Computer down...help!

[JediGoalie30]

Before I deployed, I bought a Toshiba Satellite A215-S4747 laptop to bring with me (this was last July). A couple of months ago, it crashed while I was playing a game, and hasn't worked right since. It was an older game (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), nothing that should have been an issue for it to run. Now, it won't even boot up anymore. After the first screen where it says "Toshiba," I get the following message on the screen...

Intel UNDI, PXE-2.1 (build 082)
Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation

...and a few seconds later if it followed by...

For Realtek RTL8100E/8101E Fast Ethernet Network Adapter v1.02 (060529)
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE-ROM

...and then the cycle repeats forever. I'm pretty sure that I didn't get a virus, as I had no internet connection. Any thuoghts? I paid for the three year extended act-of-god warranty coverage when I bought it, so I should be able to take it back to the store when I come home on leave, but if there's something that can be fixed, I'd rather do that than spend a lot of time dealing with it on leave.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[moosehead]

Might be a hardware issue.

How far does it actually get before this error message? Can you get into the Bios?

Do you have the original restore disks? If so, you might want to try that first. unfortunatly that will most likely wipe your hard drive.

If you can get into the bios, you can try disabling the audio hardware and see if that works. Or you can "restore default settings" in the bios.

[ezkill]

Ahhh toshiba....


PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE-ROM

That means it's trying to boot from the Lan. You can try to clear the CMOS to start and see if that works.

Also if you can get into your BIOS check the boot sequence and see if it's even looking for the hard drive. If it is then more drastic measures may be necessary.

[Oddzilla51]

Have you tried pounding it with your fist?

[JediGoalie30]

Originally Posted by moosehead

Might be a hardware issue.

How far does it actually get before this error message? Can you get into the Bios?

Do you have the original restore disks? If so, you might want to try that first. unfortunatly that will most likely wipe your hard drive.

If you can get into the bios, you can try disabling the audio hardware and see if that works. Or you can "restore default settings" in the bios.

Originally Posted by ezkill

Ahhh toshiba....


PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE-ROM

That means it's trying to boot from the Lan. You can try to clear the CMOS to start and see if that works.

Also if you can get into your BIOS check the boot sequence and see if it's even looking for the hard drive. If it is then more drastic measures may be necessary.

I'll try resetting to defaults in the BIOS and see if that works.

Originally Posted by Oddzilla51

Have you tried pounding it with your fist?

Good ol' Emergency Repair Procedure #1. Unfortunately, it did not work in this case. Repeatedly.

[Vision]

Yes it does appear to be booting from the LAN but it should only do that if it can't find a bootable device within the computer. Check and see if perhaps the boot order got messed with.

::m

[Densetsu]

If you have a recovery CD or other bootable CD (e.g. Windows install CD, Linux Live etc.), try popping that in and seeing if the laptop tries to boot from that. If you don't have a bootable CD, just put in any old CD and listen to see if the disc at least spins up.

Like it has been said, the computer is trying to boot from the LAN. Either
(a) the boot order has been changed and it's trying to boot from the LAN first, or
(b) the boot devices before LAN (hard drive, CD drive, USB/floppy) can't be booted from. In the case of the CD/floppy/USB, that's because there's no disc inserted. In the case of the hard drive... either a cable is loose or the drive is messed up.

If the computer boots (or at least spins) when you put in a CD, it's probably (b).

[junior1cats]

Originally Posted by Oddzilla51

Have you tried pounding it with your fist?

^^^^^
Lmao

That's about what I can do.

I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

[Kael]

As mentioned above, it's trying to boot from the LAN. You need to go into the BIOS and change the boot-priority. Disable the "network" boot option. Make sure the HD is high in the priority list.

If it still fails to boot, your HD maybe dead or the connector is loose.

[JediGoalie30]

When I went into the BIOS, it says "Hard Disk: None." I'm thinknig this may be more than I can fix from here. Guess I'll have to take it to the store when I come home.

Damn POS Toshiba.

[MrMikeEMike]

If that's what it's saying, then it sounds like (IIRC from when I had a Toshiba for work) the mobo or part of it went bad. You can try a recovery disk, as it might just be drivers for the controller that got corrupted. Next basic step for you to try is another HD to see if the bios even recognizes it. If you connect a new HD and still get the error, then it sounds like a warranty repair.

FTR, I HATE Toshiba lappys. They gave us nothing but problems at work.

[JediGoalie30]

Originally Posted by MrMikeEMike

If that's what it's saying, then it sounds like (IIRC from when I had a Toshiba for work) the mobo or part of it went bad. You can try a recovery disk, as it might just be drivers for the controller that got corrupted. Next basic step for you to try is another HD to see if the bios even recognizes it. If you connect a new HD and still get the error, then it sounds like a warranty repair.

FTR, I HATE Toshiba lappys. They gave us nothing but problems at work.

Yeah, I'm not going to be buying another Toshiba again. I don't have a recovery disk here with me, and I'm not sure that this model came with one. Back to the store it will go while I am home on leave. Hopefully they will be able to do some data recovery from the HD, because there were some things on it that I would rather not lose.

[digitalcrease]

Weigh the costs of those items. Data recovery can be *verY* expensive. Good luck.

[PSULion22]

My GF had the exact same thing happen on her Satellite. The very same error message at the same point. Hers went down while loading a very large video in an email. Sounds very similar to yours dying while doing a processing heavy activity. It was less than two years old and needed to have the HD replaced. She lost most of her data, but they guy was able to save some. Check the HD to make sure it hasn't jostled loose and that all connections are intact. If that doesn't work, I have a feeling the HD is fried.

Make sure you get the drive back if it is replaced. You might be able to buy an external case and extract some more info that wasn't recovered via USB.

[Densetsu]

If you can't get it working, try picking up a 2.5" hard drive USB enclosure. Pop in the drive, plug it into a USB port on another computer, and see if the drive works.

They're fairly cheap, you can probably get one for $20 or so at a local computer store.