.

Try this short, prioritized checklist (safe for a non-specialist and ordered so the cheapest checks come first):

  1. Hard power reset: remove battery and AC, press-and-hold power for 30 seconds, then plug AC back in (no battery) and try to power on.
  2. Check the AC adapter: compare the adapter output to the printed rating with a cheap multimeter or borrow one. Also inspect the DC jack for looseness or wobble.
  3. Strip to minimum hardware: remove HDD, optical drive and any USB devices, then boot. If behavior changes, the fault may be a peripheral short.
  4. Reseat/test RAM: remove modules, clean contacts with compressed air, test one stick at a time in each slot. Faulty RAM or slot problems commonly cause no-POST issues.
  5. Screen check: connect an external monitor and/or shine a bright flashlight at the LCD while powering on to see a faint image (helps rule out backlight/inverter).
  6. CMOS reset: remove the small RTC battery for a few minutes to clear BIOS settings; only do this if you are comfortable opening the case.

If those steps do not stabilize the laptop, avoid DIY "reflow" unless you are experienced — it often only buys time and carries risk. At that point get a repair shop to do board-level diagnostics, and remove the HDD first if you need to rescue data (use a USB enclosure). When you take it in, note the exact symptoms (LED pattern, number of power attempts, whether USB power shows) so the technician can reproduce the failure.

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All 17 Replies

Member Avatar for rubberman

Run diagnostics on the system. It sounds like some component(s) is starting to fail. Since it is likely out of warranty, you may be on the hook for repair/replacement.

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

what kind of diagnostics? I verified the HDD, a friend checked, cleaned it inside...so on.

Member Avatar for rubberman

You might be able to find some diagnostics software on the manufacturer's web site that can determine if there are component-level problems. The problem probably isn't the hdd, but may be some other IC on the motherboard, or other peripheral chip.

Member Avatar for jingda

Seems like a display problem at first but could be a faulty motherboard too. Maybe some parts are loosen have, try tightening all the parts. Loose parts can cause problems like this. Check it and post back.

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

OK, check and I'll post back.

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

I checked, everything seems to be OK. I tried to turn it on, this times took me three times to power and forced shut down. Any other ideas? I would apreciate anything...
Thanks.

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

You might be able to find some diagnostics software on the manufacturer's web site that can determine if there are component-level problems. The problem probably isn't the hdd, but may be some other IC on the motherboard, or other peripheral chip.

I checked with the programs from Toshiba, everything is OK. Seems that the laptop doesnt boot, only after 3-5 times power on and forced turn off. After that works fine.
Thanks.

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

Some news: when I power on the laptop, if it wont go, the logo from the front side and the optical mouse have no any lights on. If he starts normally(from time to time), I can see it because the mouse gets power and the light turn on. As I said the fans works, but nothing on the screen, like it stops somewhere on the way.
Thank you, to anyone, and I wait any sugestion.

Member Avatar for jingda

Mouse no light means there is no power. Did you hear any fan sound when the laptop started. If there is none, might be a power failure. Can boot in safe mode and can you access the bios?

Edited by jingda because: n/a
Member Avatar for florinconstanta

Mouse no light means there is no power. Did you hear any fan sound when the laptop started. If there is none, might be a power failure. Can boot in safe mode and can you access the bios?

Yes, I can hear the fan sound. I cant boot in safe mode or access the bios because it doesnt start the bios. When the bios starts the laptop works fine.

Member Avatar for jingda

Check the power supply

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

what do you mean? Change the battery? The charger looks to be OK. As I said sometimes starts normal, sometimes no.

Member Avatar for jak0b

It sounds like some component(s) is starting to fail. Since it is likely out of warranty, you may be on the hook for repair/replacement.

I agree with this.

If it was my own, I would probably try to reflow the motherboard, as a last resort. But that is a lot more than I would recommend unless you are a professional pc repair tech, who have experience with that kind of work. ;)

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

Reflow the motherboard? What does this mean? Im not a computer specialist. Other ideas?
I would appreciate any idea...

Member Avatar for jak0b

What I was trying to suggest, was to find a computer repair shop, and ask for a price on a repair (new/another used motherboard), and compare it with the price on a new laptop. And then decide what is the best offer of the two.

Your motherboard is defective, but since the pc is about 3 yr's old, you might be better of buying a new laptop - considering what a repair might cost.

Member Avatar for florinconstanta

OK, I understand.

Member Avatar for jingda

Can be a motherboard problem too. If you have a spare computer you would like to switch the motherboard to see whether it works. If it works, you might consider buying a new motherboard or a whole new laptop. I agree with the Jakob and Rubberman above.

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