I’m having a problem with my Toshiba Satelite P20.
I believe that my HDD has finally worn out. Over the past few months, it used to take several attempts to boot up windows XP. Sometimes, the hard drive failed to load and sometimes the HDD light used to hang on, and I would receive a disk-read error has occurred. The message which I also used to get, and which I keep getting now is:
PXE-E61 Media test failure, check cable
Exiting PXE ROM
I tried booting up from a CD, and it failed to detect the hard drive.
I’m almost positive that you have a bad hard drive. PXE means Pre-Boot Execution Environment. You see this message when the laptop trying to boot from a remote server using the network card. If you didn’t see the PXE-E61 message before, it means that the network card was listed after the hard drive in the boot order (you can set the order in BIOS) and the laptop booted directly from the hard drive. Now, when the hard drive has failed, the laptop cannot detect it and tries to boot from the next available device – the network card. Your laptop is not configured to boot from a remote server using the network card, that’s why you are getting PXE-E61 Media test failure error. You have to replace the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
July 9th, 2006 at 3:52 am
Hey Thanks for your help. After about 45 minutes of attempts to boot the laptop, the Hard drive managed to kick in for a bit, so I backed up as many files as I could. it took about 20 minutes to load windows XP (I was superised to see it get that far), with the hard drive light constantly on. Eventualy The hard drive got stuck again, so i’m getting it replaced later on
Thanks for your help!!
July 25th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
I am having the same issue, I replaced the hdd with a new one and am still getting the same PXE message over and over, I checked my boot priority having HDD>CD>FDD>LAN, and still no dice!! Going nuts over here!! I also took my old HDD and slapped in into external case and works fine, so HDD is ruled out at this point I think
July 27th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
I am trying to ressurect my son’s dead Sony VAIO notebook. it is doing the exact same thing. We tried a new hard drive, but it made no difference. the BIOS is set to have LAN boot turned OFF, but it is also claiming there is no hard drive. With the BIOS set to AUTO, the HD lists as “NONE”. I can boot it from a floppy, or a CD. I think the reason it is resorting to the LAN boot is because there is no other boot source present ( without a floppy or CD inserted) and so it is trying the LAN boot as a last resort, despite it being turned off in the BIOS.
My thinking is that the Hard Drive Controller may have gone bad? It has sat a while since we tried the new hard drive, so today I disassembled it, attached a ground cable, and vacuumed it out (was some dust). Then I used Pro Gold on the HD connections to make sure they are good. I released and re-seated the memory modules, and also removed and reinstalled the CMOS battery after a few minutes, thinking that maybe the CMOS needed to be reset. I assume the HD controller is built in to the motherboard, so I don’t imagine there is any way to test that?
So far, nothing has made any difference. But since the BIOS is showing no HD, I am assuming that problem needs to be remedied first. I suggest the dozens of others I have read that have had this same PXE-E61 problem make sure their HD is even being detected before trying to go further.
Any suggestions are welcome!
September 18th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
It is a message due to some failure in the Network Adaptor or the Bios portion of it, I am also getting the same error for my toshiba, the error message comes prior the boot option detection.
If I connect the network cable in the network socket it is not giving me the error so try doing it in your case as well
-Kinnar
October 18th, 2006 at 8:37 am
I was getting the same message PXE-E61 Media test failure. It has happened before ..My problem was that my
laptop battery was losing its charge..Once it charged good ,I was able to boot into Windows XP.. My laptop is a Sony Vaio. Try checking the Battery life.
November 11th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
i am having the same problem with a vaio pcg-fxa36 model, HD is reconized in BIOS, HD works in esternal enclosure, so i dont think it is the HD…the laptop has not been used in a while, i put it up because it did that…and i got it back out, charged the battery, reinstalled windows XP, works good, restart a couple of times, and now all i get is this…anyone know how to fix it?!?!???
November 26th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
I’ve had this error woth my laptop as long as I can remember. It’s a Toshiba Satelite A45-S250. It doesn’t seem to cause any problems other than being a pain in the ass to see on boot up. It’s not the hard drive. I replaced it not because of this error but because I dropped it. Guess what? The new drive doesn’t make any difference. So, I think all those people out there telling you hard drive failure is sure to come are full of it. That’s my two cents worth.
Jack
November 28th, 2006 at 11:53 am
Jack Burns,
You can fix it if you change the boot order in the BIOS. Move the hard drive to the first position and you won’t see the PXE-E61 Media test failure message on start up anymore.
November 30th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
I was getting the same error message and disabled the LAN boot, and that got rid of that message.. So now I get the message “cannot find operating system. This laptop has been running great till now and I can hear the HD trying, it sounds like it is stuck in a loop.. and the error message keeps looping as well?? Any ideas??
November 30th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Sandi,
Sounds like a bad hard drive. Test the drive with Hitachi’s DFT (link on the right side) utility and if it fails, replace the hard drive.
December 1st, 2006 at 2:35 am
All attempts failed with test..it keeps sticking at “Ide Primary Slave” I suppose this I cannot retrieve my data.
There was no reason that it should have died, it wasn’t dropped or shook?? Other than posibly overheating?? I noticed that this test is for Hitatchi and IBM could that make a dif?? I have a HP Pavilion dv1000..
December 1st, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Sandi,
When you start the test it will not detect “IDE Primary Master”? It will not see the hard drive at all? Probably it’s a bad drive. The problem description you submitted in the comment 9 sounds like a bad drive. Do you have an access to any other laptop? Can you find another laptop hard drive, install it into your laptop and see if it would be recognized by the test utility?
December 8th, 2006 at 12:40 am
Hi,
I have a Toshiba Satellite M105 notebook With BIOS password problem. From one day to another I turn on the computer and the laptop ask me for the password, and I didnt setup any.I live in Mexico and Toshiba dont support the computer here.
Do u have the procedure I have to follow in order to erase the BIO password.
Thanks in advance and I apreciatte your help.
December 8th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
my toshiba laptop gives me the media test failure too. it used to occasionally say failure on harddrive replace failure imminent and right after it said hard drive their would a long row of hearts and little faces in squares before the word primary slave. that scared me, i don’t know what to do. i replaced the hard drive and still the same problem. occasionally it will boot before the blue screen pops up and says a lot of things about physical dumping of memory then i have to shut it off improperly and the errors keep coming up. WHAT CAN I DO!? I’M SCARED. i switched all the bois settings around and everything. and sometimes when it works in the bois under hard drive it will say the correct thing. but when its not working and the error messages come up it says either none or a bunch of hearts and faces. that can’t be good CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME?! i know its from a virus.
December 14th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
Yo.
I was having the same problem.
I was trying to use a backup iso to install windows xp,
it was giving me this $^$#^@#%@^ error.
I’ve been so frustrated, i decided to try my real xp disc and it worked.
December 17th, 2006 at 8:02 am
My laptop is only three months odl, it’s a MDG VisionBookPro which worked fine but now it decided not to boot up. I get the message saying PXE-E61 Media test failure Check Cable. On the Bois it shows HDD none. I’v tried everything to fix it but nothing works. I thing there is something wrong with my RAM because after i boot the computer from the windows CD it says Check Memory.
December 17th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Aarish,
If the hard drive will not appear in the BIOS, you might have a bad drive, faulty hard drive controller on the motherboard or corrupted BIOS. Your laptop is just three months old and I assume it’s still under warranty, send it back to the manufacturer for repair.
BTW, you can test memory yourself. Download Memtest 86+ utility, burn it on a CD and boot the laptop from this CD. The test will start automatically.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
My Laptop is working now. All i needed was a new HDD and i installed it and intalled new windows and it works. If any of you still having the same problem try changing the HDD (brand new HDD) and install new windows. Hope fully it should work.
December 23rd, 2006 at 5:55 am
Hi there,
I’m having this ‘PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable’ issue on my HP Pavilion ze5400. I’ve tried changing the boot order in set to a number of variations (HDD 1st, 2nd and third positions) and am having no joy whatsoever. I can hear the drive spinning (just - the fan is incredibly noisy). When I boot up the following sequence occurs:
1. HP invent screen w. set up (F2) and LAN boot (F10) options.
2. Initializing MBA. press ctrl+alt B to configure.
3. Argon PXE boot agent v 2.01 (BIOS integrated) copyright details, with PXE copyright details below it. After a few seconds I then see this dreaded ‘PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable’
Has anyone any ideas of my next step. I’m trying to just get the HDD to kick in so I can back it up, but I’m losing a bit of hope.
Regards,
A
December 23rd, 2006 at 8:35 pm
Alexander,
Are you sure the noise is coming from the fan and not from the hard drive? When laptop hard drive goes bad, it might start making a loud noise kind of like a bad fan.
Here’s what I would try to do in order to backup the data. Buy an external USB enclosure for laptop hard drives, these enclosures are relatively cheap and you can find one in a local computer store for $15-20. Remove the hard drive from the laptop and install it into the enclosure. Connect the enclosure to another working computer via a USB cable (usually included with the enclosure) and pray. If you are lucky, the computer will detect the drive and you will be able to access it and backup your data. Let the hard drive cool down before you connect it to a working computer, keep it off overnight. You have better chances to access the hard drive when it’s not hot. If you can access the hard drive, back up the most important data first because the drive might fail completely any second.
January 2nd, 2007 at 6:43 am
I spent the better part of yesterday tring everything I could to fix that error on my gf’s toshiba. I’ve had BIOS errors before from a bad hard drive but this didn’t seem to be the case. I eventually got her’s working by dissabling the Norton GoBack system which apparently required the Norton System Works CD to be in the drive during start-up. My thoughts were that the Super drive on her computer wasn’t reading the cd and thus was dumping the start-up sequence. I had to disable Goback on my parent’s computer as well a few months earlier because it was incompatable with just about everything.
January 4th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I’m having this ‘PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable’ issue on my Dell PP02L so I tried to change the BIOS order n it didn’t work so I Bought a new HDD and i installed new Windows but after 5 min i got the same problem so now i spent $200 for nothing Please Help
January 4th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Abdul,
It looks like the laptop worked for a while with the new drive. You even were able to install Windows on it. May be the new drive is defective? Test it and if it fails to pass the test, try replacing the drive. You can run Hitachi’s drive fitness test (link on the right side of the site), it’s free. Most sellers give you some warranty for their hardware.
January 5th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I am having the same problem as Alexander Wolstenholme, PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable’, error; however, I am working with a new hard drive.
I am trying to install XP on a new hard drive by booting from the XP CD and have changed the boot sequence in the BIOS, but am still getting the PXE error.
One more note…I am not sure the hard drive was installed correctly because it does not show up in the BIOS. The BIOS is configured to “Auto” detect the hard drive; however it shows up as “None” instead of dispaying any hard drive properties. I do not have the hard drive self test within the BIOS.
I did not remove the old hard drive or install the new hard drive, so any help you could provide on checking that process would be appreciated as well.
Thanks!
January 11th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
I am getting the PXE E61 error, too and my Satellite is less than 2 years old!! Does it really mean my hard drive is going to fail…HELP.
(
January 13th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Jessica,
If you get the PXE-E61 error message on startup but after that the laptop boots to Windows, there is nothing wrong. You’ll have to enter the BIOS setup (Press Esc or F1 on startup) and modify the boot order. Set the hard drive (HDD) to be first bootable device, right now your laptop attempts boot from the network (LAN) first.
January 17th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I have a toshiba satellite A65. I recently took apart and cleaned the fans and heat sink, because of a overheating problem. It solved the problem, I then upgraded the Bios from the toshiba web site. Everything ran great with no error messages. Then the one Error message came up and the Error message is (The instruction at 0×745f2780 reference memory at 0×00000000. The memory could not be read.) I try the debug and it still comes up but everything works fine.
Suggestions? Thanks Rich
January 21st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite A110. It’s less than 5 months old and in the past two days I’ve seen numerous PXE-E61 messages. A few times the message would just loop until I shut down the computer. Eventually, windows XP would kick in. The past few times, I still see the message once and windows loads. Am I experiencing the onset of a hard drive crash?
I havent changed the boot order in the BIOS yet.
Any help would be appreciated.
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Richard,
Run memory test, you can use Memtest86+. Satellite A65 notebooks are known for their onboard memory failures. If the memory passes test, probably you have some kind of software issue.
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Karl,
Change the boot order in the BIOS, make sure the HDD is the first device on the list. If you still getting intermittent “PXE-E61 media test failure error” messages on startup, probably the hard drive is failing. Test the hard drive and if it fails, replace the drive.
February 1st, 2007 at 8:30 pm
After reading all of the PXE-61 errors, having the same problem myself. Found the CD-ROM boot image to test the drive and the hard drive comes back with 0×75 error. Defective component.
It is hitachi branded.
What is the likelyhood of buying another drive, say a western digital and having the same problem down the road? Has anyone experienced multiple-failures? Ty.
February 3rd, 2007 at 6:15 pm
i have a toshiba satellite m45 and said PXE-E61 media test failure what can i do please help me…
February 3rd, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Follow-up:
I replaced the Hitachi drive after the DFT software told me many times my hardware was defective. Teh Brand new samsung drive installed without a problem, and it did solve the problem for me.
Good luck everyone.
February 8th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
MY laptop (Toshiba P25-S607) I brought Aug 2003, I’m having a very similar problem. I determined my harddrive was going bad. I used memtest+86 and the Hatachi “Drive Fitness Tool” (DFT) to test my memory and hardrive. Memory was fine but hardrive came back with errors. Installed a new harddrive. Attempting to the reload with my recovery disc. But, I got the “PXE-E61 Media test failure.” I called the 800 support number, thought I maybe they could give me a magic key to hit in order to get my recovery disc to actually “recover.” No avail. Holding the “C” key is not working for me. After describing my problem all I got was; your new hardrive is not being identified by the bios. But I told them, I thought it was; because I ran the “DFT” again after I installed my new drive and it passed with flying colors. Afterwards, I was told to take it to a local dealer. I then plugged in my LAN cable thats attached to my ADSL broadband router. the “Media test failure” went away and was replaced with the bios attempting to boot off the network which obviously would not work. I attempted to turn this boot device off in my bios but did not find an option to simply turn it off. I decided to configure the bios to default. Still same problem trying to boot off the network instead of the CD/DVD drive and yes I chose boot cd/dvd first. Then it dawned on me to try my XP home edition (of course this is already installed on the family desktop). But my frown turned into a smile as this CD was immediately recognize and it is currently loading at this very moment. My reason for the smile. I think it’s a safe assumption; it’s not a hardrive, cd/dvd drive or bios problem. But maybe something wrong with the “recovery” disc. If I’m wrong please educate me, but I thought this little bit of info may be a helpful to anyone else out there having these problems. What I plan on doing is: Once XP Home Edition is installed, attempt to use the recorvery disc again and/or restoring my laptop with my back-up I created from my old harddrive (which was XP media). I wonder if it is a defective “recovery disc?” Hopefully, toshiba will be coopertive and I can get it from them at no/minimal cost. Or will I be stuck with buying brand new Operating system.?. hummm. Will update in a few days. Thanks for a great site, lots of useful info.
February 9th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
John,
I think it’s just a bad recovery disc. If you can boot from a generic Windows XP disc probably there is nothing wrong with the hardware Try calling Toshiba and purchase another copy from them. I know it’s possible because some of my customers have done it. It shouldn’t be expensive. Let me know how it goes.
Update.
I just finished the comment and one more thought came to me. The recovery image is on a DVD disc and your Windows OS is on a CD disk. It’s possible that you have a faulty DVD drive, it can read CDs but not DVDs. From my experience, Satellite P25 notebooks have a lot of problems with the DVD drive and you might have one of them. Did you have any problems with the DVD drive before? Were you able to play DVD movies?
February 10th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Reply to message 34&35
You are correct, I put the recovery disc in my DVD drive on my other desktop and it read perfectly, tellin me this is not a Toshiba P-25 yadda, yadda, yadda. you are also correct regarding my drive. My Matshita DVD-RAM 811B HW 1.00 FW H100 is not reading DVD’s for some reason. Currently, XP home edition is loaded but I cannot read any dvd’s just cd’s. Also my USB ports do not seem to be working, I assume it’s missing drivers which are probably on the DVD I can’t access. I guess, I need to start looking for new combo drive. Now, I just to figure out a DVD/CD drive (read/write capabilites) that will fit in my Toshiba P25-S607, any suggestions? Oh by the way, I opted for a “Hitachi 100GB 7200/8MB 2.5″ Mobile HD”. This is from another post where I was having problems with my harddrive dying. When it rains it pours… I’ve just installed my new harddrive attempting to reload to factory settings, but now it appears my DVD multi-drive has also died. Also, as far as I can gather it is not a driver problem with my Matshita, because there are not drivers?? Appreciate everything so far, any other suggestions are extremely welcomed?
February 10th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I try starting my laptop and I can hear it start up, but nothing happens after that. The laptop monitor is blank/black in colour. When it was working, iit usually either shut down or it would take me to the screen where you can start “In Safe Mode” or one of the other choices.
February 11th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
John,
Search on Google using the part number for the description and best price. The front panel (face plate) from your DVD drive will not fit all listed drives, so when you buy a new one MAKE SURE it comes with the front plate. There shouldn’t be any problem if you use any of the above mentioned drives, but just in case contact the seller and ask about compatibility issues because these drives are expensive and you don’t want to make a mistake.
Here’s a list of compatible optical drives for Toshiba Satellite P25 notebook:
DVD/CD-RW drives
K000005520, K000005410, K000012220, K000012230, K000005470, K000005840, K000011590, K000004190
DVD R/RW, multirecorders
K000007470, K000005860, K000010550, K000012830, K000023130, K000000680, K000005870, K000023180, K000013700, K000013710, K000013720, K000000680, K000005870, K000023180
Is it enough for you?
February 11th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Harvey,
This could be a memory related problem. Try reseating memory modules, move them from one slot to another if both slots are available. Test the laptop with a known good memory module.
February 13th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Hi,
Looks like I have a similar problem. I keep getting PXE-E61 Media test failure error and then another error.
So, I had a technician replace my hard drive and then tried to use the recovery disc. That didn’t wrok either, so I bought a new recovery disc.
I am able to go the “System SetUp”—but I have no idea what to do. Please help!!!
February 14th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Barbara,
Check the boot order when you are in the System setup, make sure the CD/DVD drive is set as the first boot device. Place the recovery disc inside the drive and reboot the laptop. After the laptop boots from the recovery disc follow the wizard.
February 14th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Thanks. I did that. But it still doesn’t work.
I set the cd/dvd as the first boot device.
I keep getting the same errors;
PXE-E61–Mediatest failure, check cable
and
PXE-MOF–Exiting Intel Boot Agent
February 14th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Hello Barbara, May I suggest reading post 34 thru 38. It looks like your problem is very similar to mine. Currently, I’m waiting for a new “cd/dvd recorder drive” to properly restore my P-25 laptop to factory settings with my toshiba restore “DVD”. But I have installed my new harddrive, all intents and purposes my laptop is functioning great with my new harddrive. Hope this helps.
February 17th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
i have 2 laptops that have this error. they both started doing it as soon as i plugged a new hard drive in them. its the hard drives or the boot order or the memory. i get the message even when i put the orginal drives back in. does anyone know what this prob could be? please help
February 19th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
It seems this PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, check cable is pretty common, especially when installing a new hard drive. I too installed a new hard drive and as soon as I did I received this message. The thing is, I changed the setup in the BIOS to boot from CD, my BIOS says None for internal drive which is odd but it sounds like the same thing a lot of you have had. I used my recovery disks just 2 weeks ago on my old hard drive and they worked so I don’t feel I have bad disks. Also, when the laptop boots up I hear the hard drive sounding normal and the CD/DVD player sounding normal so I just don’t get it. What the heck could be wrong at this point? HP said maybe the drive was put in wrong, how can that be? It’s a connector, how can you put it in wrong, I don’t think it would let you.
February 20th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Sunburstsgirl,
Can you see the hard drive in the BIOS? Some HP notebooks have an external HDD test that you can run from the BIOS setup menu, test the drive with this utility. Set the BIOS back to factory defaults and try again. Check the old drive, maybe you have a jumper connecting 2 pins and you have to transfer it to a new drive?
February 27th, 2007 at 10:41 am
hi guys, i was stumbling with the same error,
i changed my hard drive on my toshiba tecra s1, and then i was getting the pxe-e61 ,media test failing.
i was shure that the dirve was not bad, becuase i was using it in another laptop.
the strange thing was that the drive wasn’t recognised in the bios ( showing no hd) but booting from win xp cd and trying to install os, the hd was regualary shown in the windows partition creation utility.
with the idediag utility of a dos disk i could relaize that the drive was setted as a slave, even if the pin out of the hard drive was in master mode.
so i tought it was a problem involving the cable select mode. in fact, finding out the toshiba drive pin out i setted in like cable select, and grounded the pin 28 ( as reported in the toshiba hd pin out diagram) and the drive finaly worked as master.
after that the pxe-e61 was gone ad was possible to install os.
so guys, check with a dos program if your hard drive is really setted as master, in case of none, adjust the pin of your hd according with the manufacturer pin out.
February 27th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Hey linears4,
Thanks for that advise:
February 28th, 2007 at 4:15 am
just tried the trick using the same hard rdive on several notebook tha previously giving “PXE-E61–Mediatest failure”.
everythings works fine on each machine.
if you change hard drive on your laptop and it gives the above error, download the pin out setting of your hard drive from the manufacturer site, and check how to make it work in cable select mode.
in many hd drives like toshiba hd i found that setting in cs mode requires a jumper on, and putting at low level ( grounding) a certain pin, in my case the #28.
in my case i had to connect #28 and #26 pins, as #26 is a ground.
maybe other brand or type hd are alredy in cable select mode, and they work without any modification.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Ok on the Toshiba PXE-E61 Error.. I had the same error on one of mine as well. I changed everything everyone said above and you know what I got the same problem everyone else does as well. So I decided to take the low down road and start getting inside of the computer and checking cables… I took the laptop and ran it over with my Suburban and checked inside and guess what I discovered some loose cables and a broken board.. I went to Best Buy and bought a new one and Walla I’m looking at Po*N again!!
July 8th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Hello,
I am thinking about buying a Toshiba A65-S1068 Laptop with 256M of system memory, and my question is: Can I add System RAM to that machine?
Thank You
Kiss.Electronics
Ms Ashley Hall
Cornelius, Oregon
July 8th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Ms Ashley Hall,
Yes, you can add system RAM to that machine. The memory expansion slot is located on the bottom of the laptop and you can install a 256MB or 512MB or 1GB PC2700 DDR333 memory module into this slot.
Before you buy a used Satellite A65 notebook, you should read this article and make sure your “new” computer doesn’t have one of the mentioned problems.
July 8th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Wow, thank you for the really fast reply….I opened a rectangular plate , about mid and just below the middle, on the bottom of the laptop and saw what I believed to be the RAM module, but my experience isn’t with laptops, so I wanted to be certain before I bought a 1G module. I will check the machine for overheat issues before I buy. My sisters Dell 250N had similiar overheat shutdown problems, and I fixed that one by following the “fix it” that I found on line . (adding heat sink goop and enlarging the “breathing holes” basically).
Thank you so much !!
September 27th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Hello, I have a major problem. I have a Toshiba Satellite P15-S479 laptop. I just replaced the hard drive and when I tried to turn my computer on I get this error:
Intel UNDI, PXE-2.0 (build 082)
Copyright (c) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
For Reatek RTL8139(x)/8130/810x PCI Fast Ethernet Controller v2.13 (020326)
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.
I can see in the bios screen that it recognizes the new hard drive but all I keep getting is that message. I would really appreciate any help you can give me. It won’t allow me to do anything, I have the recovery CD but can’t get passed that screen to use it.
September 27th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Peter,
I think your problem is a little bit different then one mentioned in this post. I’ve posted some suggestions here: After hard drive replacement laptop displays PXE-E61 media test failure message
October 5th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
With my laptop Toshiba Satellite (A100-785) that I have recently bought it (less than 4 months), I’m having same problem with this message :
Intel(r) boot agent FE v4.1.18
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent
Operating System not found
BIOS: The first option for the boot sequance is HD , not LAN
Does that indicator for the HD problem ?
October 18th, 2007 at 10:10 am
From: gene on 10/18/2007
Heres what I did
I removed the pc battery,then the hard drive checked the pins and the contact inside all which were good.
I adjusted the bracket holding the hard drive out a little so the hard drive sits completely in side the connector,then tightend it with the screw but cut cardboard form a box to fit between the screw lock and the cover for added tightness in the case when moved .
Both errors were gone.
This is a Toshiba Satellite with XP Home on it.
Thats why we have the computer show we do live on the radio and coming back soon and people need answers.
We actually help.
Bits & Bytes
I hope I helped.
suneradio.com
email is info@suneradio.com Let me know how you made out.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:08 am
I have the same problem on a Toshiba Satellite A45. I was running the recovery disc on it last night and it was going through the process, but it suddenly froze at 45 percent.
I left it on all night to see if it was just slow, but more than eight hours later, it was still at 45 percent.
So I turned the power off with the recovery CD still inside, then turned it back on. When I did, all I get is a black screen that says:
“PXE-E61: Media Test Failure. check cable.
PXE-MOF: Exiting Intel Boot Agent.”
I can’t access any other part of the computer.
What should I do?
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:35 am
I have a packard bell easynote e6 laptop and when i switch it on it shows the packard bell screen initially then says the error messages
PXE-E61: Media Test Failure. check cable.
PXE-MOF: Exiting Intel Boot Agent
it then goes to a blue box which asks me to select a boot device, however none of them work when i select them and it keeps going back to the blue box.
If i press f2 when the packard bell screen is on it lets me enter the bios setup but i dont really know what i am looking for and what i should try and change.
The computer won’t boot from a recovery cd, the packard bell website said to try flashing the bios, i think that is what it was called! but that didnt work either.
Any help would be much appreciated, I have read through a lot of the posts but dont really know how to check if my hard drive is being recognised etc.
Thanks!
Laura
November 4th, 2007 at 12:30 am
I put a new WD Scorpio 120GB hard drive in my Toshiba A35, and the BIOS would not show it. I put jumpers on pins 26/28 (cable select?) but the jumper is too bulky, it bumps into the frame. When I push the drive in and put in one screw it works (the BIOS recognizes the hd), but if I put in all 4 screws the BIOS does not recognize the hard drive. HELP I have done this 5 times or so. Sometimes the BIOS will recognize the drive, sometimes not.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
TS,
It looks like some kind of connection issue. The laptop can see the hard drive so the hard dive is compatible. Maybe the hard dive connector on the motherboard is weak or something is wrong with the hard rive itself.
Test your notebook with another good known working hard drive. If another hard drive is recognized and working fine, apparently something is wrong with the 120GB hard drive.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:45 am
This may help more guys the laptop toshiba satellite series, with PXe and media failure codes.
I reset the boot records than got a 98 start up disk, then was able to use toshiba recovery discs.
Step by step instructions you can try.
1.Unplug the pc from the ac outlet.
2.Remove the battery completely.
3.Remove the hard drive then reset it in its enclosure.
4.Install the battery back.
5.Plug in the pc and give it a couple minutes to charge the battery back up.
6.Start up the pc and press esc,
then f1 set at default values but make sure cdrom is checked first.
7.Try to install windows 98 boot disk, the old records are corrupted from either hardware errors or missing windows files.
8.You may or may not need to install 98 boot disk,then try starting your recovery disks.
If you have any other problems after this you may have a bad hard dive or faulty cd rom .
This may help you.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:08 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite 1135-S155 that is getting the same error with it looking for a network bootup. The BIOS does not detect the hard drive, and I even bought a new hard drive at one point and put it in to no avail. The BIOS still did not see the hard drive. Is there a problem with my motherboard? Or is this something else? Please help.
January 29th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Hi,
I have a HP Pavilion DV1000. I got some liquid on it the other day and now whenever I start the computer it goes to a black screen with white writing and says:
PXE E61: Media Test failed, check cable
Exiting PXE
I don’t know if I should just give up on the computer or if there is any way I can open it up and clean the liquid out?
February 21st, 2008 at 8:22 am
Perhaps someone here can help me, though I see that the last post is from a long time ago…
I put a new hard drive in my toshiba Portege. It is exactly the same model as the previous hard drive. Then I used the restore CD to try to put the computer back at its original configuration.
The restore CD ran fine, and the ghost process finished, then it asked me to remove any media and hit a key to reboot. I did that, and now all I can get is a PXE screen saying that no media is detected.
The hard drive seems fine, as it was willing to accept the ghost installation, plus it is brand new. I can’t figure out how to get past this. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
February 24th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Todd Walden,
Can you see the new hard drive in the BIOS setup menu?
Make sure the hard drive is the first device in the boot order. Just in case load default BIOS settings (I believe F9 key).
Make sure the hard drive is properly connected to the laptop. Reseat the hard drive.
March 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 am
My 1 year old Acer Aspire 3063 show imminent hard drive failure before loading BIOS and it says hit F1 to continue. I hit F1 and the thing reboots to the same message. I ran Spinrite 6.0 at level 2 then level 4 and it found no bad sectors. If Spinrite does not find any problems then is the drive really bad? I am ready to try a clean install of winxp since it came with vista home.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:39 am
PXE comes installed on many of today’s computers such as my toshiba m45. My toshiba’s original hard drive had a separate 200mb partition that allowed the use of dvd playback controls while the computer was in hibernation mode.
While reformatting my hard drive to remove some malware problems I was having, this partition was deleted. The bios on the toshiba laptop somehow knows about this partition and expects it to be there. Now that the partition is gone, I get a PXE error during boot, The only way I know of to solve the problem would be to restore the partition PXE is looking for. I do not know where this can be found. A recovery disk may work but I am unsure because I do not have one.
If you download and burn a copy of “SystemRescueCD” you can use the program gparted that comes with the system to analyze your hard drive to see if that partition is on your hard drive.
If the partition is not there and you know of someone who has the same type of computer as you, you should be able to copy their partition to a storage device using the dd command and then transfer that partition to your computers hard drive. The only problem you may run into is the fact that the partition does not use any of the usual file systems. Also be careful when using the dd command because it is a powerful tool that can delete valuable data if your command is entered improperly.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:45 am
My Toshiba Satellite M20 with WinXP started getting the message:
PXE-E61: Media Test Failure. check cable.
PXE-MOF: Exiting Intel Boot Agent
Press any key to continue..
I press the key and the same thing repeats once and again for ever. I changed the boot up sequence in the BIOS and got rid off the message error, but the computer still doesn’t start.
I removed, the HD, the battery, the CD drive, put them back and tried again but nothing worked. This is very frustrating. Any help will be appreciated.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:46 am
My laptop died this morning I think. It’s a 3 yr old gateway. When I turned it on my friend said it had some words, couldn’t remember, and to hit F8. After I hit F8, the screen just went black. I turned it on and off manually a dozen times,but the screen won’t come up. It sounds like its trying to boot up and then nothing, but the fan is still going. My CPU fan doesn’t work and I can’t find a new one, but I have it sitting on a cooling fan. Could the motherboard be fried? Any help would be great. I was going to invest in a new one in the future, just not now. Please help!
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:02 pm
My Inspiron 1501 is just 6 months old. Although the hard drive is recognized i keep getting this error message: PXE-E61 MEDIA TEST FAILURE, CHECK CABLE
NO OPERATIONG SYSTEM FOUND.
I have tried reinstalling Windows XP several times, same response. i also tried a new hard drive. I need Help right away.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:11 am
It seems we’re dealing with couple of different problems that all result in PXE-E61 message in the end. Here is what helped with mine (witnessed on IBM T30):
- when I took the HDD into an external enclosure, the HDD worked fine and I could back-up all the data
- I put the same old HDD back (never tried a new one) and restored a HDD image (using Linux-based PING tool), including restoration of a backup of BIOS settings
- the problem was still the same, i.e. PXE-E61 msg
- I modified the boot order in the BIOS to have HDD in the first place both in the local as well as LAN sections to no help
- here comes what finally helped: I restored the default setting in BIOS (could be called “Factory settings” and likely enough every BIOS offers this option)
Conclusion: it is not only in the media boot order but also in some other BIOS setting that this problem can be influenced. Which it is I don’t know but certainly giving restoration of default BIOS setting a try in your situation is worth of trying. Good luck and also thanks everyone since reading this thread pointed me into right direction.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
I had the PXE-E61 msg. Here is what I did to fix:
1) Reset BIOS to default settings.
2) Unplug everything - RAM, CDROM, Hard Drive, power cord, and battery.
2) Reseat everything - RAM (I moved it to the 2nd slot), Hard Drive, CDROM drive, battery, and power cord.
I also plugged in a network cable and attached it to a switch - although I don’t think this mattered.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:45 am
I had the PXE-E61 msg on a Toshiba Satellite M35x. I tried a new drive and still had the same error. Based upon this thread I tried a cold boot after plugging into a active network cable. The computer provided a message stating the MAC address and something about DHCP. At this point I was able to start (boot from) the Toshiba recovery cd. So far it appears all good. I have a windows XP screen now.
May 24th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
PXE Boot Agent is an hardware (or software with Bios) security issue.
If PXE is implemented in hardware you can’t solve the problem flashing a new bios, PXE is in a separate chip and will be always there.
If PXE is implemented in software, for example inside bios, maybe flashing a new bios version could solve the problem, but after the first restart there must not be present the same situation that caused the problem first. In this case PXE will do again its job and lock again your pc.
In my Compaq Presario notebook my hard drive failed to boot, i bought a new one and PXE chip inserted itself a bios password.
I cannot configure the new hard drive because i can’t enter bios and i cannot install operating system because during installation no drive is found.
Depending on your notebook model i read that there are several ways to hack it.
I don’t know exactly what works for what model but you can make more research on this:
1) disconnect power and remove battery and press POWER ON key for at least 2 minutes
2) remove keyboard and search a little connector with two wires (red and black), disconnect it, wait a bit, reconnect it and power on
3) download Ubcd4win, create a bootable cd (i will try it now) inside there should be an utility to read/blank bios password or bios password check.
4) find a bios “backdoor”/MasterPassword for your model
5) build a fake LPT1 hardware key. I read that in official repair office they connect a cable that bypass Bios password. Maybe it’s called “dongle”. I found a video on YouTube that shows how to build it. It’s quite simple if you have the pin scheme, there are only few cables to connect, this way you short for example pin3 with pin10 and pinX with pinY, at the start it makes jump bios check and allows you to install operating system.
I’m very upset with Compaq/HP, they can’t use these tricks to make you spend money.
A customer once bought and paid his notebook should be free to repair himself, if he’s able to do it and an hardware/software automatic lock i think is illegal, for any purpose it could have been implemented.
Imagine if it happens to your car: if you try to change a wheel the engine won’t start because PXE is helping you against thiefs….it’s absurd…
May 29th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Please explain as simple as possible of any solutions to fix my computer or how to install Vista again on my computer.
Toshiba A105-S2236
Windows Vista Home Basic
This is what I get when I try to power w/o CD or DVD in the Drive.
Intel UNDI An error has occurred. ERROR: 01-0134-0000 The tool could not get HDD physical Information.
If I choose System Recovery Options I firts got to a screen with Select keyboard layout, then select an operating system to repair. It searches but nothing comes up. If I select load drivers it says insert the installation media for this device and click OK to select the driver. So I have three choices. Computer, System, and Public. What do I do?
If it will help other notes. My wife has the exact same model laptop computer “can it be used to help me get my compueter working?” So I have tried to reset my system using mine and her copy of the system restore CD. So it isn’t the CD. I have hooked the harddrive as an external drive to another computer and the computer couldn’t find it. Without the system recovery cd in the drive I can not use F8 to get the Advanced Boot Options. With the disk in I can use F8 and get to the Advanced Boot Options screen. When I click safe mode it looks like it is going to work because all kind of Windows files and drivers loading. However It takes me to the Select a Process screen “mentioned above” all over.
Should I just give up and send back my computer to be fixed under warranty or can it be fixed with some help from you guys?
June 16th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Why you choose repair?
Try a new clean installation, if the hard disk is broken you can’t continue and you can’t recover anyway your files.
If the hard drive is working and is only a Vista problem, making a new installation you should solve and find, somewhere, your old profile with all your files.
If the new installation won’t work i’d choose warranty repair.
Anyway before the warranty expires i’d check the hard drive to find possible imminent failures.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Update for my PXE problem with a COmpaq Presario 2100.
I wrote to HP, they asked me a fax, i made it… 15 days and no one calls, nobody writes me and nobody tells me what is the damn unlock code for the damn bios.
I wrote again to HP Support and what they tell me?
They didn’t receive the fax.
I do a second one, (”we’ll call suddenly”) nobody calls… guys I WILL NEVER BUY AN HP COMPAQ NOTEBOOK !!!
Do they have Drive Lock protection >>> I WON’T BUY IT.
I told them “If i’m a thief i’d buy a chip on Ebay and will unlock the notebook by myself”.
Only the owner sends a fax with its name, phone and address…so why they wait 15 days???
I have the dubt that these kind of protection are only MORE-PROFIT feature instead of Customer-Protection-Feature.
HP Support really sucks.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Hey.
I’m using a Gateway Model 450SX4 and when I turn it on, I get the same messege.
PXE-E61 Media Test Failure, check cable
Exiting PXE ROM
Operating System not found
I don’t have a recovery CD for this laptop, it’s my cousins and he is too young to know anything about a recovery CD, he is visiting for the summer and this just happened last night. Help please.
Thanks
July 9th, 2008 at 6:08 am
have a problem with mt toshiba satellite pro A110. I shut it down last friday and today when I tried to start it up, the screen is blank. I have removed and resat the ram, pressed the fn+f5 button, started the laptop without the battery installed all in vain. I opened the laptop and connected powwer and see that the motheroard led lights and the power button lights at start up the fan moves for a whle and then stops. I don’t know what to do, any help will be highly apprecated.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Justin,
Maybe you can call Gateway and purchase the recovery disc directly from them? I don’t think it will be very expensive.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Doreen,
Did you reseat both memory modules or just one? Can you access both memory slots from the bottom or you have only one slot on the bottom?
Some new Toshiba laptops have one of the memory slots hidden under the keyboard. It’s possible that RAM module in this slot is bad. You can try accessing this slot and replacing the RAM module with one from the bottom.
You’ll can find some disassembly help at www.irisvista.com/tech/
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:10 am
Hi,
I have a hp pavillion dv5000 laptop.
I am receiving “error loading operating system” on a black screen whenever i start up my computer. I thought it was the hard drive for a minute, but i ran a HDD test and it passed ona short and long test. please help :]
July 29th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I have a Dell Latitude D500 and it no longer starts. The battery seems to be connected and flashing. When I push the start button the three lights that are the pictures of the number lock, capital letter lock, and the other flash. Then the letter lock flashes a couple times more and thats all i get. Any clue what could have caused this. It happened all of a sudden. The laptop is relatively old. Do they just die eventually? Battery problem? Any kind of advice would be great. Thank you.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:10 am
am having the same problem with a client’s machine and this my first to see that error massge and am really puzzled. and according to all these replies seeems that it can be just anything
August 31st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I have been experiencing the same issue on my last three desk tops, all emachines. The error text is slightly different per who ever makes the computer. I have noticed that there is a link between my curcumstance and my fax modem. It seems that when you remove worthless hardware (ie, a data fax modem that I would never use) that there is some sort of software that it carries that make your pc funtion correctly. Also I have found in other curcumstances that leaving the hard drive off for a spell can seemingly cause it to cool down and work again.
My question: Who the hell uses a remote server? Why do we need to use an ethernet adapter to start up a computer? What the hell were they thinking? No one I know needs to connect to a network to start their OS. WHo comes up with this crap?
If you know why let me know.
Thanks!
September 5th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Guys, I got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’vo got a A60 satellite toshiba…
we entered the advanced modality (option2) for recovering
you will see a strip menu and will pick
local-> disk ->from image
then we used the sequence HDD>FDD>CD ROM>LAN
and we disabled the PCI LAN…
in the end you have to chose option quit -i know it’s hard to do, you can’t believe - but it will restart and work properly…
good luck!
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
I was getting the same issues when upgrading to a larger hard drive. I contacted gateway regarding the issue and the problem my machine was having was that the hard drive was too large. My machine cant use anything above 100gb and my new hard drive was 160gb so some of you who have laptops from 2003 or earlier and are trying to upgrade your hard drive you might want to make sure the hard drive is not too big for your machine to recognize or use.