• Toshiba Satellite P300D-214 doesn't show any sign of life
    10 replies, posted
my cousin called a couple days ago, saying his laptop had overheating issues (shuts down abruptly), and sometimes it simply doesn't start at all. Only sign of life is the fan spinning up, and then immediately shuts back off. The power light just stays on. I tried to remove the RAM, exchange it with RAM of my own laptop, removed the discrete GPU and started it without (no dice), even removed the CPU leading to the same thing. Might the CPU be damaged after all these years of having atrocious temperatures? I just heard, this laptop was laying in front of a running radiator, overheated much quicker than normally (obviously), and did not turn on ever since. (Well, in these two years it did sometimes). Thanks in advance.
Im pretty sure laptops wont run without the gpu. If it has an internal PCI-e slot make sure its seated well. Those things can seem to be in correctly while they are not causing it to hang. Did you also dust out the heatsink and re-apply the thermal paste?
Fans are processor controller so if the processor wasn't working at all you wouldn't get any activity from the fans. You say it shuts back down immediately, are we talking about seconds after you power up? Does it complete a POST test, have a chance to emit any error beeps? Have you tried cleaning and reseating all of the connections in the laptop? Air duster is your friend.
The fan just does one quick spin, it lasts not even a second right after you press the power button and then that's it. No POST, and no image at all. I disconnected the display and hooked the motherboard up to one of my monitors. I tried on D-SUB AND HDMI, using individual monitors. I think it might be the CPU. As you remove the RAM and turn it on without, there's no beep at all. When removing the CPU, it does the exact same thing. And all this has been done while the motherboard was laying on my desk, with all the un-required crap disconnected. Might the CPU or GPU simply be dead?
The most likely problem I can think of is a main board problem. I would continue with your idea of removing items from the startup process, disconnect anything not essential to boot the laptop (apart from the fans, we'll need those as a sign of life) and see how you get on. If you have the same problem it's safe to assume the problem lies within the CPU or main board as a result of overheating in which case I'd be looking to replace the faulty hardware. I would also check very carfully for anything potentially shorting the laptop out.
I noticed something too, the fan turns off, the LED indicating that it is plugged in is on, and the power light is on. And I can hear the CPU. Right now the motherboard is plugged in, in all of a sudden, the fan starts sometimes! Could it really be the GPU?
If you reconnect the HDD can you hear any activity from that as it boots? Also I'm not sure what you mean by you can hear the CPU? Can you describe the noise? I might be completely stupid here but I've never known CPUs to make a noise when operating?
I heard some kind of squeal coming of the CPU. [editline]31st October 2013[/editline] Anyway, reconnected the hard drive, it just starts but doesn't do anything else, except SOMETIMES I hear a quick write. Also, I think the GPU is actually working as well, as the chip is hot. So, where could I be looking at now? [editline]31st October 2013[/editline] Alright, this is weird. When I have the hard drive connected, the fan remains off , with the HDD removed, the fan kicks in every now and then.
Other update: [IMG]https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/v/1418465_258766997606858_563913406_n.jpg?oh=7cef67ec5cf039c48bd3ebec65f08d0c&oe=52748328[/IMG] This is what I got after removing the discrete GPU, and clearing the CMOS by removing the battery. Just a blank screen? Would this indicate the motherboard is done?
Looks like one of the BGA mounted chips might have a cracked joint. The only test for this (besides a dead laptop) is using an X-Ray machine on each BGA mounted chip (north bridge and onboard GPU being the most prone to failure.) You can attempt to fix this yourself by using a heatgun, or you can do the more expensive method of finding a shop with a BGA rework station to desolder, reball and resolder the north bridge and the onboard GPU. If you don't want to bother with either of those, you can just get a new motherboard.
Strange is, this grey screen doesn't happen anymore after two starts, then it stays black. However, repeating this method to get this screen back, and THEN re-install the discrete GPU, I got to the boot option menu, but not from the internal display which was hooked up, I only got a image from my HP W1907v, sad is, I forgot to secure the discrete GPU properly and it overheated and I did not get that boot options menu back.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.