please help
thanks

The first problem is with the video. When the machine boots, the Toshiba splash screen sits there (waiting to find a bootable drive which it can’t cause there isn’t one) and eventually gives a message about resetting or booting. That part is understandable and if I press Reset, I get taken to a screen (blue) where I can reset the time. but ….eventually, usually within 30 seconds, the screen displays black vertical stripes, all evenly spaced and about 1/8th inch wide and about 3/4″ apart. The stripes will flash and change colors. Then, the stripes become about 1/4″ wide and each one is multicolored, like vertical rainbows almost, except there is no blending of color, just sections about 1″ long from top to bottom. Then, in the stripey area, you can see what appears to be various characters flashing.

The symptoms are the same on an external monitor. And, each time the machine is rebooted, the screen starts clear as is there is no problem but eventually, whether or not I go to the Reset screen, the stripes appear. Weird. You would think that if the problem was video card related, the stripes would always be there, not just after 30 seconds. I am a software, not hardware person, but this intrigues me.

I took the machine apart, following irisvista’s instructions for an M35 and made sure to reseat both cables, the one from the vga port and the one that goes to the laptop screen. Even though my fingers were crossed the whole time, there was no difference – both screens were still stripey after a while.

There is a very small dent on the front corner, I mean not even 1/4″ wide but a dent is a dent so perhaps there is a fall in this laptop’s history. don’t know.

Anyways, I am wondering if the symptoms I have described sound familiar. Is there something else I can check, like, would a loose solder joint(?) somewhere cause this to happen or is it more complex and requires a MB replacement?

Don’t know if this is relevant, but the fan doesn’t start up right away when the machine is turned on but does come on eventually. Like I said, I am hardware illiterate.

If nothing else, I got 2 512 sticks of RAM, and adapter and wireless card, and DVD player and ….can’t complain. Good for parts if nothing else.

Thanks for any suggestions.

The clicking sounds you describe are from the HD.
If you dropped the computer while it was on, it is very likely to happen. This is also probably the reason for the slow boot.
Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is to replace the HD with a new one. In any case, I would recommend first thing (right now) to backup all the important docs you have on the computer, in case the HD will not turn on…

thanks (in advance)

Luis Davila

I have a Toshiba Satellite A205-S4607 laptop. Just an hour ago my little brother was carrying it up our wood floor stairs and dropped it. The computer was turned on as he had been playing a game on it and was transferring it to the upper level of our house. I was not there to see from how high it was dropped. He showed me how high he dropped it (he motioned about a foot from the ground, but knowing my brother I think it was at least 2 feet). The computer turns on fine. My mother reported that it made a loud buzzing noise when she started it up. She removed the battery and put it back in. That didn’t work. It has not made a buzzing noise beyond the first initial start up. There is a bit of a quiet “struggle” where the hard drive is. After discharging electricity from my hands,unplugged the computer, and removed the battery, I carefully took the hard drive out, checked to see if there were any visible problems(it looked just fine) and put it back in. Nothing looks bent, cracked, or broken other than the the hook things that secure the laptop shut when it is closed. I figure something else that I am not able to see /don’t know how to access got jostled or broken. The computer says that it cannot find an operating system. I do believe I have my windows vista cd in the box it came in, but I want to find out as much as I can before trying to put the vista back or possibly ruining the hard drive by doing the former. The files on the hard drive are very important to me. Does it sound like I can fix this problem myself or do I need to go to see my nearest firedog location( which I sadly do not have the money to do)? I thank in advance for your advise and I thank you for your time!
Blessings,
Chelsie