I keep getting PXE-E61 Media test failure error on laptop start up
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.
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 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 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?
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.
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 ?
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
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.
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 !!
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 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 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!!
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.
February 27th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Hey linears4,
Thanks for that advise:
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 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 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 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 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 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 12:11 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.