Toshiba Laptop Black Screen

Hi All, ............ My daughter brought me her laptop hoping I could fix it. This is a Toshiba Satellite with WindowsXP SP3 installed. One number I got from the back side is M35-S3592. What happens at turn-on is that there is a brief flash of the word Toshiba and from there on a black screen. The computer appears to be getting power in that a blue light goes on or off depending on the switch button The wireless indicator also responds similarly. I installed an external monitor with the same black screen results. The external monitor appears to be working in that I get a cable disconnect message on the screen when the connector is removed form the monitor socket.

My daughter also tells me that she isn't sure that the CD/DVD drive is working but she has been using the computer for many months without the current problem. Without a monitor screen I have no way of checking that. At my suggestion she checked with a neighbor about borrowing a working battery. The neighbor has a battery which he will loan her to check if the battery is causing the problem. My knowledge of laptops is nil, is there anything else I might try ?

Did you try booting from a CD or USB drive? Can you get into the bios?

I don't think it's a battery issue, but you can run the laptop with no battery and just the AC adapter. Assuming that the AC adapter port is not damaged, of course.

Adding to Midknytes comment...
Is there HDD activity after the Logo Display goes off?
1/ if there is then my suspicion is the Back-light controller is faulty.. is it possible to get another monitor to plug in.. (you may need to switch output by using the Fn-F5 keyboard switch after the lappy has been switched on)

2/ If all activity ceases at this point:
a/ Remove the External power and main battery and come back in an hour or 5.. reconnect battery then external power.. does the machine work ok now? DO NOT THINK THAT a 1 or 2 min removal of all power is enough for this one
b/ The CMOS battery can cause this symptom - typically this will be a hunt and a half.. all we need to do is disconnect and leave off, along with main battery and external power) for at least a half hour (I prefer a repeat of part a for assurance) - Locating and getting to the battery is the biggest issue here..
c/ the issue could be the HDD itself - aka Midknytes comment re CDROM and Getting to the BIOS

Midknyte, ......... Yes I did try booting from a CD which has a program designed for WindowsXP. I know this CD functions since I have used it on my desktop but nothing appeared on the monitor screen. In my initial post I should have added that there is a blinking light at the CD/DVD drive when the CD is installed there. Since I need something on the screen to adjust the boot sequence, I made no attempt to use a USB boot. ( My error, see below) About the battery, I was grasping at straws in that I read somewhere that a defective battery could cause a problem. I need more information about a damaged AC adapter before responding to your comment. I did remove the battery and the computer appears to be getting power.

und3rtak3r, ...........

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Is there HDD activity after the Logo Display goes off?

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I don't know, I can't detect any vibration or sound. Is there another indicator? As I said earlier, I tried another monitor but knew nothing about the Fn-F5 keyboard switch. However I hooked up an external monitor again and used the Fn-F5 keys (in sequence and together) with no positive results.

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a/ Remove the External power and main battery and come back in an hour or 5.. reconnect battery then external power.. does the machine work ok now? DO NOT THINK THAT a 1 or 2 min removal of all power is enough for this one

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Did that (three hour power sources removed) no difference, black screen. Stayed away from the CMOS battery suggestion, I'd hesitate before taking a screw driver to a laptop.

Went back to the BIOS and finally got something positive using F2. The existing boot listing was: Hard Drive, Removable Device, CD/DVD -ROM Drive, and Network Boot. I adjusted the sequence so that the CD/DVD is now first. Put the CD in its drive and got the black screen. Then I tried a music CD with the same negative results.

I've exhausted my knowledge of laptop workings. If you have any other suggestions, I'll be glad to try them. My thanks to each of you for your interest.

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Yes I did try booting from a CD which has a program designed for WindowsXP

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What does that mean? Is it an XP installation CD? Is it a diagnostic CD like UBCD?

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Since I need something on the screen to adjust the boot sequence, I made no attempt to use a USB boot.

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If you can see the Toshiba logo, did you press any keys to get into the bios? You can try holding down the ESC key as it is powering up. I think F10 or F12 will prompt you to choose a boot device.

From post #4---

Went back to the BIOS and finally got something positive using F2. The existing boot listing was: Hard Drive, Removable Device, CD/DVD -ROM Drive, and Network Boot. I adjusted the sequence so that the CD/DVD is now first. Put the CD in its drive and got the black screen. Then I tried a music CD with the same negative results.

Midknyte, .......In Post #2 you asked: "Did you try booting from a CD ..." and I replied:

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Yes I did try booting from a CD which has a program designed for WindowsXP.

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I probably should have been more specific. This CD was designed for booting a computer that would not start. It is not an installation CD nor a diagnostic CD. In my first Post I repeated my daughter's comment about the CD/DVD drive not working. So with the above reply and what I said in Post #4 there is a good possibility that the CD/DVD drive not working.

It may be that our recent posts crossed in processing. I was able to get into the BIOS using F2. The Toshiba logo is practically a brief flash and doesn't provide time to select any keys.

dneilson, ....... And your comment is?

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This CD was designed for booting a computer that would not start

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Do you mean the Toshiba recovery disc? Did you try any other discs?

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In my first Post I repeated my daughter's comment about the CD/DVD drive not working

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You said you were unsure. Did you try booting from a usb drive then? You should see the boot order in the bios.

The fact that you can even see the screen means that the backlight is ok. You wouldn't even see the Toshiba logo if it was bad.

Midknyte ......... Let me summarize: In your first response You asked:

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Did you try booting from a CD or USB drive? Can you get into the bios?

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So far I have tried to boot with three CDs. (1)The original Installation CD, (2)one that I copied from a forum and works on my desktop and (3)a Toshiba Recovery and Applications CD (Satellite M30X/M35X Series). None of these work. However, the USB drive does get a reaction. What I did was copy (2) to a Flash drive. When this Flash drive is inserted, now the monitor screen contains the Toshiba name and various icons. Also in the lower left-hand corner instructions for BIOS setup, F2, and boot device selection, F12. This information is fixed, not flashing by. But there still is no booting to Windows and all this answers is something you mentioned in an earlier post, a faulty Back-light controller is not the problem. This also says that if the CD/DVD drive is not functioning, then the only hope of booting is through the USB drive. Of course it also implies that my attempt to make a booting Flash device was probably not successful. So if you have any other thoughts, I would like to hear them. Thank you for staying with me.

it sounds like the cd/dvd drive is bad. can you borrow a USB cd drive?

Otherwise, you can try creating a bootable USB drive with something like Unetbootin.
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

You can also make a bootable UBCD drive. Scroll down to the "Making UBCD memory stick" section.
http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/customize.html

You might have a bad hard drive, if it doesn't boot to windows. Laptop drives die all the time. Once you get a bootable disc/drive, you can run diags.

Midknyte, ............. My long delay in getting back to this Posting was occasioned by several false starts in trying to get ubuntu onto a flash drive. I finally got there by using a web site that walked me through the process. It is located at:
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

To determine if the flash drive was functional, I tried it on my desktop and it worked there bot not on the laptop. The CDs also worked on the desktop but not on the laptop. Therefore it looks more and more like the Hard drive could be at fault.

That is about as far as I can go in getting this laptop to perform. So I think we should not attempt any other "fixes." I want to thank you for your patience and continued interest. You can't win them all.