Toshiba Satellite A305 (hard drive, Power?)

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pokernod

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Toshiba Satellite A305 Laptop all original hardware

laptop electronics/electrical question:
Details:
I recently purchased a laptop (toshiba sattelite A305, sweet) that I have (recently) used before from a friend. I've since found that the power adapter theyve had plugged to it for who knows how long, was completely wrong and they had lost the old one and just plugged one up "that fit", Great.... (Com: toshiba 19v 3.95a...Power Adapter: Cannon 24v 2.2a probably a printer). I found this out after the Com started acting strangly slow and then wouldnt boot, stating that there was no hard drive found. I actually got it to boot one more time after this and havent since. So either the 24volts fried something or the 2.2 amps stressed something. I decided to get another hard drive and of couse to no avail. Still...... No hard drive found, check connections, blah blah blah. I plugged the old hard drive up to my desktop and it works fine. I checked the system setup and everthing is still there except the hard drive, even though it is installed correctly. Clock, Date, Ram, Video, Wireless, CD, everything works, can be seen in setup and hasnt changed. I set the defaults and still nothing. I tried the new drive and a new operating system (XP Pro is all I have right now, I will buy vista, which was on it, if I know I can make it work.) It loads windows setup but then same message......No Hard Drive.
So, Im sure youve guessed my question. I know the power supply isnt burnt out, nor the other stuff, And I realize Im going to be pulling the MB next, BUT WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR. Im confused because, with SATA drives, Ive had this problem/message many times, even with brand new custom builds. Usually just pull and re-seat the power and/or drive cable and Im off, sometimes even have to do it two or three times before it works. I have an IDE hard drive in another COM that does this almost every time it boots and I have to push the IDE cable in all the way and then pull out just a smidge and it fires right up. So what, if anything, may be burnt if the power supply works, the graphics work, (well you get it, everything works but the H.D.).
Even the smallest or stupidest suggestion would be welcomed now since Ive tried everything I know to no avail. Sorry for the extra long post but I wanted to close out as many questions as possible early.

Thank You, and PLEASE HELP!

EDIT: sorry for the edit, but (and I hope I wont need it) does anyone know where I might get a MB that isnt the usual $400?, since I only paid $200 for the laptop
 
There isn't anywhere else you can get a new laptop motherboard for less than $300-$400. They're all that price.

If it did visibly fry something then it would be a transistor or capacitor close to the power source. It's much more likely that it simply destroyed the hard drive controller on the board and that you won't actually see anything.
 
i need the full model number/name to give you the right specs and to diagnose the issue

Satellite A305-_____?

it is located on the bottom of the laptop

because it seems that you do not have enough amp draw, meaning you dont have enough power to spin up the HDD

find the proper replacement adapter ( DON NOT USE A UNIVERSAL ADAPTER ) and it might fix the problem
 
i need the full model number/name to give you the right specs and to diagnose the issue

Satellite A305-_____?

it is located on the bottom of the laptop

because it seems that you do not have enough amp draw, meaning you dont have enough power to spin up the HDD

find the proper replacement adapter ( DON NOT USE A UNIVERSAL ADAPTER ) and it might fix the problem

I have an adapter now that is an exact match (19v 3.95a) but it doesnt change anything.


Yep, Im sorry TaBryan. the reason I didnt list the rest of it is this thing has been to Iraq (soilders) and the bottom stickers are worn pretty good. I also would like to know the rest of that number. I can only see A305 for definite and then then 6....and argh....I dont want to guess here. I'll tell you the specs I can remember and some of the stuff that comes with it, (most of the original stickers on the inside are still there)
And guys, I know everyone say "OH Thanks :worship worship:" But Really, I Thank you for atleast trying to help get this. And please bare with me.
OK, Things I KNOW it has/had:
2.0Ghz centrino (sticker)
single 250GB SATA HD (seen it)
3GB Ram (seen it)
Windows Vista Home Premium (sticker/seen it)
Label Flash ??? (sticker)
Comes with Skype installed (sticker)
labels on the DVD door: DVD Multi Recorder, Compact Disc Rewritable UltraSpeed, RW DVD Rewritable

On the front of base facing the screen from L to R: wireless on/off switch, A media card reader (camera?), Mic(L)Headphones(R), Volume.

On the left side of base from L to R: VGA plug, cooling vent, S-Video plug, Ethernet plug, 2 USB Plugs and a S400 plug, and above these the REMOTE CONTROL is stored.

Ont the right side of base: 2 more USB plugs, phone plug, then the DVD, the power jack, and a small oval plug which I have no idea.

I know, I know.....think how I feel. But Imean this could be a nice challenge, thats how Im trying to look at it.
Im not afraid to tear this thing apart if anyone needs any info from inside it that will help. Im fairly good with that kind of thing.

I was going to put down what I could see on the stickers but, if youll give my camera a bit to charge I will take some close up macro pics, it may help you and me. if you think of anything else you might want a pic of let me know.

and again sorry for the long posts.
 
UPDATE: I actually got it to fire up again with the old hard drive and have found the new hard drive from NEWEGG to be bad, ....TICK....TICK....TICK....TICK....TICK....
So, I guess it does me no good anyway. It'll be atleast a week or more before they get it, do theyre paperwork, and send me a new one.
When I got it fired up, I did get Everest Ultimate installed and got a Computer summary report and a hardware summary report so I could have a better idea of what computer Im dealing with, but I couldnt get anything to work good/fast enough to get the reports off of the computer.
I did see that the Core2 Duo was a T5750, and its a Mobile Intel 965Express family chipset.
Other than that, I couldnt get much.

But this does tell me that this thing is most likely fixable and that a (working) new hard drive and OS may do the trick. Thats a bit of a relief.

TaBryan, You mentioned not to use a universal adapter, Im curious as to your reasoning for that and if you only meant a Non-Switchable Universal, which I agree, you should never use. The reason I ask is Im borrowing the one I have and will eventually have to give it back. I was looking at this one which I know is a cheapy, but the reviews are what caught my eye.

Newegg.com - Recertified: Kensington K38050RR 90W Universal Wall Notebook AC Power Adapter

I can probably find a 19v 4a or 4.5a (or more) on ebay cheap and I know thats fine but was still curious since I was (obviously) thinking of getting a switchable for multiple applications since I always seem to be fixing someones junk computer for them.

Baez, You mentioned the hard drive controller and I also suspected something like this, Im wondering is this replacable? Im a wiz with a soldering iron. Though I dont know what/where the controller would be or would look like. I am not a laptop guy, this is my first and I used to not even work on them for people. Ive since worked on a few older Compaqs and have found them easier than I imagined, so......

Thanks again for the help guys, I'll be posting pics of everything sometime this afternoon to see if it helps anyone.
 
wait wait !
in bios setup : is the hard visible ? can you see it ?
if yes ..
in the bios look for somthing like one of those :
sata mode , AHCI **** , or any thing is set to "AHCI"
sata mode should be IDE , AHCI should be disabled .
If NOT as above the windows XP setup will not see the HDD But Vista setup will ..

That's a known problem in installing XP on such laptops .. If I can't change the sata mode to IDE I use "USB FLOPPY DRIVE" with a floppy contain SATA DRIVER witch XP SETUP asks if I press F6 in the first xp setup screens ....

:)
 
wait wait !
in bios setup : is the hard visible ? can you see it ?
if yes ..
in the bios look for somthing like one of those :
sata mode , AHCI **** , or any thing is set to "AHCI"
sata mode should be IDE , AHCI should be disabled .
If NOT as above the windows XP setup will not see the HDD But Vista setup will ..

That's a known problem in installing XP on such laptops .. If I can't change the sata mode to IDE I use "USB FLOPPY DRIVE" with a floppy contain SATA DRIVER witch XP SETUP asks if I press F6 in the first xp setup screens ....

:)

In bios, hard drive is not visible (when its acting up) everything else is, and I had already changed the "AHCI" to "Compatibilty" (the only other option) when I did try to install XP. I changed it back when I connected the old drive back up.

That last part you mention will need a little more explanation, and a little better spelling (sorry) I find that many people use the word "floppy" for many different drives. Im old so I only use that term for 5 1/2" (very old, and which could actually "flop" or bend) and 3 1/2" (pretty old) drives, neither of which come on this laptop.

TO EVERYONE: is the anywhere inside the case I can find the full model name/number? It sure would make some stuff easier. Not much but some.

When I hooked the SATA Drive up to my desktop, I could see it and all the files on it, but I didnt really try doing anything on it.....didnt really think about it. does anyone think it might be worth hooking up again and maybe trying to install something on it or something to see if it crashes or is extremely slow......would this tell me anything?
 
In bios the hard drive is not visible ...............................
forget every thing ! the hdd controller is down ..
Buy a new laptop ..


sorry for my bad spelling .. I'm new to English :)


the full model/Number should be written in the bios main page ! << usually :)
 
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