Member Avatar for simadox

hi i wonder if anyone can help , i was fixing a friends old sat pro because the hard drive was goosed.

i put a partition on the hard rive as he cant afford a new one as yet, this worked fine... i then started installing xp on it and half way through it just shut down

now it will only turn on for a few seconds then turns off . i get the toshiba screen but only for a few seconds.

Ive removed the bios battery to reset it and still nothing, ive removed the HDD and the memory sticks and still nothing.

it wont stay on long enough to see the bios settings or to boot from cd etc , and starting it with or without mains power/battery makes no difference

IT WILL ONLY SWITCH ON FOR A FEW SECONDS WHEN I HAVE REMOVED THEN REINSERTED THE BATTERY , if i dont reinsert the battery it wont even siwtch on.

any advice would be really appreciated as i have to explain to him how i broke it otherwise!!

the laptop was running fine up until i tried to install xpp
Edited by simadox
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Brief diagnostic addendum for the Toshiba Satellite Pro SPA40 case posted by . The behaviour — Toshiba splash for a few seconds then power-off, no change with HDD/RAM removed, and a transient ability to power only after reinserting the main battery — is much more consistent with a power-delivery or protection fault than with the interrupted XP install. As suggested, the OS/HDD can be set aside; as noted, the battery pack or its protection electronics can still be involved. A focused, ordered set of checks will localize the fault more quickly.

Suggested diagnostic sequence (safe order, simple tools recommended: a multimeter and a second known-good AC adapter if available):

  1. Read the AC adapter label and measure its DC output under no-load and (if safe) under light load; a large deviation from the labelled voltage means adapter failure.
  2. Test behaviour with battery only, AC only, and both: battery-only operation but failure on AC points to adapter/DC-in path; AC-only failure with battery present points to DC-in or motherboard power circuitry.
  3. Inspect the DC jack and surrounding PCB for loose/broken solder joints, scorch marks or bulging capacitors. Wiggle-test the jack gently while powered (briefly) to check for intermittent contact.
  4. Fully remove non-essential modules (HDD, optical, Wi‑Fi, extra RAM) and attempt a minimal power-on to exclude a shorted peripheral.
  5. If comfortable and equipped, check motherboard power-rail test points (main VIN, 5V, 3.3V); note which rails appear then collapse. Rails that come up then die usually indicate a shorted regulator/MOSFET or a protection trip.
  6. A complete EC/BIOS reset: remove all power sources, hold the power button 30 seconds, reseat the main battery and adapter, then observe.

Interpretation and next steps: adapter or DC-jack faults are cheapest to fix (replacement adapter or DC-in board). If the adapter measures correct but rails die anyway, a board-level fault (fuse, MOSFET, shorted capacitor) is likely and repair becomes more expensive; for an older SPA40 it may be more economical to source a used mainboard or retire the chassis. Safety note: mains wiring and board-level work carry shock and ESD risk; if meter-based checks are unfamiliar, professional repair is advised.

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Member Avatar for JorgeM

It sounds like a power supply problem. The Windows Xp situation is a coincidence, based on your description. You can easily test this theory by downloading any version of Linux that will completely boot from the cd drive, or a USB stick, taking the hard drive out of the picture.

Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

Another possibility -- might need a new battery. They don't last forever.

Member Avatar for simadox

can the batterys just die in an instant? and ive already removed the hard drive..surely the laptop should stay turned on even if it has nothing to boot?

Member Avatar for JorgeM

Could be the battery, but most of these laptops will work if the battery is not plugged into the laptop, but the power plug is connected. If you remove the battery and plug in AC power and it still doesnt power up, I would continue to focus on a power supply or motherboard issue.

These are usually the most difficult issues to resolve for mobile devices because you cannot simply run to the nearest computer store and find comparable parts to use, like a traditional desktop computer.

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