Toshiba L300 -11C not booting into desktop, restarts and loops.

[W@lly]

I have this laptop in which is giving me trouble. Originally this laptop came with a corrupted OS, stating NTLDR is missing, thus checked with my client and agreed to do a reformat anyway.

Tried installing various OS and does not install. Always freeze and reboot. I have tried installing linux mint 9, 13, and windows xp, vista, 7, and tried these both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. I have even tried to use cds/dvds and bootable flash drives, but no success.

I have disassembled the laptop,
- removed the wireless card,
- removed the screen and connected it to a CRT monitor via vga,
- removed ODD,
- swapped RAM, and memtested it for about 4hours,
- removed usb devices and their connectors,
- disabled touchpad from BIOS,
- disabled inbuilt LAN
- removed its keyboard and used a USB keyboard instead,
- checked CPU fan directly with a 9V battery.
- reseated CPU
- removed HD
- Bios cleared and updated it to the latest one
- GPU is embedded and I think I could blame this component but,

I have tried to install Windows Xp with the battery holding a limited charge and even other OS completed the installation once it was working on battery.

This laptop originally came with Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM, so I have fully charged the battery whilst the laptop is turned off, removed the charger and tried to install Windows 7 home premium 64-bit, and successfully installed it and installed a few software till the battery discharged. Then plugging in the charger again did froze and rebooted.

Then blamed the charger, but with the voltmeter it measured 19.2V as it should and this was a universal switchable charger, so suspecting it was not giving enough amps, decided to buy a genuine toshiba charger, again tested it to check if it is giving the correct voltage and it was good.

Now with this new charger it still does not make it to the desktop and reboots. I have even tested the dc jack and that is it giving the appropriate voltage to the motherboard with the multimeter.

Used linux live cds and pendrives as well, did not made it to the GUI desktop with the charger plugged in, but with the battery charged whilst the laptop is turned off, turned it on battery and it continued ok.

Regarding the 4 hours of Memtest, it was with the charger only so that is why I am suspecting it is a GPU related issue, but it could also mean motherboard issue as well.

Please help as this thing freaked me out!

 

[JNJSComp]

Missing NTLDR initially could mean a bad HDD. Try a different one and see what happens.
Corrupted files on a bad hdd can cause a computer to reboot.

 

[W@lly]

Missing NTLDR initially could mean a bad HDD. Try a different one and see what happens.
Corrupted files on a bad hdd can cause a computer to reboot.

I already swapped the hard drive with a new one as well, forgot to mention that sorry.

 

[JNJSComp]

Lol...I did not read the end of your first post...
seems like this one in from hell. Since you say a boot is only successful on battery power, I am assuming that you have removed the battery and use only the adapter to see if that works. I had one like that a few yrs ago but cant remember the solution but I would think that there is something of a over voltage on the MB. Cant be a GPU problem as it works fine on battery.

 

[W@lly]

what is the sata setting in the bios set at? is it set at AHCI this can cause the system to go in to an IDE loop.

the reason i am asking as this file was associated with windows xp if i remember right and if you place a windows xp disc in to an early sata hard drive pc with the bios set on sata the hard drive will be unseen by the disc until you change it to ide in the bios, but later versions of bios do not have this option as ide hard drives are no longer used and you can get different errors from a different bios, like blue screen critical errors, a reboot, hard drive unseen, the list is endless.


p.s. looks like you have did a complete strip down and rebuild.

Yes it was set to AHCI, and thus this is where I had to change it to Compatibility mode via BIOS, since I have tried to install Windows XP and would not let me to install, instead it did like you mentioned, mainly BSOD errors and no HD detected.

Now it has Windows XP SP3 installed, had to set the power scheme as Home/PC not as Portable/Laptop, and even disabled hibernation and disabled screen dimming, set to never turn off screen too.

I can somehow conclude that this must be a motherboard/power related issue.

 

[mikeroq]

My bet is the motherboard. I usually swap their components (cpu, ram, hdd) to another laptop that is compatible if I want to be really sure about it being the motherboard unless I have that board laying around which I do have a few here.

 

[JNJSComp]

If it were me I would just swap out the MB for another if the customer is willing to pay....an L300 MB cost between $50 and $75. If you check the amt of time you put in its not may worth it to continue to fix it. I usually ask the customer for me to keep these replaced boards so i can tinker with them later just outta curiosity.

 

[W@lly]

If it were me I would just swap out the MB for another if the customer is willing to pay....an L300 MB cost between $50 and $75. If you check the amt of time you put in its not may worth it to continue to fix it. I usually ask the customer for me to keep these replaced boards so i can tinker with them later just outta curiosity.

I can't find a replacement motherboard for this particular model, I have searched on ebay for the motherboard like you have suggessted, the full model says it's an Toshiba Satellite L-300-11C. Can you suggest alternative websites, I am from Malta, Europe.

I would like to update this post since I am following this thread on another forum as well. You can follow and help this thread on the following link

http://www.podnutz.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9852&p=48756#p48756

 

[W@lly]

I have to update you guys, as I did on another forum. The problem was a NEC Tokin capacitor, where I did replace it with other tantaluum capacitors bought from ebay. The install then went fine, no hiccups, fresh Windows 7 64-bit installed as a breeze with the universal charger plugged in, no battery and did all updates as well.