Hello, I hope this is an appropriate group to be submitting this
question to.

I inherited a Japanese Toshiba Dynabook E9/520CME from an interpreter
at work who no longer wanted it (a few keys were popped off which I
promptly fixed). (The laptop seems similar to the E8 series of
Dynabook, perhaps it is just a rebranding.)

The last few weeks it has started having issues where it does not try
to boot up the first few times I turn it on. The fan would spin, but
no disk activity. Sometimes it would do nothing for a couple of
minutes and then power down. Other times, after up to a few minutes
of sitting there, it would eventually check the CD drive and then the
HD and boot fine. I had no issues whatsoever once the laptop came
up. And warm-booting was fine too...just that initial cold boot was
problematic. I thought perhaps the battery (which won't hold a
charge) was causing problems, so I removed it and that seemed to
help. Until today.

Today I went through the normal routine of waiting for it to boot.
About the second or third time I turned it back on, however, this
time it did not start the fan. The only thing that happened is that
the front row of lights (CD music, digital music, AC, power, battery,
HD, CD, and email) lit up a light pattern! This pattern is still lit
now, an hour later, and the laptop is not even attempting to boot.

The pattern is: power=orange, battery=orange, CD=green, email=green.
If I plug in the AC again, I'll get that same code but with a green AC
light added. If I remove the battery, the battery light DOES NOT
change. As soon as power is applied to the laptop this code is shown
and nothing responds whatsoever.

I have removed RAM, HD, all peripherals. My question is: can anyone
tell me what the code means? If it is something simple I could save a
lot of hassle of tearing this apart and checking every connection,
etc. But, I could not find anything useful on Toshiba's site.

I may end up recruiting an interpreter from work to help me contact
Toshiba in Japan for guidance. But, this model seems similar to other
models which may have been available elsewhere, so perhaps if you have
some info on similar light patterns for other models it may still help
me.

:( Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!!

lgerhardx********.com wrote on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:03:14 -0800 (PST):
> Hello, I hope this is an appropriate group to be submitting this
> question to.
>
> I inherited a Japanese Toshiba Dynabook E9/520CME from an interpreter
> at work who no longer wanted it (a few keys were popped off which I
> promptly fixed). (The laptop seems similar to the E8 series of
> Dynabook, perhaps it is just a rebranding.)
>
> The last few weeks it has started having issues where it does not try
> to boot up the first few times I turn it on. The fan would spin, but
> no disk activity. Sometimes it would do nothing for a couple of
> minutes and then power down. Other times, after up to a few minutes
> of sitting there, it would eventually check the CD drive and then the
> HD and boot fine. I had no issues whatsoever once the laptop came
> up. And warm-booting was fine too...just that initial cold boot was
> problematic. I thought perhaps the battery (which won't hold a
> charge) was causing problems, so I removed it and that seemed to
> help. Until today.
>
> Today I went through the normal routine of waiting for it to boot.
> About the second or third time I turned it back on, however, this
> time it did not start the fan. The only thing that happened is that
> the front row of lights (CD music, digital music, AC, power, battery,
> HD, CD, and email) lit up a light pattern! This pattern is still lit
> now, an hour later, and the laptop is not even attempting to boot.
>
> The pattern is: power=orange, battery=orange, CD=green, email=green.
> If I plug in the AC again, I'll get that same code but with a green AC
> light added. If I remove the battery, the battery light DOES NOT
> change. As soon as power is applied to the laptop this code is shown
> and nothing responds whatsoever.
>
> I have removed RAM, HD, all peripherals. My question is: can anyone
> tell me what the code means? If it is something simple I could save a
> lot of hassle of tearing this apart and checking every connection,
> etc. But, I could not find anything useful on Toshiba's site.
>
> I may end up recruiting an interpreter from work to help me contact
> Toshiba in Japan for guidance. But, this model seems similar to other
> models which may have been available elsewhere, so perhaps if you have
> some info on similar light patterns for other models it may still help
> me.
>
> :( Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!!

Well it seems to me that the power regulators voltages isn't to the
liking of the safety circuits to me. Very good description btw! ;) And
having a bad battery in the laptop on AC is always a bad idea. As the
laptop has to provide far more current to the battery to try to bring it
back to life. And the battery in return will refuse and just cause lots
of extra heat that can damage the components.

But an orange power light means a power problem. I would swap out the AC
adapter out with a known good one if possible (I know with the AC it was
green right?). You didn't mention pulling the CD drive out. I would try
that too. And don't run it with that battery in anymore, ok?

--
Bill
Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

On Nov 11, 8:41*pm, BillW50 <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
> lgerha...********.com wrote on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:03:14 -0800 (PST):
>
>
>
> > Hello, I hope this is an appropriate group to be submitting this
> > question to.
>
> > I inherited a Japanese Toshiba Dynabook E9/520CME from an interpreter
> > at work who no longer wanted it (a few keys were popped off which I
> > promptly fixed). *(The laptop seems similar to the E8 series of
> > Dynabook, perhaps it is just a rebranding.)
>
> > The last few weeks it has started having issues where it does not try
> > to boot up the first few times I turn it on. *The fan would spin, but
> > no disk activity. *Sometimes it would do nothing for a couple of
> > minutes and then power down. *Other times, after up to a few minutes
> > of sitting there, it would eventually check the CD drive and then the
> > HD and boot fine. *I had no issues whatsoever once the laptop came
> > up. *And warm-booting was fine too...just that initial cold boot was
> > problematic. *I thought perhaps the battery (which won't hold a
> > charge) was causing problems, so I removed it and that seemed to
> > help. *Until today.
>
> > Today I went through the normal routine of waiting for it to boot.
> > About the second or third time I turned it back on, *however, this
> > time it did not start the fan. *The only thing that happened is that
> > the front row of lights (CD music, digital music, AC, power, battery,
> > HD, CD, and email) lit up a light pattern! *This pattern is still lit
> > now, an hour later, and the laptop is not even attempting to boot.
>
> > The pattern is: power=orange, battery=orange, CD=green, email=green.
> > If I plug in the AC again, I'll get that same code but with a green AC
> > light added. *If I remove the battery, the battery light DOES NOT
> > change. *As soon as power is applied to the laptop this code is shown
> > and nothing responds whatsoever.
>
> > I have removed RAM, HD, all peripherals. *My question is: can anyone
> > tell me what the code means? *If it is something simple I could save a
> > lot of hassle of tearing this apart and checking every connection,
> > etc. *But, I could not find anything useful on Toshiba's site.
>
> > I may end up recruiting an interpreter from work to help me contact
> > Toshiba in Japan for guidance. *But, this model seems similar to other
> > models which may have been available elsewhere, so perhaps if you have
> > some info on similar light patterns for other models it may still help
> > me.
>
> > :( *Any help is greatly appreciated! *Thanks so much!!
>
> Well it seems to me that the power regulators voltages isn't to the
> liking of the safety circuits to me. Very good description btw! ;) And
> having a bad battery in the laptop on AC is always a bad idea. As the
> laptop has to provide far more current to the battery to try to bring it
> back to life. And the battery in return will refuse and just cause lots
> of extra heat that can damage the components.
>
> But an orange power light means a power problem. I would swap out the AC
> adapter out with a known good one if possible (I know with the AC it was
> green right?). You didn't mention pulling the CD drive out. I would try
> that too. And don't run it with that battery in anymore, ok?
>
> --
> Bill
> Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
> Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

Thanks for the quick response. Yes, I've pulled the battery and the
CD drive out. I also happened to have a selectable-voltage power
supply here that is known good (just used it the other day on a
different laptop) and it does the same light pattern as soon as I plug
it in to the laptop. :(

I shall not put the battery back in the laptop from now on (I had
previously done so just to see if it made a difference in the whole
booting up issue).

lgerhardx********.com wrote on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:16:29 -0800 (PST):

> Thanks for the quick response. Yes, I've pulled the battery and the
> CD drive out. I also happened to have a selectable-voltage power
> supply here that is known good (just used it the other day on a
> different laptop) and it does the same light pattern as soon as I plug
> it in to the laptop. :(
>
> I shall not put the battery back in the laptop from now on (I had
> previously done so just to see if it made a difference in the whole
> booting up issue).

Okay well did you swap out the RAM with a known good RAM? If so, I
believe you did everything you can and it sounds the the voltage
regulators are bad which is most likely on the motherboard. :(

--
Bill
Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

On Nov 11, 9:30*pm, BillW50 <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
> lgerha...********.com wrote on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:16:29 -0800 (PST):
>
> > Thanks for the quick response. *Yes, I've pulled the battery and the
> > CD drive out. *I also happened to have a selectable-voltage power
> > supply here that is known good (just used it the other day on a
> > different laptop) and it does the same light pattern as soon as I plug
> > it in to the laptop. *:(
>
> > I shall not put the battery back in the laptop from now on (I had
> > previously done so just to see if it made a difference in the whole
> > booting up issue).
>
> Okay well did you swap out the RAM with a known good RAM? If so, I
> believe you did everything you can and it sounds the the voltage
> regulators are bad which is most likely on the motherboard. :(
>
> --
> Bill
> Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
> Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

I did recently purchase some new RAM to upgrade this laptop. I have
tried it both with no RAM, and just now after your suggestion with the
old RAM...no good either way.

I was hoping that this wouldn't be a motherboard issue...but...not
much I can do to prevent that. Anything else I am overlooking? I
wouldn't expect this kind of behavior for the RTC battery. I am
tempted to pull it totally apart and reseat whatever power connections
or conspicuous cables I find just in case...

lgerhardx********.com wrote on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:40:16 -0800 (PST):
> I did recently purchase some new RAM to upgrade this laptop. I have
> tried it both with no RAM, and just now after your suggestion with the
> old RAM...no good either way.
>
> I was hoping that this wouldn't be a motherboard issue...but...not
> much I can do to prevent that. Anything else I am overlooking? I
> wouldn't expect this kind of behavior for the RTC battery. I am
> tempted to pull it totally apart and reseat whatever power connections
> or conspicuous cables I find just in case...

It is rare that a laptop won't boot with a dead RTC battery, but it is
reported from time to time (I believe just a very few models has this
problem). And besides checking for loose connections, the motherboard is
about the only thing left. Motherboards are sometimes very cheap on
eBay. It might be worth a check anyway.

--
Bill
Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

On Nov 11, 9:54*pm, BillW50 <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
> lgerha...********.com wrote on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:40:16 -0800 (PST):
>
> > I did recently purchase some new RAM to upgrade this laptop. *I have
> > tried it both with no RAM, and just now after your suggestion with the
> > old RAM...no good either way.
>
> > I was hoping that this wouldn't be a motherboard issue...but...not
> > much I can do to prevent that. *Anything else I am overlooking? *I
> > wouldn't expect this kind of behavior for the RTC battery. *I am
> > tempted to pull it totally apart and reseat whatever power connections
> > or conspicuous cables I find just in case...
>
> It is rare that a laptop won't boot with a dead RTC battery, but it is
> reported from time to time (I believe just a very few models has this
> problem). And besides checking for loose connections, the motherboard is
> about the only thing left. Motherboards are sometimes very cheap on
> eBay. It might be worth a check anyway.
>
> --
> Bill
> Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
> Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

Apparently I am now blind...I have this thing all in pieces and can't
find the RTC battery!! >_< I'm used to the CR2032 type from
desktops...are they the same in laptops?

I guess I need to just go to bed...

lgerhardx********.com wrote oon Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:50:35 -0800 (PST):

> Apparently I am now blind...I have this thing all in pieces and can't
> find the RTC battery!! >_< I'm used to the CR2032 type from
> desktops...are they the same in laptops?
>
> I guess I need to just go to bed...

That is ok. In a laptop, sometimes they are a rechargeable Ni-Cad. They
maybe cylinder shape (smaller than AA size) or disc shape. Usually in
blue plastic shrink tubing. And often they are off of the board attached
by wires to the board. Good luck and good night for now.

--
Bill
Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

On Nov 11, 11:16*pm, BillW50 <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
> lgerha...********.com wrote oon Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:50:35 -0800 (PST):
>
> > Apparently I am now blind...I have this thing all in pieces and can't
> > find the RTC battery!! *>_< *I'm used to the CR2032 type from
> > desktops...are they the same in laptops?
>
> > I guess I need to just go to bed...
>
> That is ok. In a laptop, sometimes they are a rechargeable Ni-Cad. They
> maybe cylinder shape (smaller than AA size) or disc shape. Usually in
> blue plastic shrink tubing. And often they are off of the board attached
> by wires to the board. Good luck and good night for now.
>
> --
> Bill
> Black Asus EEE PC 4GB 2GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
> Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux

Found it! I is a tiny flat cell battery soldered to the motherboard.
It was hidden under some black, sticky tape-like insulating material.

Unfortunately, much of the writing on the cell is obscured by the spot-
welded solder tabs. I can make out "Maxell", "rechargeable" and what
I assume is the last two digits of the battery type "20". Once I
desolder it, I may be able to yank off the tab and see the rest.
Roughly, it appears to be just slightly less than a half-inch in
diameter.

If there is room, and I knew changing this battery would resurrect my
laptop, I think I would find a suitable location to install a battery
holder so that I could just pop a new one in sans soldering next
time. But for now I'm at the mercy of Radio Shack and what solder-
type batteries they have in stock... But hey, having to totally
remove every board and piece of this laptop and scour every inch
hunting for a hidden battery gives me a great opportunity to reseat
all those connections! ^_^;

lgerhardx********.com wrote on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:32:42 -0800 (PST):
> Found it! I is a tiny flat cell battery soldered to the motherboard.
> It was hidden under some black, sticky tape-like insulating material.

Good deal! :)

> Unfortunately, much of the writing on the cell is obscured by the spot-
> welded solder tabs. I can make out "Maxell", "rechargeable" and what
> I assume is the last two digits of the battery type "20". Once I
> desolder it, I may be able to yank off the tab and see the rest.
> Roughly, it appears to be just slightly less than a half-inch in
> diameter.

Most of them are a two cell Ni-Cad. If you can check the voltage, it
should be between 2.4 to 3v. Although it could be more cells as well.

> If there is room, and I knew changing this battery would resurrect my
> laptop, I think I would find a suitable location to install a battery
> holder so that I could just pop a new one in sans soldering next
> time. But for now I'm at the mercy of Radio Shack and what solder-
> type batteries they have in stock... But hey, having to totally
> remove every board and piece of this laptop and scour every inch
> hunting for a hidden battery gives me a great opportunity to reseat
> all those connections! ^_^;

You bet! And that's what it is all about. If you wanted to and if there
is room. Buy two AAA rechargeables and a double AAA battery holder and
solder it in. Remember you can't use regular batteries since the laptop
charges this connection.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 8GB 1GB SoDIMM Adata 16GB
Windows XP SP2 and Xandros Linux