power on issue

[bennyvreevest]

Power on button on Toshiba Satellite S50D-A does not always work.
Laptop outfitted originally with Windows 8, then 8.1, recently Windows 10. BIOS recently updated to 1.40.
Indicator lights are properly working (charging, charged).
Reseating RAM, motherboard battery and other peripherals has no effect. Resetting RAM doesn't work.
I tried to program the 'power on when opening lid' feat on Toshiba to bypass the power button for if that would be faulty, but it doesn't work either. The laptop decides when it wants to be powered up. It worked fine for just over a year (warranty period), then it started to malfunction until it completely didn't switch on anymore. Two months later I got it going for a couple of sessions again, then same problem. Two weeks ago I tried it again and it started up to my surprise. Did all the updates (incl. to Windows 10), it worked fine for about two weeks and the issue came up again, shortly. Got it going again, flashed the BIOS. Issue came up again. Haven't been able to power it up after since that.
Have a feelin that there may be an issue in the power/ charging management, that makes the laptop think that it has no power. But I first have to get it running again to see if I can find any conflicts in the power management settings. Any ideas, thanks in advance!

 

[Im Spartacus]

First question is does the laptop stay on until you power it off then fail to sometimes turn on or does it power off then while plugged in and charging.
I only ask this because Toshiba laptops had/maystill have a power button issue where the buttons fails. There is a resolve if this is the case as you may not source a new or used working power button/cable. You simply remove the connector from the motherboard. The laptop will just boot up from mains socket switch on.
What happens with the button is when it is pressed down it should click back up but it wears out gets stuck down over time it may click back up therefore allowing it to be switched back on by pressing it again it will not turn on if stuck down.

 

[bennyvreevest]

The laptop works otherwise perfectly fine. Only when I start it up, either on battery or plugged in, it most of the time just doesn't fire up. My first hunch was indeed a faulty power button, that is why I enabled the 'power on when lid opens' feat, to bypass the button. However that didn't do the trick.
The button seems to veer back after pressing in, but I can't tell what happens or doesn't happen under the plastic. So it still is a valid option and I will try your suggestion if it fails again.
This morning I got it running again by disconnecting the battery, taking out the mobo battery and reconnecting it all, for my other thought is that there may be a conflict in the power management. That somehow the computer can't deal with a fully charged battery. It didn't go at once, but it did fire up (actually by itself or maybe by opening the lid, not by pushing the button). I like to keep the laptop on, but it hasn't a permanent home and I have to keep moving it around or stored away.
Thanks for the suggestion, I will see if this may be the issue. Would be very disappointing, for the warranty just expired when the issue occured first and I found the service of Toshiba extremely bureaucratic and a hassle. I kinda have given up on having it repaired by them.

 

[Im Spartacus]

If your laptop has a built in battery you can reset the laptop by doing the following. Sorry if you already tried this.Otherwise please read all the below.
If you turn your laptop over in the right hand corner towards the front of your laptop you should find a small hole using a paper clip or something similar like a needle you can reset the laptop by inserting in to the reset hole be careful as you only need to press it gently not to hard.
If you have the laptop up and running turn off all power options in power management everything I always disable all options they often cause so many problems.
Your laptop could also either have a faulty internal battery.
Your laptop could just be stuck in sleep mode and until the battery drains your unable to get it started back up.
Holding the power button down for 10 seconds can also force a power reset.

 

[bennyvreevest]

Resetting RAM procedure was one of the first things we tried, but it didn't do anything.
The battery does work, it charges and the laptop runs on just the battery. However if it is not the power button itself that is faulty, I do suspect your point that the laptop battery has to drain completely, before I can restart it again. And with a fully charged battery and a totally dead laptop, that takes a while (like weeks). If the laptop is in sleep the power button would light up every couple of seconds. I usually shut a computer down after use, rather than sleep or hibernate.

Would that be a faulty battery though or is it something in the charge control software or communication between power management and computer (or is that built in the battery pack)? The nasty thing with this model is that the battery is built in. Because this was my train of thought as well I did manage to disconnect the battery and the mobo battery and it did the trick (this one time at least, but I have been there before).
I remember reading somewhere that older versions of the BIOS caused this miscommunication between the actual charge of the battery and the power the computer receives. I can't find that info anymore, but I did flash the BIOS to the latest version.

If your laptop has a built in battery you can reset the laptop by doing the following. Sorry if you already tried this.Otherwise please read all the below.
If you turn your laptop over in the right hand corner towards the front of your laptop you should find a small hole using a paper clip or something similar like a needle you can reset the laptop by inserting in to the reset hole be careful as you only need to press it gently not to hard.
If you have the laptop up and running turn off all power options in power management everything I always disable all options they often cause so many problems.
Your laptop could also either have a faulty internal battery.
Your laptop could just be stuck in sleep mode and until the battery drains your unable to get it started back up.
Holding the power button down for 10 seconds can also force a power reset.

 

[bennyvreevest]

Just to update for who may be interested: I had troubles installing Windows 10 on top of my power issues. The new 'Settings' feat didn't came with it, which crippled a lot of the laptop's functionality. I made a new user account on my laptop with all admin rights and I believe that solved the issue with Windows 10. Then I migrated everything from my original account to the new account.
After this my laptop seems to work properly and I even didn't have issues with my power button anymore. I don't know what was broken and what solved it, or if it is solved at all and will reoccur in the future. But so far no complaints anymore.
Thanks every one for your help and feedback!