Want a challenge? My laptop has a really weird power issue.
Randomly a few wks ago, when i turned my 3 or 4 year old toshiba satellite p745-s4217 (running Windows 10) on. Before windows ever loaded, it died.
I tried again, and tried to see if i can get into bios. It died before getting to that the first time. Then worked the second time. Date/time and everything was fine in there. I was in BIOS for a good 2-3 minutes before it died again.
Then after looking online for suggestions, i did the following:
- unplug battery and ac; hold power for over 1 minute, replug and turn on... same
- plug battery, unplug ac; hold power for over 1 minute... same
- did step 1 again... same
- took RAM out of one slot... tried. Then swap the slots... tried. Then took out of one and swapped... all same results (same as in it dies. However, it stays on for varying lengths of time: from 8 seconds minimum to max of 2 minutes)
Then i saw a suggestion to clean the laptop's end of the ac connection and pull the little tabs inside out a little to increase contact. IT WORKED! And it stayed on for as long as i wanted. (the battery was out)
The next morning, I plugged the battery back in and unplugged the ac to move the laptop. Tried turning it on. Back to same issue again. Tried a few more times, and tried power contact trick. Won't work. Groan!
Came back the next evening, unplugged battery and ac, held power for over 1 minute and pulled down contact points, kept battery out, and it worked for hours!! (The heavens opened up too... ok not quite.) I backed up a bunch of things. Turned it off and was careful to not unplug. Plugged in the battery. Now won't work. So tried simply unplugging battery to turn on, it won't work.
Strangely, roughly 50% of the time I can get this to work:
1) plug battery in, try to turn on, it dies after a few second, or it may stay on for literally 5 minutes.
2) unplug battery, try to turn on, nothing.
3) keep battery unplugged, unplug ac, hold power for over 1 minute, plug ac back in - now stays on.
4) as soon as i power off, it'll have troubles again... even w/ battery still out. So must do step 3 to get it to stay on.
Frustrated at it, I left it alone for a few weeks w/ the battery and adapter plugged in. Tonight I turned it on and it worked immediately and stayed on the whole time. Go figure.
Two last addendums:
1) The laptop’s original battery had no charge a year ago so I bought a generic one. It’s been working fine.
2) I work in community development and this laptop has been in a third world country env’t (i.e. more dust and humidity) for roughly three years.
Perhaps it’s either a battery or motherboard issue. Hardware geniuses out there... any ideas for this quandary????? =( On a non-profit salary, I’d really prefer not to have to buy a new laptop. Thanks in advance!
Randomly a few wks ago, when i turned my 3 or 4 year old toshiba satellite p745-s4217 (running Windows 10) on. Before windows ever loaded, it died.
I tried again, and tried to see if i can get into bios. It died before getting to that the first time. Then worked the second time. Date/time and everything was fine in there. I was in BIOS for a good 2-3 minutes before it died again.
Then after looking online for suggestions, i did the following:
- unplug battery and ac; hold power for over 1 minute, replug and turn on... same
- plug battery, unplug ac; hold power for over 1 minute... same
- did step 1 again... same
- took RAM out of one slot... tried. Then swap the slots... tried. Then took out of one and swapped... all same results (same as in it dies. However, it stays on for varying lengths of time: from 8 seconds minimum to max of 2 minutes)
Then i saw a suggestion to clean the laptop's end of the ac connection and pull the little tabs inside out a little to increase contact. IT WORKED! And it stayed on for as long as i wanted. (the battery was out)
The next morning, I plugged the battery back in and unplugged the ac to move the laptop. Tried turning it on. Back to same issue again. Tried a few more times, and tried power contact trick. Won't work. Groan!
Came back the next evening, unplugged battery and ac, held power for over 1 minute and pulled down contact points, kept battery out, and it worked for hours!! (The heavens opened up too... ok not quite.) I backed up a bunch of things. Turned it off and was careful to not unplug. Plugged in the battery. Now won't work. So tried simply unplugging battery to turn on, it won't work.
Strangely, roughly 50% of the time I can get this to work:
1) plug battery in, try to turn on, it dies after a few second, or it may stay on for literally 5 minutes.
2) unplug battery, try to turn on, nothing.
3) keep battery unplugged, unplug ac, hold power for over 1 minute, plug ac back in - now stays on.
4) as soon as i power off, it'll have troubles again... even w/ battery still out. So must do step 3 to get it to stay on.
Frustrated at it, I left it alone for a few weeks w/ the battery and adapter plugged in. Tonight I turned it on and it worked immediately and stayed on the whole time. Go figure.
Two last addendums:
1) The laptop’s original battery had no charge a year ago so I bought a generic one. It’s been working fine.
2) I work in community development and this laptop has been in a third world country env’t (i.e. more dust and humidity) for roughly three years.
Perhaps it’s either a battery or motherboard issue. Hardware geniuses out there... any ideas for this quandary????? =( On a non-profit salary, I’d really prefer not to have to buy a new laptop. Thanks in advance!
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